You’ve seen the highlights. A guy in a Sunday red or a navy polo standing over a four-footer while the crowd holds its collective breath. Usually, at a regular PGA Tour event, that putt is for birdie to get to 22-under par. But this is different. At the U.S. Open, that same putt is often for a grueling par just to stay at 1-over.
Golf is weird like that.
The United States Golf Association (USGA) basically treats the U.S. Open as a laboratory for human suffering. They want the best players in the world to feel like they’ve never picked up a club before. When we talk about scores at us open golf, we aren't talking about the birdie-fests you see at TPC Scottsdale. We're talking about survival.
The Myth of the "Even Par" Target
There's this long-standing rumor that the USGA sits in a dark room and decides the winning score must be even par. Honestly, that’s not really how it works anymore. They don't have a specific number in mind, but they definitely have a vibe. That vibe is "brutal."
Take the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont, for example. J.J. Spaun ended up winning that thing at 1-under par. He was the only person in the entire field to finish in red numbers. Think about that. You have 156 of the greatest golfers on the planet, and 155 of them couldn't beat the course over four days. Robert MacIntyre finished second at 1-over. It was a bloodbath.
If you look back at the history of the tournament, you'll see a wild see-saw of numbers.
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- 2024 (Pinehurst No. 2): Bryson DeChambeau wins at 6-under.
- 2023 (LACC): Wyndham Clark hangs on at 10-under.
- 2011 (Congressional): Rory McIlroy destroys the world with a 16-under.
People got mad at Rory’s score. They thought the course was too easy because the rain softened the greens. But usually, the USGA prefers it when the greens are as hard as a Walmart parking lot.
Why are the Scores so High?
It's not just that the courses are long, though 7,500 yards is no joke. It's the setup.
First, you've got the "Open Rough." This isn't the fluffy grass at your local muni where you can still advance a 5-iron. This is thick, tangled, "I-might-break-my-wrist" cabbage. If you miss the fairway by three feet, you're lucky to hack it out 50 yards. Basically, it removes the chance to reach the green in regulation.
Then there’s the green speed. At Oakmont in 2025, the greens were so fast that if you breathed too hard on your ball, it would roll off into a bunker.
The Lowest Rounds Ever Recorded
Every now and then, the stars align and someone actually goes low. For decades, the "Magic Number" was 63. Johnny Miller's 63 at Oakmont in 1973 is still considered by many to be the greatest round of golf ever played because he did it on a Sunday to win.
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But records are meant to be broken. In 2023, at Los Angeles Country Club, both Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele carded 62s in the first round.
It felt like the apocalypse for traditionalists. People were tweeting that the USGA had lost the plot. But by the end of the week? The course firmed up, the pins got tucked, and the winning score was a much more "normal" 10-under. The U.S. Open has a way of correcting itself.
The Mental Toll of a High Score
Imagine playing 18 holes knowing that a bogey is actually a "good" result. That’s the mental trap. In most tournaments, players are chasing birdies. At the U.S. Open, you’re just trying not to make a double.
One bad swing on Thursday can haunt you through Sunday. Bryson DeChambeau’s win in 2024 at Pinehurst was a masterclass in this. He didn't just out-hit people; he out-grinded them. He made pars from places that looked like a construction site.
The scores at us open golf reflect heart more than swing mechanics.
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Notable Winning Scores (The Good, The Bad, The Ugly)
- Hale Irwin (1974): +7. This was the "Massacre at Winged Foot." No one broke par in any round.
- Tiger Woods (2000): -12. He won by 15 strokes at Pebble Beach. It remains the most dominant performance in the history of the sport. Second place was 3-over.
- Brooks Koepka (2017): -16. Tied Rory's record for the lowest score in relation to par. The wide fairways at Erin Hills were the culprit here.
- J.J. Spaun (2025): -1. A return to the classic, "tough as nails" Oakmont style.
What it Means for the Rest of Us
If you took a 15-handicap golfer and put them on Oakmont during U.S. Open week, they wouldn't break 100. Honestly, they probably wouldn't break 120.
The gap between a professional "bad" score and an amateur "good" score is massive. When you see a pro shoot 75 and look like they want to cry, remember that they are playing a course designed to expose every single flaw in their game.
The greens are stimping at a 14 or 15. The fairways are 25 yards wide. The bunkers aren't raked for your convenience; they’re raked to make the ball sit in the bottom of a furrow.
Actionable Insights for Following the Scores
If you're watching the next U.S. Open and trying to make sense of the leaderboard, keep these things in mind:
- Watch the "Cut Line": The cut is top 60 and ties. In a tough year, the cut can be as high as 6-over or 8-over. If a big name is at +4 on Friday afternoon, they are in a fight for their life.
- Morning vs. Afternoon: Late tee times usually face harder, crustier greens. A 68 in the morning might be equivalent to a 71 in the afternoon.
- The "Moving Day" Trap: Saturday is when people take risks to catch the leader. At the U.S. Open, taking a risk usually results in a 6.
- Par is Your Friend: If a player is parring everything, they are gaining ground on the field.
The U.S. Open isn't supposed to be "fair" in the traditional sense. It's supposed to be a test. Whether the winning score is 16-under or 7-over, the person holding the trophy is always the one who refused to break when the course tried to break them.
Next time you see a guy miss a green and hack it out of the long stuff, look at his face. That's the U.S. Open. It's beautiful, it's painful, and it's the only time we get to see the best in the world struggle just like we do—only with much better cameras watching.
To get the most out of following the tournament, track the "strokes gained" data on the USGA's official app rather than just the raw score. This tells you if a player is actually playing well or just getting lucky with the putter, which usually runs out by Sunday afternoon. Focus on "Fairways Hit" as the primary indicator for who will survive the weekend; you simply cannot score at this tournament from the tall grass.