Hazeltine's Biggest Test? Hole 16 (And How It's Changed)

CHASKA, Minn. — If Thursday proved anything, it's that Hazeltine is giving players a chance to score. Per reports from Elias Sports Bureau, the opening round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship saw 412 recorded birdies and eagles, the most in a first round since 2018. Forty-four players finished under par, nearly triple the number who broke par after the opening round the last time this championship visited Hazeltine in 2019.

But as the tournament wears on and the pressure builds, one opportunity—or one mistake—could matter more than all the birdies that came before it. That's where Hazeltine's signature par-4 16th comes in.

The first hole in the notoriously difficult final three-hole closing stretch, is the a scenic test that demands players to commit to their shot selection with water lurking on the approach and little room for error. In a championship that's already proving to be more of a shootout than many expected, the 16th has the potential to become the ultimate separator—the hole where momentum shifts, contenders emerge and a major championship begins to take shape.

The par-4 16th has long reigned as Hazeltine's signature hole, and this week it could once again take center stage. From an elevated tee, players must thread a drive between Hazeltine Lake lining the right side and a creek hugging the left before facing an approach to a narrow, sloping green that angles shots away from the pin and toward the water.

But the antepenultimate hole won't play exactly as competitors or fans remember it from the 2019 KPMG Women's PGA Championship. The club introduced a new tee box that sits higher, atop a hill on the left side, and with that change in elevation the creek that runs parallel to Hazeltine Lake comes into play for the world's best.

Nelly Korda found herself in the shallow body of water during her first round, and it resulted in a double bogey, derailing the heavy momentum she had built throughout her first round.

She had carded five birdies prior to her late-round stumble. And she knew immediately that she had found trouble, "I just overturned it. By now you just feel it when it's bad. So the wind was off the right and I actually I think just made a too fast of a swing and I was kind of in between clubs. It's a pretty intimidating tee shot and I just didn't really like the way I hit it off the start."

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Korda is among one of the longer hitters on Tour and sits between a 3-wood and driver on that particular hole, but shared that if the ball lands too short with a lower club, the second shot then welcomes the trees lining the right side into a green that's undulated and sloping towards water.

The 16th played as the third hardest hole on Thursday, behind the first and 10th, and yet it saw the most amount of double and triple bogeys on the day.

It's just 370 yards in length but the visual layout plays a huge role in the hole's difficulty. Selfishly, I would love to see the PGA of America play with the set up this weekend, and introduce the tee boxes at the bottom of the hill, tweaking the yardage seeing if some will try and make it a "driveable" par-4 similiar to the 10th hole at Riviera.

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Every great major venue has a stretch that becomes synonymous with the championship, and I wouldn't be surprised if Hazeltine's 16th (and the final two holes) earns that distinction. Whether it's a momentum-shifting birdie or a costly mistake, the path to lifting the trophy may very well run through this one unforgettable hole.