We should have known something sinister was underway when the typically generous Florida Swing courses of the PGA Tour were playing nearly as tough as US Open venues. Results from the Masters just confirms it. 2007 will be forever known as the year of Tough Golf. Only the strong will survive.

If you think Augusta National played hard, wait until you get a look at the revamped Stadium Course for the Players Championship. It has been redesigned to ensure hard & fast playing conditions which always drive up the scores at this target-style course.

Then we have Oakmont, where they will hold the US Open. Unless it rains – a lot – you can make book that all of those final scores will all be par. If the course plays hard & fast, the winning score may well approach double digits over par. Forget Winged Foot, this is probably the hardest of all US Open courses.

As if that’s not enough, the Open Championship is returning to Carnoustie, which is by general consensus the hardest links course in the Open Rota, if not the entire world. (Unfortunately, this stern test will always be associated with the 1999 Van de Velde crash & burn. What it should be most remembered for is being the site of Ben Hogan’s only attempt to win the Open in 1953, which he did, in perhaps the greatest year a professional golfer ever had.) Although the R&A has said it will set up the course to be more playable than it was in ’99, if the wind blows, look for this winning score to also be over par. Carnoustie is a beast. You won’t see many smiles from the contestants.

Finally, the PGA Championship will be held at Southern Hills in August. That’s Oklahoma in August, where they invented the term “bone-dry”. This course was last seen by us as the 2001 US Open venue where Retief Goosen won in a playoff. Very tough in every way and placement off the tee is at a premium, not length. With the likely hard & fast conditions, hitting fairways and greens will be paramount. Unless the PGA takes mercy on the contestants, we will see another winning score close to par.

For all of you with sadistic tendencies, this is your year.

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