Do we enjoy watching the stars chop around and struggle at the US Open?

Steve CarrollMatt Chivers

It’s the highest-scoring major of the four in the men’s game and every year, the same debate rages about whether or not the USGA provide a test that lives up to the event’s reputation

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 Shinnecock Hills, 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 Steve Carroll. 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. Wrong-sided 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 putts 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 while the players might borishly main, it shouldn’t get to the point where it’s unfair, instead of tough.

Take Jordan Spieth’s win at Chambers Bay. It 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 what happened on it.

There’s testing players, and then there’s humiliating them, and the US Open has before treaded 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!

About the author

Steve Carroll

A journalist for more than 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long.

A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A’s prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.

Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men’s Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.

A part of NCG’s Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He’d like to tell you he floats around 10. The reality is more like 13.

Steve plays at Sandburn Hall, in York, and is a country member at Close House in Newcastle. He has served on various club committees during his time in the game, and is the current Rules Secretary at Sandburn.

Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NCTJ exams at Darlington College of Technology. He began his career working on weekly papers in Newcastle, before joining the York Press in 2001. After five years as a news reporter, he joined the sports desk – specialising in horse racing and snooker – and was Digital Sports Editor when he joined National Club Golfer in 2016.

What’s in Steve’s bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; Caley 01T irons 4-PW; TaylorMade Hi-Toe wedges, Odyssey 2Ball Microhinge putter.

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