PGA CHAMPIONSHIP Fred Funk's goal is to make Ryder Cup team

He faces a tough challenge on the long Whistling Straits course.
HAVEN, Wis. (AP) -- Fred Funk is thankful his ribs have healed enough that he can play in the PGA Championship. Better yet, he might not have to be on top of his game to achieve his primary goal of making the Ryder Cup team.
"That's all I've been thinking about all year," Funk said Monday.
The PGA Championship is the final tournament for Americans to earn points toward making the team. The top 10 in the standings qualify, and captain Hal Sutton will have two wild card selections.
Funk tied for second in the U.S. Bank Championship last month, moving him to No. 8 in the standings. He's still not a lock, but three guys have to pass him, and that includes Jerry Kelly, at No. 11, finishing at least third.
How different is this week?
Funk will check his score, who's leading, and also how the other guys in Ryder Cup contention are faring.
"You can't help but see what they're doing," he said. "I was watching The International and trying to figure. I want the guys to be on the team. I want them to play well, but I don't want them to pass me."
Simple solution
The simple solution for Funk and the guys chasing him is to play well.
And that won't be easy.
At 7,514 yards, Whistling Straits is the longest course in major championship history. The previous record was Columbine Country Club in Colorado, which was 7,436 yards -- although that was in mile-high air.
And get this: the PGA of America isn't even using all the length available.
"I've been told that there were 10 really difficult holes, and eight impossible ones," Lee Westwood said. "I'm just trying to sort out which are the 10 difficult holes here."
Who does it favor?
"Probably a long, straight hitter with a good iron game and a great short game and a wonderful putter," he said.
There was a time that used to define Tiger Woods, although he only has a couple of those categories working in his favor at any one time, and that has kept him from dominating the game like he once did.
Woods comes into the PGA Championship having been shut out of the last nine majors, and in jeopardy of losing his No. 1 ranking to Ernie Els or Vijay Singh.
Learned the nuances
Phil Mickelson, whose 1-2-3 run through the majors started with his breakthrough victory in the Masters, played three days last week to learn the nuances of Whistling Straits and to figure out where he can't afford to miss.
That's no small task. Trouble lurks everywhere on the course, although most of the 1,400 bunkers are more of an eyesore than a legitimate threat. That water hazard east of the course -- Lake Michigan -- makes for a stunning view, but it makes some of the greens look as though they're about to topple into the water.
It reminds several players of an Irish links, and who better than Darren Clarke to weigh in on that.
"If you try and remember all of the most difficult holes of all the courses at home, put them all together and I think you'll have this one here," Clarke said.