"Our rules officials have finally realized that — duh! — course setup has a lot to do with pace of play."

As always I enjoyed the pre-Open Championship insights from SI's anonymous tour pro (thought it would be nice if he'd actually seen Birkdale!), including this on the relationship between PGA Tour course setup and slow play.

No doubt I'm wasting my time talking about slow play. One veteran told me that we had the same discussions 25 years ago. The Tour is trying to identify the slower players and work with them to get faster, but in the end we're probably only talking about picking up 15 minutes a round. Is that a big deal? Probably not.

Yes it is!

One thing I like is that the Tour is going to use ShotLink to tell us how long we take for each shot. Certain players who are slow and don't know the average time spent on a particular shot need to be made aware. Our rules officials have finally realized that — duh! — course setup has a lot to do with pace of play. It's not only the players who are slow. When you play a 510-yard par-4 with a semi-island green, you're going to take a while. It seems obvious, but apparently our officials didn't think of it. At some tournaments, like the Memorial, the setups are getting out of control. Guys don't want to play a U.S. Open-style course two weeks before the Open. What Jack Nicklaus had this year at the Memorial was way worse than Torrey Pines. Jack and Arnold Palmer, who's growing serious rough at Bay Hill, may want to have major-championship conditions, but they're in danger of winding up with bad fields. Six-inch rough, furrowed bunkers, greens running at 14 — some guys are going to think twice before coming back.

Good.

Reader Greg noted there was one problem with another the mystery pro's comments.

The Tour thinks that putting San Antonio in Atlanta's spot was a terrific swap because Valero is a great sponsor and that we might have a Texas swing: the Nelson, Colonial and San Antonio in successive weeks. The problem is that LaCantera, the Texas Open venue, is awful. None of the top players would tee it up there in the fall, and they won't play there in May, either. Anytime you can see a roller coaster and a Ferris wheel from a tee box — you can actually hear the people on the rides screaming in the background — that's a red flag. Has any great course ever been built next to an amusement park? Until the new TPC San Antonio is finished [in 2010], I don't see top players remembering the Alamo.

Technically, Pine Valley's next door neighbor is an amusement park too. But we understand his point.

“It’s a one-dimensional hole"

Thanks to reader Chris for this AP note on Fred Funk and Congressional's 6th hole.

When a par 5 become a par 4, the result can be, in the words of Fred Funk, “downright stupid.”
 
No. 6 at Congressional Country Club is this week’s prime example. It is listed as 518 yards for the AT&T National—the third longest par 4 on the PGA TOUR so far this year—and the large water hazard around the right front of the green makes it even more daunting.
 
“I don’t like their mentality with that hole,” said Funk, who double-bogeyed the hole to mar his even-par round of 70. “I think it’s downright stupid, actually.”
 
The hole produced one adventure after another during Thursday’s first round. Defending champion K.J. Choi and Jim Furyk both landed in the front bunker yet saved par. Bo Van Pelt’s 40-foot putt provided one of only two birdies among the morning rounds. Corey Pavin, one of the shortest drivers on the tour, had no chance at all: He laid up despite hitting a tee shot that landed in the middle of the fairway.
 
“That green’s designed for a par 5,” said Rich Beem, who parred the hole after missing a 15-foot putt for birdie. “That’s the problem with par 5s turning into par 4s.”
 
“It’s difficult,” added Furyk. “You’ve got to get the ball in the fairway, or you’re going to be struggling.”
 
Choi said he was so concerned about the hole that on Wednesday he practiced the very bunker shot he ended up hitting on Thursday.
 
“It’s a one-dimensional hole,” Funk said. “If you hit the fairway and you’re a long hitter, you can get your shot to fit in there. The shorter hitters are going to have a long, long, long shot in there with a green that’s really designed for a wedge.”

What an interesting contrast in course setup approach we're seeing between the PGA Tour and USGA. (I'm guessing based on what we saw at Torrey Pines that the 2011 U.S. Open tees would be moved up a bit to prevent the situation described above, or perhaps even see the hole played as a par 5.)

"The fact that you've not heard anything should not be construed as meaning there's a problem."

Several interesting items in the USGA press conference at Interlachen where David Fay, Roberta Bolduc and Mike Davis faced the inkslingers who miraculously asked some great questions (offsetting the point missers lobbing stuff about a U.S. Senior Women's Open). After Davis talked at length about Interlachen's design attributes and Brian Silva's restoration work there, he shared this about the bunkers at Torrey Pines:

The bunkers like we have been doing the last few years, we did stir up the bottoms to try to make the bunkers a little bit softer so that the player can't get as much spin. And I was telling somebody the other day, one of the best things I heard at Torrey Pines, it just -- I almost wanted to do a cartwheel is when a player actually said, we were trying to avoid bunkers at Torrey Pines. Because we haven't heard that in who knows how long.

Davis, on driveable par-4s this week at Interlachen and in future USGA course setups:

 You have to have enough risk but you've got to have the reward with it. They have to match. And in fact David and I talked about it before Sunday of Torrey Pines, that I thought it was going to work well for the reasons I kept going through in my mind, but you don't really know. And if only ten players out of the 80 went for it I would call it a failure but I think there was 57 or 56 or whatever that went for it. And it's, you know, there was a blend of scoring.

But when we did it at Oakmont it worked. Because those holes were architecturally set up for it. We did it the one hole at Winged Foot. But, no, we will not force it. So it won't necessarily be a trademark. But I think when you get that opportunity, it's really neat because you do make the players think. And we want -- we don't want this to be gimmicky, but at the same time we want it to be the hardest championship of the year, whether it's the U.S. Girls Junior, the Women's Open, the U.S. Open or the Senior Men's Amateur, but at the same time there's nothing wrong with introducing more risk, reward and making the players think, giving them opportunities, and taking a hole and really saying if you play it great you can make birdie, eagle, but if you don't play it so great, if you try something and don't pull it off you're going to pay the price.

And look at this troublemaker with the killer follow up about those R&A lollygaggers.

Q. David, could we get an update on the groove situation? Wasn't that due for some sort of roll out in January, I think, in theory? Has there been any developments on that front or are we going to have to all change irons?

DAVID FAY: The latest update is there's no update. We are still on track, we hope. There are a number of components that we have to get everything resolved. A number of -- and we're moving ahead on that. But to give you a timetable at this time, it would be premature.

Q. R & A still a part of the equation in getting them signed up for the same time?

DAVID FAY: Well the R & A, it's a change in equipment, a change in any rule will not happen unless both sides support it. Fully. The fact that you've not heard anything should not be construed as meaning there's a problem. It's just that we -- anything dealing with equipment, particularly these days, is complex. You deal with the specifications, manufacturing tolerances, I think that one thing I would say that we have never, at least in my experience at the USGA, researched and done the lab testing and the player testing to the degree that we have with this subject of grooves.

Just not enough for the R&A!

"They kept us on our toes. They kept us thinking. That's what a major championship should do."

An unbylined Scotsman report on European prospects brightening in future U.S. Opens:

One of the reasons why Europe's most illustrious golfers have struggled to emulate the success of Tony Jacklin at Hazeltine in 1970 can be attributed to the one dimensional course set-ups which

In a curious switch of identities, the Masters evolved into the US Open earlier this spring and delivered a tournament where the emphasis on defensive golf made for mostly dull viewing. The US Open in California, on the other hand, presented opportunities for the most positive players to attack over the closing stretch and encouraged the kind of thrilling finale which used to be the copyright of Augusta National.placed a premium on driving accuracy at the expense of short game wizardry.

And...

According to [Robert] Karlsson, who was eighth at Augusta in April, the presentation was resourceful. "I don't think they could have done anything any better," enthused the Swede. "It was in good condition and the way it was set up from tee to green with the mix of tees and pin positions was fantastic."

Mark Zeigler in the San Diego Union Tribune offered this on the varied tee setup, highlighted by the par-4 14th.

"That's the beautiful thing about it," Spain's Sergio Garcia would say later. "They kept us on our toes. They kept us thinking. That's what a major championship should do. It shouldn't be just get there and whack it, which is what Augusta and (The Masters) has turned out to be in recent years."

"It's real compelling golf," said Heath Slocum, who had a birdie en route to a 65. "I think you're giving (fans) the opportunity to see some drama. You hit a good shot, you're rewarded. But if go a little long or plug it in one of those bunkers, you're going to have a hard time making par."

To a man, the players praised it.

Eagle or ice plant?

Australia's Geoff Ogilvy arrived at the 14th tee at 2-over par, three shots off the lead. He stood next to his golf bag, arms crossed, gazing at a red flag dancing in the breeze 267 yards away.

He pulled out a short iron, laid up and two-putted for par.

"If I went back (to No. 14) again," Ogilvy said, "I might have a go at it."

You may recall I reported on Ogilvy's first practice round playing the 14th as well as all other setup matters for the GolfDigest.com Torrey Story blog.

Finally, SI's Michael Bamberger says "the whole move--to bring the Open to Torrey, a true muni, owned and operated by the city of San Diego--was inspired."

He goes on to list the reasons and the hole No. 14 setup is near the top.

"Par always has been irrelevant, and it still is."

Catching up on a few articles I have been wanting to check out and I enjoyed this Doug Ferguson breakdown of the absurdity of the par protection mindset, which seems to be less of a defining USGA trait these days...but still a defining trait of the U.S. Open.

It could have been worse at Torrey Pines.

Rees Jones Jr., who buffed up the course to attract the U.S. Open, was among those who wanted the par-5 18th hole to play as a par 4. With a pond in front of the green, there would have been more gore than glory on the final hole. Davis deserves credit for persuading the blue coats to make it a par 5, which could be the most exciting closing hole at a U.S. Open.

Imagine an eagle on the last hole to win.

"As far as protecting par, I firmly believe the USGA wants to make the golf course as difficult and as testing a golf course as they can without going overboard," Furyk said. "For the best players in the world, that's going to be shooting somewhere around even par. But if it's 5 under or 5 over, I don't think it really matters."

Par always has been irrelevant, and it still is.

"It doesn't matter if it's hard or easy — it's the same for everybody. But is that what we want?"

Doug Ferguson tackles my favorite subject, the increasing difficulty of PGA Tour setups and gets some fresh perspectives from Joe Ogilvie and Davis Love as well as a PGA Tour mandate from the 90s.

The problem is whether the PGA Tour is getting enough variety.

For all the complaining at Memorial, there were birdies to be made. Mathew Goggin made 15 over the first two days, along with his share of bogeys. Even so, Davis Love III has noticed the winning score getting worse in recent years.

"Scores should be going down, not up," Love said. "That's a pretty good indication that it's getting harder. Nobody ever shoots 20 under anymore. And players are a heck of a lot better. The fields are deeper."

Love said the course setup was a major topic at the players' meeting last month in North Carolina. Why are courses so hard? What kind of show can they put on for the fans and a television audience when they're scrambling for par?

And who's idea was this, anyway?

"It's a four-letter word," Steve Flesch said at the Memorial. "And he runs this place."

The mandate actually came from the PGA Tour policy board nearly 20 years ago, with only a few instructions. Firm, closely mown grass on the tees, fairways and greens. Thick, evenly dispersed rough (when growing conditions allow).

The summation of that 1990 document was to have all courses play as difficult as possible while remaining fair. Exactly what that means, of course, is subject to interpretation.

Are course setups getting worse?

In 22 stroke-play events this year, 10 winning scores were higher, 10 were lower and two were the same.

"I don't want to sound like the guy who's 44 and not playing good," said Love, who turned 44 in April and is not playing particularly well. "But it's really hard. It doesn't matter if it's hard or easy — it's the same for everybody. But is that what we want?"

This follows a year in which average birdies were way down from previous years, along with TV ratings, and players began asking if fans might lose interest watching the best in the world hack it around every week.

"I think Phil had the right idea when he said technology has gone two ways," Joe Ogilvie said. "We have better balls, better drivers, better equipment. Johnny Miller talks about equipment almost as much as he talks about himself. But 15 years ago, they couldn't grow rough 10 inches. John Deere makes a hell of a tractor that cuts the greens lower and lower and lower.

"It gets to the point when golf — even for us — gets pretty boring."

Next week is the U.S. Open, where the winning score has been 5 over par the last two years.

Ogilvie believes PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, the USGA and other golf organizations want courses to be tougher than ever so fans won't think "these guys are good" simply because of the better equipment.

"But at least," Ogilvie said, "they're not saying 'these guys are good' because of HGH."

That last point is definitely a new one. Is Finchem that clever and the field staff really taking such a directive? I don't think so. I'm more inclined to think that it's a combination of host courses raising the bar with thicker, higher rough, the PGA Tour's philosophy that a great tournament is major like (thus, more rough, narrower fairways and high scores) and maybe a slight overreaction to technology.

What do you think?

"Jack (Nicklaus) is the only one who wants this rough, believe me."

Paul Daugherty talks to Steve Flesch about the setup at the Memorial and says the PGA Tour would not set the course up this way if they were in control.

"I'm not a fan of chipping it out every time you miss a fairway," Flesch said. "Or if you hit it in a fairway bunker, chunking it out."

According to Flesch, it wasn't the PGA Tour's decision to make Muirfield Village's 7,366 yards play like an episode of "Man Vs. Wild."

No player came to town this week saying, "Please groove the bunkers and make the rough tall enough to hide rhinos."

Who, then?

"It's a four-letter word, and he runs this place," Flesch said.

Yeow.

"Jack (Nicklaus) is the only one who wants this rough, believe me. This is like going to Bay Hill. It's Arnie (Palmer's) setup" there, said Flesch. "I don't want to cross a line, but ..." Flesch paused here, then continued. What the heck. "It's their tournament, their golf course. Jack can do whatever the hell he wants."

At the beginning of today's telecast, Jack and Jim Nantz had an exchange about the setup where Jack said he was just setting it up the same as always and that the combination of the weather and tour requirements had it this way.

Meanwhile you'll want to check out Doug Ferguson's piece on D.J. Trahan's wild battles with the wretched 18th.

"I think that's a pretty crappy hole," Trahan said while stalking away from the course after shooting a 6-over 78 in Saturday's third round. "But nobody wants to hear that, right? Everybody wants to hear that it's a great hole. But I don't think it is. I think it's unfair and it's ridiculous."

"All they have to do is change out the pins, replace the rakes and take away press parking."

Dave Shedloski reports that the Memorial is like a major. I guess that means wedge out rough, boring golf and long rounds. Oh, and I forgot, rain in the forecast.

Doug Ferguson tells us that Joe Ogilvie is so inspired by the fun setup that he feels everyone should just park their jets in Ohio and stick around.

The U.S. Open starts in two weeks in San Diego, but Joe Ogilvie came up with an environmentally friendly plan. He suggested the second major be contested at Muirfield, so players wouldn't have to travel as far in their private jets.

"You'd save millions of pounds of carbon dioxide in the air, and golf would be a green sport again," Ogilvie said after a 75. "All they have to do is change out the pins, replace the rakes and take away press parking."

I think Joe just wrapped up a future GWAA ASAP/Jim Murray Award with that sympathetic nod to the scribbler's traditional parking arrangement at the Open. 

“Mind-boggling fast"

Freak setup week continues, first with Larry Dorman reporting on Muirfield Village's greens reaching speeds that have even the PGA Tour's finest in shock.

“Mind-boggling fast,” Joe Ogilvie said after his round of 69. “Maybe 15 on the Stimpmeter.”

“Probably the fastest greens we have played in a long time,” Sergio García said after a 72.

“The greens are so fast you can’t believe it,” Brett Quigley, in the field as the second alternate, added after his round of 67.

Ogilvie was moved to come up with an unusually creative visual image: “You know how dogs will never step on a glass surface because they know they’ll slip?” he said. “Well, if you unleashed a thousand dogs by the 18th green, none would walk on it. They’d all go around it.”

Thanks to reader Rob for noticing this Stan Awtrey piece on Georgia's play at the NCAA Men's Championships, which, when you throw in a coach named Haack and injuries from rough, reads like somethign out of a Jenkins novel.

Georgia did it with a short-handed strategy — Haack called it "a four-legged team" — made necessary after freshman Harris English experienced his worst day of the season. English had two double bogeys and a quadruple bogey en route to a 10-over 46 on his front nine. He finished with an 86.

"But he can come out and bounce back," Haack said. "Anything can happen."

That's not just Haack-speak, either; English opened with a team-high 74 at the East Regional but rebounded with a 65.

Swafford had a team-best 73, leaving him tied for seventh overall, after making bogeys on the final two holes. But the sophomore birdied the two most difficult holes on the course and nearly holed out for an eagle at No. 18, his ninth hole.

"I just tried to be patient and hit it in the center area," said Swafford, who was wearing a brace on his right ankle, a result of stepping in a rough-disguised hole during Monday's practice round. "I think I can build on it. Eliminate two shots, and I'm under par."

Update on 2008-05-30 15:39 by Geoff

From Rex Hoggard on the Golfweek Tour blog:

Brett Quigley called it “doomsday.” Others had less-than-printable monikers for Jack Nicklaus’ Muirfield Village.

Shaun Micheel was the first victim of greens some players estimate are rolling at 15 on the Stimpmeter. The former PGA champion hit his approach 57 feet past the hole at the par-4 18th. His birdie putt stopped rolling 46 yards down the fairway and Micheel signed for a double bogey-6.

Not long after Micheel’s odyssey, Justin Bolli fired his approach about 50 feet past the hole and raced his first putt to almost the same spot in the fairway. Bolli added to his woes when his chip from 45 yards stopped short of the pin and spun back down the fairway. Bolli finally two-putted for a triple bogey-7.

“It’s ridiculous,” hissed one player as he walked out of the scoring hut. “You turn a great golf course into a piece of (crap) by making the greens too fast.”

Random Mickelson Comments...

A few interesting snippets from Phil Mickelson's pre-Memorial press conference:

Q. What sense did you get about the rough out there? Any different here than in the past years?

PHIL MICKELSON: It's very long and thick. I'm not a big fan of that. I like what we had last week where if you hit it in the rough you have to take some chances. I think the recovery shot's the most exciting shot in golf. And you have a lot of that at Augusta. You have a lot of that here. We had it at Wachovia where they cut the rough down a little bit just off the fairways so you could hit some recovery shots. That's not the case here. It's wedge-out rough. I'm not a big fan of that. But it is what it is.

On Torrey Pines... 

Q. Have you thought or heard about the idea of moving 14 up as a drivable par-4?

PHIL MICKELSON: I've read what you guys have talked about. You actually would know better than I would. They would, nobody would tell me what, hey, hey, come hit up here. That wouldn't happen.

Q. What do you think of that?

PHIL MICKELSON: I looked at it. I think it would be cool. There aren't any fun holes there. They're all just long beasts. And to have a fun hole would be fun. I mean it would be cool. It would mix it up a little bit.

The problem with doing it on 14 is, 13's a reachable par-5, if they play the normal tee and you have two birdie holes back to back. I think in a U.S. Open that's not favored.

And this bodes well for a full playoff run by Phil...

 Q. You mentioned that you were in New jersey yesterday, can you talk about I think you were at Ridgewood. Can you talk about that since it's going to be a TOUR venue?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I played where we're going to play the Barclays the first FedExCup series events and I think it's a wonderful golf course. It's a Tillinghast design which I'm biased to and it had a lot of same looks a Baltusrol and Winged Foot has and I think the players are going to love it. It's one of the premier courses in the land. It's spectacular.

They held the Ryder Cup there in I think '35 and it's, they have converted a few par-5s, they have integrated from the three nines that they have 18 holes there. They have taken two par-5s, turned them into par-4s, and so the course will play long at 73 plus hundred yards, par 71. It's going to play long and difficult.

Wait, he's sponsored by Barclay's and it's the Barc...ignore me, just typing out loud. 

"Most players aren't complaining. I'm complaining, and maybe some of the fans roaming the property are, too."

Sal Maiorana nails it with this column on the over-the-top, one-dimensional setup at Oak Hill, though this won't win him any friends at the club or PGA of America.

There is no border. The line has been crossed.

It's too tough, and my fervent wish — wishful thinking is all it is, though — would be that the PGA of America trim the jungle-like rough this morning and give these players a chance to give the large galleries something to cheer about.

Sure, this has been a glorious week for Rochesterians as the hometown hero, Jeff Sluman, has been in contention since the opening bell Thursday and has a very real chance of pulling off a victory for the ages today.

However, let's be perfectly honest. Outside of rooting for Sluman and watching the Great White Shark, Greg Norman, make one of his rare tournament appearances with fiancée Chris Evert in tow, there hasn't been a whole lot of excitement at Oak Hill.

The answer to me is as clear as the rough is deep:

The rough is too deep.

When a ball ends up in the tall, thick, gnarly stuff, there really is no other choice but to hack it back into play somewhere in the fairway — if possible — and then try to save par, or more likely, make bogey.

It was the same thing back in 2003. Miss a fairway, forget birdie and thank your lucky stars if you can make par.

Most players aren't complaining. I'm complaining, and maybe some of the fans roaming the property are, too.

The players understand the course is brutally difficult, they aren't whining that the rough is too long and lush and they are more than willing to swallow their medicine when they drive their ball astray.

They don't have to grind like this every week, especially on the Champions Tour, and believe it not, on the whole they seem to be enjoying the challenge that has been put forth.

That's great. I'm all for challenging the best players and making them work hard to earn this prestigious championship. I'm just not enamored with watching player after player gouge out of the rough after missing the fairway and then wedging onto green after green in search of a par.

It would be nice if, once in a while, someone had the option of making the bold play and trying to hit a risk-reward type of shot out of semi-playable rough in search of a birdie.

It was this kind of golf that I felt plagued the 2003 PGA Championship and turned that tournament into a snooze until Shaun Micheel hit his remarkable game-clinching 7-iron to within two inches at 18.

"The scouting report on Oak Hill might have been a deterrent, too."

In a pair of blog posts (here and here), John Strege tries to figure out why so many geezers passed on the first of five senior majors at Oak Hill. Looking at the scores and word that the setup is entirely over the top, I think I know why.

Unfortunately, this somber tree-lined mess of rough and bad Fazio redesign work hosts the 2013 PGA. If this week is a preview, it's safe to say they haven't learned from the antics last time they hosted and will inevitably spawn another freak show finish.

"It’s not just about 7,500 yards. It’s about run-offs, firmness, ball control and course management."

Paul McGinley continues to use his fine play to push an anti-course butchering agenda at of all places, Wentworth (didn't Ernie mess it up?).

Jeremy Whittle reports:

But he bemoaned the emphasis on driving distance that has become so dominant in modern golf course design. "It’s not just about 7,500 yards," he said. "It’s about run-offs, firmness, ball control and course management.

"I’d love to see the game go that way. Distance is important but there should be more to it. It’s an over-reaction to technology."

"I’m not going to change the world," he said. "I play what I am given. Length is a very important facet, but you have got to have ball control and course management and I don’t think there’s enough of that in the professional game at the moment."

"Professional golf is not about length. It is about firm greens."

Paul McGinley questioned the Adare Manor/Irish Open setup, particularly some of the back tees, then posted a round in the sixties and was quoted in an unbylined Irish Independent's piece justifying his comments.

"I stand by what I said," McGinley insisted. "The greens were softer today, making the course play easier. Professional golf is not about length. It is about firm greens. That's what makes it tough for us. We can control the ball in the air but once it hits the ground and is rolling it's out of our control.

By the way, that's where they are playing the Irish Open? I look like something in Palm Desert. 

"I think guys are tired of using the same tee box for all four rounds"

Steve Elling reports on David Toms' course setup/slow play related comments following an opening 67 at the Wachovia. Why didn't I get this rant when I talked to him for my Golf World story on setup?

"The issue came up this time about golf course setup, and why does it have to be so difficult?" said David Toms, a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board, the governing body of the circuit. "I mean, golf-course setup is why you see pro golfers, the best in the world, a guy shoot 67 and then another guy shoot 79, is because there is such a fine line there.

"You get on the wrong side, and it just takes a while (time-wise). So I think we can do a combination of things. Obviously if you ask the field staff, they would tell you there are way too many people playing, and you can't get them around that fast."

Au contraire, Toms said.

"Golf course setup, I think, is a big deal," said Toms, the first-round leader at the Wachovia Championship. "If you saw pins in the middle of the greens like you do for the pro am, I think we'd get along a lot quicker. All of it goes hand in hand, and we'll see.

This is interesting...

"I think they looked at last week. J.J. Henry made the comment, 'Listen, I worked on that golf course, and you guys didn't use the multiple tees that we built to make holes play different, and it doesn't always have to be all the way back on every hole and the pins, two, three, four (yards) from the edge on a day when it's blowing 25 or 30 mph.' So all those things might help."

Henry was a player consultant on the revamped Nelson course in Dallas. Was it coincidence, then, that players noted a slightly less toothy Quail Hollow setup in the first round?

The testy course's two toughest par-3 holes were softened considerably Thursday, a welcome development for players. The tee on the sixth hole was moved from 250 up to 236 yards and the markers on the brutal, water-choked 17th were moved from 217 to 175.

"I think guys are tired of using the same tee box for all four rounds," veteran Tag Ridings said. "Especially on the par-3s. They obviously made a quick change on that already."