Analysis: How will they play the 'Five and Dime?'

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The signature hole at Ridgewood Country Club is the 291-yard, par-4 fifth hole, known as the "Five and Dime." Early members of the club gave it this name because most played it with a 5-iron off the tee and a 10-iron (now a wedge) into the green. Perhaps it will emerge from the 2008 Barclays with a new moniker (One and Run?) as many players will be pulling out driver or 3-wood and going for the green off the tee.

The table below shows data from the 2008 season for four other notable par 4s that are reachable from the tee box. On these four holes, approximately 70 percent of players chose to go for the green. The PGA TOUR classifies a "going for the green" tee shot on a par-4 as one that lands on or within 30 yards of the green.

Data indicates that TOUR players score better when they elect to go for the green on drivable par 4s, as illustrated in the table below:

The following table shows players in the field this week at The Barclays, who had at least eight drives on the holes listed above in the 2008 season. This could be a good indicator of how they will choose to play the "Five and Dime" this week. One interesting note is Phil Mickelson has gone for the green eight times in eight attempts (at TPC Scottsdale and Riviera CC) and has not hit the green once; however, he got up and down for birdie each time he played the holes.