BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Torrey Pines South was supposed to be the big hitter's track for the U.S. Open, but the setup was so balanced that 45-year-old Rocco Mediate took champion Tiger Woods to the wire.
This week, they are playing what is most often called the “fair” major, and yet this PGA Championship at Oakland Hills might definitely favor the bombers. There has been enough summer rain in Michigan to make the fairways soft, and that always gives the edge to the longer guys, who can more easily keep the ball in the fairway.
“The setups are quite different,” former U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk said in comparing Torrey Pines and Oakland Hills. “Torrey's a brute, and very, very long. When we played it in February, it's a bomber's paradise. When we played the setup of the U.S. Open, with the graduated rough and firm fairways, I think it opened the doors to a lot of people to win. I think it was set up exceptionally well.
“This golf course is set up different right now. We have had some rain; it's quite lush; the ball's not traveling a lot in the fairways. It could be the fact that it's slightly humid out there and keeping the moisture in. So the golf course is set up a touch slower.”
Forecasters are predicting a 30 percent chance of rain for the first two rounds of the tournament, followed by a weekend when the temperature isn't supposed to surpass 80.
Brutish par-3s
Oakland Hills probably has the hardest set of par-3s in the majors. The third and the 13th holes are the easier ones at 191 and 198 yards, respectively. The ninth is a whopping 257, and the 17th is 238.
“They're supposed to be short holes, right? Isn't that what a par-3 is?” said last year's PGA runner-up, Woody Austin.
Many of the players are saying they are hitting 3-or 5-woods into 9 and 17.
“There's pins that you don't have an opportunity to shoot at anymore,” Furyk said. “With a 3-wood in your hand, you're aiming for the middle of the green.
“Is it frustrating? No. It's just the way it is. My generation's accused of not being able to work the ball, not being able to hit shots, and it's absolutely true. But the setup of the golf courses don't call for it anymore.”
Feeling groovy
The U.S. Golf Association announced yesterday it will limit the sharpness of grooves in golf clubs beginning in 2010, giving professional players less ability to spin the ball out of the rough.
Theoretically, that will put more of a premium on hitting the fairway. It also may force players to use a softer ball, which will cut down on their distance.
“I'm all for it,” Furyk said. “They can't keep making the golf courses longer.”
Tod Leonard: (619) 293-1858; tod.leonard@uniontrib.com
