Critics of Cog Hill greens take a few more swings

There are growing murmurs of discontent among some big-name players this week at Cog Hill concerning the course in general and the conditions of the greens in particular.

After his opening round, Phil Mickelson made a point of saying he played a practice round at nearby Butler National the previous day and marveled at how "pristine" the greens there were.

Then he was asked a follow-up question about the Cog Hill layout and the best he could come up with was "it's interesting."

Mickelson upped the rhetoric a notch following Friday's round.

"There's been some interesting things being said in the locker room," Lefty said. "I think the owner here, (Frank) Jemsek is such a great guy and he's done so much for golf. I think we were all hoping that this would really turn out well and that we could bring a U.S. Open here. I just feel bad for him."

As for the greens, Tiger Woods offered this critique on Friday: "They kind of lost a few of these greens; they're slow and bit bumpy, but we all have to putt them."

Jemsek is well aware of the complaints.

"I wish they were saying good things about the golf course, but it's hard to fight the facts," said Jemsek, who admitted that the greens are "really badly ball-marked."

"I'm disappointed (in the players' reactions), but one of my kids could be sick."

Despite the to-do, Jemsek is confident the BMW tournament, which will be held at Crooked Stick in 2012 while the Ryder Cup is at Medinah, will return to Lemont the following year.

Schedule questions: Supposedly, the bigwigs associated with the BMW Championship are considering moving the tournament back a week to avoid the quick turnaround from the Deutsche Bank Championship, which wraps up on the Monday of Labor Day weekend and makes it a short, hectic week for everyone from the players to television crews.

Such a move would probably win unanimous support from the players.

"You know, it's tough coming off of a Labor Day finish; you look at every player out here and nobody looks very happy," Steve Stricker said. "Yeah, it would be a good off week. Guys play a ton down the stretch trying to make it into these playoffs and then once you get in here you've got to play a bunch once you're in them.

"Not that it can't be done, but - it makes it pretty tough."

Kind words: Though he says he's over not being selected for the European Ryder Cup team, Paul Casey hasn't stopped receiving support from his fellow Tour players as well as from golf fans.

"I've heard a lot actually, but the really funny one I got was from a guy in Boston," Casey said. "I made a long putt on the sixth for birdie, and he goes, 'If that's the way you putt, I'm glad they didn't pick you.'"

And finally: Phil Mickelson (1 over) on his hopes for the weekend: "That's a really good question. I played really good golf the first two days and I'm over par. I just don't think I'm good enough to play this course."