U.S. Senior Open Scoring Records

The U.S. Senior Open is the biggest tournament in men's senior golf (where "senior" is defined as 50-and-over). The tournament was founded by the United States Golf Association in 1980, when Roberto De Vicenzo became its first winner. Do you know which golfers have scored lowest in this senior major?

Like all USGA championships, the U.S. Senior Open has a reputation for tough golf course set-ups. But there are some golfers who, over the years, got the better of the golf courses.

Here are the U.S. Senior Open scoring records for 72 holes, 72 holes in relation to par, 18 holes and 9 holes:

Lowest Score, 72 Holes

These are all the golfers so far who have finished below 270 in a U.S. Senior Open:
  • 261 — Steve Stricker (62-64-66-69), The Warren Golf Club at Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, 2019
  • 264 — Kenny Perry (65-64-67-68), Salem Country Club, Peabody, Massachusetts, 2017
  • 266 — Kirk Triplett (62-67-66-71), Salem Country Club, Peabody, Massachusetts, 2017
  • 267 — Hale Irwin (66-71-65-65), Saucon Valley Country Club (Old Course), Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 2000
  • 267 — Kenny Perry (67-73-64-63), Omaha (Nebraska) Country Club, 2013
  • 267 — Jerry Kelly (64-64-70-69), The Warren Golf Club at Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, 2019
  • 267 — David Toms (62-67-70-68), The Warren Golf Club at Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, 2019
  • 268 — Fred Funk (68-67-68-65), Crooked Stick Golf Club, Carmel, Indiana, 2009
  • 269 — Olin Browne (64-69-65-71), Inverness Club, Toledo, Ohio, 2011
Note that there are three golfers on the above list who did not win the tournament. Triplett in 2017, Perry in 2013 and Toms in 2019 were all runners-up.

The first U.S. Senior Open golfer to finish under 270 was Irwin in 2000. The scoring record that Irwin broke at the time belonged to Gary Player, who finished at 270 in 1987.

Most Strokes Under Par, 72 Holes

Hale Irwin was the first golfer to finish more than 14 strokes under par when he set this record in 2000. Nine years later, Fred Funk breached a new milestone, becoming the first to finish 20-under:
  • 20-under — Fred Funk, Crooked Stick Golf Club, Carmel, Indiana, 2009
  • 19-under — Steve Stricker, The Warren Golf Club at Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, 2019
  • 17-under — Hale Irwin, Saucon Valley Country Club (Old Course), Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 2000
  • 16-under — Kenny Perry, Salem Country Club, Peabody, Massachusetts, 2017
  • 15-under — Olin Browne, Inverness Club, Toledo, Ohio, 2011

Lowest Score, 18 Holes

Nobody in tournament history had gone lower than 63 until Loren Roberts first did it in 2006, and multiple others have joined him since then:
  • 62 — Loren Roberts, third round, Prairie Dunes Country Club, Hutchinson, Kansas, 2006
  • 62 — Kirk Triplett, first round, Salem Country Club, Peabody, Massachusetts, 2017
  • 62 — Brandt Jobe, third round, Salem Country Club, Peabody, Massachusetts, 2017
  • 62 — Steve Stricker, first round, The Warren Golf Club at Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, 2019
  • 62 — David Toms, first round, The Warren Golf Club at Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, 2019
Who was the first golfer to score 63 in a U.S. Open round? That was Don Pooley in the 2002 tournament — just four years before Roberts recorded the first 62. At the time Roberts lowered the record in 2006, only one other golfer (Allen Doyle in 2005) had carded a 63.

Of the golfers listed above who recorded 62s, only Stricker won the U.S. Senior Open in which he posted that score. Also note that all of the 62s so far recorded took place on par-70 golfer courses, making them all rounds of 8-under-par.

Lowest Score, 9 Holes

  • 28 — Tom Kite, first nine, first round, Indianwood Golf & Country Club, Lake Orion, Michigan, 2012
  • 28 — Kenny Perry, second nine, third round, Del Paso Country Club, Sacramento, California, 2015
  • 29 — Olin Browne, second nine, third round, Inverness Club, Toledo, Ohio, 2011
  • 29 — Jay Don Blake, first nine, second round, Indianwood Golf & Country Club, Lake Orion, Michigan, 2012
  • 29 — Brandt Jobe, second nine, third round, Salem Country Club, Peabody, Massachusetts, 2017
  • 29 — David Toms, second nine, first round, The Warren Golf Club at Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, 2019
The first sub-30 nine-hole score was posted by Browne in 2011, then, the very next year, Kite was the first to record a 28. Who was the first to shoot 30 over a U.S. Senior Open nine? That was Richard King in 1983.

Photo credit: "Steve Stricker" by TourProGolfClubs is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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