"You fall in love with a golf course when you have a setup that's as wonderful as this"

Doug Ferguson reporting on the first round at Firestone, where the PGA Tour staff made sure to lower the rough after last year's antics, prompting this interesting quote from Stewart Cink:

 "Last year, the rough here was almost out of control. This year, the rough is very average and it's part of an experiment they're doing," PGA Tour policy board member Stewart Cink said. "They're trying to see if the rough height has any effect on scoring."

Based on Thursday's scoring, there's no need to send the data to MIT.

Of course, if the scores are lower, will this be an aberration?

Shouldn't they be comparing to last year's boondoggle to determine whether the play is more interesting to watch, not inducing injury and allowing the players to get around in less time?

Anyway, Phil Mickelson likes it and is saying all the right things. Well, right things to those who want to see skill and interesting golf:

Phil Mickelson, cryptic in his criticism of the high rough at the Memorial two months ago, finished with a birdie on the 18th after scrambling out of the trees and shot 68. He said Firestone has become one of his favorite courses this year.

"You fall in love with a golf course when you have a setup that's as wonderful as this," Mickelson said. "The greens are fast, the pin placements are great, the rough is challenging but fair and it lets you hit some recovery shots. This year, Firestone is one of my favorite golf courses that we have on tour."