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TSN Senior Reporter

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It’s only 162 yards, a mere pitch shot for most of golf’s best. And yet, it may also be the most intimidating stretch of green grass the PGA Tour traverses annually.

The 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale has been loved and loathed by the golf world for many years. Certainly, it’s not for the game’s purists. There is a complete absence of typical golf decorum. People scream and yell during swings. They fight, they spill beer, they taunt and insult. They cheer a good result and boo a poor one. And they are a discriminating group; only very good shots are lauded. Mediocre results don’t cut it. 

But hit a dandy and they’ll celebrate. Last year, when Eduardo Molinari achieved the ultimate - a hole-in-one - bedlam ensued and plastic beer bottles rained down causing a 20-minute delay while they were collected.

It’s one hole and 20,000 mostly alcohol-infused, sun-baked fans set on turning a golf hole into a WWE-like extravaganza. It’s become the signature for the Waste Management Open.

“It's fun,” Rickie Fowler told reporters this week. “It's a hole you look forward to, or at least I do.”

That is if you have thick skin. No matter who you are, how successful you’ve been or if you’re a raw rookie, you’ll hear from the fans at 16.

Much like another unusual par 3, the 17th at TPC Sawgrass, the 16th here in Phoenix creeps up on players well before they get there. They start thinking about it, start wondering about the reception they’ll receive. And as they step to the tee, one thought is seared in their brain:

“Don't mess up,” Bubba Watson told the media this week. “You think about it early. You start hearing the roars even when you make the turn, but when you get to 14, coming up 14, you think about 15, you need to birdie it, you think about 16, trying not to mess up. You want to know where the flag is, play as safe as you can.”

Over the years, the hole has morphed from a regular par 3 where fans sat on hills into a coliseum, with three tiers of balconies and private boxes.

In some sections, as fans find their seats, cheat sheets are handed out, listing players for the day and some notes about each. They might include their nationality, a nickname, the school they attended. It’s all so the proper jibes can be launched.

When Mike Weir walked through the tunnel to the tee at 16, he was regularly serenaded with a rendition of Oh Canada. That was followed by a slew of hockey references. The four Canadians in the field this week - Graham DeLaet, Adam Hadwin, Nick Taylor and David Hearn - know they can expect something similar.

The golfers have also bought in, with many tossing hats or balls into the crowd to curry favour with the masses. A few years ago, when Brad Fritsch had a relationship with the Ottawa Senators, he tossed pucks into the stands.

It’s not always the golfers who are front and centre. Several years ago, the caddies learned that they were the subject of betting by some of the fans, who would put a few dollars on which one would reach the green first. When the bag-toters learned of this, they bought in and started racing at full speed, 35-pound golf bags in tow. Those races have since been outlawed by the PGA Tour citing the safety of the caddies.

And sometimes, things can get a little overboard. On one visit I made there several years ago, an attractive young woman was walking down an aisle to find her seat. A group of college-aged men in my area started a chant that asked the young woman to lift her shirt to show a certain part of her anatomy.

She responded by flipping them the bird. When she sat down beside a guy and gave him a hug and kiss, the same mob started a new chant.

“Your boyfriend’s ugly, your boyfriend’s ugly.”

All of this took place while golfers were trying to putt on the green just a few yards in front of the fans.

“It's one time a year,” said Watson. “If it was multiple times a year, it wouldn't be fun. But to do what they have done to create what they have created, it's a beautiful thing.”

Beautiful, and definitely crazy.