LRTO: Course notorious for playing too easy

RENO - Over the past 10 years, Montreux Golf & Country Club has come under fire at times for being too easy of a course when it comes to hitting off the tee and with good reason.

Despite playing to more than 7,400 yards, the fairways are pretty wide and more often than not, players are hitting short irons and wedges into the greens.

Some players say that's the way designer Jack Nicklaus wanted it, and others say it has a lot to do with the weather in Northern Nevada.

Reno's Rich Barcelo, who finished fourth at the Reno-Tahoe Open in 2007, said that was the intent of Nicklaus.

"Jack (Nicklaus) didn't mean this to be a tight, driving golf course," Barcelo said. "For those who have played it, it's a second-shot golf course.

"The greens are extremely difficult. There is a lot of slope and undulation. You can hit it 10 feet in the wrong spot and hope you two-putt. He put a premium on the second shot into the greens and putting."

Veteran Scott McCarron agreed.

"This is a second-shot golf course," McCarron said. " Being a Jack Nicklaus course, a lot of them are fairly wide open off the tee. Jack usually gives you a lot of room.

"These greens are tricky. You can really tuck the pins and there's a lot of elevation changes. So when we're dealing with elevation changes and the altitude, and now we're going to have wind the first couple days, this is not an easy golf course."

Defending champion Parker McLachlin doesn't believe the fairways are too wide.

"I don't think it's too wide," he said. "You get the wind blowing and then I think it has to be that wide because the wind can blow pretty hard. So I think you sort of have to have it that wide, because if it's not that wide then you're going to have serious issues if the wind is blowing 30 miles an hour, balls are going to go all over the place."

As far as hitting short irons into most greens, McLachlin said that has to do with altitude.

"I think that the reason guys are hitting 8, 9 (irons) and wedges in are just because the ball goes so far up here," McLachlin said. "The ball just seems like it goes 320 if you just breathe on it."

FED EX CHANGES: The structure for the Fed Ex Cup has changed for the third time.

During the season, players earn points based on wins and high finishes. The top 125 finishers advance to the playoffs, which offers quintuple the points of a regular season event.

A big difference is that players get to carry over their regular-season points into the playoffs.

"I think it's a good thing, because the whole season means a little more," McCarron said. "You carry over your points going into the FedEx Cup season as opposed to stopping and having a whole new point system. Where last year, I played well right before the FedEx Cup, finished second, got in. Then I

missed the first cut and was basically out.

"A guy like Kevin Sutherland was right around the point system. He finished second in that first one, and he's in all the way. It puts a lot of emphasis on

the very first tournament. I like carrying over points to make the season more meaningful. And I think they did a good job."

FORMER CLASSMATES: McLachlin attended the same high school as LPGA star Michelle Wie.

McLachlin was pleasantly surprised when he learned that his good friend had been selected to represent the United States in the Solheim Cup.

"I had no idea she got selected," he said. "I'll probably send her a text."

McLachlin said that since Wie has been a regular member of the LPGA Tour this year that she will probably be more accepted by her fellow players.

TWO IN, TWO OUT: David Bergonia and Mathias Gronberg were the latest players to withdraw this week. The duo will be replaced by Gabriel Hjerstadt and Spike McRoy.

According to Mark Williams of the PGA Tour, Hjerstadt had some visa problems. Williams said Bergonia gave no reason for his withdrawal.

PRO-AM UPDATE: Teams captained by Andres Romero and Kevin Na tied in Wednesday's pro-am with 18-under 54s. Na shot a 67 on his own ball and Romero shot a 2-under 70.

Romero's group started off with a par at No. 1 and then reeled off 15 straight birdies before eagling the par-5 17th and finishing with a birdie on No. 18. Na's group recorded three eagles on the day.

Todd Fischer and Steve Elkington-led teams tied for second at 57. Elkington also shot a 2-under 70.

Steve Adamonis and Steve Lowery both carded 4-under 68s.

CHIP SHOTS: The Golf Channel was showing recent tournaments, including the Cox Classic won by Rich Barcelo. The Reno golfer was wearing red either Saturday or Sunday. Sacrilege. Doesn't Barcelo know that red is UNLV's color? ... The wind severely slowed play in the pro-am, as golfers were taking well over five hours for a round. Winds of eight to 15 miles per hour are expected for today's opening round ... The field for this week has accounted for 149 tour wins.