Shots find water at Southwind like nowhere else on PGA Tour
Tim Herron watched his ball sail left and waved his arm in disgust. Retief Goosen grimaced. Hayden Springer flipped his club and shook his head.
In all three cases, the result was the same: Splash. Splash. Splash.
Those three water balls Friday afternoon were not unique, nor were the reactions of the men who hit them. Since 2003, more balls have landed in the water features at TPC Southwind than any other course on the PGA Tour — and by an overwhelming margin.
Entering this week’s FedEx St. Jude Classic, 4,671 balls had found water at this course over the past 13 years. That’s more than 1,500 more water balls than TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, which ranks second with3,104.
“The water is placed perfectly,” said Robert Garrigus, who is playing this event for the eighth time since 2006. “Some places, there’s water everywhere, but it’s really not in play. Here, they put the water in every single spot where you miss it. And that’s awesome. That’s why the scores usually aren’t too low here, and that’s why everybody loves it: because it’s hard.”
Through the first three days of the tournament, 254 balls have landed in the water, frustrating everyone from PGA Tour newcomers to five-time major champion Phil Mickelson and Daniel Berger, who leads the field at 10 under.
Last year, only three players in the field of 154 made the cut and did not hit at least one ball in the water.
The water could play a pivotal role in today’s final round, too, as Garrigus knows all too well. At the 2010 FESJC, he held a three-stroke lead entering the 72nd hole before depositing his tee shot in the water on No. 18. He went on to triple-bogey the hole, leading to a three-way playoff and a loss to Lee Westwood.
“It makes you play not as conservative as you want to play,” said 2014 Memphis champion Ben Crane of the course’s water features. “There are a few holes where the water is right in front of you and you just have carry it over and hit a quality shot. But there are some other places where it’s down the side and you have to play away from it, but, yet, you can’t play too far away from it or you’re in the rough and scrambling to make par.”
Two holes — No. 12 and No. 18 — have claimed the most victims, though there has been at least one splash on 10 different holes this week.
“(Water is) in play around the whole golf course,” said 10-year PGA Tour veteran Camilo Villegas. “When you have so much water out there, obviously there’s going to be balls going into the water.”
Quantity, though, is just one part of the equation. Multiple players said the location of water hazards on specific holes is equally, if not more, important. On No. 12, for example, tee shots must be hit diagonally over water, but two bunkers punish a shot that carries too far. At No. 18, the fairway is flanked by water on the left and three bunkers on the right — you’re drowned if you do, beached if you don’t.
On a list of holes on the PGA Tour that have resulted in the most water balls since 2003, those two — No. 12 and No. 18 — both rank in the top five.
“The thing that’s tough about this golf course is where there is water, you can’t play too far away from it,” Crane said. “If you play too far away from it, you are going to be in the rough.”
Added two-time FESJC champion David Toms: “If you want to attack the hole, you’re going to have to come close to the water.”
For that reason, there’s an especially fine line between playing too aggressively and too conservatively. At Southwind, either can result in a splash. Steve Stricker is among those who have found a solid balance this week, landing in the water twice but remaining comfortably in contention, three shots outat7under.
“It’s a challenging course. It’s a great course. You really have to be doing everything well to play well around here,” Stricker said. “That’s what makes it fun.”
Brian Gay had never been away from golf for an extended period of time. Maybe a week or two here, he said, or a week or two there.
Then, suddenly, he found himself sitting at home for 16 months — missing the entire 2014-15 season in the process.
The Fort Worth, Texas, native had an artificial disc inserted into his neck to help alleviate frequent back pain, then had a bone removed from a joint in his left thumb.
“I had one (surgery), recovered from that, then had another one,” he said Saturday. “(The hardest part was) just not knowing when I was going to be able to play. And then after not playing for that long, how long it really takes to feel like you’re kind of back in that groove again.”
Gay, 44 and the 2009 Memphis champ, may not be quite back in that groove, but he is back on the PGA Tour, playing on a full medical exemption. And entering the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind, he finds himself on the fringe of contention at 4 under, in a tie for 12th place.
“Just got to get it in the fairway (Sunday),” he said. “Just need to give myself as many chances as I can. You never know.”
While a win, or a top10 finish, is obviously the goal, Gay is already well on his way to his best finish of 2016. He’s played in nine events this year, missed the cut six times and finished no higher than tied for 36th. Now, he’s starting to play better and feel better, too.
“I love coming to Memphis. I always have,” he said. “I feel pretty good right now.”
BRITISH OPEN SPOTS AT STAKE
Several players arrived in Memphis this week with hopes of climbing into the top 60 in the world rankings and thereby qualifying for next week’s U.S. Open. But due to a scheduling change, spots in the BritishOpenarenowalso at stake.
The return of golf to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro sent ripples throughout the sport’s calendar, prompting the Open Qualifying Series to add two new events to its schedule: the Nordea Masters in Stockholm and the FESJC. So four players who finish in the top 12 (including ties) this week who are not already exempt from qualifying will now earn a qualifying place for the Open, which will be played at Royal Troon in mid-July.
NO FLY ZONE
In the weeks leading up to the FESJC, Terminix treated TPC Southwind with its Attractive Targeted Sugar Bait mosquito solution to ensure the protection of players, spectators and officials as the concern for the Zika virus continues to grow.
ATSB is an eco-friendly treatment that is harmless around people, pets and food. The solution is made of sugar from fruit extracts — which attracts the mosquitoes — and encapsulated garlic oil, which acts as a gut toxin. The solution was expected to reduce mosquito populations by 90 percent three weeks after treatment.
GOMEZ JOINS DISAPPOINTING GROUP
When Fabian Gomez missed the cut Friday, finishing at 2-over 142, he became the eighth player on the PGA Tour this season to miss the cut in his title defense. Since the FESJC moved to TPC Southwind in 1989, only eight past champions have missed the cut in their title defense, the first being Fred Couples in 1992 and the last, before Gomez, being Harris English in 2014.