The Loop
Watch Bubba Watson go driver off the deck at Baltusrol
SPRINGFIELD, N.J. -- The 17th at Baltusrol Golf Club measures 649 yards, features a host of cross bunkers and the hole angles uphill. John Daly is the only player in tournament competition to reach the 17th in two, hitting the green with a 1-iron during the 1993 U.S. Open. (Although, it should be noted, Tiger Woods went over the green at the 2005 PGA Championship.) In the current state of golf where every par 5 seemingly presents an eagle putt, Baltusrol's 17th is a dying breed: A three-shot hole.
However, professional golfers are a prideful bunch. As Bubba Watson showed on Wednesday at Baltusrol, "laying up" is not in their vocabulary, with the two-time Masters winner going driver off the deck on the 17th:
As Watson famously declared at the 2014 PGA Championship, he doesn't goof around on practice days. Leaving one to deduce that, when facing the 17th in tournament play, Bubba could be going driver-driver. Forget owning a jet pack or candy store; that, my friends, is the definition of cool.