I can understand Tom's point about the further off the fairway you are, you may be better off, so why not graduated rough adjacent to the green? I was a volunteer at the Canadian Open last year at Shaughnessy where the rough was not unlike that at Winged Foot. What seemed so penal was to see a good approach shot come in, barely roll off the green a few inches and be in rough 6 inches high. Often the markers or players had trouble finding a ball just off of the fringe.
I can see that graduated rough may not work in other areas but around the greens it would seem fair.
Bob Jenkins