What a bear Nos. 15-16-17 on The Champion – the famed Bear Trap – are the third-toughest three-hole stretch on the PGA Tour. By CRAIG DOLCH Pádraig Harrington has won the Honda Classic twice, but he’s not think-ing about those pleasant memories when his head hits pillow during tour-nament week. The three-time major champion is thinking about the Bear Trap, the dia-bolical three-hole stretch (Nos. 15, 16 and 17) every player must successfully navigate four times if they want to lift a trophy on Sunday. “I start thinking about those holes the night before,” Harrington said. “You can make big numbers on those holes, and not feel like you’ve hit a bad shot.” Harrington won the 2015 Honda Classic in a playoff over Daniel Berger when he hit it close on the 17th hole. But that was after Harrington rinsed his tee shot on No. 17 in the final round. Eventually, the Bear Trap – named after Jack Nicklaus, who re-designed 22 MARCH 2020 The Tee Times The Champion course two decades ago – is going to eat you up. That’s why there’s a statue of a bear on the 15th tee to welcome players with this message from the Golden Bear: “You are now entering the Bear Trap. “It should be won or lost right here.” Usually, it’s lost. “IT’S NOT ABOUT LENGTH, IT’S ABOUT PRECISION. IT’S ABOUT GUTS. IT’S ALL ABOUT ‘WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR CHEST?’ THAT YOU CAN FINISH THOSE HOLES.” JACK NICKLAUS Since the Honda Classic moved to PGA National in 2007, the Bear Trap has ranked as the third-toughest three-hole stretch on the PGA Tour, averaging a combined .644 strokes over par. That’s 2½ strokes over par for the week. Only Quail Hollow Club’s finishing Green Mile stretch of 16-17-18 and Pebble Beach’s around-the-turn (8-9-10) trio rank harder. Quail Hollow averages .873 over par, with Pebble Beach at .673 over par. “I never dreamed that these holes were going to play so difficult come down the stretch,” Nicklaus said. “If you’re going to have a Bear Trap, you might as well have a nice trap.” Easy for Jack to say. He doesn’t have to play these three holes in competition anymore. The holes don’t look so daunting on the scorecard. The 15th hole is a