MEDINAH, Ill. – Min Woo Lee says he looked in front of him, then almost at once asked Geoff Ogilvy.
A three-foot-tall wooden fence was buried in the ground a few feet from the fairway all along the left side of the first hole this week. Presidents’ Cup.
And the second hole.
And the third hole.
Was this…? Nah, it couldn’t be. Ogilvy captains the International team that Lee is playing in the Cup, and felt counterproductive that the Medinah Country Club redesign, made by the Ogilvy design team, would include shaking your golf shoes out of bounds just outside the chute.
“When we first got together,” Lee said, “I just said, ‘Geoff, what are you doing?’
It depends on who you ask.
What it did for the players was to make an already sweaty moment – the first shots of a team event, in front of bigger and more giddy galleries – and turn the dial right on the thermostat. The right is also where a player is then forced to go on the holes, although easier looks at the green come the more you climb the left, all that pleases lovers of golf architecture. Medinah members play this stretch a little hotter – for them, the holes are actually 5, 6 and 7. But not in this week’s routing.
And everyone does double takes three times.
Collin Morikawa? He said he remembered his first team event, at the 2021 Ryder Cup, where he comfortably thought he could “teed it high and let it fly” on the first hole. But Medina? “I would say 3 is a lot more gettable than the first two, but the first two holes, I mean, it comes right up against it, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. Yes Woo Kim? He said he thought about the three previous Presidents Cups he played, he could have “everywhere and still make birdies.” But in Medina? “If you miss the left, you almost give the hole,” he said. Justin Thomas? He said that he was convinced that the fence was in everyone’s thoughts: “He is very nervous.”
How close is it the fence at the fairway? On the 495-yard, par-4 1st, the distance is maybe a couple of yards; maybe the length of one Scottie Scheffler. On the 460-yard, par-4 2nd, it is a little shorter. The distance on the 592-yard, par-5 3rd falls somewhere in the middle. And the fence still closes to the green, although it seems that some help has been given – Garrett Morrison of the Fried Egg golf website shared a couple of photos on X that showed the grass between the fairway and the fence was recently grown, potentially slowing down incoming shots. After the fences, interestingly, it is about 50 yards of grass until you reach it another one fence That separates Medinah from the traffic, and is another reason why the tree was created.
During the first day of play on Thursday, both fences were seen, which meant some theater, and the pine on the 2nd hole was devilishly cut just four steps. But some flirted away. A Masters winner also sat on a fence.
Nick Piastowski
Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns (US) vs. Min Woo Lee and Sunjae Im (International)
Everyone was safe on 1 – tee shots were hit in the fairway, and a pin cut in the back-right part of the green put balls either behind or to the right of the green. Everyone was safe on 3 – Im made his tee shot down the left side of the fairway, but a hole dug to the right of a greenside bunker kept the balls well just off the fence.
On the 2nd, however, Im’s tee ball hit the fence and disaster almost struck – the ball ricocheted back into play. (You can watch this by clicking here.)
Scheffler said later about the second shot on 2: “You have to take it; that’s really all it is. You can take a little more conservative aim, but at the end of the day, you have to hit a really good shot. Hitting it right of the green is maybe not the best strategy. I think today we had an 8-iron in or something like that, but at the end of the day it really is. You can’t just play it safe all the time.”
Cameron Young and Xander Schauffele (US) vs. Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune (International)
Matsuyama sat on a fence for his second shot of the day, after his first went left and ended up about a yard to the right of the OB (and maybe two feet to the right of a reporter). Matsuyama could have been out of bounds to hit his ball, he could have hit it back, or he could have hit it left. Instead, he put his back on the top of the rail, leaned awkwardly and his ball went about 50 feet. A man said in the gallery to his left, “I could have done that.”
After that, everyone was safe on 2 and 3.
Justin Thomas and Jackson Koivun (US) vs. Corey Conners and Nico Echavarria (International)
Koivun went OB on his tee shot on 2, and his fourth shot, played from a right fairway bunker, went close to the fence near the green. In addition to all that, nothing is close to the problems.
Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa (US) vs. Ryan Fox and Adam Scott (International)
Fox also went OB on his tee shot on the 2nd, and a marshal said he was starting to tell fans to be careful. The other shots were played safe.
Chris Gotterup and Patrick Cantlay (US) vs. Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim (International)
And Si Woo Kim also went out of bounds with his tee shot on 2. But no other shots approached the danger.
Chances are, others will.
Thursday was the first day of four, which means that there will be at least:
– 30 tee shots and 30 second shots through the first three holes as part of Friday’s five alternate shot matches;
– 48 tee shots and 48 second shots through the first three holes as part of the four Saturday four-ball matches, and 24 tee shots and 24 seconds shot through the first three holes as part of the four alternating Saturday matches;
– And 24 tee shots and 24 second shots as part of Sunday’s 12 singles matches.
That’s 252 shots.
Xander Schauffele looked at them optimistically.
“Yes, the first thing when I came here for a practice round that I asked the captains, is that OB,” he said. “It’s a big old fence that runs right up to the hole. On the second hole, it’s almost on the green. That’s something that all the players notice.
“But a fence or white poles or whatever you want to call it, I feel like we’ve seen it all. So at least with a fence if you go to it, maybe it will bounce, versus white poles they have no chance.
“Try to find something positive.”
“>
