So named by Ben Hogan, when he won the 1951 US Open (virtually still on crutches following his car accident), yet still shot 67 round the place. "I tamed the monster".

It's at least 300 yards longer now than it was then, but I bet someone still beats Hogan's score this week. Such is the undermining of golf's legends through technology.

The Ryder Cup places on both teams will be all but finalised as a result of this event. Sergio Garcia's had a great first round, and Harrington's leading out on the course.

How unusual is it for a 2-tee start in a PGA tour event? Sounds a bit amateuris to me, like a medal at a local course where time is tight because half the competitors have just raced up the course from the shop.

US Open's being doing it for a few years now since the Bethpage open.

They've done it at the USPGA for some time now, as there have been a number of occasions where they simply couldn't complete the first two rounds on time because of lightning warnings, and players have had to complete anything up to 27 holes on Saturday to catch up. The USPGA persists on hosting the event in August on courses in the midwest or southeast, where thunder late in the afternoon is almost to be expected, and the USPGA also has an enormous field - by recent tradition they invite all the world's top 100, plus other players who have won on the PGA or Nationwide ("Division Two", if you will) tours in the last two years, and also around 40 of the top club professionals from America (the "grass roots" of the organisation's members, who constitute at best "Non-League" but I suppose is only fair, as they are the hosting organisation).

As a result, the PGA championship is a curious beast in that it has at the same time the least right to call itself a "major" of the 4 recognised ones - it is, after all, only the "first among equals" of the 40 or so PGA Tour events - yet for at least a decade has had, in terms of its field, the claim to be the hardest championship of them all to win, as none of the Masters, US nor British Opens guarantee that the winner has beaten all the rest of the world's top 100 (they only guarantee places to the world's top 50).

The event has variously been won, in recent years, by the world's very best (Tiger, of course, and Vijay, and Mickelson; Nick Price won it twice while he was world number one) and some complete outsiders - and I mean, complete outsiders - Jeff Sluman, John Daly, Mark Brooks, Rich Beem, Shaun Micheel. Very interesting to see how this year's goes.

As if to emphasise the potentially random nature of a tournament that invites all of the world's top 100 and many others (so you would think would ensure the cream rose to the top), clubhouse leader at the moment is Charlie Wie, older brother of female prodigy Michelle, who has one (I think) one Malaysian Open and one other event on the Nationwide Tour in his career to date. He's older than I am.

My old golf book reckoned the USPGA should have gone back to matchplay. Can't see that happening.

I've mentioned this before on here, but split starts are bog standard (or "par for the course" in American) in PGA Tour events.

When I was a boy, it was the Doral in Boca Raton that was called "The Monster". I think it was the longest course on the Tour at the time, and spent quite a bit of dosh marketing that fact. There was somewhat tamer version at the Concorde Hotel in the Catskills (the "mountains" less than 100 miles north of New York City, which became famous as the "Borscht Belt" beloved of middle class Jewish families), which I actually played on a few occasions, and found quite boring. Long, but rather profoundly uninteresting. Nowhere near as challenging or intriguing as the bulk of the "other" public courses at Bethpage, let alone the mighty Black.

Christ, Bruce Critchley is still commentating. Is Mike Hughesdon also on Sky's staff somewhere? How about Clive Clark?

I would love it (in a Keegan sense) if the USPGA went back to matchplay, but my chances of winning the tournament are only marginally smaller than those of that happening.

Not a prayer, unfortunately. The demands of TV abhor a singles matchplay format, where a) all the leading players can be eliminated before the Sunday, leading to a Kevin Sutherland v Scott McCarron final (this happened in the WGC matchplay) and b), even if it is Tiger Woods v Stewart Cink, it can end up 8&7 and therefore all over before most fans have even tuned in to see the end. The Ryder Cup, at least, guarantees (most years) that with 12 matches on the final day, it's likely that when Joe Q Mightwatchgolf III in Wisconsin is tuning in, it will still be a live event, and Tiger and Monty might still be playing.

The USPGA wins yet another baby alligator in a bag for its choice of venue ...

This is getting exciting! by choice I'd be watching the Olympics, but Harrington is in the hunt, and my sister's pro-golfer fiance is visiting. C'mon, Páidi!

Bog off, this one's Sergio's.

Poulter's bogeyed all of the last three holes and with it has blown his chance of an automatic Ryder Cup place. I don't think Faldo will pick him as a captain's choice, either. Silly boy, (in a Peter Alliss voice).

It's sizing up to be a great finish. Torn between my fellow countryman and the man I'd most like to see break his Major duck. And I still feel gutted for him for that putt on the 18th at Carnoustie last year.

There's never been a major championship in the States where all the top three were European. What a gee-up for the Ryder Cup this is turning out to be (although Ben Curtis could win, yet...)!