Golfers Who Won the Most USGA Championships
The USGA championships currently played are the U.S. Open and U.S. Women's Open, plus the Senior Opens for both men and women; the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women's Amateur, plus the Senior Amateurs for both and junior amateurs for boys and girls. Also, the Mid-Amateur for both men and women, and the Amateur Four-Ball for both men and women. Discontinued USGA championships include the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, and the State Team Championships for men and women.
So: Who are the record-holders, the golfers who've won the most USGA championships?
Overall Record-Holders: Bobby Jones and Tiger Woods (9)
Jones and Woods share the record for most overall wins in USGA championships, with nine each. Jones won the U.S. Amateur five times and U.S. Open four times; Woods won the U.S. Junior, U.S. Am and U.S. Open three times each (the breakdown of their titles appears in the list section below).Jones was twice beaten in the championship match of the U.S. Amateur. He also twice lost in playoffs at the U.S. Open (1925, 1928), so Jones came close to an even bigger number than nine wins. And, of course, he was only 28 years old when he retired from competitive golf.
Woods won USGA championships in a record six consecutive years from 1991-96. And Woods still has chances to break his tie with Jones and win his 10th (or more) USGA title: He could win the U.S. Open or, after turning 50, the U.S. Senior Open.
Women's Record-Holder: JoAnne Carner (8)
Carner won eight USGA championships overall, the first in 1956, when she was 17-year-old JoAnne Gunderson; and the last in 1976. She won the U.S. Girls' once, the U.S. Amateur five times and the U.S. Women's Open twice. Carner's haul could have been even bigger: She lost in championship matches three times (at the Girls' Junior in 1955, and in the Women's Amateur in 1956 and 1964), and lost in a playoff at the 1987 U.S. Women's Open, when she was 48 years old.
The List: Most USGA Championships Won
Tiger Woods, 9
- U.S. Junior Amateur: 1991, 1992, 1993
- U.S. Amateur: 1994, 1995, 1996
- U.S. Open: 2000, 2002, 2008
Bobby Jones, 9
- U.S. Amateur: 1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1930
- U.S. Open: 1923, 1926, 1929, 1930
JoAnne (Gunderson) Carner, 8
- U.S. Girls' Junior: 1956
- U.S. Women's Amateur: 1957, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1968
- U.S. Women's Open: 1971, 1976
Jack Nicklaus, 8
- U.S. Amateur: 1959, 1961
- U.S. Open: 1962, 1967, 1972, 1980
- U.S. Senior Open: 1991, 1993
Ellen Port, 7
- U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur: 1995, 1996, 2000, 2011
- U.S. Senior Women's Amateur: 2012, 2013, 2016
Anne Quast Sander, 7
- U.S. Women's Amateur: 1958, 1961, 1963
- U.S. Senior Women's Amateur: 1987, 1989, 1990, 1993
Carol Semple Thompson, 7
- U.S. Women's Amateur: 1973
- U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur: 1990, 1997
- U.S. Senior Women's Amateur: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
Glenna Collett Vare, 6
- U.S. Women's Amateur: 1922, 1925, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1935
Hollis Stacy, 6
- U.S. Girls' Junior: 1969, 1970, 1971
- U.S. Women's Open: 1977, 1978, 1984
