There are no easy courses on the PGA TOUR. But some are simply less resistant to scoring than others.

Case in point is this week’s tournament site, Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club, which hosts the 47th Buick Open. Guys seem to want to lick their chops at this par-72 layout that measures an eminently manageable 7,127 yards. This is still one more Midwestern track with large greens that can yield some low numbers.

Warwick Hills was the 13th easiest course on the PGA TOUR in 2005, which means it is among the five most accessible to birdies and red numbers on the remainder of this year’s TOUR schedule. Only five men who played 72 holes last year failed to break par.

Heck, no hole at Warwick Hills has been rated among the top 50 hardest on the TOUR since 2000, when the par-4 15th cracked the list at 42nd.

One of the great strengths and attractions of the TOUR is the variety of venues and the challenges they present. No shame in letting the boys have their fun this week. Great events are about competition more than numbers.

Of course, numbers matter, especially with just three events left to decide the 10 automatic berths on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

Last year: Vijay Singh tied the 54-hole tournament record at 22-under par for a five-stroke lead, the largest of his career, and closed with a 70 to beat Zach Johnson and Tiger Woods by four. The native of Fiji successfully defended his title and won the Buick Open for a record third time. Singh’s 264 total was the lowest of his three winning aggregate scores.

How he did it: With the most birdies over 72 holes in his career. Singh converted 28 birdies, two more than his previous high, Singh putted for birdie or eagle 60 times after averaging 83 percent in greens in regulation and led the field in putts per green in regulation, a deadly effective combination.

Strange but true: With his first TOUR check in six years at the B.C. Open, Chip Beck is on the points list for the U.S. Presidents Cup team.

Furyk ranks second in scoring average (69.16) on the PGA TOUR. (Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage)

True but not so strange: O.K., so Beck is 195th and more than 2 million points behind current 10th place qualifier Chris DiMarco.

If the course could talk: “My large greens make my other defenses – trees, bunkers and rough -- a bit less menacing, but that puts more emphasis on touch over toughness.”

Worth Knowing:

• Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk have five top-10 finishes apiece in their last six appearances at the Buick Open, which is tied for the second-most in the tournament’s history. The leader among players in the field is 50-year-old Fred Funk, who has six in 14 starts.

• Don’t know if this is a record or what the record would be, but Furyk has bettered par at Warwick Hills 29 straight rounds, with 22 of them in the 60s. By comparison, other recent winners Singh and Woods have streaks of 14 and 24, respectively.

• A back injury forced David Toms to withdraw from the U.S. Open after an opening 79, and he hasn’t played in a tournament since. He’s entered in this week’s Buick Open, where he’s placed as high as ninth in six appearances. Winner of the Sony Open in Hawaii, Toms hasn’t completed an event since tying for 15th at the Barclays Classic, which was his ninth top 25 finish in 15 starts.

• For the second week in a row a player had to use new clubs after his were lost in transit. Chris Couch had a new set at Milwaukee, and ended up tied for 18th. The set that was lost on a U.S. Airways flight he had used to win his first TOUR title, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

• There have only been four playoffs in the last 25 years of the Buick Open. Woody Austin was the last playoff winner in 1995.

• Four-time PGA TOUR winner Carlos Franco, ranked outside the top 125 on the money list, last week at Milwaukee began wearing glasses during play. He tied for third at the 2005 Buick Open.

• Peter Jacobsen, 52, who has PGA TOUR status via a minor medical extension, faces left hip replacement surgery this fall after having two surgeries on his right knee in 2005.

• The best title defense other than repeat winners Vijay Singh and Tony Lema (1964-65) was turned in by two men: Brad Faxon and Chip Beck. Faxon tied for second in 1992 after winning the ’91 title in a playoff over Beck, who won the ’90 edition.

TOUR Insider’s strength of field index: Guys love to beat up on Warwick Hills, and the good fans of Michigan love watching them. 8.2.

TI’s power ranking for the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee: 1. Jim Furyk, 2. Tiger Woods, 3. Vijay Singh, 4. John Daly, 5. Zach Johnson.

Parting shot: “It’s the penultimate achievement for me. I’m happy, of all the majors, to get his one.” -- Loren Roberts, after winning the Senior British Open, who can be excused for his slight malapropism, no doubt meaning that his second major win on the Champions Tour is his ultimate achievement.