Every year, the professional golf calendar is built around the 4 majors in golf. While each of these tournaments—the Masters, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open, and The Open—carries immense prestige, the U.S. Open is widely considered the most brutal test of all. It is a tournament where the goal is often survival rather than scoring, and the results frequently prove that it takes a different kind of mental toughness to lift the trophy.
What Makes the U.S. Open Different?
The primary reason the U.S. Open stands apart is the philosophy of its organizer, the USGA. Unlike other tournaments that reward aggressive play and multiple birdies, the U.S. Open is designed to “protect par.” This means the winning score is often very close to even, or even several strokes over par.
If you look at the golfers with most major championship wins, you will notice that the greatest players in history were those who could manage their emotions when the course became “unfair.” Success here isn’t just about hitting the best shots; it’s about avoiding the worst ones.
How the Courses are Set Up to be Tough
The physical setup of a U.S. Open course is unmistakable. While a standard PGA Tour event might have wide, forgiving fairways, a U.S. Open venue like Shinnecock Hills (the 2026 host) or Oakmont is tuned to an extreme level.
Narrow Fairways and Thick Rough
The fairways are intentionally narrowed, sometimes to just 20 or 30 yards wide. If a player misses the short grass, they are met with “graduated rough”—grass that gets thicker and deeper the further you miss. This long grass makes it nearly impossible to control the ball, often forcing players to simply “hack” it back out to the fairway rather than aiming for the green.
Lightning-Fast Greens
The putting surfaces at the U.S. Open are typically the fastest and firmest that players will see all year. They are often compared to putting on a marble floor. One small mistake in speed or line can result in a ball rolling 20 feet away from the hole, or even off the green entirely.
The Stress of the Playoff Rules
The difficulty of the U.S. Open doesn’t just apply to the first 72 holes. If players are tied at the end of the fourth round, the pressure moves into “overtime,” where the rules once again emphasize endurance over luck.
Every major has a different way of breaking a tie. For example, Masters playoff format, It uses “sudden death,” where the first person to win a hole outright ends the match. While exciting, sudden death can be over in minutes.
In contrast, the U.S. Open playoff format rules holes history shows a preference for a longer test. Currently, the U.S. Open uses a two-hole aggregate system. This means players play two full holes, and their total score across both determines the winner. This format ensures that one lucky shot doesn’t decide the championship; instead, the winner must prove they are the best over a sustained stretch of high-pressure golf.
The Dream of Winning Every Major
For many players, the U.S. Open is the final piece of the puzzle. To achieve grand slam in golf, a player must win all four majors in their career. Because the U.S. Open is so punishing, it often becomes the one trophy that eludes even the greatest legends.
Players who have mastered the art of the “grind” are the ones who thrive here. It is a tournament that values patience and par over power and putts. For those chasing history, the U.S. Open is the ultimate gatekeeper.
U.S. Open vs. The Other Three Majors
To understand why it is the hardest, it helps to see how it compares to its peers:
- The Masters: While Augusta National is difficult, its greens and fairways are pristine, and the course setup allows for a “charge” on Sunday afternoon.
- The Open: The oldest major is played on links courses where wind and rain are the main obstacles. However, if the weather stays calm, players can post very low scores.
- PGA Championship: This tournament often feels more like a regular tour event on “steroids.” The courses are long and the rough is deep, but it usually lacks the extreme green speeds seen at the U.S. Open.
Conclusion: Only the Toughest Win
The U.S. Open is not designed to be a “fun” experience for the players. It is a trial. By the time the champion is crowned on Sunday evening, they have survived 72 holes (and sometimes a grueling playoff) of the most difficult conditions in sport. Whether you are a casual fan or a student of the game, watching the world’s best golfers struggle for a par reminds us all just how difficult—and rewarding—this game can be.