The PGA Championship was not on the radar as an event to be covered by Twin Cities sportswriters, even in the '80s and into the '90s, when newspapers were thriving and the travel budgets were sizable.

A couple of factors changed that: One, the announcement that Hazeltine National had decided to tie its wagon to the PGA of America, rather than wait for another USGA and another Open; and two, the emergence of Tiger Woods as the No. 1 celebrity in American sports.

The PGA made its first appearance at Hazeltine in 2002. The presence of Woods assured that Minnesotans came out in the same enormous numbers as was the case for the 1991 U.S. Open.

I had covered four more PGA Championships in the half-dozen years since then: At Oakland Hills outside Detroit in 2008, in the unearthly heat of Southern Hills in Tulsa in 2007; at Whistling Straits on the Wisconsin shores of Lake Michigan in 2004; and at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y. in 2003.

The Star Tribune double-teamed the Whistling Straits event, and I was the Lone Ranger at the other three. There's no longer day -- other than at the Olympics -- for a sportswriter than covering a major golf tournament as a one-man gang.

Generally, you get there early in the morning, in the hope that you can beat the traffic, and don't leave until the last contender has done his post-round interview. More often than note, you're not getting on the bus back to the media hotel before 9:30 p.m.

My friend Mark Whicker is covering the event in that style for the Orange County Register. "What are you giving them this week?'' I asked, and he replied: "Column, gamer, notebook.''

And in this current age, the editors also appreciate a few grafs for a blog from the site of the event where they spent some very finite travel money.

The situation is considerably different when the event is in our backyard. The Star Tribune has seven sports reporters, a couple of cityside reporters and five photographers on the grounds today (Thursday).

I'm a full-time newspaperman again this week with an event such as the PGA in town, but not really -- not compared to what it was like to cover a major on a solo assignment.

All this manpower gave me a chance to volunteer for the late shift today and Friday. Someone always comes straggling in close to the lead around 6 p.m., causing great moans from the media tent ... where the golf writers had been trying to get their copy finished and make it back to the hotel before the only dinner option was Domino's.

This has been the strategy: Get in at 4 a.m. for finish prep for the morning show, cut the post-show planning session short, get back to Golden Valley for a two-hour snooze, and then head for Hazeltine.

It worked perfectly today. Woods had an early tee time. Traffic was a nightmare in the southwest suburbs this morning, according to ace traffic guy Kenny Olson.

I left Golden Valley for Hazeline at 12:30 p.m. Tiger still was on the course, making no bogeys and five birdies. He shot a 5-under 67 and said it could've been a lot lower.

Meantime, those of us working the late shift had an absolute cruise to Hazeltine. There was minimal traffic on 212. I was parked in the lot and headed to the media tent 25 minutes after leaving home.

The problem is, Tiger has a 1:35 p.m. tee time for Friday's second round. That leaves a veteran sportswriter and novice morning show host with a dilemma: beating traffic or getting in the two-hour nap.

There's nothing worse than a golf traffic jam, other than passing out and hitting your head on the keyboard. And, there's always the option of a three-hour nap, timing arrival for 2 p.m., after today's Tiger traffic.