The winners who conquered the US Open at double figures over par

The US Open has a long-standing reputation as the most demanding of golf’s four major championships, with tight, punishing course setups designed to test even the finest players in the world. Most winners of the tournament usually emerge at around even par, maybe a few shots either side. 

However, there are some champions who have defied that logic entirely, finishing the course so far above par, but still lifted the trophy. With US Open golf betting markets open ahead of 2026, here are the winners with the highest over-par scores the championship has ever produced.

Sam Parks Jr., +11, 1935

Sam Parks Jr. was a club professional from Pittsburgh when he won the 1935 US Open at Oakmont, finishing at 11 over par with an aggregate of 299. Oakmont was already considered one of the hardest courses in the country, and the 1935 edition produced a leaderboard where the entire field struggled to make progress. 

Parks beat Jimmy Thomson by two shots, with his familiarity with the course giving him an advantage over players with considerably stronger reputations. He never won another major and remains one of the more surprising names on the list of US Open champions.

Francis Ouimet, +12, 1913

Francis Ouimet’s victory at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1913 is one of the most significant results in the history of American golf, and it came at 12 over par in a playoff. Ouimet was a 20-year-old amateur who had grown up near the course and qualified for the field as a local entrant. 

He defeated Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, two of the leading professionals in the world at the time, in a result that shocked all golf odds and shifted attitudes toward the game in the United States. The score was high by any measure, but the conditions and equipment of the period made scoring difficult for every player in the field, and Ouimet simply managed the course better than anyone else.

Tommy Armour, +13, 1927

Tommy Armour won the 1927 US Open at Oakmont Country Club in a playoff against Harry Cooper, finishing at 13 over par with an aggregate of 301. Oakmont was already one of the most unforgiving venues in American golf, and the scoring that week reflected it throughout the field. 

Armour, a Scottish-born player who had settled in America, was a respected ball-striker of his era, and his ability to manage his way around a course built to punish errors gave him the edge when it mattered. Olin Dutra matched that score to par seven years later at Merion, winning the 1934 US Open at +13 despite being ill for much of the week.

Walter Hagen, +17, 1919

Walter Hagen won the 1919 US Open at Brae Burn Country Club in Massachusetts at 17 over par, which remains the highest winning score in championship history. The tournament resumed that year after a two-year suspension for World War One, and the scoring across the entire field reflected how demanding the week was. 

Hagen won in a playoff against Mike Brady, and his aggregate of 301 would look extraordinary on any modern leaderboard. The equipment and course preparation of the era were entirely different, but the number itself has never been matched across more than a century of the championship.