With respect to the 94-year-old Mr. Nelson, everyone's favorite legendary golfer, the 18th is still not quite ready for its close-up. It's true, adding a water hazard has created a new element of danger. It is now a more difficult hole, yes. A great hole? Probably not.

"You never wanted to hit it left off the tee to start with," said Tour player Ben Crane, "but now it's gone from a half-shot penalty to a full-shot penalty."

The old 18th lacked pizzazz. If you drove it left or right into the trees, you chipped out, hit onto the green, had a chance for par but probably made bogey. With the new 18th, if you drive into the water left, you take a drop behind the hazard, hit onto the green, have a chance for par but probably make bogey. The shot to the green has to get over Byron's Tree, an obstacle in the left rough, which is going to get more difficult as it gets bigger over the years.

The idea for the change was to inject the possibility of excitement into the finish by bringing double-bogey into play at the 18th, thus giving the Four Seasons course three straight swing holes coming in.

The 16th is a reachable par-5 where eagle is possible. In fact, Chad Campbell posted one on Sunday as he made a too-little, too-late charge. The 17th hole is a par-3 over water with swirling, unpredictable winds. You can hit it close and make birdie; you can dunk it in the water and make double. And at the 18th, you can make birdie with two excellent shots -- Adam Scott did just that on Sunday as the hole played downwind and considerably shorter than normal. Or you can drive it into the water and apparently be doomed, as Trevor Immelman was. Immelman, trailing leader Brett Wetterich by one shot on the 72nd hole, drove into the Nelson Puddle, then knocked an eight-iron shot close and impressively saved par.

Player reaction to the changes were mixed, although they all agreed the hole played more difficult now.

"You can pull it in the water, definitely," said Perry, who finished T34 at two-under. "The rough and the trees were a penalty, but now the water requires a drop instead of just hacking it out. I'm not that long of a hitter, but Fred Couples flew it past the lake on Thursday, so maybe it won't affect the long hitters."

The reason the 18th isn't a great hole is that the water hazard, like a lot of the TPC course, looks artificial. It resembles a swoopy Las Vegas hotel pool with a fountain in the middle. Plus, not many water hazards naturally occur halfway up a hillside.

"It's a little contrived," veteran player Billy Andrade said. "It doesn't look like it fits. This course is kind of a funky layout anyway. I didn't like the look of it before, either. It doesn't change a player's strategy much. You didn't want to go left before, either."

As for the players who found the Nelson Puddle early in the tournament, he added, "Maybe they thought it was a mirage and didn't know it was there."

Said Immelman after the third round, "Personally, I thought the hole was tough enough the way it was. I don't think I fared too well there last year. They used to have that big tree on the left, which you were behind and on a sidehill lie. It's a very intimidating tee shot now. When the wind is coming from the left, like it was Friday, you almost have to hug that pond and let it bleed back into the fairway. You had to suck it up and almost aim at it. It's an intimidating hole."

The 18th at the TPC Four Seasons Resort didn't determine the Byron Nelson Championship winner in its makeover debut, despite Immelman's fourth-round visit to the puddle. Give the hole a few years, though. It's not among the Tour's biggest and baddest finishing holes, but it's getting closer.