Spuzz
To your point... the year that Zach Johnson won the Masters, 2007 I think it was, he shot +1 over the four days.
No excitement whatsoever. No loud roars to be heard. Not saying Zach didn't earn the win... he more than did. But there was a significant difference in how they firmed up the course leading into the tournament, which made the layout play completely different from the years in the past. This was not their best showing, by a long shot.
They realized that the fans who pay big bucks to attend these events don't show up to watch an elite touring professional winning this particular tournament with an over-par per round scoring average. They learned their lesson.
The only people now overly concerned about protecting par is the USGA. And what we're experiencing now, imo, is a knee-jerk reaction to an extremely bad decision to host a tournament at a new venue that wasn't setup properly, due to their negligence and lack of oversight. Koepka shot 16-under and basically embarrassed the USGA in the process. Not because he's a long hitter, but because they made a gross error in judgement to make the fairways 50 yards wide and cut the rough lower than they typically do. In other words - not your typical US Open. Yet no one denies that Brooks played the best that week, tee-to-green. And that, imo, should define every major champion winner, whether the layout is 7000 yards or 7600 yards... the best overall player tee-to-green that week.... not determined by luck alone, but more so because of stellar playing.
At the end of the day, the winning score is irrelevant, whether it's the John Deere Classic or the US Open or British Open. It's about who executed the best, who performed the best under pressure, given the conditions that week.
Fans don't show up to see elite players play a hole like their buddies do on a weekend at their home clubs. They show up to see who can make birdies and the occasional miraculous par-save on a weekend when they're in contention.
Bogeys do nothing to increase interest, not today anyway. Maybe 20 years ago, but it's a different standard, a different culture of fan expectations today.