HAVEN, Wis. - With his second-place finish at last year's PGA Championship followed by his first two victories on the PGA Tour, Chad Campbell figured to be a prime contender this week at Whistling Straits.
But not many people are picking Campbell to win the 86th PGA Championship.
Despite his success at last year's championship and subsequent victories at the Tour Championship and Bay Hill Invitational, Campbell has not done much to distinguish himself.
He missed the cut at all three major championships this year, a dubious distinction shared by four other players.
"No excuses, I just didn't play well," Campbell said Monday at Whistling Straits. "I've always wanted to do well in the majors. After the PGA last year, my name was a little bit more out there. I was a little bit more exposed.
"I've always wanted to do as well as I can in any tournament, and this year, I missed two cuts by a shot and I had not played well at all in the majors. So hopefully I can turn it around this week."
Since finishing second at the Colonial in May, Campbell has missed three cuts in six tournaments, with his best finish a tie for 19th at Sunday's International. Still, Campbell has earned more than $2.1-million this year.
PACKER FAN: Give Lee Westwood credit for knowing his audience. The Englishman is not a particularly avid American football fan, but when asked his favorite team, Westwood replied: "Green Bay." Westwood was asked several football questions.
Have you ever heard of Brett Favre? "Yeah, I have." Bart Starr. "No." Are you an American football fan at all? "I watch it occasionally. We get it quite a lot at home, but it's not a massive sport in England."
TOUGH TEST: Many players got their first look at Whistling Straits. The 6-year-old course on the shores of Lake Michigan will be a big part of the story this week. It has three par 4s that measure at least 500 yards. Its overall length of 7,514 yards is the longest in major-championship history. And it's a links-style course in the middle of Wisconsin.
"It's somewhat like home," said Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke. "It's like a links golf course, albeit with slightly different grasses on the fairways and on the greens. I do think it's a fantastic golf course."
Clarke, however, couldn't help but poke a little fun at the course.
"I didn't realize there were that many par 6s on one golf course," he said. "It was certainly very interesting."
WITHDRAWALS: Former PGA Championship winners Larry Nelson and Steve Elkington withdrew and were replaced by Woody Austin and Joe Ogilvie. They joined Retief Goosen, Nick Price, Toshi Izawa, Thomas Bjorn, Tom Watson and Jeff Maggert as players who have withdrawn since Thursday. All cited injury except Maggert, whose wife is expecting twins, and Price, who cited family obligations.
