The USGA made history on Friday, turning the 18th hole, which played as a 560-yard par 5 in Round 1, into a 498-yard par 4 for Round 2. In the process, they've also angered a lot of players.
Fox Sports mics caught world No. 2 Jordan Spieth calling the 18th "the dumbest hole [he's] ever seen." After his second-round 67, Spieth was asked about the comment, and he didn't back down from his assessment.
"I think the hole doesn't make sense because you can hit it down the left center of the fairway and still end up in the right bunker in trouble," Spieth explained. "There's a group of about 10, 12 guys that can fly at 310 yards that have an entirely different hole to play there. For anybody else you have to hit it in a 5- or 6-yard area. And if it's going to be a par-4 and you're going to bring that other bunker into play, I think the tee should have been moved up more. But I'm not the one that's putting the course together."
Former world No. 1 Lee Westwood agreed with Spieth, sharing his distaste on Twitter.
Played great today. Shame about 18. I know I made triple but it's a stupid par 4 and a great par 5.
— Lee Westwood (@WestwoodLee) June 19, 2015
Brad Fritsch wasn't a fan.
"It's not a great par 4," he said after the round. "You are trying to carry it 275, but not run it out 320. With these fairways, it's going to roll a lot. I hit 3-wood to the right, and subsequently it's a much harder shot in with 5-iron for me."
The players have a legitimate gripe. In the first round, the 18th played to a scoring average of 4.96 -- more or less, par. On Friday, the scoring average dropped to 4.38, but in relation to par, it's now playing closer to a half-stroke over the prescribed score.
However, as Spieth conceded, complaining about the hole isn't going to do much good.
"I thought it was a dumb hole today," he said, "but I think we're going to play it from there again, so I've got to get over that."
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