Tuesday 23 September 2014 17:59, UK
Paul McGinley has defended the set-up of the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles and insisted he had not intended to "trick things up".
The European captain oversaw a number of changes to the layout in the months leading up to the Ryder Cup, and he insisted certain plans had been hampered by the weather.
The wet and warm conditions during September have led to the rough to be more dense than McGinley had intended, but he is confident the set-up will prove more akin to European Tour courses rather than the PGA Tour.
"The rough is a little thicker than we would have liked it, but I think that's down to the warm Scottish September that we've had, along with some heavy showers," McGinley said.
"I haven't gone out of my way to trick things up."
"I'd like to think I'm playing it very straight this week when it comes to the course set-up," the 47-year-old added. "I've aligned it very much with the set-up that we play on the European Tour.
"In general we have narrower fairways in Europe than you do on the PGA Tour, in general we have a little bit more rough and in general your greens are quicker and faster than we have on the European Tour.
"I think to be honest the rough is a little thicker than ideal, but that wasn't a calculated decision. We wanted to get the rough up, but I think the growing season of September has made it a little bit more thicker and longer than we wanted."
I haven't gone out of my way to trick things up.
His assistant Sam Torrance ensured the fairways were narrowed before leading Europe to victory at The Belfry in 2002 - a ploy designed to negate the big-hitters on the American team - but McGinley added: "The dynamic has changed. Now we have as many big hitters as they do.
"There was a time when we were straighter and shorter and they were longer and a little bit wider, but that's not the case any more. It's one of the reasons why it wasn't a case of me trying to outsmart myself. I wanted to make sure our
players were going to be comfortable, and if the Americans are comfortable, too, so be it.
"When I talk about the course set-up, we are not talking about black and white. We're not talking about fairways going from 35 yards wide in America to 20 yards wide in Europe.
So the Americans are not going to go look at it and think it's completely alien to anything they have experienced."
