Angela Stanford and Kris Tamulis walked side by side off Hazeltine National's par-4 16th with both the elation and anger the PGA of America was looking for when it made the signature hole a 245-yarder with an extreme front-left pin for Saturday's third round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.
"I thought it was a lot of fun and I hope they do it again [Sunday]," Stanford said.
Tamulis? Not so much.
Both players grabbed 3-wood with hopes of running the ball onto the green through a narrow opening or, at worst, leaving a pitch inside 20 yards from the left side of the fairway.
Stanford came up 4 yards short of the green, lipped out an eagle putt up the smooth slope to the green and tapped in for birdie. Tamulis pushed her tee shot into the deep reeds in the hazard area on the right, tried and failed to wedge it out, took a penalty drop, stubbed a chip and ended up with triple bogey and an 8-over 80.
The hole, which was shortened by 140 yards from the first two rounds, played as the third-easiest hole. It surrendered no eagles, but the 29 birdies matched the total from the first two rounds combined.
"It's definitely a risk-reward hole," said Danielle Kang, who's tied for seventh at 3 under. "Somebody like me, I'm going for it. I don't like laying up."
Tamulis had the only score higher than bogey. There were just nine bogeys, but one of them belonged to big-hitting Ariya Jutanugarn, who sits at 8 under and one shot off the lead behind Hannah Green, who parred 16.
Jutanugarn hit 3-iron with intent to reach the green but pushed her drive into the hazard and had to drop. Green hit 3-wood short of the green and missed a short birdie putt.
Kang was one of the lucky gamblers. She sliced her drive but got a fortunate bounce to stay out of the water.
"It was safe," she said. "Thank God."
And thank the marshals who patrolled that area and were asked to spot and find errant shots from eager tee shooters all day long.
"I wanted to be really greedy there," Kang said. "I'm a greedy player. My reward was the ball didn't go in the water. But I like it. The hole gives you a lot of different types of tests."
Not everyone was tempted to blast away.
Tiffany Joh pulled 5-iron and hit the ball to her comfort-zone approach distance of 130 yards. She took par and moved on.
World Golf Hall of Famer Laura Davies missed the cut and didn't get a chance to play the shortened hole. But she played it from both lengths during a practice round and called the forward tee, "One of the most fun holes I've ever played. There are so many options"
"You obviously can't land your drive on the green," said Stanford, referring to the peninsula surface that slopes away on all sides. "The fairway near the green will kick the ball a little right. Mine was running quite a bit left and rolled right at the end. As long as you keep it left, the worst you'll have is a short pitch out of the rough."
One player in particular felt both the lows and highs of a classic risk-reward hole.
Yu Liu came to the 16th at 5 over. She went for the green and ended up deep in the hazard to the right. She dropped and then dunked her third shot from about 50 yards for birdie.
Stanford said she hopes the PGA of America keeps the forward tee on Sunday. She said another risk-reward setup would make for good viewing as the leaders come down the stretch.
"I would rather it be that way coming down the stretch than people having a hard time reaching a par 4," she said. "It's exciting. I think people pay and come here to see birdies."
And the occasional train wreck.
Mark Craig is a reporter for the Star Tribune. Twitter: @markcraigNFL
E-mail: mcraig@statribune.com
