What is the hardest Major to win?

[Shorty]

Immelman?

I can see that you are a real student of the game. Ben Crenshaw would be proud of you.

I may well be wrong, But Cabrera may have been mentioned once or twice during the U.S. Open at Oakmont in 2007, two years before his Masters win. It is possible that they had to call his name out so he could come and collect the trophy.

[acj990]

I voted for The Masters, just because it never seems that a single person runs away with the title, only exception in recent history being 97 with TW. Although, I could have also picked the U.S. Open. The courses that are usually selected, always play so long and the rough is extremely difficult! Good post.

[Par Fore]

The Masters is your best choice.......you have huge, wide fairways, perfect greens, no rough, mostly nice weather, and you get to play the same golf course every year.....shoot 12 under, and you are a likely champion......I love that the sand traps mirror the size of a large pool....

US Open.....sorry, you take any good long course, thin the fairways to 25 yards, grow the rough to 5 inches, and cut the green to match the concrete in a parking lot, and scores are gonna skyrocket....
British Open......while played on some of the best, most traditional courses in the world, if the weather lays down, scoring is gonna be low.....bring cold temps, rain, and 40mpg winds to Augusta and nobody can shoot par....
PGA......weakest major IMHO, I actually prefer The Players over this event....

[allin]

By my reasoning the British Open. Masters field is not as strong, it favors long hitters. US Open is in some ways not real golf, it is almost a putting contest in recent years. PGA has possibly the strongest field, but not always top tier courses. The British has a good course most years, you can win by taking advantage of different abilities, being long, putting well, iron play, scrambling, usually one area is not emphasized at the expense of others. The mental strength to deal with weather and some bad bounces. Finally some very good golfers who don't get in to USA based tournaments closes the deal for me.

[golf1234]

Hard choice between the US Open and the British Open, but I am gonna pick the British Open because of the weather.

[mjtoal]

The field size for the US Open, Open and PGA are all similar, and field strength is similar, so a given player has a similar chance in each, if you analyse the probability of winning in terms of odds. Whether the winning score is -20 or +10 makes no difference, one guy is still gonna win.

The Masters is the easiest because it has the smallest field, and many of those have no chance (Craig Stadler, Sandy Lyle and the amateurs, possibly first timers too).

[sean_miller]

I voted for the Masters, because the OP said "overall". It seems to be the usual suspects every year - some can win it repeatedly (whether by skill or by fluke coughfaldocough) while other top players have no chance. Either way, it's a hard tournament to even get into - it's not like there's regional qualifying or something.

[Acropo]

I would say: the one you're leading by one stroke going into the final day, with a clutch of the world's best golfers breathing down your neck, all willing you to mess up and let them in.

But my vote went to the British Open. the US Open is a brutal examination of nerves - but aren't they all? The British Open can present you with two totally different courses in the same weekend - heck, in the same day! - depending on the wind and weather. It requires a range of imagination, shots and control that, imho, you don't get anywhere else. Plus, as you're coming down the stretch, people start talking about the history, the Tom Morrises, Vardons, Jones in his Grand Slam year, Hogan, Nicklaus, Watson, the 'Duel in the Sun', etc, and the trophy is so old it goes back to when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, apparently.

Plus - it's in good ol' Blighty!

[sean_miller]

The British Open can present you with two totally different courses in the same weekend - heck, in the same day! - depending on the wind and weather.

Did you miss last year's US Open? Players who excel in wind and rain are usually at an advantage at both the US and British Opens.

[Acropo]

Did you miss last year's US Open? Players who excel in wind and rain are usually at an advantage at both the US and British Opens.

No, Sean, I didn't miss last year's US Open. Not sure what prompted the question, tbh.

My point about the British Open is that the weather is so variable the course can change within a short period of time. You can start in bright sunshine and still air and then find yourself in a howling gale with sheeting rain. Or vice versa. Or any combination of any sets of weather conditions you care to think of, over the space of an hour or so.

[onthehunt526]

the United states Golf Association has a mission in there Open championships to protect par... even though they say they don't... besides Tiger's 12-under in 2000 and Furyk's 8-under in 2003... it was a tough decade... +5 won twice, even won once, -1 won in 2008, -4 last year and 2001. in the last decade if my mathematics is correct the average winning score relative to par was 2.6 under par... by far the highest average winning total of the last 10 years if you take the 12-under by Woods and 8-under by Furyk out. its only 0.75 under par. with -4 winning three times, -3 once, -1 once, even once, and +5 twice. The Masters average score over the same period is 9.2 under par, The Open Championships average winning score was 8.4 under par, and The PGA Championship's winning average score was 9.6 under par... In Conclusion over the last ten years the U.S. Open statisically is the most difficult... i mean anyone can go out and qualify for the U.S. Open who has a 1.4 handicap index or better... Or even the Open Championship for that matter... But usually the local qualifiers are gone by the weekend statistically anyway... Sometimes you get one that won't go away like Kenneth Ferrie at Winged Foot.... or a sectional qualifier will win Steve Jones in '96... But they are the exception not the rule... The U.S. Open is the most difficult physical and mental test of all four majors... They are all difficult to win... Some great players go an entire career without winning one... They're meant to be hard to win that's why there are only four of them every year...

[Dub]

As partial as I am to dear Augusta, I'm gonna say the US Opens.

[VOX]

Or one could use the sdame data and say since the US Open has the highest scores, that makes it the easiest to win because you can shoot even par and still win.

[onthehunt526]

you have a point.... you can go shoot even par in a U.S. Open and win... but how easy is it to shoot even par in the U.S. Open? Remember of the four major championships the U.S. Open is the only one to convert tough par-fives into par-fours... there has not been a U.S. Open contested on a par-72 layout since the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach... of the next 17, every course except Balustrol, Southern Hills, Olympia Fields, and Shinnecock Hills could have played to a 71 or 72... Bethpage Black is a par-71 every other day of the year in fact the seventh hole is a 585-yard, par-5... did the USGA keep it a par five, no... they made it a par-four to protect par.

[James_Black]

Bethpage Black is a par-71 every other day of the year in fact the seventh hole is a 585-yard, par-5... did the USGA keep it a par five, no... they made it a par-four to protect par.

did they keep it the same yardage? whats the point in a 585 yard par 4? nobody could hit it in 2......

[GaijinGolfer]

British Open. Its played on the gnarliest courses in the nastiest weather conditions.

[golfbarefoot]

British Open. Its played on the gnarliest courses in the nastiest weather conditions.

I have to agree with you, the weather alone can dictate so much. It's my favorite to watch as well.

[onthehunt526]

did they keep it the same yardage?

No, the USGA shortened it to 525 yards which it never played last year due to the rain they kept it at 489 yards which was the yardage that it was in 2002... a 585-yard par-4 has no point... it would be impossible... that wasn't my point the point was the USGA will shorten a legitimate par-five to a par-four to protect par.