India, June 17 -- How tough is Shinnecock Hills, especially when the golf course is set up by the United States Golf Association (USGA)?

It's the only golf course to host a major championship that was won with an over-par score in over a decade. That happened in 2018, when someone as battle-hardened as Brooks Koepka needed 281 shots over four days on the par-70 course. And that was made possible only because the USGA decided the course was getting out of control and tried to tame it for the final round.

In the last 10 years of major championships, the lowest winning score at the Masters was 5-under by Danny Willett in 2016, the lowest at the Open Championships is eight-under by Francesco Molinari at Carnoustie (2018), and the lowest in ...