When facing one of the longest par 5s on Tour, you’d think a perfect blast of a tee shot that sets up an opportunity to reach the green on the second stroke would be considered ideal, right?
But with Firestone South’s 16th hole, it’s not that simple. The complexity of tackling that golf hole, nicknamed “The Monster” for a reason, challenges the psychology of golfers.
Reaching the 16th green in two strokes is nearly impossible already, and it’s only even a thought for the longest of hitters. It takes not only a perfect swing, but ideal weather conditions — when the course is wet, like this week at the 2025 Kaulig Companies Championship, the soft conditions pretty much erase any chance — and a bit of luck. The drive has to be launched and then ride two hills down to a landing area.
Only then does the opportunity to go for it becomes reality. Except, not all players view that as a good thing. Going for the 16th green in two, mathematically, is terrific. But it also brings into play a number of dangers, namely the water that protects its front edge.
This is where golf psychology comes into play. Even with all the perceived danger of that shot, the allure of going for it and reaching it in two — to slay The Monster, if you will — is almost impossible for some to brush aside in the name of safety.
Ernie Els has a history with Firestone South’s 16th hole
So as some players — like Ernie Els — step to the 16th tee box, and the conditions are right, they might try to blast a drive that gives them a chance to reach the green in two. But they’re not sure they even want to pull it off, because even though the layup route is so much safer, sometimes the possibility of getting there in two — and earning some bragging rights along the way — is too much to pass up.
It creates a paradoxical tee shot.
“I think that’s the hallmark of a great golf hole — there’s got to be risk and reward there,” Els, last year’s winner of the Kaulig Companies Championship, said. “I remember Davis Love got it down there one time and everybody in the locker room talked about it.
“It’s almost like, you know what? I hit it on 16, if you walk into the locker room, it’s just one of those holes, it doesn’t happen, it’s almost like a bragging right a little bit.”
The players in the 2025 Kaulig Companies Championship will play the hole a bit up from where they’d tee off during events on the PGA Tour at Firestone South. Still, only a few have a real shot when the course is dry enough. Padraig Harrington, playing in his first Kaulig Companies Championship this week, is one of them.
He, too, is almost conflicted on what he’s hoping for with that tee shot.
“You’re standing on the tee, you’re really trying to hit it, but in the back of your head, you really don’t want to hit a great drive down there because you don’t want to have to go for it,” Harrington said.
Both Els and Harrington have had adventures on Firestone’s 16th hole in the past. Both have been bitten by The Monster.
In 2009, Harrington lost a three-stroke lead to Tiger Woods in the final round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. And last year, Els bogeyed 16 in the final round. He recovered enough to win it, but his misfortune on 16 nearly cost him dearly, just as it did Harrington 15 years prior.
“You don’t want to [go for it] in the fourth round if you don’t need to — I still kick myself for doing that,” Els said. “Even my caddie last year, he never says anything but he was kind of, you know, he gave me the eye like, ‘What are you doing?'”
It’s another way in which The Monster can toy with a golfer’s psyche.
2025 Kaulig Companies Championship leaderboard
Three players will enter the weekend tied for the lead.
Steven Alker, Ricardo Gonzalez and Tim Petrovic are all 5 under for the tournament. They’re the only three players in the field with two under-par rounds thus far.
Miguel Angel Jimenez shot a 4-under 66 in June 20’s second round to put himself in fourth place, just one stroke behind the leaders.
Freddie Jacobson will enter the weekend at 3 under after a 67 in the second round. Richard Green, Retief Goosen and Michael Wright were all at 2 under for the tournament.
Soren Kjeldsen, who was tied for the lead after the opening round, struggled with a 2-over 72 in the second round to fall into a tie for ninth.
Kaulig Companies Championship third round info, tee times
The first players will tee off for June 21’s third round at 11:20 a.m. from holes 1 and 10. The three leaders tee off at 1:26 p.m. off No. 1.
Gates open at 10:30 a.m.
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