US PGA Championship 2021: Kiawah Island’s key holes

Kiawah Island's Ocean Course hosts the 2021 US PGA Championship, the second men's golf Major of the year.

Where the 2021 US PGA Championship, the second men’s golf Major of the year, will be won and lost.

Today’s Golfer’s 2021 Major coverage is brought to you in association with TaylorMade.

The closing holes on Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course will inevtiably prove key in deciding who wins the 2021 US PGA Championship and lifts the Wanamaker trophy on Sunday evening.

On his way to a dominant eight-shot victory in 2012, Rory McIlroy played the 16th, 17th and 18th holes of the final round in two-under par.

RELATED: Meet 2012’s ‘Pointless’ US PGA runner-up

The final three holes follow a common Pete Dye pattern: a gettable par 5, then a tough par 3, followed by a demanding par 4 to finish. Let’s take a closer look.

Kiawah Island Ocean Course 16th hole

Par 5 | 581 yards

Ranked as the easiest hole in 2012, playing downwind it is comfortably reachable in two.

The fairway is generous and as long as you miss the dunes and favour the right side, there’s a big opening to the right of the green, with a swale just in front, which can be attacked.

But whether you go for it or layup, anything left leaves an awkward up-and-down from one of the longest – and deepest – natural waste areas on the course.

Rory McIlroy birdied the hole on all four days of the 2012 US PGA Championship.

RELATED: Everything you need to know about the US PGA Championship

Kiawah Island Ocean Course 17th hole

Par 3 | 223 yards

Johnny Miller once quipped this par-3 is so intimidating that it could make you choke when playing a practice round… by yourself.

At 223 yards, the elevated tee shot is significantly longer than the 17th at TPC Sawgrass and carries entirely over water which lines the front and right side of the green.

Two bunkers guard the left side and with thick fescue and big dunes over the back, there’s virtually no bail out.

Rory McIlroy made par here across all four rounds on his way to victory at 2012’s US PGA Championship.

RELATED: How to watch the 2021 US PGA Championship

Kiawah Island Ocean Course 18th hole

Par 4 | 505 yards

As far as finishing holes go, this is one of the best with the Atlantic on the right and the clubhouse in the distance. Despite playing downwind in 2012, it was still ranked as the second most difficult hole.

The big danger lies around the turn of the right dog-leg where the aggressive line is to skirt a collection of severe mounds and waste areas to carry the crest of the hill. If successful, it leaves a flick with a wedge to a green which falls away on both sides.

Labelled the best par 4 on the course by Dye, the 18th is best remembered for the 1991 Ryder Cup which hinged on one final six-foot putt. Bernhard Langer missed it and the Americans were victorious.

2012 champion Rory McIlroy played the hole in one-under par across his four rounds, birdieing it on the final day as he romped to his second Major Championship victory.

RELATED: Defending champion Collin Morikawa on his Major hangover

Watch: The Story of Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course

RELATED: Will the 2021 US PGA become another ‘War on the Shore’?

Kiawah island’s Dye-abolical par 3s

It’s no surprise that Alice and Pete Dye, the people who thought up the par-3 17th hole at Sawgrass, created some incredibly ‘short’ holes at Kiawah Island.

Despite yielding 135 bogeys or worse during the 2012 PGA Championship, the 17th wasn’t even the hardest par 3 on the course. That honour went to the 238-yard 14th, which had a scoring average of 3.323! Winner Rory McIlroy bucked the trend, birdieing the hole in rounds one and two and parring it in rounds three and four.

The hole overlooks the ocean, leaving this green open to the weather. Winds will impact players off the tee and on the green and, depending on the conditions, par will feel like a decent score.

RELATED: The strongest field in golf?