Found this interesting trivia on pgatour.com - too lazy to post the link No one has shot 4 rounds in the 60's at the Masters. All other majors and even the TPC (the 5th major for some) has all had somebody shot 4 sub 70 rounds. I found that interesting because The Masters seemingly has the 'easiest' layout - 3 or 4 reachable par 5's, minimal rough and fairly benign bunkering. The winner usually is between -8 to -13, lower scores you see in the Open and sometimes the PGA, yet no one has broke 70 every day.
Shows you don't have to trick up a course, grow the rough a foot thick, let greens fry in the sun, etc to challenge the Tour players.
I think it has a lot to do with Augusta being a par-72. I wonder if the other Majors' sub-60 strings have come on par-72 layouts. You'd have to shoot -12 at the worst to shoot in the 60s all four rounds. That's pretty tough.
That, and Augusta has some elements that can cause inconsistency, such as the biggest Sunday pressure in golf, the water on 13 and 15 that makes one choose to lay-up for go for it, etc.
I think it has a lot to do with Augusta being a par-72. I wonder if the other Majors' sub-60 strings have come on par-72 layouts. You'd have to shoot -12 at the worst to shoot in the 60s all four rounds. That's pretty tough.
That, and Augusta has some elements that can cause inconsistency, such as the biggest Sunday pressure in golf, the water on 13 and 15 that makes one choose to lay-up for go for it, etc.
Shooting in the 60's means shooting 69 or lower. "Sub-60" is 59 or lower and that has never happened, even once, in a major.
I think it has a lot to do with Augusta being a par-72. I wonder if the other Majors' sub-60 strings have come on par-72 layouts. You'd have to shoot -12 at the worst to shoot in the 60s all four rounds. That's pretty tough.
That, and Augusta has some elements that can cause inconsistency, such as the biggest Sunday pressure in golf, the water on 13 and 15 that makes one choose to lay-up for go for it, etc.
In a way that doesn't matter, because it's how many strokes you take, not how far you are under par. Even if the Master's did something drastic like make holes 2 and 13 par 4's to make it a par 70, you still have to break 70 no matter what 'par' is. Theoretically, the winning score would be 4 to 8 under, instead of 8 to 12 under, but it's still the same number of strokes.
And Augusta National will NEVER change from a par 72 course, just to make the winning score higher in relation to par.
Right, I understand that. But Augusta is a 72 for a reason, right? It's a true 72.
Without knowing for sure, I merely hypothesize that the courses which yielded 4 rounds in the 60s may be true 70s or 71s. Just a guess
Actually, most courses that hold either the Open or PGA are actually true par 72's that the powers-that-be decide to make it a par 70. Still, it's how many, not how many under what ever the par is. Again, if Augusta changed the 13th hole to a long par 4, which in reality what it is for the pros, and made it a par 71, it would have very little effect on whether the guys broke 70 or not, but it would effect on how many strokes under par they were.
The last Open to not change it's par was Peeble Beach in 2000 - played to a par 72 just like everyone else who plays it. Tiger easily broke the under par record, but only tied the total aggregate score for an Open, which is what counts. You can argue it's very difficult to compare one Open course to another because of the degree of difficulty that's involved, and maybe Tiger's score is in a class by itself because no one was even close, but he shot what he shot no matter the par and the record book says he only tied the lowest score in history for 72 holes.
The Masters is easier to compare records because it's played on basically the same track yr after yr. Still surprised me that no one broke 70 all 4 rounds.
June 16th, 2005, 10:14 AM
No one has shot 4 rounds in the 60's at the Masters. All other majors and even the TPC (the 5th major for some) has all had somebody shot 4 sub 70 rounds. I found that interesting because The Masters seemingly has the 'easiest' layout - 3 or 4 reachable par 5's, minimal rough and fairly benign bunkering. The winner usually is between -8 to -13, lower scores you see in the Open and sometimes the PGA, yet no one has broke 70 every day. 
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