On Golf: At Whistling Straits, The Fear Is Gone

Sheboygan, WIS. - The last time the PGA Championship Whistling Straits Came Thurs, there was a palpable fear in the air. This year, there's only fog. And mosquitoes. 

That trepidation was Largely fueled by Shaun Micheel, the Defending Champion Heading into the 2004 PGA. During a media day two months before the '04 event, Micheel shot 77 in windy conditions on and predicted the winning score That Could Be "double digits over par." 

Other such "prose as Mark Calcavecchia That fed into Anxiety. 

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"If it's windy, we may all lose a few players," he said. "Not Losing Their balls. A player Zapraszamy fall into the lake. If it gets too windy, it will turn into a joke. I'm grieving there are going to be some players, webcam, 'What are we doing here?" At That point, all the players knew That was Whistling Straits was set to Be the longest course (7.536 yards) in major championship history And that Pete Dye's creation Devilish So Many had the Bunkers, the number Could not Even be quantified. Golf Digest recently did a Recent analysis and Came up with 967, a world record. 

Now, Six years later, the prose no longer fear Whistling Straits. That has a lot to do one with how the course Played in 2004. PGA of America Officials opted for a tame layout in the first round That resulted in a host of sub-70 scores, Including 66s shot by Justin Leonard and Ernie Els. 

Vijay Singh won in a playoff with scores of 67-68-69-76. 

"In 2004, the course Did not play long," said Padraig Harrington, Ken finished Tied for 45th. "If you hit the right shape (fade or draw) and hit the fairways, there was plenty of run. It May Have Been long in terms of yardage, but their it wasn't a long golf course." 

This year's yardage has Actually Been trimmed down Thurs 7.507, a loss of 29 paces. But the fairways will be Saturated from weeks of heavy rain in Wisconsin. So, the players predict, 7.507 will feel a lot longer please 7.536.