Youngest Winners of the U.S. Open Golf Tournament

In the history of the U.S. Open, only one golfer younger than 20 has won the tournament, and only nine golfers younger than 22 have won the tournament. That's what we'll take a look at here: the youngest champions ever in this major championship.

The Record-Holder: Johnny McDermott

The youngest champion ever in the U.S. Open is John J. McDermott (pictured), better known as Johnny McDermott. McDermott was just under age 20 — 19 years, 9 months, 14 days to be exact — when he won the 1911 U.S. Open. McDermott nearly set this record a year earlier: He lost in a playoff in 1910.

In winning in 1911, McDermott became the first American-born golfer to win the U.S. Open. And he remains, to this day, the only golfer younger than 20 to do so.

The List: U.S. Open Youngest Winners

These are the youngest champions in tournament history:

• Johnny McDermott: 19 years, 9 months, 14 days when he won the 1911 U.S. Open
• Francis Ouimet: 20 years, 4 months, 12 days when he won the 1913 U.S. Open
• Gene Sarazen: 20 years, 4 months, 18 days when he won the 1922 U.S. Open
• Johnny McDermott: 20 years, 11 months, 21 days when he won the 1912 U.S. Open
• Horace Rawlins: 21 years, 1 month, 30 days when he won the 1895 U.S. Open
• Bobby Jones: 21 years, 4 months, 12 days when he won the 1923 U.S. Open
• Walter Hagen: 21 years, 8 months, 0 days when he won the 1914 U.S. Open
• Willie Anderson: 21 years, 8 months, 25 days when he won the 1901 U.S. Open
• Jordan Spieth: 21 years, 10 months, 25 days when he won the 2015 U.S. Open

While Jordan Spieth ranks "only" ninth on the list of youngest champs, he deserves special mention as the youngest winner in the post-World War II era. Actually, Spieth is the youngest U.S. Open winner since 1923. For the sake of comparison, Tiger Woods was 24 when he won the 2000 U.S. Open, and Jack Nicklaus was 22 years old when he won the 1962 U.S. Open.

Francis Ouimet and Bobby Jones were amateurs when they won at age 21. Jones and Willie Anderson went on to the U.S. Open a record four times each.

You'll also notice that the record-holder, McDermott, appears on the list twice. He won back-to-back, adding the championship in 1912 at the age of 20. One more note, about Horace Rawlins, the very first U.S. Open champ: At the time he won in 1895, it was reported that he was 19 years old. We know today that he was 21, but for many years the USGA called Rawlins the youngest winner, and there are still references to him on the web as such. He isn't, though, McDermott is.