The US Open playoff format is now a two-hole aggregate-score playoff, and if the players are still tied after those two holes, it moves to sudden death. That is the rule that decides a championship when regulation ends without a winner.
Readers are searching for it because the US Open still carries one of golf’s sharpest tie-break questions, and the answer is not the same across the men’s majors. In the four championships recognized here, there have been 84 playoffs overall: 33 at the US Open, 21 at the British Open Championship, 18 at the Masters and 13 at the PGA Championship since it moved to stroke play in 1958.
The difference is in the math. The Masters goes straight to sudden death. The British Open Championship and the PGA Championship both use a three-hole aggregate-score playoff, then sudden death if the tie remains. The US Open cuts that to two holes before the playoff turns to sudden death, which makes every shot count but still gives players more than one hole to settle the title.
That choice also answers why the US Open no longer feels like the marathon it once did. Tiger Woods beat Rocco Mediate on the 19th hole of the US Open playoff at Torrey Pines in 2008, a result that came from an older, longer format. The current setup is shorter by design, and it is built to reach a conclusion faster if the first two holes do not produce one.
That is where the friction sits: the US Open can still stretch into sudden death, but only after the two-hole aggregate leaves no separation. In practice, that means the playoff starts with a small sample and ends with one hole at a time until someone wins outright, a structure that keeps the championship moving while preserving a final decider if the tie survives the opener.
The next time the US Open ends tied after 72 holes, there is no mystery about what follows. Two holes first, then sudden death if needed, and the player who handles that briefest test best walks away with the title.
