Welcome to GOLF.com’s new “Seen & Heard” video series, where we’ll endeavor to give you an inside look at golf’s biggest events through the eyes and ears of our onsite crew. On deck this week: The 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill. Let’s go!
ICYMI: Wicked rough, wild hair and weird flags | Inside Day 1 at the PGA Championship
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“Almost comically hard.”
That’s how GOLF senior writer Dylan Dethier described the conditions at Oak Hill on Tuesday.
The course is known as a long, brawny brute, but whipping wind in the early part of the week has made an already notoriously difficult golf course even more of a challenge. Luckily for the players, the forecast appears to calm down a bit for the start of the tournament. But potential carnage awaits…
Despite the tough conditions, there is at least one player who actually feels better about his chances after playing nine holes on Tuesday: Joel Dahmen.
“It’s not as hard as I thought it was gonna be,” Dahmen said. “The fairways are running very quick, which makes the golf course shorter, which makes it playable for everyone. That is awesome. The rough is difficult. The golf course is still hard, but everyone can play the golf course this week, which I think is great.”
If Monday’s arrivals were all about getting acclimated in Pittsford, Tuesday is when everyone starts getting down to business. The press conferences start to be staged at a steady drumbeat, and Tuesday’s docket starred Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, two players notable for their willingness to speak candidly — though McIlroy opted to say a little bit less this week than usual.
In addition to taking in the action on the course, GOLF’s writers were also busy with other projects. Claire Rogers hosted Justin Thomas’ caddie, Jim “Bones” Mackay, for the second episode of her new series, The Scoop. Want a sneak preview? You can watch that — plus the rest of the crew’s highlights from Oak Hill on Tuesday — in the video above. And make sure to tune in every day this week for more exclusive content from the 2023 PGA Championship.