Hazeltine Is Here...
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The major that has a Rich Beem Village and gets a big endorsement from the Angry Golfer looks like a potential winner in the making. But I think there's a lot more riding on it for the PGA than for the players.
After all, as Larry Dorman notes, Tiger's playing well, Padraig's showing glimmers of his old self, Phil is present and a few of the finishing holes will at least make this potentially more exciting than watching dreary Firestone.
A look at the lineup of future venues--as analyzed by Jason Sobel--inspires little enthusiasm for the coming years if the inland courses are going to be set up like Oakland Hills in '08. Throw in Ron Green Jr.'s suggestion that Quail Hollow is in line for 2017 and I think Hazeltine's setup will tell us a lot about where the PGA is headed. Will we see a gradual slide back into the mediocrity fueled by an excess of narrow, one-dimensional tree-lined courses where conditions are almost guaranteed to be hot and soft...interrupted mercifully by potentially interesting possibilities at Whistling Straits and Kiawah Island?
After last year's disaster--wiped from most minds by the exciting final nine--I've wondered if perhaps the PGA really hasn't changed all that much over the years? Perhaps they just looked so good next to the USGA and the Tom Meeks run of boondogglery?
But then there was Southern Hills and it's sublime setup. Was it an aberration? More a product of Keith Foster's restoration and introduction of tight turf and superintendent Russ Myers doing such an amazing job, all capped off by PGA of America setup man Kerry Haigh startling us with that 2 1/2 inch flyer lie rough? It's no surprise that despite record heat, Southern Hills produced a great leaderboard and champion.
Based on player and observer Tweets, Hazeltine is ripe for producing a surprise winner if the setup adheres to the banality of the back tee design. If Haigh finds ways to take advantage of different tees to mute the impact of the 7600 yard back tee yardage, I suspect we'll see a varied leaderboard and worth champion. Play it safe, use mostly back tees and do little to introduce some shotmaking and Hazeltine will produce a weird outcome.
Alright, about the course. Bradley Klein explains the plastic surgery that has taken place to get Hazeltine ready but doesn't tell us that there's more on the way! That's right, we're watching a lame duck design. Our second straight major to be played at a course that will be plowed up soon after the championship ends.
Anyway, thankfully the 14th hole now has a driveable option. This could inject some weekend interest based on player comments and hints from Haigh about a possible driveable scenario. So we've got that going for us.
John Huggan talks to Tony Jacklin about his memories of winning at Hazeltine and his thoughts on Dave Hill's infamous criticisms and to Geoff Ogilvy about the fourth major's stature.
"I don't view the PGA any differently," shrugs Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion. "But what it doesn't have is the sense of 'uniqueness' the other three majors have. The PGA is a bit like a slightly more liberal US Open or a more amped-up PGA Tour event.
"What helps it is its spot in the schedule. It's the last chance for everyone. So there is a feeling of, not desperation, but that this is my last major for eight months. For me, that's where it gets its prestige.
Glory's last default major.
Rex Hoggard previewed the setup and got this from Luke Donald, which was probably intended as a compliment but is an insult if you prefer architecture with character.
“It’s a typical Midwest course,” Donald said. “Lot of long irons out there, but it’s all right there in front of you.”
And this from a caddie:
Asked his lasting impressions of the Robert Trent Jones Sr. design, one longtime Tour caddie of a top 10 Tour player mulled his answer for five minutes before admitting, “I don’t have any.”
Lorne Rubenstein warns us that this could be a short game specialist/plodder course if they insist on playing the three par-5s at over 600 yards. Intriguing and probably accurate theory. Zach Johnson would love that.
The par-3 13th playing at 250 yards has also been a hot topic and it's something Mickelson touched on in his press conference today.
Surprisingly my favorite hole is 13. I love the new tee box. It's a 250-yard par 3 with water up the left.
The reason I like it is it falls into my strategy or belief that the TOUR, the tournaments, should make the hard holes harder and the easy holes easier, because people want to see birdies and they want to see bogeys. And when you take a hard hole like 13 and you move the tee back to where it's 250 or 260 yards, you're going to see a lot of bogeys and doubles. That gives the better players a chance to make up ground to separate themselves through making par. That's one of the best holes out here.
That's exactly why I don't like moving the tee back on a hole like 7, because I believe the better players have a chance to separate themselves when they can go for that green and try and make an eagle or birdie. When you move the tee back and you force everybody to lay up, it just makes an easy hole harder. And I don't believe in that.
It's this last quote that may be the key point I'll use to justify my cynicism about Hazeltine. From Mark Soltau's Tuesday lipouts and uttered by Rich Beem:
"I hope Mr. (Rees) Jones doesn't take this offensively, but I think Mr. Jones went down to every tee box and looked down every fairway and turned around 180 degrees and just started walking. The thing is just long. I mean, it's just excessively long, and it's nowhere near the same golf course that it was. But it's the state of the modern game, I guess. It order to make it harder, just make it longer."
Add it all up and this week will tell us a great deal about the PGA of America's control over a host venue and their vision for what produces a worthy champion.
