CHASKA, Minn. (AP) Tim Herron grew up near Hazeltine National Golf Club and won two Minnesota PGA Section Junior tournaments there, so he knows the site of the PGA Championship better than most.

His scouting report, however, sounds like it could apply to just about any major.

"It's a big hitter's course," he said. "It's a course that will favor guys like Davis Love, David Duval and Tiger Woods."

That's what was said about Augusta National, which had nearly 300 yards added during a massive redesign to strengthen the par 4s. Ditto for Bethpage Black, which at 7,214 yards was the longest course in U.S. Open history.

The last of the American majors this year is at Hazeltine, which measures 7,360 yards. It's not the longest course for a PGA Championship: Medinah was 7,401 yards in 1999, and Columbine was 7,436 in the thin air of Colorado in 1967.

Still, the trend is toward longer golf courses, which many believe only makes for a shorter list of serious contenders.

Woods won the Masters, in which seven of the top 11 finishers were considered players who could launch their drives high and long.

Woods and Phil Mickelson, two of the premier power players in golf, finished 1-2 at Bethpage Black. The U.S. Golf Association is quick to note that Jeff Maggert, Nick Faldo, Billy Mayfair and Nick Price were in the top 10, although they were never a factor.

Anymore, professional golf is about power.

"I don't like the way the game is going," said Price, one of the most vocal critics of lengthening golf courses. "They're making a statement to all the young kids now that if you don't drive the ball 290 or 300 yards, don't bother playing this game."

The exception to length this year was Muirfield, which was a mere 7,034 yards and relied on the strategic placing of pot bunkers to make big hitters think twice about hitting driver. Woods used his only three times in the final round.

The result was an odd collection of styles in contention Sunday: power players (Ernie Els, Shigeki Maruyama, Sergio Garcia), straight shooters (Scott Hoch, Justin Leonard) and shotmakers (Bob Estes, Price).

"Length wasn't much of a factor," Mickelson said. "That's not a positive or a negative, but it does seem to open up the field. You could do this in the U.S., but the driver has been taken out of everyone's hands. Tiger was hitting 4-iron off the tees. If you don't have a problem with that, I guess that's OK."

No one is quite sure what to expect out of Hazeltine, since it has not been the site of a major championship since Payne Stewart won the 1991 U.S. Open in a playoff over Scott Simpson.

While it's plenty long, only three of the par 4s exceed 450 yards. Bethpage, by comparison, had six par 4s that were at least that long, including two of the longest in U.S. Open history (499 yards at No. 12, 492 yards at No. 10).

Hazeltine figures to play as a true par 72, since it gets most of its length from the par 5s. One of them is 636 yards, while two others are pushing 600 yards.

Defending champion David Toms played Hazeltine earlier this year and shot 3-under 69.

"I don't think you have to be a long hitter," Toms said. "Obviously, it always pays off in any tournament if you can be long and straight. This golf course has got a variety. Anybody will have the opportunity to win here as long as they are playing well."

That should be the standard for every major.

Whether it was Augusta National, Bethpage Black or Muirfield, Woods said all those courses favored any golfer - long or short, young or old - who was playing his best.

More important than length is variety among the majors, which is why USGA executive director David Fay makes no apologies when he hears complaints that only a half-dozen players had a realistic chance at Bethpage.

"We should take our cue from tennis," Fay said, referring to the hardcourt, grass and clay surfaces at Grand Slam events. "You always hope there are distinct examinations at the majors."

Augusta is the same course every year, albeit with constant tweaking. Despite all the attention on extra length, the Masters still comes down to hitting iron shots into the proper areas of the contoured greens, and putting on the slickest surfaces around.

The U.S. Open is about strength, accuracy and mental perseverance.

The British Open is links golf, where pot bunkers, waist-high rough and the weather are the most difficult obstacles.

The PGA Championship remains in somewhat of an identity crisis since departing from match play in 1958. It resembles a U.S. Open in August, when thunderstorms are more prevalent and the greens tend to be a little softer.

Four majors, four different tests.

"I'd hate to see the four majors identical," Fay said. "If someone ever were to win the Grand Slam, that person would be the complete player. And since he did have all four in his trophy case, Tiger proved he could win anywhere."

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