Mickelson Favored for PGA Title Penalizing Errant Oakland Shots

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Mickelson Favored for PGA Title Penalizing Errant Oakland Shots

By Michael Buteau

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The signs around the Oakland Hills Country Club this week read ``PGA Championship.'' Golfers say it might as well be the U.S. Open.

With dense rough squeezing fairways, multitiered greens and a 237-yard, uphill par-3 hole, Oakland Hills --the course near Detroit that Ben Hogan once called ``the Monster'' -- is not the usual venue for the final major tournament of the season. This year's U.S. Open course at Torrey Pines in San Diego had wider fairways and a rough more inclined to forgive an off-line tee shot.

``It's nearly more U.S. Open-type than the U.S. Open is,'' said two-time reigning British Open champion Padraig Harrington. ``It's like they switched the two of them around this year.''

Phil Mickelson is the 8-1 favorite to win the event, according to Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which advises casinos on betting lines. Ernie Els is second at 12-1, and Harrington, Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh and Sergio Garcia are third at 15-1.

The PGA Championship typically produces the best scores of the major tournaments. Tiger Woods, who isn't playing this weekend as he recovers from knee surgery, won last year at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with an 8-under par.

In contrast, he won the U.S. Open in a playoff after he and Rocco Mediate finished at 1-under par. Harrington captured the British Open last month with a score of 3-over-par, the highest at the event since 1999.

Playing Longer

Furyk, winner of the 2003 U.S. Open, said this course is harder than Torrey Pines, even though they are of similar length. Softer fairways will reduce the amount shots will roll after landing.

``The golf courses probably aren't that much different in length, but this is playing much, much longer,'' he said. ``It just is a totally different setup.''

The course was given its ``Monster'' moniker by Hogan after he won the 1951 U.S. Open. That year, only two players posted sub-par rounds over the tournament's four days.

The layout has been stretched this year to about 7,400 yards, leaving most players with long shots to the putting surface and placing a premium on accuracy off the tees, typical U.S. Open requirements.

``If you hit it in the rough, it's almost impossible to get the ball on to the green,'' said Trevor Immelman, this year's winner of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National. ``So the guy who drives the ball the straightest here is definitely going to have a huge advantage. That's going to be the key.''

Donald Ross

Laid out by architect Donald Ross in 1918, the club has hosted eight previous major golf championships. The most recent was in 1996, when Steve Jones won the U.S. Open. The course, which has been redesigned twice and lengthened 400 yards, was also the site of Europe's nine-point victory over the U.S. in the 2004 Ryder Cup matches and has hosted the U.S. Senior Open twice and the 2002 U.S. Amateur Championship.

Located in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Township, Michigan, Oakland Hills is one of only four courses to host a U.S. Open, PGA Championship and Ryder Cup.

The tournament winner might actually be determined on the course's four par-3 holes, players said. The shortest is 191 yards, leading 2007 PGA runner-up Woody Austin to quip: ``They're supposed to be short holes, right?''

This week, they're not.

The 17th hole, at 237 yards, forced most players to use a 3-wood during practice rounds.

Since the 2004 Ryder Cup, extensive work has been done at the course, including the rebuilding and repositioning of 135 bunkers. The changes were all aimed at penalizing wayward shots.

``We really paid attention to the landing areas,'' said Steve Cook, the head course superintendent at Oakland Hills.

The winner Sunday night will be hoisting the 27-pound Wanamaker Trophy, the heaviest of the four majors, after succeeding on what major winners are saying is one of the most difficult courses.

``It's not supposed to be easy,'' Immelman said. ``These tournaments are supposed to be the ultimate test.''