No. 15 Makes History; More History to Come?

The 15th hole on the North Course at The Los Angeles Country Club is by far the shortest of the five par 3s on the George C. Thomas Jr. design (which is itself a remodel of W. Herbert Fowler’s original 1921 layout). For Round 3, the hole is playing as the shortest in U.S. Open history, at 81 yards. That’s 11 yards less than the iconic No. 7 at Pebble Beach played in the final round in 2010. The shot is no pushover, though, as Saturday’s hole is placed in the narrow front section of the crescent-shaped green, an area that is barely 20 feet across in spots. “It’s not a full shot for any of these guys,” said Jeff Hall, who has been involved in U.S. Open course setup for the USGA since 2006. “But they’ve still got to factor in the wind and the firmness and hit a golf shot. I could see somebody having an 80-yard shot and playing it away from the hole, which seems crazy in this day and age, but maybe they’re not on top of their game or it’s the right play in a certain situation.” Through two rounds, No. 15 had yielded three aces, and a fourth would match the championship record, from 1989 on the 167-yard sixth hole at Oak Hill Country Club.