The many perils of the par70 South Course at Oakland Hills were well demonstrated by the respective scores of two leading European players on an opening day of the US PGA Championship hit by rain and the threat of lightning yesterday.

Robert Karlsson, 38, the Swede who is having a golden summer, went round in 68, two under par. He leads with Jeev Milka Singh, one stroke ahead of Sergio GarcÍa, with Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim, both of whom will be in the United States team at the Ryder Cup next month, a further shot behind.

Things did not go so well for Lee Westwood, 35, whose third and second-place finishes at the US Open in June and last week’s Bridgestone Invitational were thought to have given him the best chance of ending the 78 years it has been since a European victory at this event. The Englishman went round in 77 and was as discontented as Karlsson was happy.

“I did just about everything right,” Karlsson said. “I drove the ball well. I was always on the fairway. When I got into the thick stuff, I made my par. This round was as good as any I have played this year.” That is saying something, considering that he finished eighth at the Masters, fourth at the US Open and seventh at the Open Championship, has climbed to No 22 in the world rankings and is admired by his peers for his all-round game.

“There is no shot that Robert struggles to hit,” Paul Casey, who three-putted his last hole for a 72, said. “If you think about Europeans with the potential to win major championships, he has to be right up there.”

The day began in glorious conditions before deteriorating, but Westwood suffered something approaching a nightmare. “I was happy to break 80 after being seven over after 12 holes,” Westwood, the world No 12, said. “I stood on the 12th tee and asked my caddie if he could hear the sea because I certainly could feel my holiday calling.

“For Robert to be two under par is a great round, but he was probably a couple of yards here and there from a 75. I shot 77 and the strange thing is I didn’t do very much wrong.”

At that, Westwood launched an attack on the set-up of the course, criticising the way the rough had been combed back towards the tee, which the greenkeepers had been doing earlier in the week. In this he has a point. The course is nearly 7,400 yards long and has rough grown to a length of four inches within ten feet of a fairway. Surely that is difficult enough?

While mowing fairways back towards the tees to bring balls to a halt sooner has been fashionable since it first appeared at Augusta a few years ago, the practice of doing the same to the rough is surely unnecessary.

“I sound as if I am moaning, which I am, but it is a great shame,” Westwood said. “It is a fantastic golf course, the greens are interesting, but there is no need to play it the way it is set up. They are sucking the fun out of a major championship.”

The course proved to be tougher than in practice. Billy Mayfair, one of four players on 69, noted that the greens were much firmer than on Tuesday and Wednesday and the fairways had more fire in them and Mickelson said: “I thought it would be a little firmer, but it had got a lot more so. Unless we get some rain, it is going to be interesting to play at the weekend.