“You have to drive it well and put it into the fairway. The rough out here is pretty thick. You can get some pretty juicy lies and not advance it very far. But it all depends. Is it going to be wet? I think it will be, especially in the mornings, so it could be quite tough to control your distance, spin, things like that. But I don’t think it’s overly bad right now. Come Sunday it might be different. Might grow two inches, who knows, an inch. Anything could make a big difference.”
You can comfortably claim the first hole is open slather at just 371 yards and dead straight. The second has more meat at 449 and a slight curve to the right but still invites a bomb. The fourth is the first par-5 and it turns sharply to the left meaning cutting the corner means taking on cypress trees.
“It’s going to be a test, with the overhang of these cypress trees there may be a couple lost balls here; cut a corner and ball hangs up there, that could happen very easily here and has happened and I’m sure will this week as well,” Woods adds.
Adam Scott, who with Woods is one of just three to have played in 2005, 2015 and the 2009 Presidents Cup at the course, adds it’s not just the hungry branches to watch out for.
“Those trunks can be thick and there’s plenty of them. If you get a deep lie behind one you won’t have an angle to the green. You need to factor that in also,” Scott says.
The fifth is another straight and short hole at 417 yards but those trees are framing both sides. Six, at 459 yards has a little protection from a dogleg to the left, seven is just 322 yards. But the ninth is tough as Oosthuizen would attest. Finau tried to wind up here in practice despite the dangers and saw his ball sail way left. His reload split the fairway though and was very long.
“I am going to open up a little bit more this week. This golf course allows to you do that. Last week, not so much. But this golf course is a big course. I have seen a few holes where I can go ahead and give it extra and try and attack this golf course that way,” Finau says.
“Distance is a big key this week, and we talked about the rough, you’ve got to hit the fairways. But if I am going to miss a fairway, I want to miss it as far up as I can to give myself a chance to still hit the green.”
The 10th is a par-5 allowing for aggressiveness off the tee, the 12th at 485 yards might ask for some conservation. The 13th is 468 yards and has a turn to the right before the green comes back in on the left. A miss to the left off the tee here would spell trouble with OB, rough and tree issues.
From that point comes the lake holes as Lake Merced frames the left side of the run home. The 14th at 461 yards invites a whack, as might the 403-yard 15th. The 16th is just 331 yards but the cypress trees wait on the right and the penalty area sits left. Finally 18 brings a forced carry over the water on the 466-yard finisher that turns sharp left after the tee shot.
“Here’s a tip,” an anonymous caddie said while mapping the course. “Watch a lot of guys aim near or at the fairway bunkers on a bunch of holes knowing a good shot will find the fairway but a slightly off one with find the sand instead of the rough. The bunkers will be helping players this week. They won’t be the hazard.”
When that’s the case things are rough indeed.
Source: – pgatour.com
