Aug. 28, 2008

In case of miniaturized par-4s, downsizing not a negative

By Steve Elling | CBSSports.com Senior Writer
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NORTON, Mass. -- Granted, we are reducing things to the lowest common denominator here.

If not, given the hole in question, the smallest.

Last year at the Deutsche Bank Championship, Phil Mickelson won by two thin shots over his rival and sometime nemesis, Tiger Woods, which happens to be the exact number of strokes that separated them over four rounds on one of the newest and coolest holes on the PGA Tour.

"Well, there were 68 other holes," Mickelson laughed.

But the long and short of it is that the title, for the purposes of this argument, anyway, was decided on one the shortest par-4 holes in golf, the delicious, auspicious fourth at TPC Boston.

Talk about short and sweet. For the second week in a row during the FedEx Cup series -- and at least the 13th time this season -- players will have a chance to make everything from a two to a six on a hole that is as drivable as a Bentley convertible with a tank of jet fuel, with just as much potential blowback.

This week, the revamped fourth hole is expected to measure about 270 yards to the front edge, which means it's reachable by every player in the 120-man field, some with a 3-wood. Beyond that, the results themselves have been spectacularly unpredictable.

We needn't look any farther than the Mickelson-Woods duo to underscore why the shorties have become all the rage in course-design and setup circles. Moreover, the two stars were paired in three of the four rounds last year at the Deutsche Bank, so the hole's impact was all the more obvious.

Amazingly, Woods played the hole in even par, though it was wildly uneven in terms of tumult. He left two balls in the greenside bunker in the first round and made a double-bogey. The next day he eagled it, then followed with two somewhat disappointing pars.

By comparison, Mickelson played the hole a combined two under -- despite never making a par. He had an eagle, two birdies and a bogey.

In an era when players have been accused of lacking the shot-making capacity of their predecessors, stubby holes like No. 4 force them to use logic and logistics, rather than instinctively grabbing the driver and mindlessly bashing away. That was the impetus behind the redesign of the hole before the 2007 tournament.

"It makes you think standing on that tee box," Ian Poulter said.

Oh, heaven forbid.

The positive feedback from the holes has caused courses to rethink designs, if not tee placements, at several different tour sites. Courses and tour stops such as Riviera, Hartford and Scottsdale have long had the short fours, but in 2008, others have learned that good things come in small packages.

"I think that we've gotten in this mode in the tournaments that we play where harder -- the whole point is to make every golf course harder, harder, harder, but that's not all better," said Mickelson, who is defending his title this week.

The past two U.S. Open venues have featured a drivable par-4 hole at some point during the tournament week, but in Beantown, the forward tees will likely be used all four rounds on No. 4 and the fireworks should be plentiful.

If the top two players in the world run the gamut between eagle and double-bogey, then the impact of the fashionable par-3½s is darned self-evident. Plus Fours were once a style of golf trousers, but the shortish Minus Fours have become the style of the season in tour circles.

Former Ryder Cup player J.J. Henry was a player consultant on the redesign of the course at the Byron Nelson Championship, where the old Las Colinas layout was completely overhauled during the winter and spring. The 11th is now a par-4 that measures between 275-325 yards with water bordering the left side of the green and fairway. He was actually unhappy that the forward tee was not used more often during its March unveiling.

"If you look at the courses we play, they are some of the best holes we see," Henry said of the short fours. "Not only does it make the players think, it makes it more exciting. To some extent, we're entertainers out here putting on a show, and when you can make anything from a 2 to a 6, that's pretty exciting for the fans.

"Think of the best par-3s in the world, and while there are a few exceptions, but nearly all of them are under 180 yards. Some of the best par-4s we play are well under 400 yards, or even 350 yards. The answer isn't always to just add yardage."

Last week at the FedEx Cup series opener at Ridgewood Country Club, the fifth hole measured around 290 yards and was just as daunting in its own enticing way. The green was about 12 steps wide. It was surrounded by rough so thick, Mickelson accidentally double-hit a wedge shot on the weekend and made a double-bogey.

"That might be the smallest green I've played on tour," said Kenny Perry, a 22-year veteran. "I've never seen a green that small in my life."

But despite the cautionary yellow lights that are flashing, every drop of testosterone is telling the pros to go for it. TV analyst Nick Faldo put it best last week in describing Ridgewood's testy fifth -- a drivable par-4 is a temptress that, unless a player goes for the green, he feels like he hasn't given his best possible effort.

"You feel like, 'I haven't gone for it and I'm making bogey; what the hell am I thinking,'" Sergio Garcia said, drawing laughs.

As a rule, Garcia likes to pull out the big stick and let it fly. So do many of the other longer hitters.

"If I feel comfortable, I like to go for it, hit it up there or around the green or somewhere around it and just deal with what I get," he said.

This week, that can be a mixed bag. The front of the fourth is guarded by a deep-faced bunker, where it took Woods three tries to extricate himself in the first round last year. A tee ball that runs through the green on the right side runs into a mounded area dubbed the "chocolate drops," because of the somewhat contrived moguls that dot the terrain.

It takes a perfectly threaded tee shot to find the green, so most guys will be hitting a chip or pitch from a funky lie of some sort. For those electing to lay up, well, the target when hitting a wedge into the shallow green isn't much for square footage, either.

Tricky or not, it's a welcome change for guys who have been playing courses where the only past solution to keeping scores down was to add mileage. Veterans like Rich Beem, a medium-length hitter, are unabashedly in favor of the shorty sorties.

"Absolutely, why wouldn't you be?" he said. "It's a lot better than 520-yard par-4s. The cure to all our problems has been, lengthen the golf course, lengthen the golf course, that's what you need to do."

The pygmy par-4s have helped bring some back thought and excitement for players and fans alike.

"They do make a player think instead of just standing up there, and we get kind of mundane -- just driver and long iron into a lot of these holes," said Mike Weir, who is dabbling in course design himself. "I think it brings more strategy into the game."

The only pity the past two weeks is that the holes haven't come later in the round, like in Scottsdale and Hartford, where players have the chance to generate huge momentum shifts with a massive drive and an eagle putt. But that's splitting hairs.

"Even though we might shoot one or two more under par to win than we would normally, I don't see why that's a bad thing,"' Mickelson said of the potential for birdie. "I think it's been a real plus."

Addition by subtraction, indeed