Jose Maria Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez spent much of Tuesday trying to figure out Valhalla.
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Jarmo Sandelin was part of a unique foursome for Tuesday's practice. He played the front nine with Bernhard Langer; the back nine with Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke.
A historic pairing: Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus.
The PGA likes to claim it has the toughest field of the year. It may be right -- 91 of the top 100 in the World Rankings are here. It was 92 until Steve Elkington dropped out. Last year at Medinah also had 92 of the top 100.
The greens, collars, tees and fairways at Valhalla are Pentcross bentgrass -- greens cut at 7/64ths of an inch; collars and tees at 1/4-inch; fairways at 7/16th of an inch. The rough is Kentucky bluegrass, cut at an inch in the intermediate rough; 4½-inches in the primary rough.
Since the PGA went to stroke play in 1958, there have been no back-to-back winners. Five won it consecutively in match play, the most recent Denny Shute in 1937-38.
Like it hot? Temperatures are forecast to hover near 90 through the end of the week, dropping to the mid-80s over the weekend. "We just can't get enough of the water," said one of the concessionaires, selling bottled water for $2.
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Shark attack
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Steve Elkington is hurt and won't play the PGA. Same with David Duval. But Greg Norman is back seven weeks after having surgery on his hip.
And at age 45, he's talking like a whole new man.
"I do like my chances," said Norman, who played two weeks ago at The International and finished fourth. "I feel free. I feel loose. I know I am playing well because I have practiced well. A lot of that is because I don't have any other doubts in my mind. ... I don't have pain or anything to take my mind away from the job at hand."
Norman had been suffering from hip pain for several years -- enough that he said he didn't enjoy playing golf and said he had trouble scuba diving with his children. A South Florida surgeon, Dr. Marc J. Philippon, repaired a large tear in Norman's labrum (video of which is available at Norman's web site, shark.com).
Norman's goal was to return for the PGA. He beat that by two weeks. Now he's talking title run.
"I think it is like riding a bike," Norman said. "Once you put yourself back in that position, a competitor is always a competitor."
Norman has now gone into the referral business. He convinced Elkington, who is having back problems, to see Philippon. A day later, Elkington withdrew from the PGA and headed to Florida.
"Marc Philippon knows his stuff," Norman said.
It remains to be seen if the new Norman knows his.
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Overflowing crowds are a fact of life at major sporting events. But if the first two practice rounds at Valhalla are any indication, this Tiger Woods-hyped PGA may top anything.
"I usually sign autographs on the course (during practice rounds)," said Jean Van de Velde. "But in a major championship, there are too many people. I told them I would sign on 18, but I was praying that they wouldn't all show up."
Autograph seekers are everywhere. Young kids with ticket badges. Grown men with souvenir flags. Teen-agers with cardboard. Women claiming they're doing it for their children.
"It's crazy out there," said Phil Mickelson after spending 30 minutes getting from the 18th green to the clubhouse. "Crazy."
Dennis Paulson, who walked up right behind Mickelson, signed every piece of paper, hat, shirt and ticket put in front of him, taking him at least that long.
The autograph game ends Thursday with the first round of play. Autograph seeking is then banned.
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OVERHEARD
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WOODS
On a Time magazine cover story profiling him: "I read about half of it. ... It's quite an honor to be on the cover of Time magazine, especially with all the political stuff going on in our country." |
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MICKELSON
On winning at Valhalla: "If you hit a bunch of fairways and greens, you can shoot pretty low. I think you will see a huge disparity between the top players and those missing the cut." |
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WESTWOOD
On whether Woods will win two majors every year: "I'm not really worried too much about whether he wins two or not. That still leaves two for the rest of us. Not that I think he is going to win two every year." |
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NORMAN
On golf not being in the Olympics: "I think it is a crying shame that it's not. ... If we look at the demographics of golf on a global basis, it far exceeds a lot of the demographics of a lot of the other Olympic sports." |
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