Tough week ahead

By Phil Casey, PA Sport Last updated: 16th June 2009

"Warning - The Black Course Is an Extremely Difficult Course Which We Recommend Only for Highly Skilled Golfers."

That is the sign, complete with superfluous capital letters, which greets players about to take on Bethpage Black in upstate New York.

This week it is the turn of the world's best to tackle a course usually open to members of the public brave enough, and some would say foolish enough, to pay for the privilege of testing themselves over the fearsome layout.

In 2002, the last time Bethpage hosted the US Open, it proved so fearsome that only the winner, Tiger Woods, broke par with a winning total of 277, three under.

Runner-up Phil Mickelson finished level par, 10 over par made the halfway cut and the unfortunate Felix Casas of the Philippines recorded rounds of 82 and 92 to be 34 over par.

A combination of length and brutal rough was to blame for the high scoring, with Scott McCarron among those who felt it was "ridiculous" that the 10th tee was not moved forward when many players could not even reach the fairway.

This year Bethpage Black will measure 7,426 yards (par 70) when play gets under way on Thursday, with the seventh hole 525 yards but still considered a par four.

Two other par fours come in at just over 500 yards and the par-five 13th at 605 yards.

The United States Golf Association (USGA) has long been obsessed with level par being a target score in their major championships, with birdies seemingly an affront to their sense of dignity.

"We intend that the US Open prove the most rigorous examination of golfers," the USGA says in its 'championship philosophy'.

But where do you draw the line between "rigorous examination" and "tedious slog"?

And is this what the paying public wants to see? The world's best golfers chopping out sideways from knee-high rough or unable to even carry the rough to reach a fairway?

On Sunday, Masters runner-up Kenny Perry revealed he will be unable to reach the par-four seventh in two, no matter which clubs he hits.

"I hit a good drive down the middle and I had 255 yards to the green, but I was still behind the trees (on the corner of the dogleg)," Perry said.

"I couldn't hit it far enough to get around the trees, so I had to hit a slice around the trees and it came up short.

"No matter what I do on that hole, I can't reach. If I hit it any further left, I'm going to have 300 into the hole for my next shot.

"There's going to be a lot of guys have trouble getting it over the bunker there, just getting it over the bunker to the fairway.

"I remember Nick Price on the 10th in 2002 when it was raining hard, he couldn't hit it far enough to get over the weeds there. He had a three-yard landing area with the walkway there that he had to land in."

It sounds ominous, but there are signs that the USGA may have learnt from Augusta National and their approach to this year's US Masters.

After years of continually making Augusta longer and harder, officials listened to the concerns of players and fans and set up the course to produce more birdies and eagles, to restore the "roars and excitement" as chairman Billy Payne put it.

It was an approach which paid dividends, producing an exciting event with Perry, Angel Cabrera and Chad Campbell all finishing 13 under par, the lowest winning total since 2001.

The chances of seeing 13 under par at Bethpage still seem remote, but Perry believes Woods could need better than three under to retain his title.

"I like how they did the rough," the 48-year-old added. "They have that progressive rough out there and in the first couple of cuts I could actually move the ball a little bit and play some shots out of that.

"Maybe the third or fourth cut it got pretty bad to where I was chipping out, and then you've got the real high weeds that you can't even play out of - it will be a lost ball probably.

"It all depends how they want to set the tees. They have got a lot of options out there to make the golf course play any way they want it to play.

"The greens are not very fast now, they are very soft and receptive and will hold anything you throw at them, and I don't think that will change, I really don't.

"I think the scores are going to be okay. I don't think they are going to be that high to tell you the truth. I may be wrong in that assumption, but I remember the rough just off the fairway in 2002 was very severe, it was definitely chip out, whereas this year I think you can actually play out of it a little bit."

Phil Casey, PA Sport