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Kuchar and his game are all grown up

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 22:18:00 GMT

The PGA Tour, flush as it is with corporate partners, might benefit from adding another, Gillette, given the proliferation of facial frog hair and first-cut rough turning up on tour these days. At least Matt Kuchar has an excuse for his new-growth stubble. It proves that he really is old enough to shave.

Kuchar, he of the perpetually boyish grin, is all grown up, the latest evidence his victory on Sunday in the Memorial Tournament at Jack Nicklaus' Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio. Kuchar is beginning to convert more of those top 10s that he began collecting in 2010, and is doing so against quality fields in high-profile tournaments.

The victory was his third in less than 13 months. He also won the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February and the Players Championship in May of 2012 and is now firmly ensconced in the World Ranking top 10, with another strong field and elite tournament, the U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club, on deck for him.

"Maybe this is his next stepping stone," CBS' Nick Faldo said. "He's won some fantastic events. Maybe a major is next."

Winning with the greater frequency that befits a star had been the missing link for a man who has not finished worse than fifth in top 10s in three previous seasons and was first in 2010. This was his sixth in 14 starts this year, tying him for the tour lead with Brandt Snedeker and Keegan Bradley.

The elusive victory must have been puzzling for him, too, at least until the last 13 months. After he won his first tournament, the Honda Classic in 2002, in his first full season as a PGA Tour member, he said this: "I wasn't sure if it would happen as soon as it did. I knew it would happen. I always dreamed and knew that I would win and that I would win a lot, but I wasn't sure that it would happen this soon."

Now, at 34, he is playing with the kind of consistency and confidence that might enable him to find the missing piece to the dream, to "win a lot."

On Sunday, only two players in the field bettered his score of four-under par 68 and neither was in contention. When runner-up Kevin Chappell threatened at 18 to erase the last vestiges of what had been a four-stroke deficit, Kuchar calmly holed a downhill 21-foot birdie putt to win by two and earn the post-tournament handshake that is the most coveted prize that goes with winning the Memorial.

"Mr. Nicklaus, it's a real honor to win this tournament," Kuchar said to the tournament host, Jack Nicklaus, behind the 18th green.

Moments later, he reiterated the sentiment. "Such an amazing feeling to be here and win this tournament, and to have Jack Nicklaus here to congratulate me is a real treat," he said through a wide grin that has retained its boyish charm but belies the countenance of a grown man with a mature game.

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A contrite McIlroy admits, "I should have stayed out there"

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:04:00 GMT

By Dave Shedloski

MIAMI -- The dichotomy was striking.

A contrite and self-deprecating Rory McIlroy exuded maturity and humility Wednesday morning at Trump Doral Resort while explaining why those seemingly innate qualities were absent last week when he quit in the middle of his second round at the Honda Classic.

"I gave myself a red card last week," McIlroy, 23, said jokingly to a standing room only crowd of reporters, appropriating a soccer term. (A red card signifies that a player has been ejected from the game.)

"No matter how bad I was playing," McIlroy continued, "I should have stayed out there. I should have tried to shoot the best score possible even though it probably wasn't going to be good enough to make the cut. At that point in time, I was just all over the place, and you know, I saw red. . . . It was a mistake and everyone makes mistakes, and I'm learning from them."

Photo by Getty Images

McIlroy, who is back in action this week in the WGC-Cadillac Championship, stood seven over par after eight holes last Friday at PGA National Resort and had just hit his approach to the 18th green into the water when he shook hands with playing partners Ernie Els and Mark Wilson and hastily walked off the Champion Course, where a year earlier he had won by two strokes and ascended to No. 1 in the world rankings for the first time.

As he departed PGA National, McIlroy admitted he "was not in a great place mentally." About an hour later he issued a statement blaming a sore wisdom tooth for affecting his concentration. McIlroy said both lower wisdom teeth are troubling him, and he had braces put on to alleviate the pressure. He intends to have them pulled when he returns home to Northern Ireland after the U.S. Open in June.

Being the No. 1 golfer in the world, living under a microscope, and playing poorly to begin the year after a total overhaul of his equipment have compounded the pressure on him and affected his amiable disposition.

"[It was both.] I wasn't in a good place with my golf game . . . my head was all over the place," he said. "But at the same time, I have been struggling with my lower right wisdom tooth for over a year. So, yeah, look, my tooth was bothering me, but it wasn't bothering me enough to probably, you know, quit, but that's just the way it is.

"I think it was a buildup of everything," he added. "I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself to perform and I've been working so hard and not really getting much out of it. That's just been the frustrating thing, and that's what happened. It was a buildup of high expectations from myself coming off, you know, the back of such a great year last year, and wanting to continue that form into this year and not being able to do it. I just sort of let it all get to me."

McIlroy felt well enough over the weekend to practice extensively at The Bear's Club near his U.S.-based home in Jupiter, Fla., and he senses progress to correct a flaw that has crept into his backswing where he picks the club up and outside the line. He clarified that he is not trying to change his swing so much as "trying to change it back to where it was.

"I've worked my ass off over the last four or five days to really try and get this right," he said. "Still, it's a workâ¿¿inâ¿¿progress. There's no quick fixes in golf, but I'm going to go out there this week and all I care about is my swing, and I know if I can get my swing back on track, that the results will follow."

Having not played a tournament round on the weekend this year, McIlroy is looking forward to four rounds in this week's WGC-Cadillac Championship. There is no cut in the $8.5 million event that features 65 of the top players in the world.

McIlroy is paired with No. 2 Tiger Woods and No. 3 Luke Donald for the first two rounds at the TPC Blue Monster at Trump Doral, with their opening tee time at 11:53 a.m. off No. 10. That marquee group already figured to be the most watched, but the critics will undoubtedly pick apart whatever McIlroy does after his premature exit from PGA National. He was OK with that and doesn't believe his actions will affect his popularity.

"Yeah, I actually think in the long run, Friday will be a blessing in disguise," he said. "It was like it just sort of released a valve and all that sort of pressure that I've been putting on myself just went away. And I was like, [let's] just go out and have fun. It's not life or death out there. It's only a game. I had sort of forgotten that this year."

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In interview, McIlroy admits Honda WD was a mistake

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 00:19:00 GMT

By Sam Weinman

Rory McIlroy's 2013 might be marked by missteps thus far, but at least the world No. 1 is willing to recognize when he's wrong.

In an interview with Golf.com, McIlroy acknowledged his abrupt withdrawal from the Honda Classic last Friday was a mistake, even if he was in pain from a wisdom tooth.

Related: Rory's withdrawal picked apart by fans

"It was a reactive decision," McIlroy told Golf.com's Michael Bamberger. "What I should have done is take my drop, chip it on, try to make a five and play my hardest on the back nine, even if I shot 85. What I did was not good for the tournament, not good for the kids and the fans who were out there watching me -- it was not the right thing to do."

McIlroy, who has played only five competitive rounds this season and has yet to make a cut, pulled out of the Honda while he was seven-over par through eight holes. While he said the tooth was part of the reason, he also admitted to Bamberger his swing has been problematic.

"I feel comfortable with all the equipment," he said of his change to Nike clubs. "The problem is, I'm bringing the club too upright on the backswing then dropping it in too much on the downswing."

All have contributed to a trying start to the season for the two-time major champion. Tellingly, McIlroy said there's at least one area in which he could learn from his new friend Tiger Woods.

"He might be the best athlete ever, in terms of his ability to grind it out," McIlroy said. "I could have a bit more of that, if I'm honest."

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Rory McIlroy's WD at the Honda Classic creates buzz through the weekend

Steve Hennessey — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 19:40:00 GMT

By Stephen Hennessey As a defending champion last week at the Honda Classic, many expected Rory McIlroy to show better form than he has so far in 2013. Instead, the world No. 1 grabbed national headlines...

It's a 'major' day at Seminole GC

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:18:00 GMT

By Tim Rosaforte

Rickie Fowler warmed up for his title defense of one of club golf's major championships by finishing T-13 in the Honda Classic yesterday. Today he will be at the Seminole GC pro-member with partner Buddy Marucci in hopes of getting his name on the locker room wall a third consecutive time.

"It's the first major of the year, so I'm playing to win," Fowler said half-kidding at PGA National. "It's cool to walk in there and have your name permanently on the board."

Photo by Getty Images

In the northeast corner of the Seminole locker room is a piece of mahogany with names that date to 1937. Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Jimmy Demaret and Arnold Palmer won this event, as did Bing Crosby, with Gardner Dickinson as his partner. As Lee Westwood said hitting putts before the third round of the Honda, "Everybody wants their name on the board for the Seminole Pro-Member. It's a Who's Who."

The name on the wall is just part of what this is all about. "The tradition, the history, the people there -- it's such a good vibe," said Graeme McDowell. "The first year I played there, I don't think could conceive the magnitude of it, when you see Nicklaus, and Palmer and all these legends of the game, plus having the mystique of Hogan kind of just there. There are just so many good people, obviously powerful people, but that's [secondary]. It's just such a phenomenal golf course."

First off in the cold at 7:30 a.m. are the South African major championship winners (and Palm Beach Gardens residents) Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel. Ray Floyd, the club's only touring pro member, has an afternoon time with Alfy Fanjul, the sugar magnate. Palmer is on the tee at 9:30 with outgoing club president Tim Neher, who reinvented this event in 2004 (reviving the Seminole Amateur-Professional that attracted tour players from 1937 to 1961).

Paired with Fowler and Marucci are four-time club champion Kelly Miller and Sony Open winner Russell Henley. Jay Haas is playing in the same pairing as his son, Bill Haas. Adam Scott is with his mentor, Greg Norman. There are two Harmons in the field, Butch and Craig; their father Claude was the club's pro from 1945-1957, and holder of the course record (60).

There are some players -- like Haas, Scott, Zach Johnson, Bo Van Pelt, Nick Watney and Matt Kuchar -- who didn't play the Honda but are playing the Pro-Member on their way to Doral for the WGC-Cadillac Invitational. On that list is Luke Donald, who lives at The Bear's Club in Jupiter and plays the Pro-Member with fellow Northwestern alum Eric Gleacher.

This is not for charity or a corporate sponsor. This is about playing a Donald Ross masterpiece along the Atlantic, and as McDowell alluded, having the Seminole experience. Ernie Els, who plays with Johann Rupert, once traveled overnight in 2005 after a victory in Dubai and walked through the locker room doors at The 'Nole in time for his afternoon tee time. Els and Rupert won low net in '04.

"It's such a great day of golf at a place that is all about golf," said retired Deutsche Bank CEO Seth Waugh, who will be playing with Justin Rose. "I was asking Davis Love III about his neck [surgery], and he said, 'The only bummer is I'll miss two majors, the Seminole Pro-Member and the Masters.'"

This column first appeared in the March 4 issue of Golf World Monday.

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The tooth is, there is no Rory-Tiger rivalry yet

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 22:47:00 GMT

By John Strege

Just when you're looking to sink your teeth into a good golf rivalry, a toothache turns up.

This, at any rate, was the reason Rory McIlroy eventually provided in the wake of his questionable decision to walk off the course midway through the second round of the Honda Classic on Friday. His chief foe, Tiger Woods, also failed to hold up his end of the budding rivalry, his indifferent performance producing a tie for 37th.

Photo by Getty Images

But the story of the week, overshadowing the first PGA Tour victory by Michael Thompson on Sunday, was McIlroy and his choppers. They even earned a post on an unusual Facebook page called Celebrity Toothaches.

McIlroy might have been better served had he followed the example of actress Kate Hudson, the subject of another post at Celebrity Toothaches. "Kate Hudson Braves Tooth Pain For Fashion Shoot," the headline read.

Who can say whether one's pain threshold is reached quicker through golf or modeling? But McIlroy could have spared himself a bruise to his otherwise flawless reputation had he played through whatever was bothering him more, his score (seven over par through eight holes) or his teeth.

"I think if he'd have waited five more minutes he wouldn't have done that," Jack Nicklaus said on the NBC telecast of the Honda Classic on Sunday. "I think he's a good kid and I think he tries to do the right thing. Unfortunately, it probably wasn't at that time."

So the fledgling rivalry between McIlroy and Woods, friends and foes alike, Nos. 1 and 2 in the World Ranking, is still on hold. Golf rivalries usually are, hobbled as they are by an inability to materialize, at least on a head-to-head basis, with anything approaching regularity.

The Yankees and Red Sox play 18 times a season, often with an American League East title at stake, producing a bonafide rivalry. For Woods and McIlroy to get together requires a friendly game at home in Florida, as they played after each was eliminated in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship last month; an exhibition, as they played in China in October; or a fortuitous (or rigged) pairing, such as they received for the first two rounds at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in January, where both missed the cut.

In December, Nicklaus suggested that a rivalry would be good for both. "I think for Tiger, he probably needs somebody to pop him a few times so he gets a chance to go pop it back, you know what I mean?" Nicklaus said. "I think that's the way all sports work. It's kind of good for you to get drummed a couple times, and then all of a sudden you say, 'I'm not getting drummed anymore. I'm going to go drum that guy back.' That's sort of what rivalries are all about."

At this point, it's not a matter of beating one another, but beating themselves. Both are in the field at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral this week, possibly for the last time before the Masters.

In the meantime, McIlroy, at a Tuesday news conference at Doral, is expected to explain himself further, to tell, as it were, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth.

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McIlroy joins a list of other odd withdrawals

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:40:00 GMT

By Alex Myers

Rory McIlroy withdrew from the Honda Classic on Friday, citing "severe wisdom tooth pain." He might be the first World No. 1 to use that excuse, but he's certainly not the first notable golfer to bow out of a tournament in unusual fashion. Here's a rundown of some other recent, um, interesting reasons for failing to complete an event:

Sergio Garcia, 1999 St. Jude Classic -- Before "El Nino's" famous closed-eyes shot from behind a tree at the PGA Championship later that year, the 19-year-old needed surgery to remove an abscess above his left eye. Unfortunately, that happened the Thursday of the annual tournament in Memphis, forcing Garcia to withdraw before hitting a shot. The reason for the abscess? An outbreak of acne, according to his manager. So basically, Sergio was just a typical teen with pimple problems.

Tiger Woods hasn't had the best track record at TPC Sawgrass. (Getty Images)

Jim Furyk, 2006 Barclays -- Furyk withdrew before the start of the tournament with a bad shoulder. The catch? He injured it while brushing his teeth. Yeah. . . we're pretty sure he took a good ribbing from his fellow tour pros when he returned after that. Funny enough, Furyk had a freak disqualification from this same event -- when it was part of the PGA Tour's playoffs -- four years later when he overslept for the Wednesday pro-am. Incredibly, he bounced back to win the Tour Championshp and claim the FedEx Cup.

Tiger Woods, 2010 Players Championship -- In his third start since returning from his scandal at the end of 2009, Woods played decently at TPC Sawgrass until abruptly pulling out on the seventh hole of the final round. In recent years, Woods' WDs have become more common -- he withdrew at the 2011 Players also -- but for his various leg injuries. In this case, Woods cited neck pain. The 14-time major champion returned a month later for the Memorial, and hasn't seemed to have a problem with his neck since. Of course, nothing seemed to go right for Tiger that year. He had just two top 10s, didn't qualify for the Tour Championship for the first time, and couldn't even win his annual hit-and-giggle event at Sherwood when Graeme McDowell stunned him in a playoff.

Phil Mickelson, 2012 Memorial -- Lefty withdrew following a first-round 79 due to "mental fatigue." However, it later came out that he was protesting the PGA Tour's new policy of allowing fans to bring cell phones on the course. Specifically, Mickelson wasn't pleased about fans using their phones to take pictures while he played. Either tournament marshals have gotten better at controlling fans with phones or Phil has become less camera shy because he hasn't had a major issue with the policy since.

John Daly, pick a tournament -- The master of the WD, Daly has made a bad habit of taking a sponsor's exemption -- and sometimes an appearance fee -- and then walking off the course before the weekend. His best reason had to be when he withdrew from the 2012 Singapore Open due to fatigue. But his best flameout exit occurred at the 2011 Australian Open. After making a triple bogey to fall to seven-over par in the first round, he hit seven shots into a pond on the 11th hole before shaking hands with playing partners Hunter Mahan and Craig Parry and walking off. What got him to finally stop? As he later said on Twitter, "when u run out of balls, u run out of balls."

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McIlroy continues to struggle, withdraws from Honda Classic

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:33:00 GMT

By Dave Shedloski

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Questioning the, um, wisdom of Rory McIlroy's recent change in equipment gathered more steam Thursday morning after the No. 1 player in the world withdrew from the Honda Classic midway through his second round.

Having gone seven over par through eight holes on the Champion Course at PGA National and then hitting his approach into the water on the par-5 18th, McIlroy packed it in without hitting another shot, shook the hands of his playing partners Ernie Els and Mark Wilson, and left the grounds, driving off in his blue BMW. He later issued a statement citing pain in a wisdom tooth that apparently flared up overnight.

McIlroy has yet to make a cut in 2013, but says his switch to Nike equipment isn't to blame.
Photo by Getty Images

"I have been suffering with a sore wisdom tooth, which is due to come out in the near future," McIlroy, 23, said in a statement. "It began bothering me again last night, so I relieved it with Advil. It was very painful again this morning, and I was simply unable to concentrate. It was really bothering me and had begun to affect my playing partners."

Both Els and Wilson said they knew McIlroy, who opened with an even-par 70 on Thursday, was struggling with his game but were not affected by him. They did not notice if he was in any pain. The Associated Press reported that he had been eating a sandwich in the 18th fairway minutes before walking off the course.

"All he did was hand me the scorecard and said that he's going in after that hole, Wilson said. "He wasn't' playing the way the World No. 1 plays normally. . . . He was upset with his golf, and I guess he had enough for the week."

"Hey, listen, if something was bothering him, you know, it was bothering him and all credit to him trying to play through whatever pain he was in," Els said. "He obviously couldn't do it after nine holes anymore. Toothache, it's not fun, I guess."

McIlroy, who missed the cut at Abu Dhabi with a pair of 75s to start his year and then lost in the first round of last week's WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, has been under increasing scrutiny after he changed equipment late last year, leaving Titleist for Nike. McIlroy was voted PGA Tour Player of the Year in 2012 after winning four times, including the PGA Championship by a record eight strokes. He also won the money titles on the PGA Tour and the European Tour, the second player in as many years to achieve that feat after Luke Donald did it in 2011.

"Yeah, unfortunately, it seems like it's kind of building now a little bit," Els said. "I didn't think much of the equipment change. We've all made equipment changes before. I think there was a bit of criticism somewhere, and then I think he's further responding to that, and I think he's got a bit of pressure coming on him that way."

"He's had a funny start to the year," said fellow Ulsterman Graeme McDowell, who added that no player in the Honda field would have turned down McIlroy's new equipment deal estimated to be worth upwards of $20 million per year. "He missed the cut in Abu Dhabi, then lost to [64th seed] Steve Lowry in Match Play. All of a sudden he's not getting a lot of momentum.

"He just needs to get over the hurdle of playing for others and start playing for Rory McIlroy. He wants to prove to the world he's good enough with Nike equipment. He's a smart kid. We all experience this sometime in our careers. To me, it's a mini-crisis. We're 2.1 events into the season. There's a lot of golf to be played.

"He has the "X" factor that so few people have," McDowell added. "He's a hell of a talented player. He's lacking a little bit of belief in his game and a little bit of belief in his technique. He's got a lot of stuff going on in his mind. He's a global superstar and it can only be pressure magnified on him. But he'll get over it. He'll be fine."

"He has a plan, obviously, and he's going to stick to it," Geoff Ogilvy said. "In May everyone was throwing him under the bus and it all worked out. I would imagine, with new equipment you'd play more before you get to this point. . . . He's got a plan. He'll probably go win the Masters by eight and then we'll say, 'See, he knew what he was doing.'"

Related: Golf's most damaging injuries

Barring another withdrawal, McIlroy will play four rounds next week; he is scheduled to compete in the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral Resort in Miami, which is a no-cut, limited field event.

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McIlroy on opening 70: 'Not great...it was OK'

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 23:21:00 GMT

By Dave Shedloski

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - Rory McIlroy took four ingloriously indifferent shots from 105 yards on the 18th hole at PGA National Thursday afternoon and surrendered a chance to not only shoot under par but also conjure some decent vibes amid the slow start to his season.

The No. 1 player in the world and the defending champion, McIlroy opened the Honda Classic with an even-par 70 on the Champion Course he sliced up a year ago and trailed 2010 winner Camilo Villegas by six strokes. The effort, though marred by a sloppy bogey on the par-5 home hole, had him disappointed but not disillusioned with the direction of his game.

"[It] wasn't the nicest way to finish, [but] I saw enough pretty good golf out there to be positive going into the next few days," said McIlroy, who missed the cut at Abu Dhabi and then was bounced from the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in the first round. "Felt OK out there. Not great, but, I mean, it was OK."

Not exactly a ringing endorsement. And on a calm day in South Florida when nearly half the field broke par, the 23-year-old Ulsterman, who recently decided to make this area his home base, knew he'd missed an opportunity.

"I think if I've been playing well, or playing the way I know I can, there's something in the mid 60s out there," said McIlroy, who shot four rounds in the 60s last year and shot 12-under-par 268 for the first of his four PGA Tour wins. "Hopefully, the weather is OK tomorrow and I can go out and try to shoot a good score and put myself in position for the weekend."

McIlroy finds himself in good company heading into the second round. His new neighbor and best friend, world No. 2 Tiger Woods, also failed to take advantage of the rain-softened and relatively benign conditions.

It says something about the day Woods endured that the highlight of his round was escaping with a par after pulling a drive into the water on the par-4 sixth. Woods, who rebounded from a pair of early bogeys to shoot 70, had to remove his shoes and socks and his beige sweater, put on rainpants, and splash a 9-iron recovery back into the fairway from where he got up and down.

"I was one over at the time," Woods said, "and if that ball is not playable from where it's at ... looking at a [double-bogey] six, three over, [but] all of a sudden I flip it, make par there and birdie the next."

The remainder of his day wasn't much to talk about as Woods hit nine fairways and 14 greens but needed 32 whacks with the putter. "It was pretty much a boring day on the greens, and I hit a lot of good shots," he said.

Winner in his first PGA Tour start of the year at the Farmer's Insurance Open, Woods is making his second appearance in the Honda Classic, having finished runner-up to McIlroy last year despite a closing 62.

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(Photo by Getty Images)

Golf World Preview: Beware the Bear Trap

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:20:00 GMT

By Ron Sirak

From the February 28 issue of Golf World Preview:

Okay, so about the time of the third snowstorm at the Accenture Match Play Championship your bracket in the office pool resembled exit polls from the 2004 Presidential election -- not much was correct. Time to recoup your losses this week by making a wager on how many times holes 15 through 17 on the Champions course at PGA National will be referred to as the Bear Trap during the Golf Channel/NBC broadcast of the Honda Classic. If the over/under is "too many," take the over.

Let's face it, we love to give names to things. I have a tree in my backyard I call Ed. Ever since those dudes were found bugging the Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel the word "Gate" has been tacked on the end of any scandal. Football had the Steel Curtain, baseball the Big Red Machine and college basketball the Fab Five. The sad thing about such shorthand is that sometimes it short-changes the subject matter by making the hype newsier than the happening.

That's the dilemma of the Bear Trap. While some may argue about the quality of holes 15-17 from a design standpoint, the difficulty of that stretch is beyond dispute, especially when the wind is up. Since the Honda Classic moved to PGA National in 2007, the Bear Trap has accounted for 24 percent of all bogeys in the tournament, 56 of the double bogeys and an astonishing 74 percent of the triple bogeys. Remarkably, 97 percent of annoyed TV viewers are watching the Bear Trap.

What makes that stretch so difficult? Wind. Water. Sand. Contour. Hole location. You know; golf. No. 15 is a 179-yard par-3 that usually plays into the wind with sand left and water right. No. 16 is a 434-yard par-4 that doglegs to the right and slopes toward the water on the right. Bail out left and you have a 220-yard shot over water. No. 17 is another par-3, this one 190 yards. With a bunker long and left and water right, the green is the only place to put the ball, and when the pin is middle-left there is only a 30-foot landing area.

In tournament golf, good things seem to come in threes. Augusta National has Amen Corner, Nos. 11-13 in the Masters. The Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow concludes with the Green Mile. And the Horrible Horseshoe at Colonial in the Crowne Plaza Invitational comes early -- Nos. 3-5. None are more difficult than the Bear Trap, which gets its name from the course's architect, Jack Nicklaus, the Golden Bear. Get it?

Grab a snack and a beverage and settle in to watch the Honda Classic on TV. And brace yourself for this inevitability: Slow pan of the bear statue (above) at No. 15. Zoom in on the plaque proclaiming the next three holes will kick the stuffing out of you. The announcer's voice takes on a tone both ominous and excited. Then sit back and enjoy as the Bear Trap mauls the field. Cutesy name, annoyingly overused, but great entertainment.

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(Photo by Getty Images)