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Steve Hosid Instruction Editor PGA TOUR Partners Magazine SST PURE on Tour August 11, 2008 I know Tiger wasn’t playing, but if you’re a true golf fan, how much more exciting did you want this PGA Championship to be? The CBS coverage was bland, almost like they were watching the Olympics on NBC with the rest of the U.S. television market. That’s something to remember when they release the ratings. Tiger not playing was a reason the ratings will be low, but the Olympic coverage played a big role. The battle on the back nine between Sergio, Padraig and Ben Curtis was riveting with ups and downs for all three. We saw some great and not so great shots. The course chewed up the players on Thursday and Friday and only the rain softened its heart. Harrington’s final nine score of 32 was spectacular and deserving of his second major win this year. A new trend at the majors was also evident this week at the PGA championship at Oakland Hills. Jay Haas knew something was different when he got to the 387-yard sixth hole Friday and looked at the pristine turf. There was not a single divot,” Haas said. Players typically hit an iron, but not in the second round of the PGA Championship. Following the lead of some of the other majors this year the tee was moved forward to make the hole play only 300 yards and give players the option of trying to drive the green. “I think they just cut us a break,” Brandt Snedecker said. “I think they were feeling bad for us.” There weren’t many deep discussions over club selection. It was simply a matter of where to hit it. The answer: Don’t miss it. Right? By the way, when Donald Ross designed Oakland Hills’s undulating greens he never dreamed they could be cut to be as fast as they are today. I checked with some historians and they said the fastest Ross would have ever thought a green to be would be today’s equivalent of seven on the Stimpmeter. This was the second time at the majors this year that forward tees were used to allow players to reach the green. The other was the 14th hole at Torrey Pines in the final round and in the playoff of the U.S. Open. Forward tees were used at Royal Birkdale, but that was to allow players to reach the fairway Phil Mickelsen was an 8-to-5 favorite going into the PGA Championship. Hope you didn’t take that bet. With all the Olympic news coming from China let me add that my friend
Arnold Palmer is currently designing several courses over there. He designed the
first modern golf course in China, Hot Spring, in 1984. There are now more than
400. Golf has become a magnet for investors and has the unofficial backing of the
Chinese government.
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