ESPN PGA Championship 2008

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- The complaining was drowned out by the raining Saturday, and the course that caused all the consternation is suddenly a quagmire, likely to be different than the monster they faced for two and a half days.

Oh, Oakland Hills Country Club will still be brutal on Sunday when the third round of the PGA Championship resumes. The 7,395-yard course is a beast, pure and simple. It has 135 bunkers and greens that curve and slant and generally cause fits.

But rain has a way of washing away a lot of fear, even at a place as stout as Oakland Hills, which has been terrifying golfers for decades. The greens will undoubtedly be softer, making it easier for players to fire at pins. They will be slower, meaning putting will not be as perilous.

And while the course will play longer -- the need to be hitting the ball well still exists -- a slower track makes it easier to keep booming drives in the fairway.

"It's fair to say the greens will be significantly more receptive than they have been the first two and half days," said Kerry Haigh, who sets up the course for the PGA of America.

J.B. Holmes will have to sleep on a lead for another night without ever hitting a shot Saturday, but he will return to a place that will be far different than the one he expected to tee it up on Saturday.

Now what?

A long day of golf is ahead, nearly 36 holes for many and at least 27 for a good number of those who are considered in contention. The day will begin just after sun up and will end -- if weather doesn't intercede again -- just before sun down. Slogging through a wet golf course when more rain is expected will be no easy task.

But unless the PGA of America sends in helicopters to dry out the course, there is now the chance to make some birdies on a track that was reluctant to surrender them earlier this week.

Four hours of on-and-off rain Saturday that halted play and eventually suspended it with three groups not even teeing off all but assures that. The rain that continued into the evening turned the monster into muck.

"The course will be a little more receptive now," said Stuart Appleby, who was 2 under par through 12 holes. "So it should be easier. So I can potentially think of getting a little more under par now."

And that means predicting a winner is nearly impossible.

Andres Romero, who shot a 5-under-par 65 Saturday before the rains came, proved a good round is out there, even without help from the gods. He managed to make seven birdies on a course that had the majority of the field searching for aspirin and their sports psychologist. He was grinning ear to ear when he beat the storms and passed 40 players to put himself within striking distance of the leaders who still had a long, arduous afternoon ahead.

Now Romero does not appear so fortunate -- although perhaps having to play just 18 holes turns out to be a blessing. Holmes, along with pursuers Charlie Wi, Ben Curtis, Justin Rose and the others who never teed off Saturday will get their crack at a place that has been weakened. It doesn't mean that they'll be firing at flags and shooting in the low 60s, but it does mean that the treachery they expected late Saturday afternoon will not be the same.

The chance to go low is now not so much a fluke but almost expected -- at least for somebody. And the notion of a Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia or any number of players going 66-66 in the last two rounds is not nearly as far-fetched as it seemed when former PGA champion Paul Azinger was playing the course Saturday morning.

"I can't say enough, it's the hardest course I've played," said Azinger, the 1993 PGA champion and current U.S. Ryder Cup captain. "Winged Foot and these other courses, Bethpage Black, Shinnecock & they had to be tricked up to be really hard day in, day out just because of the greens. Oakmont is hard every day. This is hard every day. This is truly hard."

Now, almost assuredly, it is not as hard -- at least in terms of the firmness of the course -- and that can mean everything to the best players in the world.

Their skill is in the ability to stop shots on greens and give themselves reasonable birdie putts. But with sloping, undulating, brick-hard surfaces, that had become nearly impossible. It was telling that there were just three birdies made on Friday at the 17th and 18th holes combined. Only one came at the par-3 17th, and Anthony Kim chipped in from off the green.

There were 25 players who completed their rounds Saturday, and none birdied the 17th, with just two birdies coming on the home hole.

We were seeing U.S. Open-like conditions at the PGA Championship, the tournament typically regarded as the fairest and most benign of the four major setups.

"It's a strange year when the U.S. Open, traditionally the toughest of the majors, is the most fun of the four," said former Open champion Geoff Ogilvy.

Oakland Hills was anything but fun. But now some of the teeth will be taken out of the monster.

Whoever can bite back and take the biggest chunk will be the one lifting the Wanamaker Trophy.

Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.