I disagree with the comment about the putting. I find that it's pretty much spot on. If anything, it's a little too easy since I find that anything inside of 5 feet is pretty much a gimme, which is certainly not the case in real life. The only problem I have with putting is that it's sometimes impossible to get a straight view of the putt, but this is simply an inherent problem in the way the courses are put together. This is not a significant problem since either the front or reverse view seems to be good enough.
I do agree that the way a player progresses from tier to tier should be re-evaluated. I ran into the same problem as the OP in that I progressed to the Master tier in the span of a week or two without really being all that good. In my case, I was playing a tournament (unlimited play) on the front nine of Bethpage. I put together a few great rounds, and more importantly, quit if I was about to put up a big score. All of the sudden, I was at the Master's tier.
Someone else (I believe AvatarLee) suggested that only 18-hole rounds be used in determining whether someone advances to a new tier. That's a great idea. Alternatively, there could be a kind of Q-school where a player would have to compete in a number of single play tournaments in order to reach the Master's tier.
Anyway, I don't think this game sucks. I think it's fantastic, but the current tier structure should be reconsidered.