Characteristics of Major championship golf are widely thought to include the best and toughest golf courses, the greatest professional and amateur players, and huge prize money. Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, watch on from outside the ropes as their heroes try to make their dreams come true no more than five times a season. The tension, the stakes, and the rewards on offer are all higher.
Something else many people expect from a Major is difficult scoring which ultimately leads to a winning total much closer to par than a traditional tour event. Not every Major needs to look like a US Open, but many feel the number required to taste success at the biggest tournaments should not exceed 15-under at worst. Others do not believe the winning number makes any difference to the quality of the event.
A debate arose at Golf Monthly towers following the culmination of the Amundi Evian Championship, where Haeran Ryu’s victorious score of 19-under following a playoff against Brooke Henderson was met with frustration by some of the team. Others expressed apathy and highlighted how, once again, the end of the penultimate women’s Major was incredibly exciting and entertaining. With The Open Championship frequently won with scores between 15 and 20-under par across recent editions, the question returns: what really matters at a Major championship?
The Divide Over Low Scoring and Drama
For some analysts and writers, a low-winning score is a non-issue. As social links and news writer Jonny Leighfield noted in the discussion, fans often struggle to recall exact totals from past Major winners, yet remember the close finishes and pivotal shots vividly.
For me, a great Major is not about the score at all, it’s about the entertainment and a close finish... And like any tournament, it’s lowest score wins. Whatever number that is should be irrelevant.
Jonny Leighfield
Yet the counter-argument maintains an enduring appeal. The desire to see the world's best players ground down by severe architecture persists. When major championships yield a barrage of birdies, the visceral satisfaction of survival golf can get lost in a shootout.
The Historic Pressures of Links and Major Setups
History shows how quickly low scores can transform into psychological ordeals when conditions shift or pressure mounts. At Royal Portrush during the 148th Open Championship, Shane Lowry captured the imagination of the home crowds by firing an eight-under-par 63 to break the course record and take a commanding four-shot lead into Sunday. His round was a masterclass in seizing control of a historic links test, backed by an amphitheatre of fans chanting his name.
Yet, that same championship exposed the razor-thin margin between triumph and despair. Rory McIlroy's harrowing missed cut at his home Open — recovering from an opening 79 with a valiant 67 that fell agonizingly short — demonstrated how emotional weight and high expectations can distort even the finest player's execution. As Thomas Björn observed on BBC Two regarding McIlroy's defense: We all want to see the greatest players here at the weekend but there's a new breed of player coming through and you have to play your best at majors.
Similarly, at Hoylake during the 2023 Open, McIlroy encountered familiar mental scars on the greens. Despite a promising opening birdie and a round of 69, missed putts inside 15 feet derailed his pursuit of Brian Harman, underscoring how major pressure extracts a toll entirely independent of whether the leading score is 5-under or 20-under.
The Core Trade-Off
Tournament committees face an eternal balancing act when setting up a venue:
- Setup PhilosophyPrimary AppealInherent Risk
- The Shootout SetupMaximum birdie opportunities and dynamic back-nine leaderboardsCan feel disconnected from traditional hard-test major identities
- The Brutal TestTrue examination of patience, grit, and precision under severe penaltyRisk of stagnant leaderboards or weather-skewed draws
Ultimately, whether a champion finishes at 20-under or even par matters far less to the enduring legacy of a tournament than the human stories forged in the furnace of contention. When the millionaires are made to suffer—whether by fiery fairways, howling crosswinds, or the crushing weight of expectation—golf delivers the theater that fans bookmark for a lifetime.
Sources
These sources formed the evidence pack for this article. Links open the original publisher; inclusion does not imply endorsement.
- europesays.com original
- bbc.co.uk original
- independent.co.uk original
- Tom Kershaw original
