Not all U.S. Opens are created equal, but many do look similar. You generally get high rough, tight fairways, ballooned scores and very angry golfers. Four of the last five winners of this tournament have been likely eventual hall of famers, which proves the event's difficulty and the quality of its champion.

But the most consistent golfer in that time span has been somebody who has never won it: Jason Day.

The one-time major winner has made the cut each of the last five years and has a startling four (!) top-10 finishes in that time. That is by far the most of anybody who has teed it up.

All statistics below are regarding U.S. Opens held from 2012-16.

Most U.S. Open cuts made

  • Matt Kuchar: 5
  • Sergio Garcia: 5
  • Adam Scott: 5
  • Jason Day: 5

Let's start here. Day joins four other tremendous ball-strikers on a list of the only players who have gone 5-for-5 in the last set of U.S. Opens. There are others like Billy Horschel, Kevin Na and Ian Poulter who are perfect in making the cut in the U.S. Opens for which they qualify (four each), but you can't win the tournament if you're not in the field. Kuchar, Garcia, Scott and Day have been the most impressive on that front.

Most U.S. Open top-10 finishes

  • Jason Day: 4
  • Jason Dufner: 3
  • Dustin Johnson: 3
  • Adam Scott: 2
  • Branden Grace: 2
  • Brandt Snedeker: 2
  • Ernie Els: 2
  • Jim Furyk: 2
  • Rickie Fowler: 2
  • Shane Lowry: 2

You might be surprised to see Dufner's name at the top here, but you shouldn't be. He's a ball-striking savant, and he finished near the top at Oakmont (2016), Merion (2013) and Olympic Club (2012).

Day and Johnson are horses that you expect to finish in the top 10 no matter where they're playing. Day has a pair of top-five finishes in that span, and Johnson actually has three in a row in the top five.

Top 10 finishes is also not the only way to look at this thing, though. What about average finish on the leaderboard in cuts made over the last five years? That list changes slightly, but you see a lot of the usual suspects. If a player missed a cut, I gave him a 70th place finish for that missed cut. If he missed the tournament altogether, he wasn't penalized.

Best U.S. Open average finish in cuts made (min. 3)

  • Steve Stricker: 14.6
  • Jason Day: 16.4
  • Adam Scott: 18.2
  • Billy Horschel: 21
  • Kevin Na: 23.5
  • Jason Dufner: 24.3
  • Matt Kuchar: 25
  • Sergio Garcia: 28.2
  • Jim Furyk: 29.5
  • Justin Rose: 29.7
  • Dustin Johnson: 29.9

Stricker has not played in each of the last two years, but before that he finished in the top 21 for three straight tournaments from 2013-15. Day's run is more impressive because he's been doing it longer and has four top 10s compared to Stricker's one. Scott has four top 20s, and Horschel has three top 25s.

All of these golfers have been incredibly impressive at recent years at U.S. Opens, and though I don't believe all of them have the firepower to win this event, many will be in the thick of it on the weekend at Erin Hills.