2008 U.S. Open Golf Championship Winner, Scores
The 2008 U.S. Open was the 108th one played. The epic finish included a 19-hole playoff that was a David-vs.-Goliath showdown. Only this time, Goliath won.
Winner: Tiger Woods, 283
Where it was played: Torrey Pines (South Course), San Diego, California
Tournament dates: June 12-16, 2008
Leader after first round: Justin Hicks and Kevin Streelman, 68
Leader after second round: Stuart Appleby, 139
Leader after third round: Tiger Woods, 210
What Happened in the 2008 U.S. Open
Tiger Woods carried a 1-stroke lead into the final round, but the challenge came not from Lee Westwood, who was in second after three rounds, but from popular journeyman Rocco Mediate.Mediate scored a final-round 71 to post a 283 total. Woods arrived on the 72nd green needing a birdie to force a playoff. He faced a 12-footer, and after studying it for a long time he rolled it right into the cup — then erupted in a fist-pumping celebration. (Westwood had his own 15-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole to join the playoff, but missed).
Woods' final-hole birdie forced an 18-hole playoff the next day against Mediate. And virtually nobody thought Mediate could hang with Woods for a second day in a row. After all, Woods was the greatest golfer on the planet: He had 64 PGA Tour wins to that point, third-best in history, with 13 of them (second-best ever) majors. Mediate was a fine player with a solid career, but his most-recent win (No. 5) on the PGA Tour was six years prior.
But Mediate, unlike so many of Woods' head-to-head challengers before, didn't wilt under the pressure. And in the playoff, Mediate again led by one on the 18th hole, and again Woods rolled in a birdie putt to tie.
That forced the two to continue the playoff into sudden-death holes. And on the first sudden-death hole, the 19th hole overall of the playoff, Woods finally prevailed. After Mediate hit his drive into a bunker, Woods had a tap-in par on the green. Mediate needed to make an 18-foot par putt to extend the playoff, but missed.
Woods noticeably limped through much of the tournament, and it was later revealed he was playing with a torn ACL plus a stress fracture in the same leg. He underwent surgery shortly after the tournament and missed the remainder of the 2008 PGA Tour season.
For Woods, it was his third career victory in the U.S. Open, giving him three or more wins in each of the four professional major championships. He joined Jack Nicklaus as the only three-time career grand slam winners.
This was the last U.S. Open that used the 18-hole playoff format. The USGA switched to a 2-hole, aggregate score playoff in 2018.
2008 U.S. Open Final Scores
| Tiger Woods | 72-68-70-73—283 (71-4) |
| Rocco Mediate | 72-68-70-73—283 (71-5) |
| Lee Westwood | 70-71-70-73—284 |
| Robert Karlsson | 70-70-75-71—286 |
| D.J. Trahan | 72-69-73-72—286 |
| Carl Pettersson | 71-71-77-68—287 |
| John Merrick | 73-72-71-71—287 |
| Miguel Angel Jimenez | 75-66-74-72—287 |
| Heath Slocum | 75-74-74-65—288 |
| Eric Axley | 69-79-71-69—288 |
| Brandt Snedeker | 76-73-68-71—288 |
| Camilo Villegas | 73-71-71-73—288 |
| Geoff Ogilvy | 69-73-72-74—288 |
| Stewart Cink | 72-73-77-67—289 |
| Retief Goosen | 76-69-77-67—289 |
| Rod Pampling | 74-70-75-70—289 |
| Ernie Els | 70-72-74-73—289 |
| Phil Mickelson | 71-75-76-68—290 |
| Chad Campbell | 77-72-71-70—290 |
| Ryuji Imada | 74-75-70-71—290 |
| Brandt Jobe | 73-75-69-73—290 |
| Sergio Garcia | 76-70-70-74—290 |
| Mike Weir | 73-74-69-74—290 |
| Robert Allenby | 70-72-73-75—290 |
| Hunter Mahan | 72-74-69-75—290 |
| Adam Scott | 73-73-75-70—291 |
| Boo Weekley | 73-76-70-72—291 |
| Anthony Kim | 74-75-70-72—291 |
| Bart Bryant | 75-70-78-69—292 |
| a-Michael Thompson | 74-73-73-72—292 |
| Steve Stricker | 73-76-71-72—292 |
| Patrick Sheehan | 71-74-74-73—292 |
| Jeff Quinney | 79-70-70-73—292 |
| Scott Verplank | 72-72-74-74—292 |
| Aaron Baddeley | 74-73-71-74—292 |
| Pat Perez | 75-73-75-70—293 |
| Daniel Chopra | 73-75-75-70—293 |
| Padraig Harrington | 78-67-77-71—293 |
| Jonathan Mills | 72-75-75-71—293 |
| Justin Leonard | 75-72-75-71—293 |
| Andres Romero | 71-73-77-72—293 |
| Todd Hamilton | 74-74-73-72—293 |
| Joe Ogilvie | 71-76-73-73—293 |
| Robert Dinwiddie | 73-71-75-74—293 |
| Stuart Appleby | 69-70-79-75—293 |
| Jim Furyk | 74-71-73-75—293 |
| Oliver Wilson | 72-71-74-76—293 |
| Jarrod Lyle | 75-74-74-71—294 |
| John Rollins | 75-68-79-72—294 |
| Matt Kuchar | 73-73-76-72—294 |
| Dustin Johnson | 74-72-75-73—294 |
| Tim Clark | 73-72-74-75—294 |
| Ben Crane | 75-72-77-71—295 |
| Soren Hansen | 78-70-76-71—295 |
| Kevin Streelman | 68-77-78-72—295 |
| Martin Kaymer | 75-70-73-77—295 |
| Davis Love III | 72-69-76-78—295 |
| Stephen Ames | 74-74-77-71—296 |
| Rory Sabbatini | 73-72-75-76—296 |
| Nick Watney | 73-75-77-72—297 |
| a-Rickie Fowler | 70-79-76-72—297 |
| Alastair Forsyth | 76-73-74-74—297 |
| Brett Quigley | 73-72-77-75—297 |
| David Toms | 76-72-72-77—297 |
| John Mallinger | 73-75-78-72—298 |
| Vijay Singh | 71-78-76-73—298 |
| Paul Casey | 79-70-76-73—298 |
| Trevor Immelman | 75-73-72-78—298 |
| a-Derek Fathauer | 73-73-78-75—299 |
| D.A. Points | 74-71-77-77—299 |
| Andrew Dresser | 76-73-79-72—300 |
| Andrew Svoboda | 77-71-74-78—300 |
| Woody Austin | 72-72-77-79—300 |
| Jesper Parnevik | 77-72-77-75—301 |
| Ian Leggatt | 72-76-76-77—301 |
| Justin Hicks | 68-80-75-78—301 |
| Ross Mcgowan | 76-72-78-77—303 |
| Rich Beem | 74-74-80-76—304 |
| Chris Kirk | 75-74-78-77—304 |
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