Harding Park proved to be a great venue for the pros and I am not surprised. It was a long straightforward test of golf. The conditions were ideal, the hazards were unpredictable (bunkers, rough and trees), and it challenged the best players in the world.
There are great tests of golf and there are great golf courses and sometimes there are both. HP is a great test but trust me, if most here played it, few would rave about it. The trees are the key design feature that makes Harding Park special. It is a 5-6 in my book and that is still a wonderful golf course but it is not one that truly inspires, one that when standing on each tee you say wow this is special. I personally say wow about the trees but not many here like trees.
Think of HP this way, Oakmont without trees is close to a 10 because of everything else going on with it. The trees lessened (hid) the interest and outstanding aspects of that design. Harding Park would be blah without the giant Cypress trees. I love them but then as I have said many times, I love the variety of different playing fields
Winged Foot is an example of a great test of golf and a great golf course as well. I am almost hesitant to say too much because while I have played it many times, I have not seen the recent work just completed by Gil. I am trusting he did a great job fixing the bunkers so like look more like Tillinghast and less like Fazio. The greens themselves are simply world class (one of the best sets on the planet). I don’t believe he touched them other than to tie in the renovated bunkering. Trees play a huge role in the strategy of Winged Foot as they did at Harding Park but the WF green complexes are a totally different level. Not that I really care, but you will not see 13 under winning the golf tournament. But having said that, HP gave us a great tournament as it tested the best players in the world. Some golf courses if long enough and with the right conditions can do that.
One thing I really liked about HP that will likely not be found at WF and is never found at places like Augusta is the unpredictable nature of the rough and the bunkers. The WF rough is likely to be uniform as will be the bunkers. Augusta is always perfect uniform conditions. That unpredictable nature added interest to the PGA at HP.
To answer the question, HP provided a great test of golf for the best players in the world. WF will be an even tougher test. Many like to see the best players shine and struggle at the same time. WF will do that but my guess is there will be much more struggle than we saw at the PGA. There will not be 40-50 scores in the 60’s on Sunday like there was at HP that is for sure. If there are more than a handful in the 60’s I would be surprised.