Why the Ocean Course will play completely different on Sunday at the PGA Championship

Although players have now played 54 holes at the Ocean Course this week, they will find a completely new course awaiting them as they tee off in the final round of the 2021 PGA Championship. Thanks to a new wind whipping across Kiawah Island, Pete Dye’s treacherous design has an entirely new feel.

The wind blew out of the northeast over the first three rounds, making the closing stretch of holes a sturdy test. But on Sunday, the breeze has done a complete 180; the wind is now blowing from the southwest.

“I think it will feel like a different course,” Jordan Spieth said about the potential wind shift. “Every hole will play very different …  It changes the dynamic of the course for sure.”

Thus far on Sunday, those words have rung true.

Early during the final round broadcast, ESPN shared a graphic showing how the shifting winds has affected scoring. Over the first three rounds, the first four holes, as well as the last five, have played substantially more difficult than the middle portion of the course. On Sunday, that stat line has flipped.

Now, players are taking advantage of the early and late portions of the round and grinding for pars in the middle. Rickie Fowler outlined those differences after his third round on Saturday on Kiawah Island.

“The first four are easier and the last five are a little easier,” Fowler said. “But 5 plays straight into the wind, the par-3 there, and then 6 through 13 is in off the left, which as a righty is not necessarily your favorite wind to go play in, so it’s a tough stretch in the middle of the course, whereas the wind we have been playing, guys have been kind of taking advantage of that stretch 6 through 13 … It’s going to flip a bit and definitely play a lot different.”