Cristie Kerr: "The guys are just used to shooting nothing at a golf course and that’s not how the Firemans and Liberty wanted it to play."
/Stephanie Wei caught up with Kerr, who is a Liberty National member and not a fan of the criticism issued by players. I can't wait until she plays an LPGA event at Industry Hills here in So Cal (rumored to be hosting the new tournament in 2010). It makes Liberty National look like the Old Course.
Q: You are a member at Liberty National. What did you think of the bashing it took from the PGA Tour players during The Barclays? It sounded like a lot of them hated it.
A: Liberty is a first-rate facility. You can’t beat the views. The layout of the course is fantastic…The Firemans are very good friends of mine.
I think [the course] was [criticized] because it was set apart and [the PGA players] are used to being able to shoot 8-under every day. I happen to love the layout of the course. I think there are some changes that Dan and Paul Fireman know they have to make, like the 7th green not running away so much and some bunkers here and there. I think the spirit of the course and the way it plays are tough. And I think the guys weren’t used to having to pitch out of the rough; they weren’t used to a 7-iron releasing 8 to 10 yards. In that sense, it’s easy for a lot of players to bash the course.
The guys are just used to shooting nothing at a golf course and that’s not how the Firemans and Liberty wanted it to play. They wanted it to play like a major championship course, so that’s how they set it up — the rough was up, the greens were fast.