DORAL, Fla. — Ryan Moore was in cruise control.
He had done little wrong in his opening round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship, standing on the 18th tee at Trump Doral tied for the lead at 8-under.
Yet this was Moore's thinking as he stared down the 476-yard par-4 closing hole, for which the course was nicknamed the "Blue Monster'' more than 50 years ago:
"Honestly, I considered laying up off the tee and just hitting a 5‑-iron or 4‑-iron, laying up again and taking my chance with a wedge,'' Moore said. "Because there's so many bad things that can happen to you. If you hit it right, because there's so many palm trees in there now, you could be stymied and [if you hit it left] you're taking a drop in a second over there.
"But the reality is, there's still a fairway there and you can hit it. You've just got to stand up and hit a good shot.''
Here's the thing, though: Not a lot of the players were able to do that.
The hole played to an average of 4.606, more than a half-shot over par for the 73 players in the field.
There were only three birdies carded to go along with 38 pars, 20 bogeys, 10 double bogeys and two "others,'' which are triples or worse.
There were a total of 19 balls hit into the lake that hugs the left side of the fairway. Eleven of those were tee shots — including Moore's drive, which precipitated a closing double bogey that derailed what had been a magnificent round and left him four shots off J.B. Holmes' lead.
To Moore's credit, he did not whine about how unfair the hole is — even if it very well might be a bit over the top.
"It's not unfair because everyone has to play it,'' Moore said. "It's just extremely hard. It's not tricky where guys are landing their balls in similar spots, and one ball is going in the water and one is not. If you hit it left, it's going in the water. If you hit it right, you're in the trees and probably chipping out.
"It's just a flat‑out really difficult golf hole.''
Henrik Stenson made bogey on 18 and afterward he sounded so giddy you'd have thought he had just made birdie.
"You're going to see some disasters around there,'' Stenson said. "If you are the kind of person that likes to see disaster, 18 is definitely one place to go and see it.''
It's the kind of hole auto racing junkies would love, sitting around all day in the hot sun waiting for the spectacular four-car pileup.
Here's an interesting rub about 18 played on Thursday: In an attempt to make the hole easier for the players, the PGA Tour moved the tee up some 25 yards because the hole was playing into the wind.
"There was nothing wrong with the setup, and it is the toughest hole on the golf course,'' Stenson said. "It's a tough drive and a tough second shot.''
That's like saying, "Other than the food poisoning, dinner was terrific.''
The look from the tee box makes the player feel a bit queasy. The landing area is so tight it makes the PGA Tour players feel like airline pilots trying to land a jet onto a two-lane country road.
One wrong move to the left and you're in the lake. One wrong move to the right and you're jailed behind a forest of palm trees. And then, even if you're in the fairway, because of the way the lake pinches into the green and with the steep banks off the green into the water, the approach shot is no bargain.
"Yeah, the fairway is 5 yards wide and it's blowing 30 (miles per hour) into the wind,'' said Patrick Reed, the defending champion. "It's almost like a par-5 you're playing it as, and if you happen to make a four then good for you.''
Reed, who shot 1-under, had the luxury of a comfortable lead last year when he stood on the 18th tee on Sunday and he happily hit iron onto the fairway and conservatively played it as a par-5 — the way Moore said his subconscious was telling him to play it Thursday.
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