If you’re into US Open predictions, here’s what you need to look for in terms of player qualities.
US Open time is also a time for predictions – or should I say, speculations? Can anybody predict the winner of a golf tournament? Especially something as big and volatile as a US Open?
It’s impossible – unless you are the Long Island Medium or the women who predicted Johnny Miller’s victory – to know who the winner of the 2016 US Open will be. But the history of the golf course and the winners in the past give us some clues.
Some of the greats of the game, even if they were not yet great when they won the title, won at Oakmont.
The list of legendary US Open champions starts with Tommy Armour (1927) and goes on to include Ben Hogan (1953), Jack Nicklaus (1962), Johnny Miller (1973), Larry Nelson (1983), Ernie Els (1994) and Angel Cabrera (2007).
More from Pro Golf Now
- Golf Rumors: LIV set to sign Masters Champion in stunning deal
- Fantasy Golf: Grant Thornton Invitational DFS Player Selections
- Brutal return leaves Will Zalatoris looking towards 2024
- Stars You Know at World Champions Cup Starts Thursday at Concession
- Fantasy Golf: An Early Look at the 2024 Masters Tournament
Armour was among the long list of Scottish golfers to emigrate to the U.S. in the early part of the 20th century. In addition to the US Open, he won the 1930 PGA and the 1931 British Open in his Hall of Fame career which included 22 additional titles.
Hogan was legendary before he got to Oakmont. But it was there that he won his last US Open the year when he won the Masters, the US Open and the British Open.
For Nicklaus, his first professional victory came at Oakmont, defeating Arnold Palmer in a playoff that stunned golf fans because they had little knowledge of Nicklaus. But everybody knew Palmer.
Miller had already won two PGA TOUR events, but he had not yet set the tour on fire with his notorious low scores. However, as pointed out by noted sportswriter Dan Jenkins, Miller birdied half the golf course in the final round. The next season he would win eight times and become leading money winner.
Nelson is an unsung three-time major champ. His second major came at Oakmont. The fact that he was a PGA TOUR winner at all is remarkable since he did not take up golf seriously until returning from military service in Vietnam.
When Els won his US Open at Oakmont, it was to be the first of four major championships – two US Opens and two British Opens – and 68 worldwide victories.

FanSided
Cabrera, who was little known when he won the US Open, went on to win the Masters.
Not every US Open winner at Oakmont is a household name. Like Sam Parks, Jr., in 1935. As it happened, he was a pro at a nearby club and was very familiar with the course because he had played it many times. His local knowledge was the key factor in his victory.
So that’s what’s happened in the past. What will happen next week?
It is unlikely that Oakmont will deliver less than a stellar player. It is also unlikely to give us is the kind of winner that the Olympic Club routinely delivers, taking nothing away from the champions there. Olympic, you see, dumps on the favorites, preferring anybody but the most popular superstars.
Jack Fleck beat Ben Hogan at Olympic. Billy Casper defeated Arnold Palmer. Scott Simpson took down Tom Watson. Lee Janzen won over Payne Stewart. And in 2012, Webb Simpson conquered Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell, two past US Open champs.
So don’t look for Oakmont to break your heart the way Olympic does. Look for a favorite.
If you are forced to make a US Open champion pick this year, load up on the Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson, Justin Rose types. Even, dare we say it, a Phil Mickelson or a Dustin Johnson. Pick someone popular, high up in the world rankings. Some who has real game.
Whoever holds the US Open trophy on Sunday, history tells us that it will be someone who is already a great player or someone who is about to become one.