Devilish Pin Placements Abound at Congressional on Saturday

Over the past couple of days, the pins at the AT&T National have not been particularly dangerous.  Looks like we may get a few today that are more interesting and will require a slightly more defensive approach from the players.

The scores so far today suggest that the pins are causing a lot of grief for the players.  Just nine players are under par so far in the third round with most of the field off and running.

After the jump, let's take a look at the nasty pins facing the players today.

The most intriguing pins appear to be on the back nine.  Take a look at the tenth - a hole I featured yesterday in a post.

The pin today is tucked in the lower right hand side of the green, which features a backstop that players can use to challenge the pin.  But, the pin is so close to the edge that a player who hits an errant aggressive shot will likely find the water.  Playing it safe long or left may make for a tough two putt.

The 15th is an uphill par 4 that is guarded by two deep, sidehill-carved bunkers on the right.  The pin today will only be accessible to a player that is able to fly the ball all the way to the back hole location.  Most likely, players will bail out short and left in hopes of getting up and down to save par.

The 17th hole is kind of gimmicky.  It has a fairway separated by a downhill slope of rough that forces most players to land short of the downslope.  The approach is then a downhill second shot to a green whose real defense is three separate tiers.  Today's pin is in the upper-most back tier.  Again, Tour officials will require players seeking birdie to risk fanning the ball into uncomfortably small bunkers on the right if they make a mistake.

Finally, the home hole has a ticklish pin almost anywhere it is set.  Given the peninsula shape of the green - surrounded on three sides by water - any pin that is not in the dead center is just begging to produce water balls.  Today's pin, though, is just four yards from the left hand edge of the green and a shaved slope leading right to the hazard.