“I told you I flight it better than everybody else. “That’s over the green, Foochy!” Horschel growled.
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Like Scheffler’s tee shot before him, Horschel found the water long. Fulcher concurred.īut even into a stiff breeze, Horschel’s tee ball sliced through the wind, barely affected. “We’re planning on 60, 60 to 65,” Horschel said. That was the club of choice for Billy Horschel, too, following a spirited debate with caddie Mark “Fooch” Fulcher. He couldn’t recall ever scribbling down more than two 7-irons – and in the first two groups alone, there’d been four. He’d been in this role, on this hole, for more than 20 years, and he’d never seen this. A routine par.Īs the group walked ahead, longtime NBC Sports spotter Jeff Young hung back and glanced at his clipboard. He nicely flighted his 7-iron, to 22 feet. Last to go was Justin Thomas, who had seen all he needed. It was a poor shot, and even though he was dry, he’d left himself in a dreadful position: 54 feet away, over a ridge, into the wind. A mini-roar rang out, but McIlroy grimaced. His ball rode the wind, barely carried the front and trickled onto the right edge of the green. Pound for pound, McIlroy is perhaps the longest hitter on Tour, but on this quaint par 3 even he grabbed 7-iron – usually his 190-yard club. Four shots, four water balls – from four of the best players in the world. “Let’s go, Rory!” the crowd tepidly cheered as McIlroy walked in next.Īt this point, even the sadists were cringing. His tee shot got hammered by the wind and hit the bulkhead short of the island green. “I like what we’re doing.”īut Morikawa – regarded as perhaps the game’s preeminent ball-striker – couldn’t master this challenge. “You need that wind,” Jakovac said, waiting for another gust. Given a few reassurances, Morikawa settled into his address again – and then backed off, again, this time at Jakovac’s urging. Jakovac, brought over the bag, usually a sign that the caddie prefers a different club.
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2 Collin Morikawa.Īfter watching the mess up ahead, Morikawa selected 7-iron and settled over his shot – but backed off. Then came the next wave of studs: McIlroy, defending champion Justin Thomas and world No. The star-studded group played the hole in a combined 4 over. He, too, chose 8-iron, hoping to trap it into the wind.Īgain, water, short – probably a 40-yard difference from Scheffler’s original watery tee ball. In stepped Brooks Koepka, who, at his best, hits famously pure strikes – right on the screws, it can sound like gunfire. Spooked, he went with 8-iron, while his caddie held a 7-iron in his hand.Īlmost immediately after impact came the pleading.
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It appeared a good strike from the tee, but his ball landed on the back shelf and dove over the back, into the water. Having grown up in the Texas winds, Scheffler has a lower-than-most ball flight, and he drove his ball confidently into the breeze. He and caddie Ted Scott decided on 7-iron. With winds steadily blowing at 25-mph, the par-3 17th at TPC Sawgrass was unkind to the first group to play it on Saturday.Īs Scheffler sorted through his options, the wind stiffened, causing the tent behind the tee to creak. 1 in the world.Īll 3 players in first group off No. It was early, but the scenario seemed very much in play: A Players win, and some help, would vault him to No.
#Oneshot guide pond water professional#
On a hole with dire consequences, these were professional guesses.įirst to the tee amid this new normal was Scottie Scheffler, winner of two of his past three events and cruising yet again, 5 under through his first 16 holes, just one shot off the lead. this was not like the first two days.Ī cold, northwesterly wind, gusting to 39 mph, howled over the hospitality tents, across the pond and smack into the players’ faces. Sometimes, it felt like it was straight into other times, it was coming from a 10 o’clock direction. Only four players had found the water then-tournament leader Harold Varner III was the first to get wet, ripping his wedge off the front of the green and making triple.īut. For the first two days, there’d been virtually no wind on the 146-yarder, with players mostly deciding between pitching wedge and 9-iron into this hole tucked onto the back shelf of this rain-softened green.
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Typically, players are concerned about controlling the spin and their nerves. But the 17th tee is the most diabolical shot on the course, even in the most benign conditions.įull-field scores from The Players Championship