The 2021 United States Open Championship was the 121st U.S. Open, the national open golf championship of the United States. It was a 72-hole stroke play tournament that was played June 17–20 on the South Course at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, a community of San Diego, California. The South Course previously hosted in 2008, which was won by Tiger Woods in a playoff.

The field consisted of 156 players, with 88 gaining their place through automatic exemption criteria and the remaining 68 making it through qualifying, including two alternates. The defending champion was Bryson DeChambeau, who won the 120th U.S. Open, which had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, at Winged Foot in September 2020.

Jon Rahm made a birdie on each of the final two holes to become the first U.S. Open champion from Spain and win his first major championship. Rahm finished one shot ahead of South African Louis Oosthuizen, who had held a share of the lead going into the final round. Two strokes further back in third place was American Harris English. DeChambeau had moved into the lead midway through the final round, but fell away with two bogeys, a double-bogey and a quadruple-bogey on the back-nine to finish outside the top twenty. During the tournament, Englishman Richard Bland became the oldest player to hold a share of the 36-hole lead in a U.S. Open; he finished tied for 50th place.

Course

Torrey Pines Golf Course is situated in the La Jolla community of San Diego and has two 18-hole golf courses, the North Course and the South Course. The U.S. Open was held on the South Course, which previously hosted the championship in 2008, when Tiger Woods defeated Rocco Mediate on the first sudden-death extra hole after they remained tied following an 18-hole playoff. The Farmers Insurance Open, a PGA Tour event formerly known as the San Diego Open, is held annually over both courses.

Length of the course for previous major: , par 71 – 2008 U.S. Open

Field The field for the U.S. Open is made up of players who gain entry through qualifying events and those who are exempt from qualifying. The exemption criteria include provision for recent major champions, winners of major amateur events, and leading players in the world rankings. Qualifying is in two stages, local and final, with some players being exempted though to final qualifying.

Exemptions This list details the exemption criteria for the 2021 U.S. Open and the players who qualified under them; any additional criteria under which players were exempt is indicated in parentheses.

1. Recent winners of the U.S. Open (2011–2020)

Bryson DeChambeau (2,10,11,15) Dustin Johnson (2,5,10,11,15) Martin Kaymer Brooks Koepka (6,15) Rory McIlroy (2,8,10,15) Justin Rose (15) Webb Simpson (2,10,15) Jordan Spieth (7,15) Gary Woodland (15)

2. The leading ten players, and those tying for tenth place, in the 2020 U.S. Open

Harris English (10,15) Tony Finau (10,15) Zach Johnson Louis Oosthuizen (15) Xander Schauffele (10,15) Justin Thomas (6,8,10,11,15) Matthew Wolff (15) Will Zalatoris (15)

3. The winner of the 2020 U.S. Amateur

Tyler Strafaci

4. The runner-up in the 2020 U.S. Amateur

Ollie Osborne (a)

5. Recent winners of the Masters Tournament (2017–2021)

Sergio García (15) Hideki Matsuyama (10,15) Patrick Reed (10,15)

Tiger Woods did not play.

6. Recent winners of the PGA Championship (2016–2021)

Phil Mickelson (15,18) Collin Morikawa (10,11,15) Jimmy Walker

7. Recent winners of The Open Championship (2016–2019)

Shane Lowry (15) Francesco Molinari Henrik Stenson

8. Recent winners of The Players Championship (2019–2021)

9. The winner of the 2020 BMW PGA Championship

Tyrrell Hatton (10,15)

10. All players who qualified for the 2020 Tour Championship

Abraham Ancer (15) Daniel Berger (15) Cameron Champ Lanto Griffin Billy Horschel (15) Viktor Hovland (15) Mackenzie Hughes Im Sung-jae (15) Kevin Kisner (15) Marc Leishman (15) Sebastián Muñoz Kevin Na (15) Joaquín Niemann (15) Ryan Palmer (15) Jon Rahm (11,15) Scottie Scheffler (15) Cameron Smith (15) Brendon Todd

11. Winners of multiple PGA Tour events from the originally scheduled date of the 2020 U.S. Open (June 21, 2020) to the start of the 2021 tournament

Patrick Cantlay (15) Stewart Cink (15) Jason Kokrak (15)

12. The leading 10 points winners from the "European Qualifying Series" who are not otherwise exempt

Marcus Armitage Richard Bland Dave Coupland Thomas Detry Adrian Meronk Guido Migliozzi Edoardo Molinari Jordan Smith Matthew Southgate

Mikko Korhonen did not play.

13. The winner of the 2020 Amateur Championship

Joe Long (a)

14. The winner of the Mark H. McCormack Medal in 2020

Takumi Kanaya

15. The leading 60 players on the Official World Golf Ranking as of May 24, 2021

Christiaan Bezuidenhout Sam Burns Paul Casey Corey Conners Matt Fitzpatrick Tommy Fleetwood Brian Harman Russell Henley Garrick Higgo Max Homa Matt Jones Kim Si-woo Matt Kuchar Lee Kyoung-hoon Robert MacIntyre Carlos Ortiz Victor Perez Adam Scott Kevin Streelman Matt Wallace Bubba Watson Lee Westwood

16. The leading 60 players on the Official World Golf Ranking if not otherwise exempt as of June 7, 2021

Charley Hoffman Ian Poulter Bernd Wiesberger

17. The leading player from each of the 2020–21 Asian Tour, 2020–21 PGA Tour of Australasia and 2021–22 Sunshine Tour Orders of Merit

Brad Kennedy Wilco Nienaber Wade Ormsby

18. Special exemptions

Qualifiers Initially, eleven final qualifying events were scheduled, nine of which are in the United States: In April, a further venue was added in South Carolina. A final qualifier scheduled for June 7 at RattleSnake Point Golf Club in Milton, Ontario, was canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions in Canada.

Date Location Venue Field Spots Qualifiers May24 Hokota, Ibaraki, Japan The Royal Golf Club 14 2 Yosuke Asaji, Ryo Ishikawa May24 Dallas, Texas Dallas Athletic Club 115 10 Luis Fernando Barco (L), Paul Barjon, Mario Carmona (L), Eric Cole (L), Álvaro Ortiz, Matti Schmid (a), Matthew Sharpstene (a), Hayden Springer (L), Johannes Veerman, Kyle Westmoreland (L) Jun7 Milton, Ontario, Canada RattleSnake Point Golf Club – – Event cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic Jun7 Rolling Hills, California Rolling Hills Country Club 90 5 Roy Cootes (L), Rikuya Hoshino, Chan Kim, Taylor Montgomery, Justin Suh Jun7 Jupiter, Florida The Bear's Club 78 6 Thomas Aiken, Luis Gagne (L), Fabián Gómez, Branden Grace, Andrew Kozan (a,L), Patrick Rodgers Jun7 Atlanta, Georgia Piedmont Driving Club 72 5 Hayden Buckley, Rick Lamb, Spencer Ralston (a), Davis Shore (L), Greyson Sigg Jun7 Rockville, Maryland Woodmont Country Club 71 4 Chris Baker, Chris Crawford (L), Taylor Pendrith, Dylan Wu Jun7 Purchase, New York Century Country Club and Old Oaks Country Club 79 4 Jimmy Hervol (L), Andy Pope, Cameron Young, Zach Zaback (L) Jun7 Columbus, Ohio Brookside Golf & Country Club and The Lakes Golf & Country Club 120 16 Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Wyndham Clark, Pierceson Coody (a), Dylan Frittelli, Adam Hadwin, Tom Hoge, Michael Johnson (L), Kang Sung-hoon, Martin Laird, Peter Malnati, J. T. Poston, Chez Reavie, Charl Schwartzel, Brendan Steele, Erik van Rooyen, Jhonattan Vegas Jun7 Springfield, Ohio Springfield Country Club 77 7 Bo Hoag, Troy Merritt, Dylan Meyer (L), Carson Schaake (L), Robby Shelton, Brian Stuard, Sahith Theegala (L) Jun7 Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Long Cove Club 53 5 Akshay Bhatia, Wilson Furr (L), John Huh, Sam Ryder, J. J. Spaun Jun7 Richland, Washington Meadow Springs Country Club 45 2 Stephen Allan (L), Joe Highsmith (a,L)

Alternates who gained entry The following players gained a place in the field having finished as the leading alternates in the specified final qualifying events: Cole Hammer (a, Columbus) – replaced Korhonen Zack Sucher (Hilton Head) – took the final spot that was held open until the conclusion of the Palmetto Championship

Round summaries First round Thursday, June 17, 2021 Friday, June 18, 2021

Fog delayed the start by 90 minutes and, as a result, 36 players did not complete their opening round before play was suspended due to darkness. Russell Henley led with a 4-under-par round of 67, with Louis Oosthuizen also on 4-under-par with two holes to play. Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Francesco Molinari were a stroke behind after rounds of 68. Defending champion, Bryson DeChambeau, had a round of 73 while PGA champion Phil Mickelson scored 75. Play resumed early on Friday, with Oosthuizen finishing with two pars to join Henley at 4-under-par.

PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Russell Henley 67 −4 Louis OosthuizenT3 Rafa Cabrera-Bello 68 −3 Francesco MolinariT5 Hayden Buckley 69 −2 Rikuya Hoshino Brooks Koepka Hideki Matsuyama Jon Rahm Xander Schauffele

Second round Friday, June 18, 2021

First-round co-leader Russell Henley took the outright lead at six-under after hitting his approach shot to the par-3 8th hole (his 17th) to seven feet and making the putt for birdie. On the par-5 9th, his last of the round, he missed a four-foot putt for par to suffer his first bogey of the round and fall back to five-under following a one-under 70. Richard Bland, making his first U.S. Open appearance in 12 years, made three birdies in a five-hole stretch on his closing nine to also get to six-under before a bogey at the 8th. At the age of 48, Bland became the oldest player to hold a share of the 36-hole lead in U.S. Open history.

Matthew Wolff, runner-up in 2020, did not make a bogey over his last 16 holes and two-putted for birdie on the par-5 18th after reaching the green in two shots; he shot 68 (−3) and finished the round at four-under for the tournament, tied for third with Louis Oosthuizen and a shot off the lead. Oosthuizen was two-over on his round through 13 holes before birdies on the 14th and 18th to shoot even-par 71.

Bubba Watson did not record a par over his last seven holes, making five birdies and two bogeys for a round of 67 (−4), tied for lowest of the day with Bland, Collin Morikawa, and Mackenzie Hughes. Jon Rahm, less than two weeks after being forced to withdraw from the Memorial Tournament after testing positive for COVID-19, birdied the 18th to complete a one-under round and tie Watson at three-under for the tournament, in a tie for fifth place. Two-time champion Brooks Koepka got to within one shot of the lead after two birdies in his first four holes but made five bogeys the rest of the round to fall back to even-par.

The 36-hole cut came at 146 (+4). Notables to miss the cut included past champions Justin Rose and Webb Simpson. Hayden Buckley, who began the round tied for fifth place, shot 11-over 82 to miss the cut by five. None of the nine amateurs made the cut.

PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Richard Bland 70-67=137 −5 Russell Henley 67-70=137T3 Louis Oosthuizen 67-71=138 −4 Matthew Wolff 70-68=138T5 Jon Rahm 69-70=139 −3 Bubba Watson 72-67=139T7 Mackenzie Hughes 73-67=140 −2 Xander Schauffele 69-71=140 Kevin Streelman 71-69=140T10 Guido Migliozzi 71-70=141 −1 Patrick Rodgers 70-71=141 Scottie Scheffler 72-69=141

Third round Saturday, June 19, 2021

Louis Oosthuizen made a 51-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole to tie Russell Henley and Mackenzie Hughes for the 54-hole lead at five-under. Hughes made his own 63-foot putt for eagle on the 13th, then holed out from five feet for birdie on 18 to shoot 68 (−3). Hughes became the first Canadian to hold the lead after the third round at the U.S. Open. Henley, co-leader after the first two rounds, holed out from a greenside bunker for birdie on the par-3 11th and saved par from a bunker on the last hole to shoot even-par.

Rory McIlroy made four birdies on the back-nine, including a chip-in from the rough to the right of the green on the 12th, and tied for the lowest round of the day at 67 (−4). He finished at three-under, two shots off the lead. Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau did not make a bogey in a three-under round of 68 to tie McIlroy for fourth place.