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Europeans Have Good Feelings About Return To Oakland Hills

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The Associated Press

Published: August 7, 2008

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. - When the Ryder Cup was held at Oakland Hills in 2004, the Europeans left with an 18 1/2 -9 1/2 victory, the second of their three straight over the United States.

The top points producers on that team are back for the PGA Championship that starts today on the same course.

Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood both had 4 1/2 of a possible five points over those three days.

"The look of the course is pretty much the same. It's obviously a lot tougher than it was at the Ryder Cup," said Garcia, who was 24 then.

"Obviously the rough is thicker. They have added some good length. Bunkers are a little bit deeper."

Eight of the 12 players on that European team are here this week and a ninth, Luke Donald, was forced to withdraw because of a wrist injury.

At least one former PGA champion believes the Europeans should be brimming with confidence from four years ago.

"If they don't, it's their own damned fault for not having it, because they really took it to us," said Rich Beem, the 2002 PGA champion who wasn't a member of the U.S. team in 2004.

PRACTICE? PRACTICE? The image of golfers taking the opportunity to play practice round after practice round at a major championship venue was shattered by Rocco Mediate.

One of the sport's most popular players since his U.S. Open playoff loss to Tiger Woods in June, Mediate was ready for today's opening round after a total of nine practice holes on the course known as "The Monster."

"I'm tired," Mediate said Wednesday after talking for a while about his hectic life since becoming such a celebrity after the 19-hole playoff loss to the world's No. 1 golfer. "I played last July in the British Open qualifier here and the golf course is right in front of you. The greens are difficult, but they are still right in front of you. I remember them all.

"It's not rocket science. It's just you've got to be under these holes. You cannot play them from over the greens."

CENTENNIAL PGA: The 100th anniversary of the first PGA Championship will be celebrated by staging the last of the four majors near where the organization was formed: Baltusrol.

The course is in Springfield, N.J., just across the river from New York where The PGA of America was formed in April 1916. The first PGA Championship was held six months later at Siwanoy in nearby Bronxville.

"It's one of the classic clubs in this country, and if you walk up on a point on the Upper Course, you can see the Manhattan skyline," said Joe Steranka, the CEO of The PGA of America.

That PGA Championship will be not the 100th edition, however, since none was held in 1917, 1918 and 1943.

Baltusrol hosted its only PGA Championship in 2005, with Phil Mickelson winning by one stroke over Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjorn in a rare Monday finish. Bad weather blew in late Sunday, forcing 12 players to return the next day.

LATE CHANGE: Shingo Katayama, No. 52 in the official world golf rankings, withdrew from the PGA Championship due to recurring back problems. He was replaced by Michael Allen of Scottsdale, Ariz. The 156-player field now includes 93 of the world's top 100.

Other withdrawals include Brett Wetterich, Jason Bohn, Luke Donald and Alex Cejka.

Two-time defending champion Tiger Woods is not in the field after undergoing knee surgery soon after winning the U.S. Open in June.

The Associated Press

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