There's an odd sight in Saturday's delayed second round of the inaugural Zozo Championship in Japan: the 150-yard par-4 10th hole.
Yep, that's right. It's a 140-yard par 4.
The PGA Tour decided to play the 10th hole at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba as a 140-yard hole on Saturday when it was apparent the hole could not be played as the 375-yard par 4 it would normally be in drier conditions. With the fairway flooded out following more than 6 inches of rain on Friday, the PGA Tour made the decision to create a tee in the fairway and make the hole a simple 140-yard, temporary-like hole.
So, yes, there will be plenty of birdie 3s and eagle 2s on this par 4 today. Heck, there could be a hole-in-one that's an albatross.
The reason the PGA Tour is keeping the hole as a par 4 is more for statistical consistency than anything else. The hole was a par 4 in Round 1, and it'll be a par 4 in the remaining two rounds as the tournament comes to a Monday finish (hopefully). So, why not keep it a par 4 in Round 2? It has no bearing on scoring average awards, as players will adjust to a par 4 at par-3 length, and adjusted scoring average is what determines that race. Throughout the week, the host will be a par 70, even if that means a rash of birdies and eagles.
This isn't the first time the PGA Tour has shortened a par 4 to a par-3 length and kept the scorecard par the same. In the 2015 Byron Nelson, torrential downpours forced a three-hour weather delay on Friday morning at TPC Four Seasons in Texas. As crews were working to prepare the course for Cut Day play, they found the fairway at the par-4 14th was beyond repair for Round 2. The PGA Tour's initial solution was to put a tee box in a part of the fairway that was playable and shorten the hole to 100 yards, keeping it a par 4.
However, later in the day, the Tour realized that may not have been a good idea and converted it to a par 3 for the day.
