Toughest Holes of 2007

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Dec. 27, 2007
By By Ryan Smithson PGA TOUR Staff

Brett Wetterich's perfect drive and approach weren't enough to tame the 18th at Doral.

Tournament: World Golf Championships-CA Championship
Par 4, 476 Yards
Average Score: 4.625
Average Score Over Par: 0.625
Rank in 2006/Average Score: No. 17/4.388
Video::The greatness of the 18th at Doral

Impact: The swirling winds in the World Golf Championships-CA Championship made the water-logged finishing hole the toughest on TOUR in 2007.

Tiger Woods led by three over Brett Wetterich heading into the 72nd hole of the tournament. Woods used a long iron off the tee and laid up to wedge length.

Wetterich, one of the best ballstrikers on TOUR, nailed a perfect drive to the fairway, and then hit his approach to only eight feet. Woods gave Wetterich a bit of hope when he hit his wedge well over the pin, but Woods ended thoughts of a playoff when he lagged to tap-in range.

Wetterich missed his eight-footer for birdie and finished alone in second. Had Wetterich birdied the 18th hole, it would have been just the 14th birdie of the week at the 18th.

The hole is extremely difficult for a myriad of reasons. Water guards the entire left side of the hole, and that fact is accentuated by a prevailing right-to-left wind. Bailing out right is hardly an option; deep Bermuda rough makes it difficult to reach the green in two.

The fairway is very narrow, measuring just 32 yards wide at his most generous point. Longer hitters like Wetterich and Woods had to deal with a 30-yard wide fairway at the 300-yard point.

Padraig Harrington won despite playing the 18th in three-over on Sunday at Carnoustie.

Tournament: The Open Championship
Par 4, 487 Yards
Average Score: 4.611
Average Score Over Par: 0.611
Rank in 1999/Average Score: No. 14/4.445

Impact: Strangely, the 18th hole at Carnoustie was the toughest hole in the Open Championship. In 1999, the last time the Open was held at Carnoustie, the 18th hole was only the seventh-toughest. The birdie count plummeted from 33 (1999) to 17 (2007).

The story of Jean Van Velde's triple-bogey on the 18th at 1999 was still fresh in everyone's memory by the time the Open was held in July. The hole again made the largest impact on the tournament.

Sergio Garcia dominated the week at Carnoustie and only needed a par on the 72nd hole to seal his initial major championship. Garcia bunkered his approach and made a five on the hole, forcing a playoff with Padraig Harrington, who himself had made double bogey after hitting into the Barry Burn twice.

Although Harrington jumped to a big lead in the four-hole playoff, the 18th hole again came into play. Harrington cautiously played for bogey, reaching the green in three. Garcia hit an excellent approach from the left rough to the green, but his birdie attempt burned the left side of the cup.

Angel Cabrera's tremendous length helped him tame Oakmont.

Tournament: The U.S. Open
Par 4, 484 Yards
Average Score: 4.602
Average Score Over Par: 0.602
Rank in 1994/Average Score: No. 19/4.359

Impact: The U.S. Open was held at Oakmont for the first time since 1994. and major changes greeted the players. The course was lengthened significantly, with the 18th hole moving from 452 yards to 484, making it the second-longest par-4 on the course.

Hitting the fairway wasn't the problem, as half of the field kept it in playoff off the tee in the final round. The rough around the green gave players fits, with only eight of 38 players successfully getting up-and-down in Round 4. For the week, the 18th green was the second-toughest to reach in regulation.

Winner Angel Cabrera retained his one-shot when he parred the 18th hole. Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk each needed to birdie the 18th hole to force a playoff, but both men parred the hole. Woods played the hole in two-over for the week, while Cabrera played it with three pars and a bogey.

The 18th hole gave up an incredible 15 triple-bogeys during the week. No other hole reached double digits.

Tiger Woods had trouble on the third at Doral.

Tournament: World Golf Championships-CA Championship
Par 4, 438 Yards
Average Score: 4.567
Average Score Over Par: 0.567
Rank in 2006/Average Score: No. 253/4.143
Video: Flyover of the third hole at Doral

Impact: The third hole at Doral was much tougher in 2007 despite playing to the same length (438 yards) as it did in 2006.

Only nine birdies were made in 2007 on the third hole, down from 55 a year earlier. There was only one birdie in the third round, and that only happened because Paul Casey chipped in from 50 feet. Casey had nearly dunked his approach into the water surrounding the green.

Winner Tiger Woods played the hole in two-over for the week, making two bogeys, including one in the final round. Second-place finisher Brett Wetterich birdied the hole on Sunday to help him shoot 72 and retain a runner-up finish.

Mike Weir battles a deep bunker on the sixth at Spyglass.

Tournament: AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
Par 4, 446 Yards
Average Score: 4.531
Average Score Over Par: 0.531
Rank in 2006/Average Score: No. 161/4.202

Impact: The sixth hole at Spyglass played 30 yards longer in 2007 than it did in 2006, and the results were dramatic -- the birdie count went from 19 to a mere six. The small, undulating green was one of the toughest on TOUR to two-putt. Players averaged an abysmal 2.118 putts on the green in the tournament.

There were almost as many bogeys (78) as pars (85). Despite the carnage at the sixth hole, the rest of the course was benign. The course still played less than 7,000 yards, and the sixth hole was the only one on the course that ended up as one of the PGA TOUR's 50th toughest holes.

Remarkably, winner Phil Mickelson birdied the sixth hole in the third round.