Three-time major champion Jordan Spieth, who is looking to complete the career Grand Slam this week, mentioned two other sections of Southern Hills that could create chaos – the tee shot on the par-5 13 th goes directly over the green of the par-4 12 th, and the tee box of the par-4 fourth is within a chip shot of the tee box on the second hole. “I’m sure the player on the tee would maybe communicate with a guy back on 6 tee to make sure he was going. “You kind of want to get that out of the way and get ready for your shot. “You don’t want to be thinking over the ball that, oh, is the ball going to land now, or now, or now,” he said. Hovland said it could be downright unnerving. “It’s the way the golf course is set up.” “It’ll be interesting with a back left pin on 6, in case somebody just tugs it,” said four-time major winner and two-time PGA champion Brooks Koepka. The sixth green and seventh tee box are so close that one could literally putt a ball off the sixth green to the seventh tee box without making a shoulder turn.

And players dodging incoming missiles from the sixth tee. The tee box on the seventh hole could be home to long waits. It’s not like we’re allowed to go on our phone and scroll through Twitter and Instagram and all of a sudden you’ve lost half an hour and then you’re ready to hit again like you can do if you’re just playing with your friends and it’s pretty slow.” “There’s really not much else you can do. “Chat with your caddie, maybe have a chat with your playing partners,” Hatton said. Hopefully, they’re fairly smart with how they do that.” You want to get around in a reasonable time. “The rounds could be just stupidly slow, which at the end of the day no one wants. “They are going to have to be fairly careful with how they set the golf course up because of where some of the tee boxes are,” Hatton said. Tyrrell Hatton said pace of play could be “stupidly slow.” But if they mix up on maybe one of those holes, they put it up, then I don’t think it could be as bad. If they are playing it all the way back on all of those holes at the same time, then it could potentially be really slow. But especially that corner could be really slow. You still probably have to wait a little bit. “Depending on where you put the tee on 6, it doesn’t really interfere that much. “I was very surprised to see the tee box on 3 moved all the way back there,” Hovland said. And that’s not taking into account Mother Nature, who is expected to deliver 20-25 mph gusts in the first two rounds. Got all that? Pace of play, which is already on the pedestrian side, could slow to a crawl in this region. So, Player A is ready to hit his drive on the third but he has to make sure no one is hitting a tee shot on the sixth and no balls are landing on the second or fifth greens. For instance, the tee box of the third hole is between the tee box and green of the sixth hole. That’s because players will have to wait before hitting shots for other shots to land or be struck. 6 Viktor Hovland said he expects play “to be really slow” in that region of the course. And just imagine what it’s going to be like when the group of Woods, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth gradually rolls through it during the first two rounds. PGA: Thursday tee times | Best bets | ESPN+ streaming Now add a large chunk of the expected 30,000 fans attending each day.Īnd the 156 players who have to pass through the congestion. That’s because all of the following are within a big pitching wedge of each other – the green at the par-4 second, the tee box at the par-4 third, the green of the par-5 fifth, the tee box and green of the par-3 sixth and the tee box of the par-4 seventh. Woods was eyeing his crystal ball and seeing traffic jams at what is sure to be a crowded section of Southern Hills during the 104 th PGA Championship.Ĭrowded? Think the 405 in Los Angeles, Times Square during tourist season. When only one other golfer was in sight and just a small gathering of fans was in step with him. That’s what Tiger Woods said as he looked over a corner of Southern Hills Country Club.

Valhalla hills problems