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By Mark Lamport-Stokes
Los Angeles - It is the noisiest hole in golf and American J.B. Holmes revelled in its atmosphere on his way to a one-shot lead after the Phoenix Open third round on Saturday.
The infamous par-three 16th on the Stadium Course at the TPC of Scottsdale in Arizona is loved and hated by the players, and adored by the fans.
Thousands of spectators cram into the bleachers and sky boxes which surround the 162-yard hole, many more swarming across the grassed hill which faces the green.
| 'It's something I don't ever experience on Tour' |
In the highly charged grandstand atmosphere, the crowds shout and cheer vociferously, often singing the American football college songs beloved by some of the players.
Any bad shot off the tee is roundly booed while anything hit to within a few feet of the hole sparks immediate and rowdy celebration.
The Phoenix Open is known for delivering the biggest party on the PGA Tour and its focal point starts and ends on the 16th.
"It's just a phenomenal experience and it's a lot of fun," Holmes told reporters after taking charge of the tournament with a six-under-par 65.
"It's hard for club selection because you've got that adrenalin pumping and the wind, and you do have 20 000 or 30 000 people yelling at you.
"I had one group that was chanting 'Taylor County'," the 23-year-old from Kentucky added. "That's where I went to high school."
Holmes, who collected seven birdies in the third round, could manage only a par there on Saturday.
So too did Phoenix Open favourite Phil Mickelson, the defending champion and an Arizona State alumnus.
"I just love it," said Mickelson, who finished the day eight strokes off the lead after carding a 70. "It's such a cool hole, and it's really a neat feeling for me to play it.
"It's something I don't ever experience on Tour. It's a hole in and of itself. We just don't have anything like that. I love playing it."
Chris DiMarco, Phoenix Open champion in 2002, accepts the hole's pluses and minuses.
"It has an unbelievable atmosphere," he said, after a third-round 68 left him two shots behind Mickelson and 10 behind leader Holmes.
"You walk on that hole and you don't feel like you're at a golf tournament, you feel like you're at a football game.
"The hardest thing is calming yourself down because you get pumped walking through that tunnel. It's an eight-iron (off the tee) and if you miss the green you deserve to get booed.
"It doesn't matter what hole you're on, you can hear it. It doesn't matter if you're on number three, number six, you can hear it.
"For the couple of bad things that happen on that hole, there's nothing but good those other times.
"You're talking maybe five to 10 people a week that maybe just get a little bit out of hand. For a week when you're having 100,000 to 150,000 people on a hole, that's not bad."
The par-three 16th has provided the backdrop to some of the most raucous moments in the game, none more so than the hole-in-one achieved there by Tiger Woods in 1997.
"It was the most incredible, magical sports moment I knew at that point I would participate in personally," said Jock Holliman, a life member of the Thunderbirds organisation which stages the tournament. "It sounded like a 747 taking off."
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