It's Tulsa Time, And The Heat Is On

Thursday, August 9th 2007, 7:39 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Club pro Ryan Benzel endured the awkwardness of the first tee box Thursday morning, nearly hitting a fellow competitor in the face during a practice swing, then teeing off to the sound of an ill-timed photographer's shot to start the 89th PGA Championship.

Benzel, an assistant pro at Seattle Golf Club, Bradley Dredge, a regular on the European Tour, and Steve Flesch, who qualified by winning last week in Reno, Nevada, opened the season's last major in what was expected to be a broiling week at Southern Hills.

Benzel, who arrived at the first tee a good 10 minutes before his tee time, was taking a warmup swing and nearly bashed Brian Bateman in the face as Bateman walked behind him on the way to the 10th teebox.

A few minutes later, it was tee time, and Benzel did his best Tiger Woods impression, glaring at a photographer who started snapping shots about halfway through his backswing. Welcome to the big leagues! He still hit the drive straight and started the day with a par.

Woods, meanwhile, was scheduled to tee off later in the morning on a day when the temperature was forecast to reach 101. The same high is forecast for Friday. On Saturday, a break: It's only supposed to get to 99.

The hottest tournament ever? Maybe not.

``Singapore is probably the hottest I've been,'' said Retief Goosen, who won the U.S. Open at Southern Hills in 2001.

OK, so maybe Singapore's hotter.

But a recent study published in Golf World magazine found that all six previous majors at Southern Hills were among the 25 hottest in history.

It figures this week could easily produce a long-lasting image _ a la Ken Venturi staggering to the finish with heat exhaustion during the 1964 U.S. Open at Congressional, or Colin Montgomerie wearing dark pants and shirt during his U.S. Open playoff at Oakmont, or pre-buff Phil Mickelson uncomfortably schvitzing through the sauna that became Bethpage in 2002.

``I love playing in the heat for a couple reasons,'' said Mickelson, the three-time major champion who is now in much better shape to handle the elements. ``It loosens the muscles in your body up. You're able to swing a lot more rhythmically and the ball flies a lot straighter because you don't have the resistance.''

Woods, hoping to avoid his first majorless season since 2004, says other than drinking more water and changing gloves more frequently, heat is no big deal.

In fact, it makes the ball fly farther, which means his driver could stay mainly in his bag _ sort of like it did when he won the British Open at Hoylake last year (He hit one driver there over 72 holes.)

During a practice round Tuesday on the par-4 10th _ a downhill, 366-yard hole with a sharp right dogleg _ Woods hit a 5-iron 230 yards.

``A lot of the doglegs in the spots that you want to get to are going to be long irons or even fairway woods,'' Woods said.

Southern Hills is different from most major venues because it's so _ well _ normal.

Other than the huge drop down the hill that leads from the clubhouse on Nos. 1 and 10, then the climb back up that hill for the ninth and 18th greens, there aren't any drastic elevation changes at a course that has hosted three U.S. Opens and now four PGAs.

There are lots of doglegs and changes of direction. Lots of trees lining the fairways, but no houses. Lots of fluffy, club-grabbing Bermuda grass that doesn't need to be overgrown by the PGA to make it tough.

``If the penalty for a missed shot is the same for everybody, like water is, or U.S. Open rough, there's no opportunity for guys to differentiate themselves,'' Mickelson said. ``The PGA gives you chances to get up and down around the greens. The rough is tough, but it's fair. ... I think that's why the PGA is such a fun championship to watch because shot-making is at a premium.''

If it's as good as many players think it will be, it should go down as the most entertaining major of the year.

The British Open was played in rotten weather on a Carnoustie course that was one of the toughest in the world eight years ago, but had to be scaled back. There was a fantastic finish between Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia, but it was more a train wreck than a great display of shotmaking.

The U.S. Open was the U.S. Open _ very difficult, very unforgiving and nearly void of magical moments for anyone but the winner, Angel Cabrera, who watched the final half hour from the clubhouse as no one, not even Woods, could mount a charge.

And the Masters was played in temperatures in the 40s with a whipping wind that produced a winning score over par for the first time in 51 years. One of the most telling images from Augusta four months ago was Henrik Stenson walking around with a stocking cap on.

In practice rounds this week, his shirt was drenched with sweat.

``If you come to Tulsa for the PGA and are shocked to find it too hot,'' said Paul Goydos, ``you might need to find a new profession.''