Medinah, Ill. ? Jim Kane hopes he didn’t pick the wrong Sunday to be in harmony with his golf swing.

Playing this week at Medinah Country Club in the 88th PGA Championship, Kane, the former PGA Professional at Lawrence’s Eagle Bend Golf Course, hopes once again to play through the weekend at the final major of the season.

Back in 1992, at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Kane entered the tournament as one of the PGA’s member qualifiers, and made it all the way to Sunday, shooting 72-73-76-74-295, tying Hale Irwin and Roger Mackay at 66th place. While Nick Price won his first major that year by shooting 278, big names such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Ernie Els and Fred Funk all were sent packing after their rounds on Friday.

Trying to make it to another Sunday with the big boys, Kane has showed signs that a weekend off in the Windy City isn’t in his plans.

“Sunday, he hit it perfectly,” says Kane’s caddy, best friend Mark Felder of Edmond, Okla. “He hit it so good, we were like, ‘God, couldn’t this be Thursday?’ He hit it in the middle of every fairway and hit it at every flag. I think he had one ball that was maybe 10 feet off-line. Everything else was right at it. We’re here at the right time.”

Kane certainly thinks it’s the right time, and maybe the right place. The layout of Medinah’s No. 3 course plays to his strength – finding the middle ground of every fairway.

Former Eagle Bend Golf pro Jim Kane, left, prepares to practice for the PGA Championship with caddy Mark Felder. Kane took his cuts Tuesday at Medinah Country Club, which starting today will serve as site of the final major of the season.

“(Medinah) reminds me a lot of the Olympia Club in San Francisco, where I grew up,” Kane says, referring to another course that requires a player to be straight off the tee. “You’ve got to drive it in the fairway here, keep it out of the long grass. It’s pretty straight-forward and right in front of you. So, we’ll see what we can do.”

Tom Lively, certified golf course superintendent and grounds manager at Medinah, agrees that this is a course where the straight-hitters should thrive. An added challenge should be its length. At 7,561 yards, the par-72 layout is the longest major ever.

“The layout requires a lot of straight shots, and only a few left-to-right shots,” Lively said. “The rough isn’t as long as the U.S. Open, but it is as thick. They’ll need to hit fairways to compete here.”

Added Felder: “The strongest part of Jim’s game is that he hits it really, really straight. And that’s why we were pretty pumped about being (at Medinah). It’s not a hard course from the fairways. You hit it in the rough, this thing is a monster. I’m not going to say it’s U.S. Open rough, but it’s pretty deep. I think he only missed one fairway yesterday. He didn’t miss any on Sunday.”

At home on the course

Kane has the same demeanor this week that he had every day at Eagle Bend. He smiles a lot, casually chats with people as they pass by and apparently doesn’t have a worry in the world.

Tiger Woods walks on the putting green in front of the clubhouse at Medinah Country Club. Woods practiced Wednesday in Medinah, Ill.

If it weren’t for the crowds of people watching him at Medinah, it may seem like he were back out on Eagle Bend’s fairways. The mood is the same.

“I’ve done this before, so it’s no big deal,” Kane said. “The PGA Championship is a great tournament. It’s a little different than the U.S. Open, as far as course set-up, it’s a little bit more fair, so I’m excited about it.”

No big deal.

Kane signs an occasional autograph something else he doesn’t mind doing and meandered down to Medinah’s practice range about 9 a.m. Tuesday. He hit shots with his caddy watching, and also his coach, 1988 NCAA golf champion E.J. Pfister.

Kane quit Eagle Bend to focus on his golf game, hoping to qualify for the Champions Tour as soon as he turns 50. He also left Lawrence to join his wife, who lives in Edmonds, Okla. Leaving Lawrence turned out to be just what his golf game needed.

“I miss Lawrence,” he said. “It was a great place for me. I had a wonderful time there, and I miss everybody there. But I’m not surprised that I qualified so quick (for the PGA Championship). I had several weeks to really get myself ready for the National Club Pro Championship. That was something I never had a chance to do before, working at Eagle Bend. I had a good preparation, so I felt really good about my chances.”

Family in the gallery

If Kane makes the Champions Tour, he’ll have to get used to missing his home. The life of a professional golfer requires players to be on the road most of the season. But Kane has brought a little bit of home with him to Medinah this week.

“My wife is here,” Kane said. “My dad and brother are flying in tonight from California, which will be great. I’ve also got some sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law here, so I got a nice crew of people coming in.”

But this is no family vacation. It may not be a big deal, but Kane and Felder are all business.

“Part of my job is to make sure (Kane’s family) understand we’re here to work,” Felder said. “They can go party and play, but I’m going to try to keep him hedged from that as much as possible to keep him focused. I’m here to do a job to help him: make his life as easy as possible. He knows what he’s doing. I’m just toting the bag and staying out of his way. He’s not out of his element being here by any means.”