This slight dogleg right plays uphill and has a deep bunker
requiring a 317-yard carry off the tee. The bunker has a tongue
in the left side, so anything that enters the front of the bunker
might be blocked by the lip. A bunker is left of the green, which
falls off sharply at the back and to the right.
Trevor
Immelman's take: "The first hole has become an
extremely difficult par 4 over the last couple years. They really
stretched the tee back. It's like 285 yards to that right bunker
now. So you really need to hit a solid one there to start the
tournament. Otherwise, you're going to be on the up-slope and
hitting a long iron to a very undulating green, so that's not
ideal. So a good drive and an iron shot into the middle of the
green isn't going to leave you too far from the hole. So that's
probably the ideal way to start the tournament."
Famous Moment: Scott Verplank holed out from the
fairway bunker with a 4-iron for eagle in 1987.
Hall of Shame: Olin Browne and Scott Simpson were
the first players to make a quadruple bogey -- on the same day in
1998.
