Elite players talk through the five holes that will provide the biggest challenge at Oak Hill Country Club
Hole 5
Par 4 428 yards
Steve Stricker
I have played this so far with little or no wind and it has been a 3-wood followed by a 9-iron. Trees and water come into play from the tee so you have to take care of that. It is a good hole, a dog leg, and one on which you need to be accurate from the tee because there is no bail-out shot. You need to be on the fairway and even from there, hit a premium shot in because the creek sits in front of the green.
Hole 7
Par 4 461 yards
Hunter Mahan
Probably the hole on the golf course where accuracy counts the most because the fairway is so narrow, maybe only 20 yards, and the greens is one of the smallest. If you hit it right, you are in the water. That creek again comes into play on the front and left of the green and there is a deep bunker right.
Hole 13
Par 5 598 yards
Ian Poulter
Albeit a 600-yard par five, I don't see anybody hitting driver off that tee. I think a lot of guys will hit 3-iron, which for a par five is very unusual. I see it as 3-iron, 5-iron, 9-iron just to make sure of position. If you hit it in the rough off that tee, you are in trouble. If you hit it in the rough with your second, you are in trouble again.
Hole 17
Par 4 509 yards
Graeme McDowell
As with the 18th hole, you would be very pleased to walk off here with four pars over four days. You are looking to drive up the right side because there is plenty danger on the left; thick rough as well as trees. The second shot will be 220-plus from an upslope, made even harder by the fact the green slopes a lot and is well protected by bunkers.
Hole 18
Par 4 497 yards
Brandt Snedeker
I believe this is longer off the tee than it used to be because they built a new one. A good tee shot misses the difficult bunkers on the right and trees on the left. Everyone remembers Shaun Micheel's second shot to within inches of the hole in 2003; the green sits at the top of a steep hill so anything short isn't going to make it and four bunkers are alongside the putting surface.
