what made winged foot so tough?

[Phil McDade]

Upon reflection, I'm struck by how hard Winged Foot played at the US Open this year, relative to how it played in the '97 PGA. What accounted for the vast differences in scoring? Added length, primarily? Fairway width/rough? Condition of greens? Pre-tournament weather?

A few facts I've gleaned from the two tournaments: WF '06 yielded 12 sub-par rounds, and 10 of those were 69s. WF '97 yielded nearly five times as many sub-par rounds, with two 65s, 4 66s (including three by Love), and 8 67s. A total of 22 players at WF '97 finished at +4 or lower, or better than the '06 winning score of +5.

I tend by accept the widely held view that the USGA sets up its courses tougher than the PGA for its major. But, take a look at scoring at courses (past 15 years or so) that have hosted both -- Oak Hill, Baltusrol, Hazeltine, Southern Hills and Medinah. Winning and overall scores at PGAs have not been that much lower than at US Opens -- certainly not the disparity witnessed between WF '97 and '06.

Thoughts?

[Patrick_Mucci]

Phil,

We had an extremely wet and cool May and June.

The rough at every course in the NY Met area was extremely difficult, thick and long.

By August the rough usually thins out and while it can be long, it's usually not the challenge presented by Mother Nature in June.

I'd imagine, when you combine that with narrowed fairways and some added length that they took their toll on those playing the golf course.

Just a thought.

[Dave Bourgeois]

I can't imagine what the scores would have been this year if they had really had the green speeds up.  I've never seen greens like that in person, and I was truly impressed.  The severity of some of them is something you can't see on TV.

Anyway, I wonder if anyone has the data of fairway width comparison for a few holes between the two Championships?  That would certainly help answer the question.

[Phil_the_Author]

Some thought also has to be given to the recovered green portions that enabled the USGA to use pin positions, a number of which were very difficult, that were unavailable for the PGA Championship.

Dave, the slower green speeds also made it tougher. In general, the players seemed to have problems getting the ball to the hole, especially when going into the grain.

In addition, the slower green speeds enabled other pin positions that could not have been used, including way back left on #10 on Sunday. That was a brutal one.

[Phil Benedict]

My guess is the added length was the least important factor.  The '97 PGA was before the ProV1 and titanium drivers.  I think Davis Love used a 975D driver, which is the equivalent of a Model T Ford compared to what's available today. Technology has more than compensated for the additional length.

[rgkeller]

The USGA, rather than the PGA, set the holes.

[Matt_Ward]

Phil:

Beyond what's been said already -- I have to say the dimensions of the greens -- you could be short but you can't be wide of the mark or long when playing the West Course. The targets also play "small" because the effective landing areas aren't that big.

In addition, there aren't many birdie holes at the facility. You have the stretch from #5 thru #7 and the short run of holes from #11 # 12 -- beyond that you are fighting to maintain your position.

Couple those things together with the rough and the pressure of an Open and the scoring goes the way you and everyone else witnessed.