Golfers still trying to unravel Cherry Hills at BMW Championship

CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. – Now what?

Players heading to Denver already knew the BMW Championship at Cherry Hills Country Club was going to be a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

Nearly everyone in the field had never seen the place.

The week and preparation were both on the short end because the Deutsche Bank Championship had its traditional Monday finish.

And then there is the matter of the course residing one mile above sea level.

As if all that wasn't enough, Mother Nature decided to throw in a curveball that has forced the players to keep scratching their heads trying to figure out this historic layout.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, dry, cloudless days with temps reaching into the mid-80s and lower-90s allowed golf balls to fly ungodly lengths in the thin air, like Rory McIlroy's 370-yard 3-wood.

Then Thursday broke with concrete greens that stymied the players. Overnight rain softened the course and cool temperatures under overcast skies and whipping winds hardened the approach each player took before every shot in Friday's second round.

Which all leaves this – no one knows what to expect come the third round.

"Sometimes it's difficult to judge some of those things," Sergio Garcia said about shots into the wind or downwind or when it's hot or when it's cold. "I mean, it can make you look a little bit silly out there."

And this coming from the guy who shot 64 in the second round to grab the 36-hole lead at 8-under, one shot clear of Ryan Palmer and two clear of McIlroy and Billy Horschel.

"It was a little trickier," said McIlroy, who birdied three of his last four holes. "It was a little cooler, so the ball wasn't going quite as far, a little bit of wind. Even though the course was softer, it still played pretty tough out there."

And by the sounds of things, it will continue to play pretty tough out there.

"I have no idea," what the winning score will be, said Graham DeLaet, who shot a second consecutive 68 and is four back. "It all depends on the weather. This course is tough, that's for sure. You're going to have to grind it out.

" … It's just penal. The rough is enough that it makes you think and sometimes you can't advance it as far as you would like. The greens are a good defense. There's a lot of sneaky holes. We got a lot of short irons into a lot of holes, but there's some really, really tough pars to be found out there, too."

Palmer has no clue about what it will take to win the penultimate event of the FedExCup Playoffs. All he knew was when he saw the soft conditions, the course was there for the taking. If you could stay out of the rough. And before the winds picks up.

"If they don't get any more rain I can see it firming up a little more," said Palmer, who made a last-hole birdie for a 64. "I think the greens should be a little softer still tomorrow, I think. … So, if the wind blows like it did today … I don't know. … It was tricky out there at times for sure with the wind. So, hopefully whatever the score is, it's mine."

While Garcia already had calculations running through his head, a ringing sound took residence in between his ears on the sixth hole. While he holed out on the second hole for eagle from 128 yards with a full gap edge, the irritating ringing added to his dilemma.

"It was a little bit uncomfortable," Garcia said. "First it was like a beeping sound in my ear and then it kind of popped. I mean it's happened before, but usually I kind of blow it out and it gets back to normal. But for some reason it just didn't feel quite the same. And it still doesn't, but it's definitely better.

"It was uncomfortable probably for five or six holes, and then it got a little bit better. But it's not quite like the right ear is or how it used to be before it happened. But I don't think it shouldn't be too big of a deal."

But if it remains an irritant you might as well throw that into the mix this week, too.