Bill,
This might be changing the topic slightly, but I was very interested by your assertion that the US Open identifies the best golfer. It seems to me that the US Open identifies the straightest hitter and doesn't allow creativity to flourish. Miss the green, get out your loftiest wedge and hack it out - no options. My impression has always been that the Open and the Masters identify the best golfer.
Being a sad statto, I got a list of all time major winners. I wanted to see how many of each respective major the top players had won. Of the 13 players who have won 6 majors, the wins are broken down as follows:
Open - 35 wins
Masters - 27 wins
US Open, US PGA - 24 wins
It's a slightly false figure as Bobby Jones never played the PGA or the Masters, Harry Vardon is included with his 6 Opens from a bygone age. However, how many times did Hogan, Snead, Sarazen come over and play the Open in their prime. Interestingly, every one of these 13 golfers won the Open. Excluding old timers, only Lee Trevino didn't win the Masters. Faldo and Snead didn't win the US Open. Several didn't win the PGA (5 players).