Weather is always a hot PGA topic

TULSA, Okla. -- It’s so hot, there is steam rising above the Arkansas River. It’s right at 100 degrees, and isn’t that an oven setting?

Asking Tiger Woods if the heat bothers him is pointless. He’s simply not inclined to allow negative thoughts into his head, or to mention them publicly and thus prove to his peers that he is not totally focused.

So with the forecast for dangerously hot weather this week at the PGA Championship -- the heat index, a combination of temperature and humidity, is expected to climb as high as 110 degrees -- chances are it’s also going to be a little steamy at Southern Hills Country Club.

Woods said he wouldn’t notice.

“It’s not that bad. Just sweating a little bit,” he said. “I just change gloves more often. That’s about it.

“As far as your concentration waning, I don’t see how that can ever be a problem.”

The PGA Championship, the fourth and final major of the year, starts Thursday and most everyone expects the competition to be hot, really hot. Also, the spectators, fairways, lines at the concession stands, and probably more than a few of the players.

Phil Mickelson sounded as if he was talking himself into loving heat and humidity.

“Just drink a lot of water, try to stay in the shade and pace yourself. There’s no sense walking fast,” he said.

Somebody better keep an eye on John Daly.

Anyway, Mickelson says he likes to play in hot weather because his muscles are loose and the ball flies straighter because there is less resistance.

It’s unclear what page of the physics book Mickelson got that information from, but at least he’s thinking positive. And so is Padraig Harrington, the newest major champion after winning the British Open at Carnoustie a month ago. Harrington said he’s ready to do battle with Southern Hills and high temperatures.

“I really didn’t think it is going to be dangerous,” he said. “Maybe for the spectators, but players-wise, certainly I’ve played in hotter conditions and haven’t had a problem.

“I see it as a factor to be looked after, but not something in any way to be worried about.”

Zach Johnson, the Masters champion, said his method for battling such conditions is to remain hydrated and to avoid wearing himself out in practice before the first round.

“The forecast is hot every day,” he said. “So it’s going to be not only a test of golf, but also a physical test and a mental test. So, great.”

Angel Cabrera, the U.S. Open champion, declared himself impervious to the heat because he’s from Argentina.

Those three first-time major champions will play the first two rounds together.

If the weather doesn’t get you at Southern Hills, then the course can easily pick up the slack. At 7,121 yards, Southern Hills is only 148 yards longer than it played for the 2001 U.S. Open, and still a par 70. The biggest changes are probably at the par-four No. 2, which has been lengthened from 465 yards to 490 yards; and the par-four 16th, extended 25 yards to 515.

The most notable alteration to the course since the 2001 Open is the revamping of the ninth and 18th greens, which are so close, they almost seem connected.

In 2001, they were nothing short of diabolical. The slope from back to front and the speed of the greens meant that even a properly struck ball could roll off under its own weight.

“All the way off the green,” Woods said.

Both greens were cored out and remade to create the original contours of the 1935 Perry Maxwell design. The putting surface at the ninth is slightly larger, 7.5%, and now has a front-left pin location. It’s almost the same story at the 18th, where the green was enlarged 6.5% to allow for a similar front-left hole location.

The 18th was the scene of chaos in the 2001 Open, much of it because of the green. Stewart Cink and Retief Goosen were tied when Cink hit it over the green and chipped to 15 feet. Goosen hit his iron shot to 12 feet. Cink missed his par putt and also an 18-incher and wound up with a double bogey.

Goosen ran his putt three feet past, hit his comebacker four feet past, and then made it for a three-putt bogey. He won in a playoff with Mark Brooks, who had finished his round earlier with a three-putt bogey.

Woods said the speed of the ninth and 18th greens was continually being changed.

“Making it a little slower and we saw a lot of things happen on Sunday on 18, I think, because of that,” he said.

If that happens again, somebody is going to be really hot -- and it won’t have anything to do with the weather.

--

thomas.bonk@latimes.com