"I'm actually concerned more the other way, that the course will be too hard"

Steve Elling gets some of Mike Davis's thoughts on Torrey Pines after the Buick and before June's U.S. Open:

"I'm actually concerned more the other way, that the course will be too hard," Davis said.

Yet like most of us, weathermen excepted, Davis doesn't offer 100-percent surety about anything, especially when it comes to Woods, who won his sixth Buick title on Sunday.

"Unless I am totally missing something," said Davis, an amiable guy who doesn't take himself too seriously, "I don't think 20 under is possible even with the best four rounds he can play."

Even the USGA guys aren't brazen enough to say "never." Realistically, it would require a transcendent performance for Woods to finish the Open at 10-under, given how firm the greens will be relative to this week and that par will be shaved by a shot to 71.

And this was a perspective I haven't heard...

Though Davis is certain the course will present a far more daunting challenge in the dry summer months, he had to concede that the story at Torrey will likely be Woods, just because he likes the sightlines.

"If you look at it, all of the holes are pretty much straightaway," Davis observed, quite rightly. "He can hit the driver and won't have to worry about angles or shaping the ball so much. He can hammer away."

Be it a ball-peen or a sledgehammer, the tools don't seem to matter much at the moment. He's equally comfortable with using either brute strength or finesse and the results have been the same.

Comments

[Greg]

Is it going to be harder than Oakmont was last year when only 9 players shot +10 or better? Highly unlikely.

[Tighthead]

For all the talk about how Tiger likes to work the ball off the tee, Davis seems to think he has the best advantage when he can just mash it.

[jim beckner]

"If you look at it, all of the holes are pretty much straightaway," Davis observed, quite rightly. "He can hit the driver and won't have to worry about angles or shaping the ball so much. He can hammer away."

What kind of an architect would build a course like that? Is it a muni?

[JackM]

Does Torrey have more "straightaway" holes than Firestone? Doubt it.