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This week’s 125th US Open will feature the longest par-three hole in major championship history at 301 yards.<\/b><\/p>\n
It has been called “ridiculous” by Collin Morikawa, who hit a driver off the tee in practice, and “silly” by Viktor Hovland, but will the eighth at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania prove to be a gimmick or psychological masterstroke?<\/p>\n
John Bodenhamer, chief championships officer at the United States Golf Association (USGA), wants players to “get every club dirty, all 15 of them – 14 in their bag and the one between the ears” at a course which “prides itself on being America’s sternest test of golf”.<\/p>\n
The eighth was the first 300-yard par three when Angel Cabrera triumphed at Oakmont in 2007. The Argentine holed a 20ft putt for a two in the final round and was the only one of the leading contenders to make birdie.<\/p>\n
It has been a talking point for more than 70 years.<\/p>\n
At the 1953 US Open the eighth played 253 yards, longer than the average drive by a PGA Tour player that year.<\/p>\n
While the distances have increased, the average length of drive for a PGA Tour player is still shorter, at 300.9 yards, than the par three will play in 2025.<\/p>\n
In 2016 it played 299 yards in the fourth round, four yards longer than the par-four 17th in round three.<\/p>\n
Par is just a number but, as 2006 US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy pointed out, “the psychology of par is amazing”.<\/p>\n
“If it’s a par five and you’re coming in with a fairway metal [with your second shot], you’re thinking there’s a chance you can make three,” he said.<\/p>\n
“But if it’s a par three, you hope you don’t make four or five.<\/p>\n
“No-one likes to get a wood out on a par three. There’s a bit of ego involved. But sometimes you have to.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n