| Illustration by CourseGuidetm |
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On the 17th hole and several others,
Ryder Cuppers will have to contend
with the River Liffey.
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The first Ryder Cup held on Irish soil begins today, contested on The K Club’s parkland-style Palmer Course. Even if you’re not watching the action in person on an Ireland golf vacation, television does a pretty good job of relaying the drama. And if there is going to be drama in these matches, there’s a good chance much of it will occur on the 16th, 17th and 18th holes.
Of course, any made-for-television event nowadays must be completely choreographed, and the tournament organizers altered the course’s normal sequence of holes for maximum effect. What are normally the 7th and 8th holes during the rest of the year are being played as the first two of this strong closing trio, changing the rhythm from par four, par three, par five into the more risk-taking, match-breaking par five, par four, par five.
On the 16th, the River Liffey splits to run in front of and behind the green complex. It will be interesting to see which players, if any, have the nerve to try and land this island green on their second shot.
On the 17th, the Liffey is again a factor as it runs down the entire left-hand side of this gently left-bending par four. Here, the pressure is applied to the tee shot as players will undoubtedly take an aggressive line over the water to shorten the hole.
The 18th is another gut-check par five with a green jutting out into the water. Look for the pin to be on left side on Sunday and for this aptly named Hooker’s Graveyard to decide any down-to-the-wire matches.
The USA network will broadcast the 2006 Ryder Cup from 8 am to 6 pm today. NBC takes over on Saturday (8 am to 6 pm) and Sunday (7 am to 12:30 pm). You can also see streaming video from 3 am to 11 am at RyderCup.com (all times eastern).
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