TULSA, Okla. - I think most golf fans might be surprised to see how conservative the pros actually play.

As an experiment for you, the beloved reader, I stood at the 10th tee at Southern Hills for much of the first two rounds of the PGA Championship.

No. 10 is a 366-yard par-4, a sharp dogleg right. There is a big, spreading oak at the corner, guarding the dogleg. It’s slightly downhill, and the fairway slants right to left and can kick balls into the left rough easily. There are often tricky winds to deal with.

Almost every pro I saw hit 4- or 5-iron to the center of the fairway, leaving them anywhere from 160-120 yards into a two-tiered green.

Only one pro hit driver: John Daly. I’m not saying there weren’t others, but he was the only one I saw. He carried the big oak easily.

Which is strange, because it looked like a hole where the dogleg could easily be carried, leaving a short pitch to the green. When I first saw the hole, I knew instinctively I would go for it; granted, I am a very long hitter – not as long as Kiel Christianson, but pretty darn long.

It’s also true that hitting fairways is a must here at Southern Hills. Still, you’d think these guys would want to gamble a little on a hole that could easily be birdied with a decent drive.

These guys just play a different game.

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