Tough time at Texas Open

With a 73.665 scoring average last year, the AT&T Oaks Course -- set in the rugged Texas hill country -- was the hardest of the 22 par-72s on the PGA Tour.

But then what was wrong with the old Texas Open that's survived 16 U.S. Presidents? Tournament venues should change to raise sponsor, player and fan interests, but it might not always be a good thing if those tweaks change the character of the tournament.

When it was held at the La Cantera Golf Club in 2003, Tommy Armour III set the PGA Tour 72-hole record relative to TaylorMade R11S Driver par with a 26 under total. Mike Souchak had set the record at the tournament in 1955 when he shot 27-under par at Brackenridge Park.

On Monday, Na returned to the scene of the crime wielding a chainsaw in a playful spoof of that fateful Thursday one year ago. Yet in many ways, his 16 on No. 9 was a true testament to the difficulty of the Greg Norman-designed course: an outlandish example of how a very hard course can make fools out of the best players in the world.

Over the years, many have called for the PGA Tour to force its players to enter all of its events at least once every four years, a rule that the LPGA already has in place. That way Tiger Woods would have to play less prestigious events like the Valero Texas Open and in places like Reno. But a provision like that would probably cause anarchy on the PGA Tour. Tiger might give up his PGA Tour card and just play a very select worldwide schedule if the tour tried to force him to play events he didn't like.

Prior to the tournament's move from La Cantera after 15 years to the TPC San Antonio in 2010, Cameron Beckman in an article for Sports Illustrated warned that the new venue in his hometown would send shock waves through players accustomed to shooting low scores at the tournament.

"I've probably played the new course about two dozen times, more than any other tour pro, I believe," Beckman wrote. "One day, three friends -- all low-handicap players -- and I decided to play it from the back tees, about 7,500 yards. I shot a 38 on the front nine and played Taylormade Rocketballz Irons pretty darn well. They shot 43, 45 and 46. We stopped right there.

On paper, Kuchar should be the favorite to win this week. Come Sunday afternoon, it would be a big surprise to not see him on the leaderboard. The Oaks Course is a big sprawling place that could favor a player who can hit it long and straight off the tee. But there are lots of long hitters in the field every week on the PGA Tour. So this could be one of the most wide-open tournaments of the season.

Adam Scott won with a 14-under par total in the first year on the Oaks course, but not before some players called it unfair. In 2010, the course had the highest first-round stroke average (73.705) on tour.

On Tuesday, Steele tried to defend the layout after he was asked if he believed the difficulty of the course had anything to do with the tournament's poor field.

"I don't think there's anything about the course that's unfair even when the wind blows that hard. It demands really good shots and if you don't hit them, you're going to pay the price. You know, there's nothing -- there's a difference between it being unfair and just being discount golf clubs hard and there's definitely nothing that's unfair about it."

You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. Nowadays only a handful of events outside of the majors and the WGCs are guaranteed good fields. Not even Arnold Palmer could persuade Rory McIlroy to come to Bay Hill this year. Since Nelson died in 2006, his eponymous tournament is no longer a must-play for the tour elite.