TULSA, Okla. — Not long after he finished his round of 3-under-par 67 early Thursday afternoon, Matt Kuchar offered up a question for the regular members of Southern Hills Country Club.
How, exactly, do they approach the menacing 18th hole on their home course, which this week is hosting the 104th PGA Championship?
“I have to think the members must dread 18,” Kuchar said. “I try to envision how they play it. I don’t know that they can tee off enough forward to enjoy that golf hole. It’s hard. It’s a beast. I saw Cameron Davis in my group hit a perfect drive, bounced down into the creek. Didn’t go in the water, just played from the rough.
“It’s a tough driving hole, and then certainly having 200 yards straight uphill is an awfully challenging approach shot. It’s a tough one.”
Playing at 490 yards, the hole has a wide landing area for the tee shot, though a creek running up the right side cuts across the fairway to present some danger. A tee shot on the right half of the fairway can leave a tricky cut shot around some protruding trees. But even a drive to the correct spot leaves an uphill approach to a green guarded by five bunkers.
“On top of that, it’s the toughest green on the golf course,” said Will Zalatoris, who bogeyed the 18th in an otherwise strong round of 4-under 66.
Southern Hills has hosted seven major championships prior to this week, and five of those winners made bogey or worse in their Sunday round.
Of course, the 2001 U.S. Open was the most famous spotlight moment on Southern Hills’ treacherous 18th.
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That Sunday, Mark Brooks and Retief Goosen each three-putted for bogey — Goosen from 12 feet, missing an uphill 2-footer that would’ve won the tournament — forcing an 18-hole playoff between the two the following day. Stewart Cink, playing in the final group with Goosen, three-putted for double-bogey, missing an 18-inch putt that would’ve earned him a spot in the playoff.
Again this week, the winner’s story likely will be told through the prism of the 18th hole.
“It’s 490, uphill into the wind. That’s all you want,” Zalatoris said. “You want to be able to go into that hole on Sunday, whoever is going to win this tournament, you want to have a cushion.”
It played as the hardest hole on the course Thursday. Birdies made could be counted on your fingers with a few left over, and nearly half of the field carded bogey.
After a well-placed drive, Kuchar hit a 5-iron from 187 yards out, which landed hard and zipped past the pin. He missed the 14-foot birdie putt and tapped in for par, feeling happy to escape with that.
“My 5-iron is not landing very softly, I assure you,” Kuchar said. “It’s a tough one to control that distance and how the ball rolls out.”
Former Oklahoma State golfer Viktor Hovland says he has played Southern Hills “a decent amount” in recent weeks to prepare for this event, but couldn’t get a good feel for 18 because he often faced north or east winds, not the stiff southern breeze players saw on Thursday.
“It was really hard today,” he said of the 18th. “I hit a good drive and a 5-iron in there, two good shots, just to get away with a 4. It played the full number today.”
The winds are expected to change for the weekend, adding a different type of challenge.
Zalatoris had two bogeys Thursday, but one was courtesy of a three-putt from 32 feet on the 18th green.
“Even for me being one of the top 25, 30 longest guys out here, I still hit driver, 5-iron in today,” he said. “We’re supposed to get a north wind, I guess, which is pretty weird for this time of year, but that hole is just a beating no matter what.”
