5 most impressive comeback victories in U.S. Open history

Big Sunday comebacks are what separate a memorable U.S. Open from one that lives in highlight packages forever. A handful of players have turned impossible deficits into major championships on golf’s toughest setup.

>If anyone other than Wyndham Clark is going to win the 126th U.S. Open, he will make this list. That’s because Clark, the 2023 U.S. Open champ, is at 7-under par and six shots clear of the field heading into Sunday’s final round at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.

>Four players, including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, stand at 1-under. Four others are at even par.

>MORE: 4 all-time U.S. Open underdogs who crashed the party

>This list looks back at the biggest and most dramatic final-round rallies in U.S. Open history. It focuses on players who either erased deficits late on Sunday or came from well off the pace starting the last day.

Arnold Palmer’s 7-shot charge at Cherry HillsArnold Palmer’s 1960 U.S. Open win at Cherry Hills is still the gold standard for final-round rallies. Trailing by seven shots after 54 holes, Palmer arrived at the first tee Sunday needing a miracle. He promptly tried to manufacture one, telling a reporter his plan was to shoot 65.

>Then he went out and did it. Palmer drove the green on the short par-4 1st, poured in the eagle putt and shot 30 on the front nine on his way to that 65 and the title. He ran down a leaderboard that included Ben Hogan and a 20-year-old amateur named Jack Nicklaus, flipping what looked like a foregone conclusion into a defining moment of his career.

>Palmer’s seven-shot comeback remains the largest deficit ever erased to win the U.S. Open and set a template for every aggressive Sunday charge that followed.

>MORE: 12 greatest all-time U.S. Open clutch finishes

Johnny Miller’s 63 from six back at OakmontJohnny Miller walked to the first tee at Oakmont in 1973 six shots behind the leaders and left with a 63 that still echoes across major championship history. On a course that was chewing up everyone else, Miller hit all 18 greens in regulation and needed only 29 putts.

>Starting the day at even par, Miller shot 32 on the front and kept pressing, stuffing irons and brushing in one birdie after another. His 8-under 63 is not just the lowest final round ever recorded in a U.S. Open (it has been matched but not eclipsed), it moved him from well off the radar into the champion’s circle by a single shot.

>Every time a player talks about “going low” on a brutal U.S. Open setup, the comparison point is Miller at Oakmont. It is the purest example of a player using a single round to flip an entire championship.

Tom Watson’s late surge over Jack Nicklaus at Pebble BeachTom Watson’s 1982 win at Pebble Beach is remembered for one swing, but the context is a quiet Sunday comeback against Jack Nicklaus in full hunt mode. The two entered the final round tied before Nicklaus posted his score ahead of Watson, effectively putting the number everyone in the field had to chase.

>Watson was tied with Nicklaus when he came to the par-3 17th, left of the green in deep rough. His caddie told him to get it close; Watson replied that he would make it. He clipped the chip perfectly, it dropped for birdie, and a closing birdie at 18 gave Watson a two-shot win.

>It was not a massive stroke comeback like Palmer or Miller, but in terms of late-round swings under pressure, Watson’s finish is as ruthless as any in U.S. Open history.

Tiger Woods survives and surges at Torrey PinesThe 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines is remembered for Tiger Woods’ broken leg and the playoff with Rocco Mediate, but the final round itself was a comeback that kept the whole saga alive. Woods began Sunday in the lead but quickly found himself chasing after a rough stretch that included bogeys and missed fairways, while Mediate surged ahead.

>By the time Woods reached the back nine, he was playing from behind, grimacing on every swing and needing birdies just to extend the week. He delivered the most famous one at the 72nd hole, rolling in a must-make birdie putt to force an 18-hole playoff. Woods would win the playoff, but not before nailing another must-make birdie putt on the last hole to force a 19th hole.

>The combination of physical condition, course difficulty and scoreboard pressure make that Sunday claw-back one of the sport’s most remarkable survival acts, even if the deficit on paper was smaller than some others on this list.

Justin Rose grinds past Phil Mickelson at MerionPhil Mickelson held the 54-hole lead in the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion, and for much of Sunday it felt like he might finally grab the national championship that had slipped away from him so many times. Justin Rose started the day two shots back and spent the first half of the round just trying to survive a course that was yielding nothing.

>Rose’s comeback was a slow squeeze, not a blitz. While others, including Mickelson, stumbled with big numbers, Rose hit disciplined shots, took his pars, and picked off birdies where they were available. A towering 4-iron into the 18th green and a cold-blooded two-putt par put him at 1 over, good enough to edge Mickelson and Jason Day by two.

>In U.S. Open terms, coming from multiple shots back on a course that tough, in those conditions, is the modern blueprint for a patient Sunday comeback.