An early alarm call at 5.30am this morning as our Rules Committee meeting was scheduled to start at 7.30am in the American Club which is located further down the road from our hotel in Kohler.

These pre-event meetings are very important
as it gives the Committee an opportunity to cover off on all aspects of the
Championship. The meeting is chaired by the Chairman of the Rules Committee,
Ron Hickman and he is assisted by Kerry Haigh who is the Director of
Championships for the PGA of America.

Once we had covered off everything the
meeting concluded around 8.30am, giving us plenty of time to catch the shuttle
bus out to the course and conduct another course inspection.

Before we head out to look at the holes that
each of us are covering, there is a special TIO discussion to cover off  some of the unique situations that can arise
here at Whistling Straits due to the number of temporary constructions that sit
over the top of the many bunkers. This on course meeting produced some excellent
discussion points regarding possible TIO options in a number of scenarios.

I opted to go and look over hole 8 first and
basically work out a plan of where best to position myself so that I will be
able to view both the landing area for the drives and also be close enough to
get to the green to assist with any Rules queries. There is not a huge number
of problem areas on this hole as there are no grandstands or significant areas
of Juniper bushes, the local vegetation which is like a dense ground cover
bush.

There are however plenty of bunkers, many of
which have this small island of turf positioned in them to encircle a drain
head. They are oddly shaped and can certainly provide the player with a
difficult lie if the ball lies against the turf and they will also result in a
tricky drop situation if the ball comes to rest on one and there is
interference from the obstruction.

The 8^th is a 507 yard par-4 but
the wind direction has a significant impact on how it plays. Kerry Haigh and
his team have advised the players that they may decide to play from the forward
tee at some stage of the week. If the wind is coming off the lake then the
players have to gauge how much effect it will have on their approach shot to a
sloping green.

There were excellent crowds at the course
again today and this made it very tricky to navigate your way around the
course. The Rovers may have quite a bit of difficulty getting to situations on
the course this week and will have to do any timing on foot as carts are not
permitted inside the ropes.

As I was heading from hole 8 to hole 5 I met
with the group of Mark Leishman, Cameron Smith and John Senden. There was only
time for a quick greeting before battling my way through the bottleneck by 2
green, 3 tee and 7 tee.

Hole 5 is a double dog leg hole of 603 yards,
which is not hugely long but it is very well protected. Again, the set up team
may well use the forward tee during the week depending on the strength and
direction of the wind. Lateral Hazards guard both sides of the fairway with the
left hand side one creeping in to guard the front of the green. If players want
to try and blast their drive over the right side and cut the corner there are a
multitude of bunkers in the rough just waiting to catch the drive. The simple
approach is to drive just short of the first dogleg to the right and then aim
for the very right edge of the green. From there it will be a relatively
straight forward up and down for birdie. However, anything long is in long
rough or another water hazard and anything short of the front of the green or
left of it is wet.

It is a tiring walk around this course and
your path is rarely even or straight. Yesterday I reached 20,000 steps on my
fitbit and by the time I returned to the clubhouse having just walked the front
nine today I was aready close to 9,000 steps.

I will be a late finisher on Thursday evening
given that 8 with be the second to last hole played on our side and so I have
the feeling that it will be an early night.

This will be an exciting and challenging
venue and I certainly hope that one of our guys can close it out come Sunday.