PGA test in a word is tough

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, MICH. - The tradition has been for the USGA to set up its golf courses on the edge of unplayable for the U.S. Open in June. And then come August, the PGA of America would bring the world's best players to a grand track for its championship and allow the contestants to make a fair share of birdies.

On the second day of 90th PGA Championship, the wind blew harder at Oakland Hills, the greens with ridges and runoffs dried to a crispy brown and the gentlemen playing the afternoon shift had a minimal chance to survive.

Tom Lehman was gratefully in with an even-par 70 early in the afternoon. He was talking about how much tougher Oakland Hills has played this week than in the 1996 U.S. Open, when he lost on the 72nd hole to pal Steve Jones.

A theory was offered that, suddenly, the USGA has become the PGA, and the PGA has become the USGA, when it comes to setting up golf courses.

"I've heard several players say exactly that," Lehman said. "It's amazing."

Oakland Hills was accurately described as "The Monster" by Ben Hogan way back in 1951, but the tightening of the fairways, the thick rough, a recent addition of 400 yards and the arrival of persistent winds have turned it into golf's version of Godzilla on growth hormones.

J.B. Holmes teed off at 9 a.m. and posted his 1-under-par total of 139 before 2 p.m. He was merely one of the contenders then, but six hours later, he was the only golfer among 155 players to finish with a red number through two rounds.

The complaint here has been that even perfect shots don't work on some of the rock formations that are passing for greens this week at Oakland Hills.

Consider this: The full field came through Nos. 17 and 18 on Friday and combined for one birdie at 17 and two at 18. That's right -- 3-for-310 in making birdies on the holes that will serve as the finishers at Oakland Hills this weekend.

Here's the trivia answer: Anthony Kim had the birdie at 17 and Jim Furyk and Prayad Marksaeng at 18.

The par-4 18th has a green that's beyond treacherous, and by midafternoon, much of the surface appeared to consist of dead grass.

The par-3 17th had a pin on a ledge, which meant an outstanding tee shot generally concluded with the players trying to two-putt from 40 feet.

There were disasters everywhere -- none greater than that befalling Colin Montgomerie. Four years ago, the Scotsman was rolling in putts at Oakland Hills to help Europe throttle the United States in the Ryder Cup.

On Friday, he had an 84 and finished 20 over par for two rounds. He answered 10 minutes worth of questions from the British media contingent, then marched away resolutely.

"Monty, how about an autograph?" a beer-hoisting ticketholder hollered from a nearby barrier.

Montgomerie nodded toward the clubhouse and said: "I'm just going to go in here. Thanks very much."

Told about the fate of his occasional Ryder Cup partner, Sergio Garcia said: "That's sad to see. He's a good player and he'll rebound."

From there, he four-putted for double bogey, the last miss coming from 2 feet. "I hit good putts," he said. "Unfortunately, we had a couple of misreads."

Garcia's 73 put him at 2-over 142 and in a seven-way tie for seventh. He agreed to a postround mass interview and the introduction by the PGA's Kelly Elbin suggested Sergio had "struggled" with his 3-over 38 on the back nine.

"It wasn't a struggle at all," he said. "I played better on the back nine than I did on the front."

Were Friday's conditions -- particularly on the back -- tough or unfair?

"It's a tough course," Sergio said.

"Did I say that?" Garcia said. "It's very tough, but it's playable."

Patrick Reusse can be heard weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP at 6:45 and 7:45 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. • preusse@startribune.com

Friday Overall

J.B. Holmes -2 -1

Charlie Wi E E

Justin Rose -3 E

David Toms -1 +1

Henrik Stenson E +1

Sergio Garcia +3 +2

Phil Mickelson +3 +3

Padraig Harrington +4 +5

Ernie Els +5 +6

Rocco Mediate +4 +7