Farmingdale, N.Y. ? No one ever said golf was supposed to be fair.

Especially the U.S. Open.

Tiger woods hits out of a bunker on the eighth hole. Golfers expect a daunting challenge from the Black Course at Bethpage State Park this week during the U.S. Open. The event starts Thursday at Farmingdale, N.Y.

Lee Janzen won at The Olympic Club in 1998 when his tee shot on the fifth hole in the final round disappeared into a thick tree then dropped down only after he was walking back to the tee box to hit his third shot.

Payne Stewart felt he lost it that year when his drive landed in a sand-filled divot.

David Duval’s drive on No. 9 at Southern Hills last year stopped in a trampled down crossing area. He wanted relief, didn’t get it, chunked his wedge and then took a chunk out of the turf when he slammed down his club.

The list goes on, so long that Tom Meeks no longer keeps track.

“All players have whined about something,” said Meeks, director of rules and competition for the U.S. Golf Assn. “They always talk about the bad breaks. No one ever remembers the good ones.”

Meeks said he was stunned when he joined the USGA in 1975 and heard so many petty complaints by so many world-class players.

The rough is too thick. The greens are too hard.

“If a guy comes to the U.S. Open with a (bad attitude), he’ll be gone,” Meeks said.

No one knew better than Jack Nicklaus. The Masters has the smallest field among major championships, but Nicklaus could make the case for a U.S. Open.

During the practice rounds, Nicklaus heard players gripe about one thing or another, and simply checked them off the list of contenders.

“That’s usually what happens,” Tiger Woods said Tuesday. “What people forget is that everybody has got to play the same course.”

Whether anyone figures that out remains to be seen. Just last week, the howls could be heard from the LPGA Championship in Wilmington, Del.

DuPont Country Club gave the women fits. Only Se Ri Pak (5-under 279) and Beth Daniel (2-under 282) finished under par.

“No matter what, we have to take it,” Pak said. “You don’t have any choice. Whether you make it easy or difficult or bad conditions, we have to play. So, there’s no point to complain. It’s not going to change anything.”

The 156-man field at the U.S. Open should consider the mantra of Janzen, a two-time champion.

“I come to the U.S. Open expecting nothing to be fair,” he said. “If you hit it in the rough, you can’t hit out. If you put it above the hole, you can’t two-putt. Hit in the bunker, you don’t have a shot. If you don’t hit good shots, you don’t make the cut.”

The players love the Black Course at Bethpage State Park now. Just wait until the score counts.

“I expect to hear from a lot of people who are not playing the course well,” Stewart Cink said.

Golf is supposed to be a quiet game. Shut up and play.