Whistling Straits holds no fear

IT’S funny you know. You turn up at a major championship venue on the Monday, have a look at the course, play maybe nine or 18 holes, and come off shaking your head in bewilderment.

"How am I going to get around this place, it's almost unplayable," you fret. However, as the days go by, everything slowly but surely slots into place. You become familiar with all the little quirks, you learn where to hit the ball and where not to hit it, you get to grips with the pace of the greens and the undulations, you accept the atmosphere for what it is.

You realise that first impressions are just that. You put them to the back of your mind and tell yourself don't panic! Whistling Straits for this week's US PGA Championship sounds like a beast, sounds brutal, but they said Bethpage for the US Open two years ago was the toughest ever and I coped pretty well and probably should have finished better than 5th.

I've heard so much about this so-called monster on the shores of Lake Michigan where the wind is always blowing hard and at just under 7,600 yards, we are playing the longest course in major championship history.

I practised with Jerry Kelly before the US Open. He had been to Whistling Straits and was telling me all about it and it sounded like pretty serious stuff. That suits me just fine.

I've arrived here in positive shape. I'm positive about what I should be doing, not necessarily just about this week's PGA Championship but on a long-term basis.

It's hard to explain why no European has won the PGA in modern times. Usually, it's pretty much like an ordinary tournament on the US circuit and the least difficult of the majors because the course is set up in a fair manner.

I've never been too bothered about the difficulty of any golf course. The way I see it is this: if I'm finding it difficult, so is everybody else.

You won't find me complaining about how tight it is, how long it is, how the greens are so undulating, how the wind is always blowing from the wrong direction. I'm confident I can hold my own in those circumstances. I just tell myself that I can handle any conditions. I deal with what I find and get on with it.

It's the old Gary Player syndrome.

So we've reached the last major of 2004. It's only four months since the Masters and that memorable final day when I holed-in-one at the 16th and finished strongly to offset what was otherwise a disappointing few days. On then to the US Open at Shinnecock Hills and again I was less than pleased with my overall performance. I didn't have my A game that week, although three late birdies on the Sunday cheered me up no end.

Then I failed to make the weekend in the Open at Troon so I'd have to accept that I was hoping for a lot more than 13th, 31st and missed cut in those three majors of the year. And I suppose that is why I felt under more pressure for much of July. After the Buick Classic at Westchester in June, where I tied after 72 holes and lost in a play-off to Sergio Garcia, I felt a huge burden of expectation. It was quite enormous. How would I put it ... the next four tournaments came at a bad time and I did not perform anywhere near what I wanted.

And I can say this quite honestly without that good last round at the Irish Open, I would still be at a very low ebb. That also cheered me up. A professional judges his form by the manner in which he played his last tournament and that final day at Baltray was terrific. Okay, I didn't come close to winning in the end and it was the 24th second place of my career and my fourth this year, but it was a very satisfying day.

And there's something else, too. I've been looking back at my season so far and in 16 starts, I've had eight top five finishes. Not bad is it? And yet, because there's no win so far, it feels like it's been a poor campaign. The explanation for that is pretty simple: IT'S ALL ABOUT WINNING.

Consistency is great. Obviously, it is absolutely vital and I'm striving for it more and more so I can get myself in a position to win as much as possible, but winning is what really counts.

That's why I am keen about getting my swing to a position where I have to do less and less work on it, which in turn will allow me more time to work on my short game and the mental side of things.

To be sure, it was great to have the two weeks off after Baltray. They gave me time to relax and think things over, do a bit of work in the gym and also beat a well-worn path over to my coach Bob Torrance in Largs on the west coast of Scotland. We work and work on the same thing, on a fault that's been ingrained in me since my earliest golfing days, and I'm satisfied that we are getting there.

Further good news is my neck is okay. It's all down to shoulder stability and I don't sleep properly when the problem is there. I also think about it a lot. Then there's my left ankle. I twisted it in a hole on a golf course about 12 years ago and have to work on it every day. I didn't treat it right at the time and I suspect it's part of the problem with my golf swing. It's something else to focus on.

There's never a quiet moment at this time of year and no sooner will this week be over and everybody's focus will turn immediately to the Ryder Cup. The American team will be finalised on Monday and will be a powerful one as always.

We Europeans wait another two weeks, by which time the WGC- NEC and the BMW International in Munich will have taken place. I remember back in 1999, I just made the selection at the BMW and, thankfully, I don't have to face that pressure now. Yet, having to get into the team the hard way can be a very good thing. The guys who claim the last few positions have demonstrated they can perform under pressure and that their current form is good.

That's the reason why I like how the last few months have developed.