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  • The par 3 16th hole here at Carnoustie, renowned for being one of the most difficult par 3's in the world, and nothing highlights that more for when Tom Watson failed to make par on every time he played this hole in 1975, yet continuing to shoot 9-under for the tournament and becoming the champion golfer of the year.

  • This is front pin, front tee location, so really one of the easiest ones and this is 200 yards, pins tucked, left corner behind, slightly behind the bunker, so it's helping, the wind's going to help slightly, I'm going to hit 5 iron, and I think it's going to be every bit of the 5 iron, and hopefully get on that front edge and try and come off with par for attempt number 1.

  • Go on, friendly hop, friendly hop, that could be alright, front edge, hopefully putting, it had the shape, don't know if I quite got the right distance, let's go have a look.

  • Ok, it's not a terrible miss, I was a little bit right and a tiny bit short, but nothing, no trouble around this area, with the fringes being so short and almost like greens anyway, this is not a bad miss, could have done with maybe half a club more, but hopefully, up and down from here, I'm going to putt it, just because it's the percentage shot, settle, oh, that is fast, that was fast down the hill.

  • Good par on the first attempt, I think I can do better next time, hopefully the wind doesn't pick up, but that's one of the easiest settings, tee front, pin front, let's see what it looks like on a different day.

  • So day 2 on the 16th of par 3, and this is a completely different situation than yesterday, the pin's way back, this green's huge, I've kind of worked out that pin's about 40, nearly 50 yards further back on the green than yesterday's pin position, we're in to wimp, the weather's dropped because it's in the morning time, it's going to be like 4 clubs longer, I mean this is definitely going to be everything I've got, now even for the top players come open week, they're going to be hitting really long irons in this, driving irons, hybrids, 5 woods, 3 woods, the difficulty level just goes through the roof, and with this being only 3 holes away from the finish line, it could really come up with a few disasters on some scorecards, wow, tough green, oh wind's got it, it's going to miss green left, is it big enough, hard to tell, I'll tell you what, the second shot's going to be incredibly tough, let's get down there and have a look.

  • Surprised myself, I actually got further up the green than I thought, but it has missed left, I just don't see at the back of this green how you can, you have to be so accurate to find the putting surface, because everything just falls off, and it falls off into hollows and humps and rough areas and bunkers, just no easy up and down from here, let's see if I can achieve it, but tough pin this right at the back, oh and that's a weak attempt, it just gets you thinking all the time, that was such a weak attempt, right, got to hold that for par.

  • Way more break than I expected, so bogie 4, and in some respects I feel like I got off a little bit light because the miss could have been a lot worse, but it just makes you think this hole has got so many different challenges and obstacles, we're going to see some high scores on this hole, let's see what it looks like tomorrow, hopefully we can get a nicer day.

  • Alright so attempt number 3, and this is a completely different situation again, it's a downwind and off the right this time, and even though the pin is in the same spot as attempt 1, the tee has moved back, so it's almost similar golf club, I'm going to go one more, I'm going to hit 4 iron, because this is 228 yards from this point right here.

  • Get there, miss the bunker, and get there, oh nice use of the bunker, that could be good, let's get down there and have a look, I'm excited to see where it finished.

  • So I didn't hit it great but I kind of landed it in this front section and it came up and over, oh it's ran a little bit through, it came over this bunker and just ran just off the green, that was unlucky.

  • Right so one of the tricky things about this green is how everything falls off the green, nothing collects towards the flag, because I thought that would have got a bit closer but I've run off the side, I'm going to put it just because the fairways are like greens anyway, uphill, I will happily take par if I can get this one close, keep going, keep going, it's no gimme par, there's a little bit more work left, about 5 foot left, it's Again, another par but not an easy one, not an easy one, oh wow, attempt number 4 and it is without question the hardest yet, the tee is the right of the back, the pin is right of the back, the wind is howling into and off the right, it's got to be like 260 yards, I'm going to be hitting driver to this, I don't know the last time I've hit a driver into a par 3 but it just has to be because I can't get there with anything else, imagine this on a Sunday, imagine this leading the open, so the flag is kind of down that line but with the wind I'm going to be needing to aim almost in the clock on the hotel, oh wow, with a driver, wish me luck, I can hardly feel my hands, wind is hitting me and I'm hitting a driver into a par 3.

  • Oh a low though, oh a low, get over it, it's a little bit big but that almost went in, it just skirted the side of the hole but I've ran now too long, I couldn't no way have got 3 wood there, it's going to be a hard up and down from the back of the green now, so the wind scurried through the back, just came in with a bit too much heat, I'm going to chip it up there with an 8 iron, little old classic bump and run type shot, just to keep it out of the wind, go, go, stop now, stop a bit, I couldn't have done much more from there, I thought I judged that perfectly, I just can't get close to this pin, it just shows that on a hole where there's actually visually not loads and loads of dangers, the little borrows and hollows just makes this hole so hard if you get in the wrong spot, as I just found out there, I've now got a really testing par putt after hitting a good tee shot, one of the tricky things is because this is so exposed, the sea is just there, there's no protection from the wind even on a putt like this, it's not a given that it's going to stay to its line because the wind is going to be hitting it hard.

  • I'd love to hole this.

  • Oh, and I left it short, but can you imagine the time when these grandstands, when they're finished and they're full and it's Sunday at the opening, the pressure and if you miss the green on these tight lines to be able to play a perfect shot and to be able to make par.

  • I shot two over there for the four days in testing conditions, but we know it can get worse, we know it can get much worse.

  • What a hole and the fact that when Watson was here and didn't par it any of the days, that completely makes sense.

  • Great challenge, great hole, one that looks quite innocent, I've hit anything from a five iron there to a driver and on any given day we could be hitting any other club as well, wherever the pin is, the green's massive and the tee's massive.

  • Guys, thanks for watching, I hope you enjoyed the video, if you did, smash that like button, comment below, what do you think you would score on this tricky par 3, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

  • Thanks for watching guys, stay tuned to the channel, there's loads more coming and that was the 16th hole and I tell you what, all credit to Watson for having the resilience to not play this hole well but still go on to win.

The par 3 16th hole here at Carnoustie, renowned for being one of the most difficult par 3's in the world, and nothing highlights that more for when Tom Watson failed to make par on every time he played this hole in 1975, yet continuing to shoot 9-under for the tournament and becoming the champion golfer of the year.

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