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VIDEO: Tiger's Pebble dash, record-breaking Rory, Arnie and the 'fat boy'... and a rubber snake! The 10 greatest US Opens

Published: 04:30 EST, 11 June 2013 | Updated: 10:38 EST, 11 June 2013

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The 113th US Open will be staged at Merion this week. Here, Sportsmail picks out 10 of the most memorable tournaments.

1 - 1913, Brookline. Winner: Francis Ouimet

Can you imagine a local caddie (with a 10-year-old carrying his bag) beating the likes of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to the US Open this year? Even Hollywood would struggle to come up with a storyline like that - which is why it lapped up the tale of Francis Ouimet, who pulled off a miracle akin to that 100 years ago.

In what became known as The Greatest Game Ever Played, the 20-year-old local amateur took on golf's two superstars of the day, the British duo of five-time Open champion Harry Vardon and the huge-hitting Ted Ray, and beat both in a play-off.

Ouimet's victory shocked the world, and ushered in a century of American dominance at the major championships, with the likes of Jones, Nelson, Hogan, Palmer, Nicklaus, Watson and Woods following in the footsteps of 'the father of American amateur golf.'

American hero: Francis Ouimet on the roof of the Savoy in London in 1926

2 - 1950, Merion. Winner: Ben Hogan

In February 1949, Ben Hogan was finally emerging as the world's best golfer after years of hard toil and watching his Texan contemporary and rival, Byron Nelson, clean up the big prizes. But with three majors to his name, the Hawk was on top of the world at last. Then came the crash.

Hogan suffered horrific injuries in a head-on collision with a bus. Doctors said he may never walk again, let alone play golf after suffering a double-fracture of the pelvis, a fractured collar bone, a left ankle fracture, a chipped rib, and near-fatal blood clots.

After life-saving surgery, the famously bloody-minded Hogan somehow resumed playing again that November. The next June, 16 months after his near-fatal crash and in agony due to the injuries that would never fully heal, Hogan won his second US Open in a play-off against Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio. It became known as the 'Miracle of Merion'.

3 - 1962, Oakmont. Winner: Jack Nicklaus

'Everybody says I'm the favourite, but you'd better watch the fat boy,' Arnold Palmer said of Nicklaus before play got under way at Oakmont, just 35 miles away from his home town of Latrobe. And, sadly for Palmer, he was spot on.

Nicklaus made up five shots with 11 holes to play in the final round and then saw Palmer miss from 20ft to win on the 18th. In the play-off, Nicklaus claimed an early four-shot lead and held on to win 71-74 in what many consider to be a changing of the guard.

4 - 1964, Congressional. Winner: Ken Venturi

You can be sure the likes of Lee Westwood, Luke Donald and Justin Rose would do almost anything to finally win that elusive first major, but it's unlikely that trio - or anyone - would risk what Ken Venturi did to land his national championship: his life.

The Californian was a supreme talent with a string of excruciating near misses in the majors, whose game - and life - spiralled into a tail-spin after his defeat by Arnold Palmer in the 1960 Masters. But somehow he hauled himself into contention in the searing 100 degree heat at Congressional.

Trailing by two strokes after the third round, Venturi was warned he was suffering from heatstroke, and that trying to complete the tournament might kill him. Venturi ignored the advice, somehow shot 70 (which he insists he can remember nothing of) and beat Tommy Jacobs by four strokes, whispering 'My God, I've won the Open' to his caddie before being helped off the final green.

5 - 1971, Merion. Winner: Lee Trevino

As mind games go, this brain-teaser from Lee Trevino is hard to beat.

Having beaten Jack Nicklaus to the prize at Oak Hill in 1968, Supermex went head-to-head with the Golden Bear for the second time in three years at Merion, and both missed putts to win on the last hole of the final round.

And then came Mex's Merry moment. As the two giants waited on the first tee ahead of the 18-hole play-off required to win the US Open, Trevino pulled a rubber snake from his bag and teased Nicklaus. Ever gracious, Jack enjoyed the joke but there was only one man who enjoyed the round. Trevino shot 68 to win by four and inflict Nicklaus' only play-off defeat in a major.

Legends: Lee Trevino (left) shares a laugh with his old rival Jack Nicklaus (right) in 2004

6 - 1982, Pebble Beach. Winner: Tom Watson

Watson found himself battling for the title with Jack Nicklaus, who had started the day three behind but compiled five birdies in a row from the third. Nicklaus was safely in the clubhouse on four under when Watson, on the same score, hit his tee shot on the par-three 17th into heavy rough.

'Get it close,' Watson's caddie Bruce Edwards told him, to which Watson replied: 'Get it close? Hell, I'm going to sink it.' Sink it he did for an unlikely birdie, and another on the 18th sealed a two-shot win.

7 - 1999, Pinehurst. Winner: Payne Stewart

Stewart had missed out by a single shot to Lee Janzen the year before but was determined not to fall short again. He held a one-shot lead over playing partner Phil Mickelson going into the final round, with the left-hander wearing a beeper in case his pregnant wife went into labour.

The tournament came down to the 72nd hole and, when Mickelson missed from 25ft for a winning birdie, Stewart holed from 15 feet for a decisive par before punching the air in triumph. The colourful American was killed in a plane crash a few months later.

8 - 2000, Pebble Beach. Winner: Tiger Woods

Woods' victory may have lacked drama, but the quality of the golf made up for that as the American left the rest of the field trailing in his wake. Only one shot clear after an opening 65, Woods was six ahead at halfway and 10 in front going into the final round, where a closing 67 saw him finish 15 shots clear on 12 under par.

He was the only player to finish under par, with his nearest 'challengers' - Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez - finishing three over. Woods would go on to complete the 'Tiger Slam' by winning the Open Championship and US PGA Championship later that year and the 2001 Masters.

Unstoppable: Tiger Woods broke all number of records at Pebble Beach in 2000

9 - 2006, Winged Foot. Winner: Geoff Ogilvy

The 1974 US Open was known as the 'Massacre at Winged Foot', so hard did the course outside New York play, and the tortuous end to this edition 32 years later sounded the death-knell for Colin Montgomerie's chances of winning a major, and possibly also for Phil Mickelson's dreams of landing his national championship.

Needing a par on the 18th to take the title at his 58th attempt (although he did not know this at the time), Monty nailed his tee shot down the middle of the fairway but had to wait an age for playing partner Vijay Singh, who drove into the woods. In that time he switched from a six-iron to seven-iron and found deep rough. The Scot chipped on then three-putted for a double-bogey six that he admits still wakes him up in the middle of the night.

Unfancied Aussie Geoff Ogilvy also missed the final green but got up and down for a closing par to put the pressure on Mickelson, who knew he needed just a four for the title. His drive was wild, and his hack at the green hit the trees before he found sand with his third. Another six handed the prize to Ogilvy for his only major to date. But that's one more than Monty, of course.

10 - 2011, Congressional. Winner: Rory McIlroy

Another emphatic win, but this time all the more remarkable given what had happened just two months earlier. Leading by four shots with a round to play in the Masters, McIlroy collapsed to a closing 80 at Augusta National that had many questioning his ability to recover.

Those questions were answered emphatically as McIlroy led from start to finish to win by eight shots, breaking numerous records along the way. His 16-under-par total of 268 was the lowest in tournament history by four shots.