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Closer Look Seventh holes tests manhood
By Yi-Wyn Yen, Sports Illustrated LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Fast cars, belching and not washing your hands in public restrooms are a defining image of a guy's manhood. In professional golf, machismo is defined by where you bomb your long ball on the par-5 seventh at Valhalla Golf Club. Men go left for the hero shot in two. Skirts go right and lay up. "Anytime you can get home in two with an iron, you should," Greg Norman said. "You'd be stupid not to. Why would anyone aim right?" Some have, though it is overwhelmingly the road less traveled. The seventh has done more than split fairways. It has separated big dogs from weenies, winners from losers and now, intellects from idiots. Players have two options on the hole. Driving left shaves 60 yards, but is also more challenging. The width of the left side fairway is only 28 yards, making it the second skinniest on the course. Then there is the ominous task of carrying 200 some yards of wasteland to reach the green. Driving right turns the hole into a 597-yard affair, but is the safer approach. Seeing how the right side fairway crosses the state line, only a really heinous shot could miss the 70-yard wide landing area. When the '96 PGA was held at Valhalla, the left fairway housed a television crane and was considered out-of-bounds. With the left fairway now in play, short hitters have found themselves at a considerable disadvantage, especially when first round co-leader Tiger Woods (6-under 66) only needed a 7-iron from the tip of the left fairway. "In practice, I'm trying to hit from 260 yards out with a 3-wood. I didn't come close to carrying my second shot. That's why I had to play right and take my chances," said Billy Mayfair, opting for the less gutsy route. "I'm not sure if it's really fair. They should just make everyone hit into the same fairway." Don't count on it. Short hitters won't get much sympathy. Even Jack Nicklaus, who had to hit a 6-iron to keep up with Woods' easy 9-iron on the eighth, aimed for the left fairway. "They just have to suck it up," Paul Azinger said. "It's always going to be unfair for the shorter hitters no matter what." Besides, long hitters say they are as much at risk hitting left. A slightly wayward shot means hitting out of dense rough, which leads to a nearly impossible second or laying up 60 yards for a demanding third shot. Norman had to do the latter after his tee shot landed in a swale in the right rough. He pitched to the front edge for a 200-yard lay up. He then landed in a front bunker, blasted out to 15 feet and missed his par putt. So what if Norman made bogey and finished at 75. At least he kept his manhood.
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