PGATOUR.COM - Analysis: The 18th at Doral

The Blue Monster Course at Doral Resort is the home of the 2008 World Golf Championships-CA Championship. It was originally designed by Dick Wilson, and later restored by Raymond Floyd. At 7,266 yards from the tournament tees, and with a series of strategically placed bunkers, both length and accuracy are needed to score well here. The Blue Monster features long fairways, undulating greens, a deep Bermuda rough and a unique assortment of water hazards.

The 18th hole ranked the most difficult on the PGA TOUR in 2004 and 2007. Since it usually plays into the wind or into a left-to-right crosswind, the drive is extremely difficult. At 275 yards from the tournament tees, the fairway narrows to approximately 32 yards. Avoiding the water to the left brings the treacherous right rough into play, from which a courageous second shot is required to a long, narrow green bordered to left by the hazard.

The 18th hole at Doral has ranked among the toughest on the PGA TOUR. After the tee was moved back 24 yards and repositioned to bring more water into play, the 18th has been the TOUR's toughest hole in two of the last four years. The table below shows how the hole has ranked in terms of difficulty across all holes played on TOUR, as well as compared to the 18th holes of all courses played.

Year	Overall difficulty rank	Total holes played on TOUR	Rank out of all 18th holes	Total Courses Played on TOUR
2007	1	990	1	55
2006	17	990	4	55
2005	136	990	16	55
2004	1	1007	1	56
2003	323	1008	25	56
2002	37	1026	8	57

Since 2002, there have been 24 competition rounds played at Doral. The 18th hole has averaged under par in only one of these rounds. Consider as well that in 2007, it played to an average of 4.63 strokes -- the highest relative to par of any hole on TOUR. The average score on all par-4s on TOUR in 2007 was 4.08, meaning that the 18th at Doral played more than half a stroke more difficult.

Year	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Total
2007	4.67	4.79	4.39	4.65	4.63
2006	4.37	4.22	4.64	4.50	4.39
2005	4.28	4.14	4.20	4.22	4.21
2004	4.74	4.50	4.29	4.15	4.48
2003	4.21	4.05	3.98	4.14	4.10
2002	4.06	4.59	4.18	4.33	4.30
Total	4.36	4.35	4.27	4.32	4.33

The official scorecard shows the length of the 18th at Doral at 467 yards. However, TOUR officials adjust set the tees at different distances in each round during the event. The table below shows the exact distances the 18th has played for each round of the event since 2002.

Year	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Average
2007	450	478	474	465	467
2006	466	451	474	474	464
2005	463	449	476	474	463
2004	460	432	468	474	455
2003	418	403	434	440	421
2002	434	419	365	427	415

With water running down the left for the entire length of the hole, 315 shots have found the hazard since 2002. The table below shows in detail where these shots originated from and totals for each year.

Hit From	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	Total
Tee Box	15	10	55	33	49	22	184
Fairway	2	7	9	8	6	15	47
Rough	8	5	21	6	16	14	70
Other	3	4	1	2	1	3	14
Total	28	26	86	49	72	54	315

The following players have made the most birdies on the 18th at Doral throughout their careers.

Player	Total Birdies
Calcavecchia, Mark	15
Love III, Davis	11
Crenshaw, Ben	11
Mayfair, Billy	10
Lancaster, Neal	10

The top 10 players in the world are in the field this week - here is how they have scored on the 18th hole at Doral throughout their careers.

World Rank	Player	3	4	5	6	7	Total	Average Score
1	Woods, Tiger	4	11	4	1	0	20	4.10
2	Mickelson, Phil	7	16	8	1	0	32	4.09
3	Els, Ernie	3	21	6	2	0	32	4.22
4	Stricker, Steve	3	18	11	3	1	36	4.47
5	Choi, K.J.	3	14	6	1	0	24	4.21
6	Scott, Adam	0	4	1	1	0	6	4.50
7	Rose, Justin	0	3	3	0	0	6	4.50
8	Furyk, Jim	4	27	9	2	0	42	4.21
9	Sabbatini, Rory	0	5	2	1	0	8	4.50
10	Singh, Vijay	7	31	6	2	0	46	4.07
	Total	31	150	56	14	1	252	4.22

Key stats

Year	Avg. Driving Ditance (yards)	Avg. Approach (yards)	Avg. Proximity to Hole (feet)	Avg. Putts
2007	280	155	39	1.55
2006	287	168	38	1.62
2005	292	167	35	1.55
2004	271	168	39	1.61
2003	273	153	32	1.62
2002	263	156	37	1.66

Based on the official data maintained by the PGA TOUR, Mark Calcavecchia holds some interesting distinctions for his play on the 18th hole at Doral:

• One of 2 players to make two eights (Calcavecchia in 1987 and 2007, Frank Lickliter 1998 and 2005)