Quail Hollow 17th Will Drive You to Drink

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The 17th hole at Quail Hollow Club is a picturesque par 3 where players must carry a lake and hit onto a peninsular green jutting out from the right about 200 yards from the tee.

This beautiful hole is putting a lot of ugly squares on scorecards at this week's Wachovia Championship.

Statistically, the 17th was the second most difficult hole during Thursday's first round. It yielded 16 birdies compared to 58 bogeys or worse, and it averaged .385 strokes over par. The Wachovia consistently boasts one of the most difficult 17th holes on the PGA Tour. In 2005, only the 17th at St. Andrews – the infamous Road Hole – averaged more strokes over par.

What makes the 17th at Quail Hollow so difficult?

"It's just a tough hole the way the back of the green rolls away into the water," said Phil Mickelson on Thursday, when he shot a four-under 68 (he made par on 17 both Thursday and Friday). "And it also rolls right to left, which means if you hit it to the right, you're chipping downhill and it's tough to get up-and-down."

I spent about two hours at the 17th green during the second round Friday morning. Thirty-six players came through during that time, and by my count, only one player, Rod Pampling, made birdie. Just making par was an accomplishment; Jim Furyk did so Friday, when he shot a 67 that left him three strokes off Jason Bohn's 36-hole lead of nine-under.

"It's just a hard hole with that amount of club in your hand," Furyk said. "In order to hit a good shot there, you just have to basically carry the front bunker and let it hop up to the pin. Flying anything back toward the pin, it's going to take off to the back of the green."

I asked several spectators why they decided to set up shop at the 17th green, and many of them cited the interesting pin placements, the risk-reward nature of the hole or the swirling wind. No one would say explicitly that he wanted to see players hit it in the lake, but then again, NASCAR fans probably wouldn't say they watch races for the crashes. Of course, the possibility of car hitting wall – or, in this case, ball hitting water – adds to the suspense for fans.

When Paul Casey's ball landed too much toward the middle of the green – meaning it would roll off the back of the green – one fan blurted, "Go in the water! Go in the water!" (It held up in the rough.) Surprisingly few players found the hazard Friday morning, though one of the more dramatic moments came when Brett Rumford's tee shot bounced off a stone retaining wall and rolled along the left side of the green before falling through the rough and into the lake. The gallery gave Rumford a sympathetic "aaaaaw". One group later, Shigeki Maruyama hit not one, but two tee shots into the water. He took a six on the hole.

Because of the abundance of water, Quail Hollow's 17th has drawn comparisons to the famed island green on the 17th at TPC Sawgrass, site of next week's prestigious Players Championship. Mickelson said the length of Quail Hollow's 17th – normally 217 yards, though it was shorter Friday – makes it the more difficult of the two holes.

"You're hitting a wedge or nine-iron [at Sawgrass] as opposed to a five-iron, and that makes a difference," he said.

Jim Ryan is an associate editor for Sporting News. E-mail him at jryan@sportingnews.com

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