Notorious 17th hole swallows Taiwanese

It is considered as Wack Wack east’s signature hole, one where Taiwanese Lin Wen-tang’s name would be prominently etched for a long, long time.

Lin, who got back into the thick of things in the Philippine Open by shooting the day’s best score of 67 in the second round, stayed within two strokes off Angelo Que and Kodai Ichihara when he stepped on the 17th, an elevated, par-3, 168-yard hole noted for making or breaking one’s title bid in big or small tournaments. It is so notorious that a slight mistake could send the ball rolling down to any of the six deep bunkers guarding it.

Lin, coming off a big victory in last week’s Asian Tour International in Thailand, found that out yesterday when he dumped his 9-iron tee-shot in one of the left bunkers. He blasted, the ball bouncing off the green before rolling down to another sand trap. He hacked another sand wedge to another bunker. By the time he finally reached the green, Lin had used up a total of nine bunker shots, finishing with a 12 or nine-over.

It was the highest score ever recorded on the hole, erasing Cassius Casas’ seven in a past RP Open stint. – Dante Navarro