Things are getting tight at the top of the leaderboard at the 2021 U.S. Open. Things are so close that you might be wondering how a U.S. Open playoff works. The event hasn’t been decided by a playoff since 2008, and plenty has changed about the format since then.
For most of the history of the event, the playoff was not sudden death or multiple hole aggregate score, but rather an entire 18-hole round played the following day. In fact, for a few years in the late 1920s, they used a 36-hole playoff to decide the winner. Talk about grueling.
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However, in 2018 the USGA finally amended its playoff procedures in an effort to crown a champion on Sunday night, opting for a two-hole aggregate playoff instead.
“We know how important it is to everyone in the golf world to see play conclude on the Sunday of a major championship, and to award the trophy to the champion,” said USGA CEO Mike Davis. “After receiving input from a variety of constituents, including players, fans, volunteers, officials and our broadcast partners, it clearly came across as something that everyone valued, and would benefit from.”
If there is a tie at the end of 72 holes at Torrey Pines, the two-hole playoff will occur on Nos. 7 and 18. If there is a tie after that, players will proceed to play sudden death on holes 7, 8 and 18 until a winner is crowned.
This format has yet to be used in the U.S. Open since the change, but the just two weeks ago it was used at the U.S. Women’s Open, where Yuka Saso took down Nasa Hataoka.
