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  • Friday, Jul. 16
    Hole of the day: No. 6

    By Bob Harig
    Special to ESPN.com

    CARNOUSTIE, Scotland -- When is the last time you saw a par-5 hole play so difficult?

    The sixth hole, made famous by Ben Hogan in 1953 when he played to the left of a fairway bunker while flirting with an out-of-bounds fence -- hence the name "Hogan's Alley"' -- was the third most difficult on the course Friday, playing to an average of 5.604 strokes.

    Here's an example of how difficult the hole played: Jesper Parnevik hit a 3-wood off the tee, then two consecutive 1-irons -- and was still short of the green.

    The sixth was a key hole for the top three players on the leaderboard. Angel Cabrera and Parnevik each made bogey, while leader Jean Van de Velde made the first of his four birdies on his way to a 68.

    It was also the hole where Parnevik gave serious thought to withdrawing from the tournament thanks to severe allergies. A marshal gave him some medicine, and birdies on Nos. 7 and 8 gave him the inspiration to continue.

    The sixth hole yielded just nine birdies, with 61 bogeys, 11 double bogeys and nine scores of double bogey or worse.

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