By Will Pearson, europeantour.com
at Whistling Straits
As visually beguiling as they are technically challenging, the stunning quartet of par threes on show this week at Whistling Straits are amongst the finest collection of short holes you are likely to see at any venue across the US PGA Championship rotation.
Sculpted out of two miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and widely regarded as one of American course designer Pete Dye’s most memorable layouts, this Wisconsin gem is a magnificent tribute to the classic links of Ireland and Scotland – all wiry fescue rough, howling coastal winds, dunes, bluffs and an endless array of sandy hazards just waiting to wreak havoc on the world’s finest.
Totalling 763 yards and with two running north along the lake and two south, the Straits’ four par threes are both beautiful and beastly. Ahead of the final Major of the 2015 season, EuropeanTour.com finds out more…
The Third – O’Man
Length:181 yards
Story:Getting on the putting surface is only the start of the test at the first short hole players come to at Whistling Straits. With Lake Michigan and a host of bunkers waiting all down the left, the play here is to the right side of the huge undulating green which slopes severely towards the beach. With a massive range of pin position options available, club selection will be varied even during calm conditions.
Championship flashback:In the opening round of the 2004 US PGA, Ernie Els birdied three of the four par threes, including ‘O’Man’ after hitting his tee shot to five feet, helping the South African to an opening 66 – one behind first-round leader Darren Clarke. Els would narrowly miss out on a spot in the play-off on Sunday that year after making bogey at the 72nd hole.
How it played previously:
2010: Rank 8; Average – 3.06; Aces – 0; 60 birdies; 313 pars; 74 bogeys; 7 doubles or worse
2004: Rank 14; Average 2.94; Aces – 0; 96 birdies; 293 pars; 63 bogeys; 3 doubles or worse
Player view:“It’s an interesting par three,” says two-time winner Padraig Harrington. “It can play as short as a pitching wedge to the front of the green and I think we even hit four iron one of the days last time. It’s a big, big green, maybe 50 yards long but there’s a big tier on the right hand side so if they put the flag back left then you’re looking at the lake left but you also can’t miss it too far right because of the big slope. So you will see some sweeping shots and guys making birdies because the ball runs down to the hole but you can definitely get out of position on this hole too.”
The Seventh – Shipwreck
Length:221 yards
Story:A hole name as apposite as any. Many of good starts at Whistling Straits have run aground at the seventh – ‘Shipwreck’ – over the years with more bogeys or worse having been made here across the 2004 and 2010 US PGA Championships than on any of the other par threes. This striking, picturesque short hole hugs Lake Michigan on the right and often plays downwind. With dunes, mounds, bunkers and more littered short right of the putting surface the tendency is to aim left towards a tall, bunker-strewn hill.
Championship flashback:In 2004, three-time US Open winner Hale Irwin made the first competitive ace at Whistling Straits in a moment not without a slice of luck. Whether he was aiming that way or tugged his tee shot slightly, the American’s ball cannoned off the aforementioned hill on the left back onto the green where it rolled into the cup at some pace.
How it played previously:
2010: Rank 6; Average – 3.19; Aces – 0; 49 birdies; 289 pars; 99 bogeys; 17 doubles or worse
2004: Rank 7; Average 3.16; Aces – 1 (Hale Irwin); 50 birdies; 293 pars; 98 bogeys; 13 doubles or worse
Player view:“It’s a very, very difficult hole,” says 15-time European Tour winner Thomas Bjorn. “The green sort of sits across at you, you’re coming in over those bunkers with the water right and being so long, you’re hitting anything between a four iron and a two iron even in no wind. So it’s tricky, there’ll be a lot of people up on that bank on the left I would say. The kind of hole you just want to escape with a three; you just have to stand up and make a good shot – there’s not many other options.”
The 12th – Pop Up
Length:143 yards
Story:The shortest of the four par threes at Whistling Straits but not necessarily one of the easier holes on this Dye layout. Certainly one of the trickiest on the whole course, this terrifying, mountainous putting surface runs at a left-to-right angle as seen from the raised tee with a very small finger of green jutting out on the back right above Lake Michigan. This spot was used for a pin position once in both 2004 and 2010 so we will probably be treated to it again in 2015. Easy to go through the green but don’t come up short – the safe play is the left half of the green but you better be confident with the flat stick as you attempt to traverse an Appalachian-esque putt.
Championship flashback:Five years ago, Martin Kaymer birdied the hole twice en route to victory at Whistling Straits, contributing to a total of 162 gains made here across 2004 and 2010 – more than on any of the other short holes.
How it played previously:
2010: Rank 10; Average – 2.99; Aces – 0; 77 birdies; 312 pars; 58 bogeys; 7 doubles or worse
2004: Rank 12; Average 2.98; Aces – 0; 85 birdies; 305 pars; 57 bogeys; 9 doubles or worse
Player view:“I hope they play it short this week, maybe a wedge or nine iron,” says Kaymer, who led the par three scoring here in 2010 on his way to hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy. “If the pin is on the left, it’s just a regular par three. When they put it on the right, in the back section behind the bunker, and one all the way back right, then it becomes a great par three because you really have to commit and hit a good tee shot because there are no bail-outs. Most people you talk to about the best par threes in the world will talk about the short ones and the 12th is no different. It’s one of the best holes on the golf course.”
The 17th – Pinched Nerve
Length:223 yards
Story:One of revered course designer Dye’s most fearsome short holes. 220-plus yards, a 20-foot drop to sand dunes on the left side with a further 40 down into Lake Michigan just beyond. The right miss is little better, pot-marked by a 20-foot high pulpit bunker just staring into the blue yonder with barely 18 yards of green in between at which to aim. In 2004 and 2010, only a measly total of 83 birdies and a solitary ace were yielded by this miniature beast.
Championship flashback:In the three-hole stroke play play-off for the 2010 US PGA against Bubba Watson, Kaymer stuffed his tee shot to 15ft at this hole and drained that for birdie before claiming his maiden Major victory just moments later.
How it played previously:
2010: Rank 4; Average – 3.20; Aces – 1 (Tom Lehman); 49 birdies; 287 pars; 97 bogeys; 20 doubles or worse
2004: Rank 6; Average 3.17; Aces – 1 (Robert Gamez); 33 birdies; 326 pars; 77 bogeys; 17 doubles or worse
Player view:“The 17th – wow,” says 2010 US Open champion Graeme McDowell. “A very good hole. Left isno bueno; anybody that misses it there this week shouldn’t expect less than four if not five because it’s death down there. It can be anything between five iron to the front or three hybrid to the back and it’s very pin dependent. The back left corner, you can work it in off the right side, you’ve got a chance. The right pin where they tuck it behind the mound is very difficult and then obviously the left is the ‘sucker’ pin so a tough hole – you’d take three there every day of the week.”
