CHASKA, Minn. — The year's final major is under way at Hazeltine National.

D.J. Trahan, Keith Dicciani and Briny Baird got the PGA Championship started this morning, teeing off at the first hole under perfect conditions: cool temperatures and clear skies.

Tiger Woods, running out of time to extend his streak of consecutive years with a major title, teed off later in the morning. Woods is paired with defending champion Padraig Harrington and Rich Beem, winner of the PGA in 2002, the last time it was played at Hazeltine National.

U.S. and British Open winners Lucas Glover and Stewart Cink tee off in the afternoon, as does Phil Mickelson.

Paul Casey, the world's No. 3 player, withdrew because of a rib injury and was replaced by Tim Petrovic.

The talk among fans and players Wednesday was about how long the course is.

Some fans stopped at the crosswalk on No. 3 and pulled out their course maps.

"It's 633 yards," one said.

"Wow," the other said, pausing as he looked left and right, unable to see either tee or green. "This is a monster."

And that's not even the longest hole at Hazeltine National,.

"Looking forward to playing a major one day that does not promote itself as the longest ever," Geoff Ogilvy said on Twitter.

Good luck with that.

Ever since the green jackets "Tiger proofed" Augusta National, lengthening a course has become the easiest way to make a major tougher. Sure, you can plant a few trees, let the rough grow as thick as shag carpet and roll the greens so they're as slick as ice.

But if you really want to rein in Tiger, Phil, Bubba and the rest of the gang, though, the simplest thing to do is add yardage.

Lots of it.

Hazeltine measured what now seems like a quaint 7,360 yards the last time it hosted the PGA, just seven years ago. Now it's a whopping 7,674 yards, the longest course in major championship history. An extra 314 yards might not seem like much, but consider that's an entire par 3 hole.

"I hope Mr. Jones doesn't take this offensively, but I think Mr. Jones went down to every tee box and looked down every fairway and turned around 180 degrees and just started walking," 2002 champion Rich Beem said, referring to architect Rees Jones, who had a hand in the changes.

"This thing is just long. I mean, it's just excessively long, and it's nowhere near the same golf course that it was. But it's the state of the modern game, I guess."

Most of Hazeltine National's new length comes on the par 5s, three of which are 600 yards or longer. The thinking is that No. 7, at "only" 572 yards, will be the lone par 5 that players can still reach in two. Only Alvaro Quiros managed to reach the 15th hole (642 yards) with a driver and a 5-wood during a practice round Wednesday.

On Tuesday, marshals on No. 3 said someone reached the green in two — from the traps on the left side, no less.

"I don't think the length is such a big deal from what it's been made out to be," defending champion Padraig Harrington said. "I think major golf courses need to have this length. Since Augusta lengthened the golf course, it's become a better golf course. It has more options."

And it can create more excitement for fans, Phil Mickelson said.

"My strategy or belief (is) that the tour, the tournaments, should make the hard holes harder and the easy holes easier, because people want to see birdies and they want to see bogeys," Mickelson said.