Putting a damper on golfers’ fun

Who says the USGA enjoys torturing the world’s greatest players?

The 156 men who tee it up today at the 109th U.S. Open will play a course that, compared with 2002, has wider fairways, slower greens and rough that’s both wispier and shorter near the fairways.

But there’s a catch: Beth- page Black will play 224 yards longer than it did in ’02.

And even longer than that because of saturated fairways, a result of rain hitting Long Island in roughly 30 of the last 45 days -- plus another half-inch to an inch that was expected Wednesday night and today.

“It can’t play any longer than it is right now unless it’s cold or windy,” Jim Furyk said. “I’m getting zero roll.” Furyk then held his hands about two feet apart and said: “Literally that much. The ball’s not going anywhere.”

USGA officials said Bethpage’s maximum length would be 7,438 yards, 12 more than its original estimate. But to help make up for the soaked fairways, they will play it shorter.

The USGA wanted greens to roll at a speedy 14 1/2 on the Stimpmeter. But after all the rain, they will be closer to 13 1/2 .

“The weather,” USGA Championship Committee Chairman Jim Hyler said, “has not been our friend.” And if rain continues to fall, U.S. Open officials worry about the condition of the 18th fairway, which, Hyler said, “is built on a swamp and does not drain well.”

Fighting a slump

Padraig Harrington won the British Open and the PGA Championship last year and began the season at No. 3 in the world, but the Irishman tinkered with his swing and has slipped to No. 11.

He missed the cut in the Memorial and the St. Jude Classic the last two weeks and hasn’t broken 70 on the PGA Tour since a first-round 69 in the Masters.

“I was No. 3 in the world,” he said. “I wanted to get better, and the way to get better is improve things and change things, and if that means I step back a bit, that’s OK in the short term.

“I would have liked to have come out just a little quicker, and certainly I didn’t intend to drag it so far into the season.”

Harrington will be playing with Tiger Woods and Angel Cabrera in the first two rounds.

Baby watch

Sean O’Hair has no idea how long his U.S. Open will last. His wife, Jackie, is expecting their third child any day.

She had back spasms Sunday, and O’Hair took her to the hospital near their home outside Philadelphia, believing she had gone into labor. It was a false alarm, so he left for Bethpage with great uncertainty.

“I’ll deal with it as it comes,” he said.

Will he have a pager in his bag, as Phil Mickelson did at Pinehurst No. 2 in 1999? O’Hair shook his head.

“I’m not that dramatic,” he said. “I’m not carrying a beeper. . . .

“I would love to be there, and I would love to play the U.S. Open,” he said. “But sometimes, you can’t have it both ways. But you get one chance to be there for the birth of your baby. And don’t they have a U.S. Open next year?”

Woods’ lofty aims

Tiger Woods is using a driver with a loft of 10.5 degrees.

“As we all know, loft is your friend,” Woods said. “And the reason why you hit a three-wood straighter is obviously because it’s got more loft. That helps. My release has changed over the years and I just need a little bit more loft now.”

When he joined the tour, he used a driver with 6.5 degrees of loft.

“I hate to see when I get to 40, how that’s going to be, have to get a 46-inch driver and 15-degree lofted driver,” he said. “But it is what it is. Technology has changed, the ball doesn’t spin as much as it used to. You have to have more loft than you used to.”

Tap-ins

Justin Leonard signed dozens of autographs after his practice round Wednesday, but after he bypassed a group of people, an angry fan yelled to him: “Tiger’s gonna win anyway!” That elicited some jeers. . . . Soren Kjeldsen withdrew from the Open because of an ear infection and will be replaced by California pro Steven Conway. . . . The USGA confirmed Oakmont has been awarded the 2016 U.S. Open and announced Bandon Dunes will host both the 2011 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships and the women’s edition. The Bandon Dunes Resort includes four courses (Old McDonald will open in 2010) and is built along Oregon’s Pacific coastline.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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tgreenstein@tribune.com