Whether it was the Massacre of Winged Foot in ’74, or the broccoli greens of Chambers Bay in ’15, we’ve seen it all at the United States’ national championship.
The US Open is regarded as the toughest test in the sport. From Oakmont to Brookline and Pinehurst, players are challenged in several different ways across several different layouts.
Are you one of those who enjoys the carnage and watching the best players in the world hack out of knee-deep rough? Or do you think this is no fun to watch at all?
Here is where we stand on the US Open difficulty debate…
‘It’s sadism but it’s fine – for one week a year’
There’s a little bit of a sadist in all of us, really, writes Alex Perry. If there wasn’t, we wouldn’t be obsessed with this silly little game of ours.
And the US Open is the one tournament where we get to let that side out and allow ourselves to enjoy watching the very best in the world suffer from the same struggles that you and I do every weekend.
Missed the fairway by a foot? Good luck. Wrongsided yourself on a green? Take your bogey and be thankful.
We see birdie-fests every single week on tour and – while watching the very best to have ever played the sport strut their stuff is why we tune in – for one week of the year at least, it’s a satisfying dose of realism.
But while watching your mate slog round your local on a drizzly Wednesday afternoon is painful to watch, seeing the pros do it can be utterly compelling as they try to mastermind their way to a slightly-over-par finishing score that will see them lift that famous trophy.
Either that or they just have a full Phil-Mickelson-at-Shinnecock meltdown and leave us all with our heads in our hands.
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‘US Open difficulty takes away from the experience’
As reassuring as it can be watching the world’s best thrash away in the thick rough, writes Matt Chivers, you have to question how enjoyable it is to watch from a fan’s point of view.
My favourite players are my favourite players because of their ability to do things I generally can’t – even with something as relatively simple as finding the right part of the fairway, or draining birdie puts regularly. It’s the same reason I watch the Arsenal every week and not the Dog & Duck.
Sure, you want weeks every now and then where the winning scores aren’t in the 20s, but the USGA can take it a bit far with their US Open set-ups, and it takes away from the experience.
Take Jordan Spieth’s win at Chambers Bay is still fresh in my mind, not because of the action, but because of the crazy golf course and the bizarre way in which it was presented. We spent more time talking about the course than the action.
There’s testing players, and then there’s humiliating them, and the US Open often treads a fine line between calm and chaos.
I want to see someone lift the trophy because they won it, not because someone else lost it.
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Whose side are you on? Which level of US Open golf difficulty do you like to see? Let us know on X!
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