TPC Southwind's par-3 holes play crucial role in outcome

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Last year's Stanford St. Jude Championship at the TPC Southwind was an intense and undecided battle between Woody Austin and Adam Scott until they encountered the always difficult 14th hole on Sunday.

It's a scenic but scary par 3 that's basically sink-or-survive -- where pars are precious and birdies can be like stealing. It's one of those take-a-deep-breath, hit-it-and-hope and maybe-say-a-silent-prayer holes.

Badz/PGA TOUR

No. 4 is one of the daunting par-3 holes players will face at TPC Southwind this week.

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Austin and Scott certainly ran the gamut of emotions there that day. Austin made a birdie that helped propel him to his third TOUR victory while Scott was sent reeling after a water-logged triple bogey.

And small wonder. The treacherous tee shot from an elevated tee to a water-guarded green can make the pulse of a PGA TOUR player race and resemble the pounding of a bass drum, especially when the pin is in the back.

Listed at 239 yards, it often plays a little shorter. It comes complete with an oft-needed bail-out area, thus becoming a par-3 lay-up hole, of sorts, depending on pin placement and wind conditions.

Justin Leonard, the 2005 champion in Memphis, says, "When the pin is over on the right (next to the water), I try to hit it on the left side and take my chances from there for a two-putt from 60 feet."

The 14th hole was ranked No. 5 among par 3s on the PGA TOUR last year -- behind one at Carnoustie, two at Augusta National and the 17th at TPC Sawgrass. In fact, three of the four par 3s at TPC Southwind ranked in the top 30. Only Augusta National can say the same.

And No. 14 isn't the only challenging one at TPC Southwind, where the average score on three of the course's four par 3s annually ranks in the top half of the course's holes in difficulty. But it's definitely the hole that has gotten most attention since the first event at TPC Southwind in 1989.

In those 19 years, the 14th hole has ranked among the TOUR's 50 toughest -- regardless of par -- nine times. In fact, No.14 has ranked in the top 25 four times -- fourth in 1991, eighth in 1989, 18th in 2005 and 21st in 2001.

The hole was the toughest par 3 on TOUR in 1991, averaging 3.488 per player. In all but five of the tournaments at TPC Southwind, the 14th has ranked as the most difficult for the week at Southwind, and it's never ranked lower than fifth.

"I've always thought that if I could play the hole 1-over par for four days, I'm satisfied," said Shaun Micheel, winner of the 2003 PGA Championship and a Memphian who knows the hole well. "It's got to be in the top three or four par-3 holes we play and in the top 25 of all the holes we play on TOUR."

Paul Goydos knows a thing or two about tough par 3s after hitting into the water at the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass and losing a playoff to Sergio Garcia at this year's PLAYERS Championship. And the 14th at TPC Southwind certainly has his attention.

"It's one of the hardest par 3s we'll see all year, if not the hardest we'll see," Goydos said. "Make a birdie and you gain a lot of ground. Make a par and you (still) gain some ground."

Austin hit what he called "one of the best 5-irons of my career" to within 2 ½ feet to set up that birdie last year during the final round. Austin went on to shoot 8-under-par 62 and win by five shots over Brian Davis.

Actually, Austin said he got "a lucky break" on the 14th, considering the pin was on the right front of the green on the final day instead of the usual back right. It's significantly tougher when the pin is tucked into the corner at the back, perilously close to the water.

"It's one of the hardest shots to hit in golf, especially when you're coming down the stretch," Vijay Singh said. "It becomes one of the key tee shots of the week."

David Toms, a two-time winner in Memphis, said, "You can bail out short left, but then you've got a tough up-and-down." Goydos added, "When the pin is on the back right, you can hit a good, safe shot to the left, and then you might end up putting it into the water."

Or worse. "If you try to play it safe to the middle, you can hit into that back bunker or you play so safe that you leave yourself such a long putt that you three-putt," Austin said.

Before getting to the 14th, which has yielded only two holes-in-one in tournament history, there's the 196-yard No. 4, the 178-yard No. 8, and the 157-yard No. 11, which is TPC Southwind's version of the famous island hole at TPC Sawgrass.

"All the par 3s here depend on the conditions," said left-hander Russ Cochran, who has played 21 times in Memphis. "Get a little breeze and with the firmness of the greens since they've gone to Champion Bermuda (in 2004), you're talking about landing your ball in a completely different area and it has to have the right spin and shape and line.

"No. 4 is really underrated. If that's a downwind hole, it's brutal. On par-3 holes when you're looking at where to hit it and where to miss it, anytime you have that you're talking about a tough par 3."

The 11th hole, which ranked as the toughest par 3 on TOUR in 2004 and the fourth most difficult hole overall that year with an average of 3.442, was redesigned in 2006. The green was moved several yards closer to the tee, providing room in the back for sand traps to prevent balls from rolling over the putting surface and into the water. The slope of the green was increased slightly from back-to-front to make it more receptive to shots, as well.

"I remember a couple of years ago before the redesign, the wind was blowing like 35 mph a couple of days, and there were like 80 or 90 balls in the water," Micheel recalled.

"Obviously, there's no bail-out area on No. 11, so you've got to get the right club, based on the conditions," Toms said. Cochran added, "It's a critical shot that you either pull it off or you don't."

There were 17 scores of triple-bogey or higher on No. 11 at the Stanford St. Jude Championship last year, the most for any hole at TPC Southwind. Despite such high numbers, though, players agree that No. 11 is indeed more playable after the redesign.

"It's more fair because with the green being firmer now, you get a little bit of a chance for the ball to stay up (out of the water) because of the new bunkers in the back," Leonard said.

If they get past No. 11 unscathed, though, the daunting 14th awaits to defend the honor of Southwind's par 3s, which likely will again play a key role in determining who wins this week as the TOUR stops in Memphis for the 51st consecutive year.