Haven, Wis. ? So much for Whistling Straits leaving everyone in dire straits.

After three days of hysteria that this PGA Championship might be the toughest ever, Darren Clarke made short work of the longest course in major history Thursday with birdies on his first four holes for a 7-under 65 and a one-shot lead over Ernie Els and Justin Leonard.

Yes, these guys are good.

But the course just wasn’t so bad.

The PGA lopped off 145 yards by moving up three tee boxes. The hole locations were so generous that no one complained, a rarity in professional golf. And Mother Nature helped out, sending only a gentle breeze off Lake Michigan instead of whipping wind that had everyone so nervous.

“I didn’t know what to expect coming in here,” Jay Haas said after his 68. “It seemed like one of the hardest courses we ever played. If that was the case, (7 under) wouldn’t be leading the tournament.”

When Clarke polished off his round of nine birdies, he had the lowest score under par in the opening round of a major since Chris DiMarco also had a 7-under 65 at the ’01 Masters. That was the year before Augusta National was beefed up.

“We got fortunate with the conditions,” Clarke said. “The greens were holding. We were able to fire at flags that we were not able to do earlier in the week.”

Remember all that talk about players desperate to shoot par? Thirty-nine broke par in the first round — including 21 rounds in the 60s — and 21 others shot even par.

Tiger Woods was not among them. He was 3 over after his first four holes, had an “atrocious” time putting and wound up with a 75, leaving him in a tie for 104th in the 155-man field.

Winless in his last nine majors, Woods now has another streak to worry about. With a double bogey on his second hole and 32 putts in his round, Woods failed to break 70 in the first round of a major for the 10th straight time, and starts the second round in serious jeopardy of ending his streak of 127 consecutive cuts.

Tiger Woods walks through the rough on the 14th hole. Woods shot a 3-over-par 75, tying him for 104th, at the PGA Championship on Thursday in Haven, Wis.

Vijay Singh, playing with Woods and John Daly (81), got himself into position to end an 0-for-18 drought in the majors with a 5-under 67, putting him in a large group that included Ryder Cup hopefuls Scott Verplank and Luke Donald, along with Briny Baird.

Masters champion Phil Mickelson opened with three straight birdies in the afternoon and shot 69, a good start in his bid to become the first player to finish in the top 3 in all four majors in the same year.

“Without wind, all that trouble — all those bunkers you see — aren’t really in play for us,” Mickelson said. “The course played very susceptible to low scores, to birdies.”

British Open champion Todd Hamilton shot 72.

“The course wasn’t as bad as advertised,” Hamilton said. “They were pretty easy on us. You can tell by the scores.”

Singh, who slipped out a side door to avoid speaking to reporters after his 67, later told a PGA Tour official that he thought the tournament went soft.

“I think they kind of went a little too easy,” Singh said. “I enjoyed playing it, and I think it’s going to get tougher from here in.”

The PGA champion has been under par 41 times in the 46 years since the tournament switched to stroke play, and most everyone figured Whistling Straits would be one of those exceptions. The wind can be wicked off Lake Michigan, the greens are enormous with severe slopes and it’s not easy to get the ball close to the hole.

But it didn’t take long to realize this wasn’t the monster course that had been predicted.

“I think 2-under yesterday morning would have looked unbelievable,” Charles Howell III said after his 70. Instead, he was tied for 22nd.