Major course cut above rest

WHISTLING STRAITS, the venue for this week’s US PGA Championship, takes some finding.

The place is in the middle of nowhere although two of the four strong Irish contingent, a record number for a US major, have made their way here safely enough.

Pádraig Harrington and Darren Clarke were idle last week and so had a head start on Paul McGinley and Graeme McDowell, who picked up invaluable Ryder Cup and world ranking points in the Netherlands.

As a result of his runner- up spot at Hilversum, McGinley jumped to 91st in the world rankings and is 14th in the European Ryder Cup points race; McDowell is a place further back.

McGinley estimates that he requires another 250,000 points from the PGA Championship, the WGCNEC Championship in Akron, Ohio, and the BMW International in Munich to make Bernhard Langer's selection.

But there are concerns. McGinley will be playing his 14th tournament in 15 weeks in Munich. With all the travel involved, it is still a tall order to expect the 37-year- old Dubliner to overcome his knee problems and mount a late charge.

He and McDowell weren't due in Wisconsin until last evening, so they wouldn't have the chance to play the controversial Pete Dye-designed course until this morning.

They may not be in much mood for tackling this monster "links" on the shores of Lake Michigan, even if the PGA of America has shortened the 491 yards 1st to 408 out of concern for playing the hole into the prevailing wind. Whistling Straits, at 7,500 yards plus, is the longest course in major championship history.

And after the weekend torrential rain, it will likely play to every inch of that daunting measurement.

Then there are the bunkers that proliferate the golf course. Nobody seems to know for sure how many there are, with figures somewhere between 1,000 and 1,400. Apparently, Dye stuck them everywhere in his wish to build a course as near as possible to an Irish links.

There was a suggestion that the PGA might play all bunkers as waste areas, allowing golfers to gently ground their clubs and remove loose impediments while they are in them.

They decided against it.

They accept that many are outside the ropes and so could include numerous footprints and tyre tracks, but also declared that "such irregularities of surface are part of the game and no free relief will be available".

There is also talk that the USGA may bring the US Open here in the foreseeable future, something that wouldn't sit well with 2002 US PGA champion Rich Beem, who cracked: "It might take us a couple of weeks to finish. I couldn't imagine Whistling Straits playing firm and fast, especially with hard greens. I'd pray I'd miss the cut. I don't know if I'd show up. Shinnecock this year was tough. Here I'd show up the first day with a white flag."

Is it really that bad?

US Ryder Cup team candidate Jerry Kelly, who hails from Madison, the capital of Wisconsin, has gone in to bat for the venue and the PGA.

"They are not going to try to destroy us. Herb Kohler (the owner of the complex) doesn't want that and the PGA doesn't want a repeat of Shinnecock."

Fred Funk, another with his sights set on representing the US at Oakland Hills, hopes sanity might prevail.

"Whistling Straits has the potential to become another Shinnecock if they let it. The US PGA usually has a little more sanity in their thinking than the USGA ... I don't know what they were thinking of at Shinnecock. They are just so concerned with getting even par winning. I didn't go to Troon for the British Open but I think 10 under won. There's nothing wrong with 10 under winning. A guy plays well and should be rewarded."

Meanwhile, the people of Milwaukee and the town of Sheboygan are rubbing their hands at the prospect of a financial bonanza. The US PGA claim it adds $75m to the Wisconsin economy, which tournament director Barry Deach said was "very conservative".

However, economics and business professor Robert A Baade rubbished this talk, saying: "We move the decimal point one place to the left and we're closer to what actually happens."

The motels and boarding houses are happiest of all.

On Sheboygan's Lake Michigan shore, the newly- opened Blue Harbour and Conference Centre is fully booked for the week at premium rates. General manager Josef Haasis said: "The occupancy is as good as it can be. We're getting $309 a night for a room that typically would go for $249, and $800 for a four-bedroom condo that otherwise commands $595."

This kind of thing is par for the course at Augusta National during Masters week.

This time, it's all different, new, and it's good to see.

The locals' enthusiasm is delightful and it only remains for the weather to behave itself and the course to play tough but fair for a memorable week.