Jim Furyk, winner of the 2006 Quail Hollow Championship, said Wednesday he was going to withhold judgment of the course setup until the end of the tournament to see how it affects the playability of Quail Hollow Club and the scoring. Tournament organizers are relying on firm and fast greens to protect the course rather than thick and deep rough, and have cut the rough down from 4-5 inches in past years to just 2 inches this year. Though he found it odd that they would tinker with a course setup that has drawn praise from the top players in the world over the first six years of the event. ``What's interesting to me is they've had so much success here, and you hear everyone talk about this being one of our best, if not the best regular event we have on tour, and then they just flip-flop the setup and do something totally different. I find that very interesting,'' Furyk said. ``At the end of the week I'll be better prepared to say whether I liked it with rough or not with rough.''
Furyk knew Mickelson wouldn't reserve judgment, however. ``We know a couple [players] are going to be in here raving about how great the setup is, and one of them is lefthanded,'' Furyk predicted. ``He's going to love the way it's set up and he's going to tell you about it and he's going to make sure [Quail Hollow president Johnny Harris] knows and he's going to make sure everyone knows how great it is because I've seen him do it before. And then there's going to be a few guys back there kicking the dirt, wishing the guys missing the fairways aren't going to have such an easy play.''
Sure enough, following his opening-round 67, Mickelson, who has a good track record at Quail Hollow with ties for third, fifth, seventh and 12th in five trips, could not have been more effusive about how good the course was setup.
``This is the best setup I've ever seen because you always have a shot, but with the greens being firm, it's hard to get it close,’’ Mickelson said. ``But always having a shot, I think the fans are enjoying the recovery shot, which is the most exciting shot in golf. We're having a bunch of recovery shots, at least I am, from the trees and so forth. I think that makes for exciting golf.
``. . . Because the rough is short, we're able to hit shots under the trees, around the trees, around the greens when we miss a green, and because the greens are firm, those shots aren't easy. Those shots are difficult. I think that challenge really brings the shot making out in the players. It gives the better players a chance to separate themselves with recovery shots and shots around the green. I think this is the best setup we have on tour.’’
