The Road to ruin: St. Andrews’ 17th played like a par 5 on Thursday

After Zach Johnson finished an impressive 6-under 66 to start his British Open at St. Andrews, he was told there hadn’t been a birdie all day at the famous Road Hole 17th.

“That’s not right,” Johnson said. “The group in front of us all made 4s.”

The 17th hole is a par 4.

On the day, the penultimate hole at St. Andrews played to a stroke average of 4.808, making it one of the most difficult holes at the Open since per-round scoring average stats starting being kept in 1982. A bogey was a great score, with 80 recorded on the day. There were 51 pars, which had to feel like birdies with how the hole played.

Shane Lowry suffered the worst fate of the day at the Road Hole. Coming to the 17th at 3-under on the day, Lowry hit his tee shot out of bounds and into the Old Course Hotel. He eventually made quadruple-bogey 8, undoing what looked to be an under-par round.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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