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BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Justin Leonard is among 11 players who have made the cut in all four majors this year, but he holds one dubious distinction among such a select group.
He is the only player who has never been under par after any round.
Leonard has been steady, although not spectacular. Going into the third round of the PGA Championship, he had played 14 rounds in the majors this year and was 30-over par. He has matched par only four times.
Welcome to the new world of majors.
Steve Flesch might have summed it up best Friday night after he battled for an even-par 70 that put him in the mix at Oakland Hills going into the weekend.
"The only noise I heard was somebody getting hit by a golf ball. And they were grunts," he said. "No birdie cheers."
For those who complained that Augusta National had taken the fun out of the Masters, that might be the major this year that produced the most birdies. Trevor Immelman won at 8-under 280 for a three-shot victory over Tiger Woods.
And that U.S. Open reputation as being the toughest test in golf? It very well could be the easiest. Woods shot 30 on his back nine of the second round, made two eagles over the final six holes in the third round and forced a playoff with Rocco Mediate at 1-under 283.
Padraig Harrington won the British Open - survived might be the better choice of words - at 3-over 283, but only after producing a 32 on his final nine holes at Royal Birkdale to pull away from Justin Rose.
J.B. Holmes was the sole survivor to par at Oakland Hills after 36 holes, at 1-under 139. Unless the PGA of America uses the tees from the club championship, empties the Detroit River onto the greens and borrows every lawn mower in Michigan to shrink the rough, no one expects the winner to be in red numbers.
"This tournament is not going to be won by 1-under par," Sergio Garcia said.
If that's the case, it will be the first time since 1956 - and the first time that all four majors were stroke play - that a score of 280 or higher won every major.
So much for that theory of the PGA Championship being the one major that invited good scoring.
"It's such a tough golf course that they don't need to trick it up," Robert Allenby said. "The fairways are running 30 to 40 yards. The greens are like concrete. It's not enjoyable to play. They've taken an OK golf course and turned it into a lot of crap."
Like anything else, whether this is enjoyable depends on one's taste. Some people like to see the best players in the world struggle. Others would rather see superior skills on display.
What most would prefer is variety, and with scoring, that appears to be missing.
"If we had it like this once a year, OK," Ben Curtis said. "But it seems like we have this 15 times a year."
