Winning the US Open is one of the sport’s greatest honours, but what about the US Open cut rules? And just how many players make it? You’ve come to the right place. Here’s everything you need to know.
A history of the US Open cut line
The USGA has tweaked the cut line over the years for its most prestigious golf tournament.
The US Open implemented its first cut in 1965 when the tournament switched from a three-day event to a four-day event. Like at the Masters, the original cut rule allowed any players within 10 shots of the leader to advance to the weekend.
This meant there was no definitive number of players who could make the cut. At the 1996 tournament at Oakland Hills, 108 players made the cut, which was way over half of the 156-man field.
In 2011, the USGA then had away with the original cut rule, adjusting the system to have only the top 60 players advance in their quest to toughen up the tournament.
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What are the current US Open cut rules?
The 36-hole cut rule is now much more straightforward – but it is different across the other major championships.
To make the cut after 36 holes and advance to the weekend at the US Open, players need to be inside the top 60 – including ties – after the first two rounds.
That is 10 spots fewer than the Open Championship and the PGA Championship, which allows the lowest 70 players into the weekend.
The number still fluctuates year on year, but it is highly unlikely that we will ever see anything like the 108 that made it through at Oakland Hills way back when.
In recent years, that number has been anywhere between 61 and 79, with the higher end of the scale coming at the 2019 edition of the tournament. Only a year later, during the COVID-19 pandemic, only 61 players made it through to the weekend at Winged Foot.
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In 2022, 64 players made the cut at the 2022 US Open at the Country Club at Brookline, while 71 players made the cut at Torrey Pines in 2021. In 2023 at Los Angeles Country Club when Wyndham Clark won his first major title, 65 players made the cut, and anyone shooting 2-over-par through the first two rounds got to play the final two rounds.
In terms of records, there is a chance that both the youngest and oldest marks could be unbeatable.
The great Sam Snead is the oldest player to make the cut at a US Open since World War II. He was 61 years and 19 days when he did so at the 1973 edition. Tom Watson is the only other 60-something to do so.
At the other end of the scale, two 17-year-olds have made the cut at the US Open. Beau Hossler was exactly 17 years and 3 months when he made the cut in 2012, and he finished T29, exactly like Snead did five decades prior.
Michael Thorbjornsen is the other man to have made the cut before his 18th birthday, achieving the feat in 2019, but he was five months older than Hossler.
In 2024, 74 players made the cut at the US Open at Pinehurst Resort, which was won by Bryson DeChambeau in dramatic fashion against Rory McIlroy. Players at 5-over-par after two rounds made the cut, which suggests the challenge was pretty stiff in North Carolina at one of golf fans’ favourite major championship venues.
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Now have your say
What do you make of the cut rule at the US Open? Is it right, or should it be changed? Let us know your thoughts with a post on X, formerly Twitter!
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