Fans pick trickiest hole location at 15 on Sunday

PITTSFORD, N.Y. — The results are in and the winner is ... potential peril.

Fans voted for the trickiest of the four choices in the inaugural PGA Championship Pick the Hole Location contest.

As a result, the pin placement at No. 15 (a 175-yard par-3) for Sunday's final round at Oak Hill Country Club will be tucked up in the back right of the green, just 4 yards from the right edge — and the steep slope into the pond — and 25 yards from the front.

Miss the green right and it's bye-bye golf ball. Miss left and the golfers might not be able to stop their chip from going into the drink if the greens are dry and fast.

Players were in favor of the idea to let fans have a say on pin placement.

"Any way we can incorporate the fans is good," said Zach Johnson, who is tied for 12th at 1 under after a third-round 70.

Graeme McDowell, an avid Tweeter, had been encouraging fans to vote. He also has been tweeting hole-location charts each day.

"We require a lot more fan interaction than we have right now, so this is a great idea," McDowell said. "It's not like they were going to put it 43-1 right and 1 (yard) behind. It was always going to be sensible placements."

The four selected hole locations were chosen by Kerry Haigh, who has set up championship courses for the PGA since 1989, and Jack Nicklaus.

The PGA of America said more than 92,000 ballots were cast on its website, Twitter and Facebook in the 19-day voting period. The PGA did not divulge voting totals for each pin-placement choice.

Kevin Oklobzija writes for the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle