CHARLIE MULQUEEN: Test of mettle appeals to Pádraig
It may be a relatively easy par three of 162 yards but it is one of the most iconic in the game, with more than 500,000 fans turning up annually over the four days to witness the tournament, and this hole in particular.
Many, especially the younger brigade, make straight for the 16th with the professed intention of making themselves heard and enjoying themselves. Twenty thousands fans throng the massive stands erected on all sides of the amphitheatre-style hole replete with copious mugs of beer, intent on making an almighty din unknown at any other golfing venue. The good shots are cheered to the echo. The others are loudly booed!
One can only imagine the noise and excitement that erupted there in 1997 when Tiger Woods, still without a major title to his name, saw his nine iron tee shot land in the cup and stay there. The crowd went manic with Woods egging them on by fist pumping the air and waving enthusiastically as he made his way from tee to green. In 1999, however, he had a contrasting experience when heckled by a fan brandishing a loaded gun!
“The 16th in the last 15 years has turned into an iconic symbol hole,” said tournament chairman Alex Clark. “It’s kind of like when you mention Sawgrass. Everybody thinks about the 17th hole. I think that’s what we’ve developed here with the 16th. But it’s so big now that we must have security. The fans know they can’t get unruly to the point where they’re going to get kicked out. The last thing you want is for a player to have a bad experience and not come back.”
It’s into this amazing atmosphere that Harrington will happily plunge himself this week.
“I want to go and see it for myself. I don’t believe events should all be the same and it’s very important we seek out those that establish themselves in a different way. Phoenix has done that so I’m looking forward to going there.”
There’s another good reason for Harrington’s presence at the $6.2m (€4.6m) tournament. This year his early season schedule is much busier than his 2012 strategy, which he believes left him rusty entering the Masters.
He has competed twice on the European Tour, finishing fourth in the Volvo Champions in South Africa and so got himself back into the world’s top 50. This is the first of three successive weeks on the US Tour for Harrington.
“Every year I get to the Pebble Beach Pro Am and the Los Angeles Open in Riviera wishing I’d played a little more because those courses are perfect for me,” he reasons. “This gives me another tournament under my belt.”
Phil Mickelson, hugely popular at the event because he attended the nearby Arizona State University, is chasing his third Phoenix Open title.
Last year’s tournament will be remembered for how Kyle Stanley spun his third shot to the final green back into a pond when he seemed to have the trophy in the bag and went on to lose a play-off to Brandt Snedeker.
The Dubai Desert Classic is always a big attraction on the European Tour, even if there’s no sign this week of most of the circuit’s leading players. Chris Wood, such an impressive winner of the Qatar Masters last week, and Sergio Garcia, who finished a shot behind the Englishman, are joined by Irishmen Shane Lowry, Michael Hoey, Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane, Paul McGinley and Gareth Maybin.
