Every June, right around Father’s Day, golf fans tune in expecting drama, and the U.S. Open rarely disappoints. But if you ask the players, many would tell you the same thing: the U.S. Open is the toughest, most punishing major in golf. Not just because of the setup, but because of how often the USGA crosses the line.
From impossible pin placements and glassy greens to bizarre rules decisions and unplayable fairways, the tournament has become as famous for its controversies as it is for its champions. I’ve been in the game a long time, and I can tell you, there’s no other event quite like it. Let’s take a look at why so many pros dread the U.S. Open.
No element of a course setup has drawn more ire than the putting surfaces. Two championships in recent memory stand as prime examples of the USGA, the tournament’s governing body, losing control of its most crucial asset.
In 2015, the US Open visited Chambers Bay, a visually dramatic links-style course carved from a former sand and gravel quarry in Washington and one of our favorite golf courses in the USA. The course’s fine fescue greens were intended to provide a firm, fast, and traditional challenge. However, by tournament week, the unique climate of the Pacific Northwest and heavy foot traffic caused an invasion of Poa annua, a different type of grass. This resulted in bumpy, inconsistent, and discolored putting surfaces that players openly criticized.
Henrik Stenson famously compared the experience to “putting on broccoli,” while Billy Horschel was seen on camera theatrically slamming his putter into the green in frustration. The championship culminated in a heartbreaking moment for Dustin Johnson, who three-putted from 12 feet on the 72nd hole to lose to Jordan Spieth, a finish many attributed to the unpredictable surfaces.
The controversy severely damaged the course’s reputation, and the USGA has not scheduled a men’s Open there since.
This was not the USGA’s first struggle with greenkeeping. The 2004 US Open at the historic Shinnecock Hills is often cited as the gold standard for a setup gone wrong. An unusually dry and windy week combined with an aggressive maintenance plan, including double- and triple-cutting the greens, left the surfaces glassy and unable to hold even perfectly struck shots. On the final day, the course became overcooked. The seventh green, a par-three, was so hard and fast it was deemed essentially unplayable. In an unprecedented move, officials began watering the green by hand between groups during the final round in a desperate attempt at damage control. “I think they’ve lost the golf course,” remarked a frustrated Ernie Els. Retief Goosen ultimately won with a final score of four-under-par, but the event became a cautionary tale about pushing a course past its breaking point.
When Course Design Crosses the Line
Beyond the condition of the greens, questions of fairness have also arisen from the fundamental design and setup of certain holes.
The memory of 2004 was fresh when the US Open returned to Shinnecock Hills in 2018. With the greens again proving exceptionally difficult, a frustrated Phil Mickelson created one of the most bizarre moments in major championship history. After his bogey putt on the 13th green slid past the hole and began to roll off the putting surface, Mickelson ran after it and hit the ball while it was still moving.
He accepted the subsequent two-stroke penalty, stating he would rather do that than chase his ball down the hill. The act was a clear display of protest against a setup he felt had once again become unreasonable.
Years earlier, at the 2002 US Open at Bethpage Black, the controversy was one of pure distance. In an effort to challenge the longest hitters of the “Tiger Woods era,” course designers set up the par-four 10th hole with a forced carry of 260 yards just to reach the start of the fairway. With many players in the field unable to consistently hit the ball that far, especially into the wind that plagued the hole all week, it created a fundamentally inequitable challenge. Shorter hitters like Mike Weir had no realistic chance of hitting the fairway, effectively taking them out of contention on the hole before they even swung.
Confusion in the Rules Tent
When the course itself isn’t the source of controversy, baffling rulings by officials have occasionally taken center stage.
At the 1994 US Open at Oakmont, a young Ernie Els began his final round by hooking his drive deep into the left rough. A nearby television crane, however, was deemed to be in his line of sight. An official declared the crane an “immovable obstruction,” granting Els a free drop that moved his ball from the tangled rough to a much more playable lie. Els would go on to win the championship in a playoff.
The issue, however, was that the crane was on wheels and had been moved several times that day. The official later admitted his ruling was a mistake; the relief Els received was pivotal in his first major victory.
More recently, at that same Oakmont course in 2016, Dustin Johnson was the subject of a procedural nightmare. On the fifth green of the final round, his ball moved slightly as he prepared to putt. He immediately called over an official, who, in consultation with Johnson and his playing partner, determined no violation had occurred. However, several holes later, a different set of USGA officials approached Johnson to inform him that the incident was under further review and that he might be assessed a penalty after his round. This plunged the remainder of the championship into a state of uncertainty. Johnson ultimately won by a comfortable margin, but the one-stroke penalty was still assessed, and the USGA was widely condemned for its handling of the situation.
These moments, for better or worse, are woven into the fabric of the US Open. They serve as annual reminders that in golf’s toughest test, the line between challenging and controversial is as thin as the edge of a razor.
Clint is PGA-certified and was a Head Teaching Professional at one of Toronto's busiest golf academies. He was also featured on Canada's National Golf TV program, "Score Golf Canada," twice. He graduated with a degree in Golf Management from the College of the Desert in California and studied under Callaway's co-founder, Tony Manzoni. He has a handicap index of 6.2 and spends the winters near Oaxaca, Mexico, where he plays twice a month at the Club de Golf Vista Hermosa. He's written over 100 articles at GolfSpan since 2021. You can connect with Clint at LinkedIn, FB, his website, or Clintcpga@gmail.com.
