Surprise, surprise! Liberty National can yield low scores

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JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- Liberty National was built to offer a tough test of golf. It was not designed to be a cakewalk. It was not designed to be a birdiefest. Tom Kite and his design partner, Bob Cupp, wanted to challenge the game's best players, not provide them free passes.

"It's a long, hard golf course with difficult greens," Paul Goydos said. "... I don't think Tom Kite was thinking, 'Let's see how easy I can make this course.' I don't think that was his mindset."

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Goydos uses hybrids to score

But then you look up at The Barclays leaderboard and scratch your head. A couple of six-under 65s out of the morning group, with Steve Marino matching his career-low for a first-round score and Goydos shooting his best round in his last 18 TOUR rounds. Another 65 from Sergio Garcia in the afternoon

Then four 66s. Three 67s from the afternoon group. A plethora of 68s. Thirty of the first 62 players on the course shot par or better.

Hey, wasn't Liberty National supposed to be difficult? What the heck happened? Why was Thursday's version of Liberty National easier to play than Wednesday's pro-am version, when the pins were set in the middle of the greens? Why was it even easier than Tuesday's practice round? Had the Statue of Liberty decided to take mercy on the the huddled masses along the Jersey shore?

Actually, it wasn't Lady Liberty, but PGA TOUR tournament officials, who set up the course Thursday to give the 124 players in the field a chance to thrive instead of just survive. At least that's how the players saw it, thankful for the gift they had received. (OK, a few soft greens helped, too.)

"They were nice to us today," Marino said. "They could make this place play extremely difficult."

Instead, officials shortened the 7,419-yard par-71 course by moving up some of the tees, especially the par-3 11th (227 yards instead of 250) and the 18th (457 yards instead of 508). The length on a number of other holes were reduced to give the players a fighting chance.

"I thought the setup was pretty good," said Richard S. Johnson, who posted a 3-under 68. "They didn't set it all the way back, which would have been ridiculous. The margin of error is so small that if you miss, you're going to be in pretty bad shape."

Johnson, by the way, didn't miss, at least not much. He hit 13 of 14 greens in regulation, which made his day simpler. Playing partner Fred Jacobson was nearly as accurate, hitting 12 of 14 fairways on his way to a 5-under 67.

"I played Tuesday and it was playing very long," Jacobson said. "I didn't really quite see that many scores under par, but I'm pleased to see it today, that you can shoot a low one if you play well. That makes it a bit more enjoyable."

Robert Allenby, who matched Johnson's 68, said the set-up was about as fair as possible at a course that has narrow fairways, lots of undulation and its share of small, fast greens. "It's the kind of golf course from what we've seen already this week could be a nightmare," Allenby said, "but the TOUR did a great job in their set-up." Allenby, by the way, also hit 12 fairways, as well as 16 greens.

On the flip side, Tiger Woods hit 9 of 14 fairways and 9 of 18 greens on his way to a 1-under 70. His wayward tee shots, especially on the par-5 sixth and eighth holes, prevented him for making birdie on those scoring holes. Consequently, Tiger made a quick beeline to the driving range so he could work out the kinks.

"You don't get too many opportunities around this place," Woods said, "and I only made one birdie on the par 5s."

Accuracy will certainly be a key factor in deciding who'll win the first event in this year's PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. While the rough is not super-thick like at the PGA Championship two weeks ago at Hazeltine, it does present some issues if you find it. As Marino said, "It's not terrible, but you can definitely get some bad vibes where you can't even think about getting to the green."

Speaking of bad vibes, however, there is something sitting out there that could really knock the competitors for a loop.

Wind.

It's looming, especially on Saturday when Tropical Storm Denny is expected to get close enough to make an impact. The forecast is for winds to be 15-25 miles per hour in the morning and 10-20 mph when the leaders play in the afternoon.

Of course, there's also an 80 percent chance of rain that might wipe out play. Nevertheless, the winds are expected to pick up the rest of the tournament. If it does, then we may not see another 65.

"We may have a hurricane coming Saturday," Jacobson said with a smile." If you want to shoot a low round, you better hurry up."

And if Mother Nature doesn't cause the scores to go higher, then perhaps the course itself, the one that was designed to push the world's best golfers to the limit, will soon make its true presence known -- no matter the set-up.

"Don't get deceived by the scores," Garcia warned. "It's not that easy a course."