Terry, They played #6 as a drivable 300 yard par 4 for rounds 2-4 just to appease the PGA and give the players an easy birdie hole. They cut the rough between Fri. and Sat. rounds and they made the pin placements more "accessible" as the TV announcers kept saying. The winning score would have been even par or worse if they don't make those adjustments to pacify the PGA and the players. My assessment of the course toughness was made in early July as I stated and the real similarity between then and today was the moisture in the rough. Make no mistake it was tough even when dry on Friday but they would really have howled if they had the rough that I experienced in July.
I will say that when it is dry as a bone as it was on Friday it adds a whole new dimension of slickness with regard to how the greens react to shots. All in all a great tournament to watch and the toughest player out there....Harrington....survived to win it.
I am reading a book right now: Your 15th Club by Dr. Bob Rotella. He is a sports psychologist. This book is about the mental approach to the game of golf, and how to become mentally tough on the course. Harrington is his prized student. I was not at all surprised that Harrington came back and won. If you follow the teachings of Rotella anything is possible on the course. I just took up the game last year and I'm not very good yet but this book has done wonders for me on the course. I would estimate that its taken eight strokes off my game, and counting. I would recommend it to any golfer of any skill level.
As far as the pin placements go, the pin on 15 was front right behind a bunker, not east. On 16 it was closest to the water it had been all tournament, definately not east. On 17 it was back right upper tier behind a bunker, traditional Sun. position, not easy. The whining about the pins is just to typical and pure bullcrap.
Sounds like the 4th round pins on those holes you mentioned were more like the traditional tough placements of a Sunday. Consequently there were not too many birdies coming down the stretch although on 17 both Garcia and Harrington hit great shots in there. Hard to tell on TV but some of the earlier holes did appear to have "accessible" pins like #1 and #2 for example. #2 especially was in a wide open position back middle. In any event the course proved tough enough for most of the field.
I've been in that lake numerous times after good drives in the fairway. I had the exact same second shot in July as did Ben Curtis from the camera angle they showed when he was addressing his shot on 16 ( I had to drop away from that merchandise tent ) and I hit a 4 iron toward the same pin location but didn't allow for my little fade and a crosswind......ouch...into the water like Sergio and a 6 on the hole.