Keegan Bradley begged to differ in a pre-tournament press conference, saying most players would be happy to take all 4's on the hole over the course of the week. The sentiment seemed mildly outrageous on Wednesday, but now? Not far-fetched at all.
With a treacherous hole location near the front right corner of the green, player after player found trouble at the 15th during Saturday's third round. First it was David Branshaw earlier in the day - who drove the ball right of the fairway, took an unplayable lie, and saw his par chip roll back down near his feet en route to a double-bogey 6. He had to earn the double, too, making an 8-footer.
It didn't get much easier as the leaders came through. Of the top 13 players on the leaderboard, only two made birdie and three made bogey. Not what you would expect on a driveable par 4. One of the three bogeys came by way of Bubba Watson, who made his 5 as part of a 3-over back nine that left a bitter taste in his mouth post-round.
"Well, if you look at the pin, it's a real dicey pin, close to being illegal," Watson said. "It's a hump back there. So on a short hole like that, you've got to have, I don't know if you call it tricky or goofy pins, but that's what you have to have. So we know going in that's going to be very difficult. I hit my tee shot right where I wanted to, and then for me it was very difficult after that."
Indeed, Watson's drive landed in the fairway just 15 yards from the hole, before his chip shot landed on the green, lost speed and rolled back off.
Justin Rose also struggled on the hole, pulling his drive into water left of the green and failing to get up and down - leading to a bogey. When asked about the hole after the round, Rose remained diplomatic, noting the awkward yardage he faces when sizing up his strategy for the hole.
If the setup crew decides to use a similar hole location for Sunday's round, look for more of the same - the hole playing as anything but an easy birdie opportunity for players coming down the stretch.
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