There is not a single analysis of Quail Hollow, the venue for the 107th edition of the PGA Championship starting this Thursday, that doesn’t pay close attention to the so-called Green Mile, which is the name given to the stretch comprising holes 16, 17, and 18, the most challenging of this course and probably also of the entire season (let’s not forget that Quail Hollow is the usual venue for the Wells Fargo), in a tough battle with the Bear Trap (holes 15, 16, and 17 of the Champions course at PGA National, where the Cognizant is held).
We are indeed facing three little monsters. The 16th is a very long par 4, extremely long. Jon Rahm, for example, hit a good drive today during his practice round and then had two hundred metres to the flag. It’s true that the course was very heavy after the storm that hit Charlotte today, forcing play to be suspended at noon at Quail Hollow because the downpour was accompanied by lightning. The ball wasn’t rolling on the fairway, it’s true, but we’re still talking about a 530-yard par 4…
The 17th is a par 3 that takes your breath away or causes vertigo, depending on your preference. Very long (200 metres) and with an almost peninsula-like green, which receives uphill and releases downhill… The 18th, the final par 4, is defended along its entire left flank by a ‘hypnotic’ creek that attracts balls and is no joke in terms of length either (around 500 yards). Scottie Scheffler acknowledges that, if anything, in this Green Mile there’s only one shot that might give you some respite, and that’s the tee shot on the 16th, because it really opens up visually. That’s if anything, the World Number One clarifies, because you have to hit the driver very well to avoid being left with an excessively long second shot. The rest of the shots, according to Scheffler, are a tremendous challenge.
Let’s go back to 2017, the year the PGA was also held at Quail Hollow, the first Major this course hosted. How decisive was the Green Mile? Evidently, being at the end of the round, it was very much so. But above all, it showed its full might, and in 2017 the 16th hole was played fifteen metres shorter. Only three players got through these three holes with a score below par over the four rounds. Canadian Graham Delaet recorded a -2 score on the Green Mile, finishing the tournament in seventh place with a total score, by far his best result in a Major. Webb Simpson and Kelly Kraft also won the battle against the Green Mile, each with a -1 score. In other words: no one wins by a landslide in this stretch of the course.
Justin Thomas, the eventual winner of that PGA, navigated the Green Mile with a commendable score of +1. And Louis Oosthuizen, who finished in second place, was the only player to make a birdie on each of those holes 16, 17, and 18 throughout the four rounds, although his final balance on the cursed stretch was PAR, very commendable.
There were also real dramas, of course. A reliable guy like few others, Russell Henley, closed his passage through the Green Mile with a score of +12, a real madness. It didn’t go well for Jon Rahm either in this stretch, as he finished with a score of +8, when his final total was +7, finishing the tournament in 58th place. Jon didn’t make a single birdie, nor did he in his other appearance at Quail Hollow, at the Wells Fargo in 2021, where he missed the cut with a score of +5 on the Green Mile.
Since then, until this week, Rahm hadn’t returned to this devilish stretch of the Charlotte course. You have to remove the thorns when it really counts, it’s true, but it’s also good to gather good feelings in the practice round. The man from Barrika played the back nine of Quail Hollow yesterday and it must be noted that his passage through the Green Mile was a true recital from tee to green: great drive on the 16th and a solid 5-iron for the second shot, leaving the ball six metres from the hole (Jon wasn’t entirely happy with the swing, but the result was dreamy); powerful 5-iron on the 17th to leave the ball at flag height, about six metres to the left. Outstanding. And on the 18th, he hit a more than convincing driver and then hit the green in regulation with a notable 6-iron… Where do I sign?
