TULSA, Okla. – This could be a problem.
That’s what Tiger Woods said as he looked over a corner of Southern Hills Country Club. On Sunday. When only one other golfer was in sight and just a small gathering of fans was in step with him.
Woods was eyeing his crystal ball and seeing traffic jams at what is sure to be a crowded section of Southern Hills during the 104th PGA Championship.
Crowded? Think the 405 in Los Angeles, Times Square during tourist season.
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.
Now add a large chunk of the expected 30,000 fans attending each day.
And the 156 players who have to pass through the congestion.
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In other words, expect backups. 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.
World No. 6 Viktor Hovland said he expects play “to be really slow” in that region of the course. That’s because players will have to wait before hitting shots for other shots to land or be struck. For instance, the tee box of the third hole is between the tee box and green of the sixth hole. 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.
Got all that? Pace of play, which is already on the pedestrian side, could slow to a crawl in this region. And that’s not taking into account Mother Nature, who is expected to deliver 20-25 mph gusts in the first two rounds. That certainly won’t speed up matters.
“I was very surprised to see the tee box on 3 moved all the way back there,” Hovland said. “Depending on where you put the tee on 6, it doesn’t really interfere that much. You still probably have to wait a little bit. But especially that corner could be really slow. 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 if they mix up on maybe one of those holes, they put it up, then I don’t think it could be as bad.
“But I guess we’ll figure it out.”
Tyrrell Hatton said pace of play could be “stupidly slow.”
“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. “The rounds could be just stupidly slow, which at the end of the day no one wants. You want to get around in a reasonable time. Hopefully, they’re fairly smart with how they do that.”
And what happens when there are backups?
“Chat with your caddie, maybe have a chat with your playing partners,” Hatton said. “There’s really not much else you can do. 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.”
The No. 6 green and No. 7 tee at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Photo: Gabe Gudgel/Golfweek)
The tee box on the seventh hole could be home to long waits. And players dodging incoming missiles from the sixth tee. 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.
“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. “We’re right in the firing zone. It is what it is. I can’t do anything about it.
“It’s the way the golf course is set up.”
Hovland said it could be downright unnerving.
“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. “You kind of want to get that out of the way and get ready for your shot.
“I’m sure the player on the tee would maybe communicate with a guy back on 6 tee to make sure he was going. But then that makes it go pretty slow. So we’ll see how that goes.”
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 13th goes directly over the green of the par-4 12th, and the tee box of the par-4 fourth is within a chip shot of the tee box on the second hole.
“Major championship’s first two rounds play pretty slow,” said Spieth, who finished runner-up last week in the AT&T Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch outside of Dallas. “I’m assuming the PGA of America will set up the golf course where you have pins more on the front of the green when the tees are back to hit over part of the green just for pace of play purposes.
“Last weekend was remarkably slow. So I don’t think we’ll go any slower than we did last weekend, and so I think it’ll actually feel just fine. I think those boxes were created for us to hit it in the areas that the course was designed to hit it in, and we got two different wind directions. So to have multiple options for tees where we hit it to those areas and play the golf course the way it’s supposed to be played, they need to be there.
“I think there’s a way to do it, and they’ll figure it out.”
Hopefully, not slowly.
