The U.S. Open: The 10 Best Players From Each Decade
By Bill Felber
The U.S. Open: 2010 to 2021
Of the 11 players who divided the dozen championships contested since 2010, two – Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm – did not complete enough tournaments for consideration. Almost by default, that leaves the top spot to the only two-time winner since 2010, Brooks Koepka.
His overall margin is a persuasive one over decade runner-up and 2011 champion Rory McIlroy.
Aside from his 2017 and 2018 victories, Koepka tied for fourth in 2014, was runner-up to Gary Woodland in 2019, and tied for fourth again in 2021.
Top 10 players of the 2010 to 2021 Era
1. Brooks Koepka, -1.56
2. Rory McIlroy, -1.15
3. Dustin Johnson, -1.01
4. Graeme McDowell, -1.00
5. Louis Oosthuizen, -0.99
6. Henrik Stenson, -0.95
7. Jason Day, -0.80
8. Charl Schwartzel, -0.74
9. Patrick Reed, -0.70
10. Hideki Matsuyama, -0.68
11. Jason Dufner, -0.68
McIlroy’s 2011 victory is his only top five, but he was top 10 in 2015, 2020, and 2021. Johnson was third in 2018, fourth in 2014, second in 2015, sixth in 2020, and eighth in 2010.
But poor performances in 2013 and 2019 sabotage his overall score just enough to drop him behind McIlroy.
What about Mickelson? Despite a tie for second in 2013, the last full decade of his career was not generally a good one for Mickelson’s Open record.
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He finished outside the top 25 seven times, creating a composite dominance rating of +0.28. As a reminder, a rating of 0.00 is average…and since golf is a game where less is more, that puts Mickelson about a quarter standard deviation worse than the Open average for the decade.
Woods Is not considered because he completed only four Opens during the period. Injuries cost him starts in 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2021, and he missed the cut in 2015, 2018, and 2020.