Kevin Kisner has revealed how Jack Nicklaus responded when he told him that he hated one hole at Muirfield Village ahead of the Memorial Tournament one year.
Jack’s Place hosts one of the most significant events of the season on the PGA Tour. Most of the world’s best players will tackle Muirfield Village over the coming days.
The Ohio venue provides one of the most thorough tests on the schedule. But Nicklaus has also used his experience to ensure that the field has absolutely everything they could possibly want on site.
That does not mean that the Golden Bear has got absolutely everything right across the event’s history.
Why Kevin Kisner criticised Muirfield Village in front of Jack Nicklaus
Nicklaus has overseen numerous changes over the years. The 18-time major champion is clearly always prepared to keep the PGA Tour‘s best players on their toes.
Unfortunately, that led to some heavy criticism from Kevin Kisner.
Kisner has a mixed record at the Memorial. He has registered two top 10 finishes at the event, while he has missed the cut three times.
And he revealed on the Fore Play Podcast that he once took the opportunity to let Nicklaus know what he really thought of one of the holes at the course.
“I don’t know how I got this gig, but I was his moderator for a Q&A for 45 minutes. I retold the story of him redoing the 16th hole at Muirfield Village. And the first time I played it on Tuesday, I was like, ‘this is the biggest d—–t hole I’ve ever seen’. Whoever designed this hole was an idiot,” he said.
“If I hit the perfect shot, it one-hops into the back rough on a downslope, chipping towards the water. If I bail out to the right, it’s in the deep bunker. Then I’m hitting a bunker shot downhill to the water. You can’t hit the green. This is just idiotic.
“And I walk in p—-d off after 18, sit down right next to Mr. Nicklaus and he goes, ‘Kis, what do you think about the golf course?’ And I said, ‘well, your 16th hole is complete d—–t, Mr. Nicklaus, you can’t hold the green’. And he goes, ‘I mean, come on, Kis, it’s just a five iron, just hit it higher’. And I said, ‘I can’t hit it any higher’. He goes, ‘well, it’s probably not for you’.
“He’s great, he loves it. That’s what the locker room on tour’s all about, just telling people like it is. And I took my two cents. You know what, he probably respects me more than every other guy who walked in and lied to his face and told him how great it is. It was so bad that he’s redone it twice since then. That was about 2016 or something. I wasn’t wrong.”
Kevin Kisner reflects on Tiger Woods’ iconic flop shot at the Memorial Tournament
One of the most iconic shots of Tiger Woods‘ career came on the 16th hole at Muirfield Village on his way to victory back in 2012.
Woods was faced a daunting chip from behind the green. Everything was running towards the water, so it appeared to be a huge risk when he was practicing some extremely long swings.
Yet, Woods was able to hit the most sumptuous flop shot that ended up finding the bottom of the cup. Kisner suggested that no-one else could have produced that touch in that moment.
“That shot’s impossible. Only Tiger Woods can make that shot. I could put you three there all day and you would die on that hill trying to make that shot from starvation and dehydration. But he makes it on Sunday, needing to make it to win. That’s only Tiger Woods,” he said.
“It’s outrageous. It’s absolutely outrageous that he made that shot.”
Whoever wins this week is going to need to produce some moments of sheer magic along the way. Muirfield Village is certainly not going to hand anyone the victory over the coming days.
