Entitlement Gone Awry? A Par-5 Green Not Holding Second Shots!
/Bubba Watson posting a 69 at Doral and then declaring he can't stand the course because it's too tough for him was weird, in a Bubba sort of way. (Rex Hoggard with the Bubba-being-Bubba talk.)
Even more bizarre is 36-hole leader J.B. Holmes, 9-under-par through two rounds, criticizing the par-5 first green because he doesn't feel he can hold a second shot. At 606-yards, apparently the concept of laying up is foreign to J.B. (but not to some ofhis peers).
Brian Wacker with a PGA Tour report on the different views of Gil Hanse's redesigned first that played as the fourth easiest at Doral on Friday. Not easy enough though for J.B.
"It's pretty bad that you can hit two perfect shots and the ball can go in the water because of just a ridiculous green design that's really just terrible," said Holmes. "The shape of the green is fine, but it's not that wide anyways. And why you would put a giant hump in the middle of it to make a ball go in the water is ‑‑ it's stupid. Golf course is hard enough. You don't have to do that."
Mercifully, Adam Scott has a less entitled view than J.B.
"I think we often expect to hit a par 5 in two just because we can reach it. I'm not sure that's necessarily the right thought but you know, (course designer) Gil (Hanse) is certainly asking the question of you down the first if you want to have a go. Even with a wedge in there, it's a pretty tough shot."
So to recap, a player is 9-under through two rounds, the hole is averaging under par, it's 606 yards and the first is terrible because you might have to not go for it in two shots. You might have to ponder another way to the hole. Worse, it may not let you golf your ball exactly as you want to golf it. Terrible!