The U.S. Senior Open is one of the five major championships in senior golf, introduced in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – In ...

. It is administered by the

United States Golf Association The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

(USGA) and is recognized as a major championship by both the

PGA Tour Champions PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many year ...

and the

European Senior Tour The Legends Tour is the current branding of the European Senior Tour, a professional tour for male golfers aged 50 and over, run by the PGA European Tour. The tour was branded as the Staysure Tour for the 2018 and 2019 seasons after UK-based insu ...

. The lower age limit was 55 in 1980, but it was lowered to 50 for the second edition in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, which is the standard limit for men's senior professional golf tournaments. By definition, the event is open to amateurs, but has been dominated by

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and sk ...

s; through 2022, all editions have been won by pros. Like other USGA championships, it has been played on many courses throughout the United States. Allen Doyle became the oldest U.S. Senior Open Champion in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

, winning two weeks before his 58th birthday. The total purse was the highest of any senior tour event until the

Posco E&C Songdo Championship The Songdo IBD Championship was a golf tournament on the Champions Tour. It was played for the first time as the Posco E&C Songdo Championship in September 2010 at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Songdo, South Korea. It was the Champions Tou ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, a Champions Tour event in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

with a $3 million purse, but had a lower winner's share ($450,000). The U.S. Senior Open is again the highest purse on the

; in 2016 it was $3.75 million, and champion

Gene Sauers Gene Craig Sauers (born August 22, 1962) is an American professional golfer, currently playing on the PGA Tour Champions. He had three wins on the PGA Tour and overcame a deadly skin condition that kept him off the golf course for five years. He ...

earned $675,000. The purse in 2017 is anticipated to be $4 million, yielding a winner's share of $720,000. Like other senior majors, players must walk the course unless they receive a medical exemption to use a cart. Winners gain entry into the following year's U.S. Open. The playoff format was modified for 2018, reduced from three to two aggregate holes, followed by sudden death. The three-hole aggregate playoff was used in 2002 and 2014; the final 18-hole playoff at the U.S. Senior Open was in 1991, won by

Eligibility

The following players are exempt from qualifying for the U.S. Senior Open, provided they are 50 years old as of the opening day of the tournament. Amateur categories require that the player is still an amateur on the opening day of the tournament, except for the one-time exemption for former champions of the U.S. Amateur or The Amateur Championship. *Any past winner of the U.S. Senior Open *Winners of any of the major championships in the last 10 years *Winners of any of the U.S. Amateur in the last 10 years and runner-up in previous year *Winners of the Senior PGA Championship in the last 10 years *Winner of the Senior Open Championship in the last five years *Top 15 finishers from the previous year's U.S. Senior Open *Any amateur completing 72 holes in last U.S. Open *Low amateur in last U.S. Senior Open *Winner and runner-up of the

U.S. Senior Amateur The United States Senior Men's Amateur Golf Championship is a national tournament for amateur golf competitors at least 55 years of age. It is operated by the United States Golf Association (USGA). The tournament starts with 36 holes of stroke pla ...

in the previous year *Members of the

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

and

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eise ...

teams for the last two competitions *Members of both

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

and

Presidents Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...

teams for the last five competitions *Top 30 from the previous year's

money list, top 20 from current list *Top 50 leaders from the PGA Tour Champions career money list *Winners of PGA Tour Champions events in the previous three years *Top six from previous year's

money list *Top two from previous year's Japan Seniors Tour money list *Winners of

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

events in the previous five years *Winners of the U.S. Open in first ten years of age eligibility *One-time exemption for any winner of a major championship, U.S. Amateur, or

British Amateur The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 1 ...

. **Winners of amateur championships who have since turned professional are able to use this exemption. Special exemptions are given occasionally, and like other USGA events, many qualify through the local and sectional ranks.

Winners

Multiple winners

Six men have multiple victories in the U.S. Senior Open: 3 wins * Miller Barber (1982, 1984, 1985) 2 wins *

Gary Player Gary James Player DMS, OIG (born 1 November 1935) is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tou ...

(1987, 1988) *

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won 117 professional tou ...

(1991, 1993) *

Hale Irwin Hale S. Irwin (born June 3, 1945) is an American professional golfer. He was one of the world's leading golfers from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. He is one of the few players in history to win three U.S. Opens, becoming the oldest ever U.S. Op ...

(1998, 2000) * Allen Doyle (2005, 2006) * Kenny Perry (2013, 2017) Successful defenders of the title were Barber (1985), Player (1988), and Doyle (2006).

Winners of both U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open

The following men have won both the U.S. Open and the U.S. Senior Open, the majors run by the USGA: Palmer (1954) and Nicklaus (1959, 1961) also won the U.S. Amateur, previously considered a major.

Future sites

References

External links

U.S. Senior Open
at USGA site (most of the information is in the archive section)

{{coord, 41.462, -71.347, display=t, type:event PGA Tour Champions events Senior Open Recurring sporting events established in 1980 1980 establishments in New York (state)