Lee Westwood criticised the Oakland Hills course after he failed to tame 'The Monster' at the US PGA Championship .

The course near Detroit played hard and fast in a first round that could not be completed last night.

Westwood's seven over par 77 left him nine shots off the lead shared by Swede Robert Karlsson and India's Jeev Milkha Singh, who were in the clubhouse with two under par 68s, and Andres Romero, of Argentina, who was two under with two holes to play.

It was a disappointing score for the Briton who came to the last of the season's four majors buoyed by his third place in the US Open.

He insisted: "I didn't do a lot wrong. The fairways are narrow and if you miss the semi-rough by a foot you are worse off than if you miss by 20 yards. You have to reward the accurate players like they did at the US Open.

"If you missed a shot there, you had half a chance. If you are slightly off line here you are crucified. In my opinion the rough is too thick around the greens as well. It takes the skill away from chipping. You don't need it.

"They are sucking the fun out of the major championships when you set it up like that."

Oakland Hills was given its Monster nickname by Ben Hogan after he won the 1951 US Open on a course he said was by far the most difficult he'd ever played.

This year Karlsson has been among those proving that the Monster can be beaten. The Swede said: "The set-up is perfect. It's just a tough test out there."

Singh agreed. He said "I think the key is to stay patient. You've got to. If you hit a bad shot you've got to take your medicine."

Paul Casey, the leading Briton in a tie for 35th place on two over par, was also up for the challenge. "I like the way the course is playing," he said.

"Yes, it's incredibly long and the rough is very deep and penal, but I like the way it is firming up.

"If you do hit the fairways the ball goes a very long way, which is nice."