Don’t let scores skew thinking of a good major

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The rough was respectable, but it wasn’t that difficult to find a golf ball in it, assuming you somehow missed the wide fairways. The greens were soft to begin with, but rain on Friday made it look as though players were shooting Velcro balls from the fairway.

Conditions were ripe for scoring. And the best players in the world didn’t wait long to take advantage of them.

A record 60 of them were under par the first day. That record lasted until the second day, when 61 were in red numbers.

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On Saturday, there were so many good shots that CBS had trouble keeping up with them. On the course, roars came from so many corners that fans looked like bobble-head dolls trying to follow the action.

And you know what? It didn’t cheapen the last major of the year a bit.

The best player in the world was still on top of the leaderboard, a good indication that the game of golf was somehow still intact. Apparently you can identify the best players by letting them make birdies as well as you can by forcing them to grovel for pars.

Know something else? It was fun.

Fans like seeing players at their best. They want to see Woods hit a 3-iron 250 yards over water to within 8 feet of the hole, as he did on the par-3 13th. They enjoy watching Mickelson making four birdies in the first seven holes to get in contention.

The drama on Sunday figures to extend deep into the back nine because everyone who tees it up believes he has a chance to shoot

65. Someone will win this major championship, rather than losing it the way Mickelson did with a double bogey on 18 at Winged Foot.

When it’s all over, it won’t matter whether the winner is 20-under-par or 5 over.

The only thing that will count is who has the lowest score.

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