Check out live updates throughout the day from our team at TPC Sawgrass.
The Players Championship is always a test, but with wild weather conditions at TPC Sawgrass, the challenge is greater than ever this week in Ponte Vedra Beach.
Due to the volatile nature of the schedule, the changing weather conditions and more, we’re adding a live updates page to stay on top of each facet of the tournament.
A loaded field of the world’s best players – 46 of the top 50 after Bryson DeChambeau withdrew on Sunday and Kevin Na followed suit on Monday – are at the event. Justin Thomas is back to defend his 2021 title.
Check back throughout the day for more as our team of reporters and photographers capture the scene.
UPDATE (12:32 p.m.): The weather is making it difficult to gauge where players need to hit, but it’s also simply difficult to maintain any sense of comfort. For example, many players are putting hats and gloves while walking, then taking them off while hitting. It’s not the temperatures now (it’s 61 degrees at this time), but the winds that are causing the most difficulty.
Cold weather headgear today for Thomas Pieters doesn't keep him from finding the fairway bunker to the left on 10. Wind is wreaking havoc at the moment. pic.twitter.com/RgC971WsSY
UPDATE (12:15 p.m.): We just witnessed the unthinkable: In the face of howling winds, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka all knocked their balls in the water on No. 17. Schauffele’s was particularly off-line.
Oh, my, all three wet at 17 — Scottie, X and Brooksy. @TPCSawgrass is going to be brutal today.
First group off 17 ll go in water.Scheffler goes over green, Schauffele way short and Koepka also just short. Gonna be tough day at island hole@THEPLAYERSChamp
Prior to the restart of @THEPLAYERSChamp, 122 guys had played No. 17 in the first round, with four water balls. We've had half that in the first threesome after the restart: Kopeka and Scheffler.
Scheffler and Xander salvage bogey at TPC’s 17th after rinsing tee shots, double for Brooksy. Next up: Rory, Collin and JT. Are you not entertained? pic.twitter.com/w0FCZNAP1G
Did Pete Dye dream up this hole? How many players hit the water? Who made the last ace on No. 17?
How hard can it be? It’s just a wedge, maybe a 9-iron, for the best players in the world, right?
Factor in wind, water, nerves and a giant gallery, and No. 17 at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is so much more than the yardage on the scorecard might indicate. With its green perched atop wooden bulkheads above a lake, No. 17 is one of – if not the – most famous holes in golf.
While PGA Tour pros normally would tear apart such a short hole, the scoring average on No. 17 during the 2021 Players Championship was 3.23, almost a quarter shot over par, to make it the third-toughest hole versus par on the course that year.
So what gives? If you’ve been fortunate enough to play the course – ranked No. 1 in Florida on Golfweek’s Best list of public-access courses – then you already know. If you haven’t played it, you owe it to yourself.
Here are five things to know about course architect Pete Dye’s most iconic hole – if you can give credit to that famous designer after all.
How long is the famed No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass? See that and all the rest of the holes for the Players Championship.
The Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, site of this week’s Players Championship on the PGA Tour, was designed by Pete Dye – with help from his wife, Alice, most noticeably on the famed island-green, par-3 17th. It opened in 1980 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and has been home to the Tour’s flagship tournament since 1982.
The course will play to 7,256 yards with a par of 72 for the Players Championship.
Thanks to yardage books provided by StrackaLine – the maker of detailed yardage books for thousands of courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges the pros face this week. Check out the maps of each hole below.
The stretch of Florida known as the First Coast offers tons of options, with TPC Sawgrass and Hammock Beach leading the way in the rankings.
Florida is synonymous with golf. It’s the Sunshine State, where fairways roll for miles and there’s always another course to sample – more than 1,250 of them in all.
Want to play where the top PGA pros live? These days, that’s Jupiter on the southeast coast. On vacation with the family? Plenty of tee boxes are available around Orlando and Disney World. Looking for a retirement home where you can tumble out of your own bed and land on a fairway? Naples and its surrounding towns are ground zero for those fortunate transplants. Three top-ranked courses in one comprehensive, golf-focused resort? Streamsong, just southeast of Tampa, ticks that box nicely.
Just about anyone who travels to play Florida golf is at least somewhat familiar with those regions. But what if you’re looking for something different, maybe a coastline where the game is on an uptick? Keep reading, because the region south of Jacksonville has something for any golfer, ranging from elite PGA Tour courses to municipal standouts with long histories and cheap green fees. And it doesn’t hurt at all that this First Coast, as it is called, is the first bit of Florida that anybody driving south on I-95 will reach.
The pool scene at Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa (Courtesy of Hammock Beach)
Golf in Northeast Florida roughly can be categorized as three geographic areas along an 80-mile stretch of coast starting at the Georgia state line. There’s the smaller area north of Jacksonville proper, with the resorts at Amelia Island and a handful of courses. Continuing south, there’s Jacksonville itself, the largest city in Florida by population and the largest in the contiguous United States as measured by land mass. And then there’s south of Jacksonville all the way down toward Daytona Beach, a stretch that includes Ponte Vedra Beach, home to the PGA Tour.
The top-rated courses in the Golfweek’s Best public-access rankings are found in this stretch south of Jacksonville, so this story takes us to this region dotted with beach resorts, high-end gated communities, daily-fee destinations and even a recently revamped municipal that shouldn’t be missed. The full scope of green fees and amenities to suit any budget. Oceanside holes. Inland holes. Old layouts and renovated tracks. Even one course with three, six, 12 or even 18 holes, depending on how you want to play it. Options abound.
Mention the region and most golfers flash right to TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. Completely understandable. The Players Stadium Course – and, of course, its famed par-3, island-green 17th – hosts the PGA Tour’s Players Championship each year. It’s the top-ranked public-access layout in Florida, home to one of Pete Dye’s monsters.
But just as there is more than one island green along this stretch of coast, there is much more to the region.
“People are always aware of TPC Stadium and the Players, but they are often surprised by everything else,” said David Reese, president of Florida’s First Coast of Golf, a non-profit organization established nearly 30 years ago to promote the region. “Once people set foot in northeast Florida, they are blown away. … You’ve got the beaches, of course, but there’s a lot more to do. I could go on for hours, so many courses.”
The Man Out Front is properly inspired to get his name on the board at TPC Sawgrass next as soon as the 17th re-opens.
On March 13, when the golf world last saw PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan addressing the media after canceling the Players Championship, he looked like a man who had been through the ringer.
He looked like he hadn’t slept in days while weighing all the various scenarios of how to deal with a global pandemic that was on the verge of shutting down all of sports, let alone the economy. But after he answered the final question, he felt the need to add a parting shot.
“Can I say one more thing?” he asked as if someone might actually stop him. “Golf is the greatest game on the planet. There are a lot of golf courses in this country. There are a lot of people that are in this business, in this industry that make their living through this game, and I hope that everybody as they go through this uncertain time gets an opportunity to get out, play golf, be outside, support their PGA of America professional, support this game, be inspired by this game.”
The Forecaddie loved the sentiment then, and loves it even more now. Well, it turns out that The Commish walked the walk over at TPC Sawgrass, at least he did on April 26.
A plaque at TPC Sawgrass commemorates all the holes-in-one made there, with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan’s ace as the most recent on April 26, 2020.
That was the last day that the famed island green at 17 was open before it was closed for some drainage work and Monahan made the most of his shot at glory – acing the par 3 hole. Other than perhaps the 7th at Pebble Beach, the 12th at Augusta National or the 16th at Cypress Point – can you think of a more memorable place for a hole-in-one?
TMOF knows of The Commish’s heroics because he went to drown his sorrows at the 19th hole at TPC Sawgrass after another forgettable round at TPC’s sister course, Dye’s Valley. On the way, TMOF stopped off to wash his hands – never washed hands so much, but we digress – and paused to look at the plaques commemorating all the aces at the eight par 3s on the two resort courses. There it was, the last person to walk off the 17th green feeling like a god, none other than Jay Monahan.
TMOF wishes he could tell you whether Monahan faded an easy 8 into the wind to a back pin or thinned a wedge and got lucky that it one-hopped into the hole or even if he celebrated with the official beer of the PGA Tour, Michelob Ultra. That’s because he’s as tight lipped about his game as he is about Conduct Unbecoming.
Let’s just say it’s a safe bet that Gary Koch would have described the shot as better than most. Better. Than. Most! And consider Monahan reminded yet again why golf is the greatest game on the planet and TMOF properly inspired to get his name on the board next as soon as the 17th re-opens later this summer.
We offer up our list of the top 10 putts in Tiger Woods’ career, starting with Nos. 10, 9 and 8. Go to Golfweek.com for more on this list.
One of the most iconic clubs in golf’s history is a 35.25-inch, chrome-finished Scotty Cameron Newport 2 putter with a single dot on the topline and two distinct red dots, one on the front, the other on the back.
“Yep, it’s been pretty good to me,” Tiger Woods said of the putter he calls “Scotty.” “Seriously, it’s been a special club.”
Bobby Jones had Calamity Jane, Judge Smails his Billy Baroo and Woods his Scotty, which he first wrapped his paws around in 1999. Since then, the club has been in his bag for 66 of his record-tying 82 PGA Tour titles and 14 of his 15 majors and led to nearly $95 million in earnings.
“It’s hard to describe how it’s always felt in my hands; how confident I’ve always felt with it,” he said. “It’s been a huge part of my life on the golf course.”
In tandem, the two have delivered some of the game’s most memorable putts. It’s a long list, indeed, and presents a challenge as difficult as facing a 6-foot, downhill putt that breaks two feet at Augusta National – what are the best putts Woods has made in his career?
While Woods hasn’t used the Scotty since February due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, he’s had plenty of time to recall his best work with the shortest club in his bag. We’ve had the time, too, and offer up our list of the Top 10 best putts in Woods’ career. Without doubt, the list is open to dispute, as is the ranking. But that is what the 19th hole is for. Anyway, here’s our list. Be sure to come back all week as we continue the countdown.
The most-photographed hole in golf will be out of commission for the next few months to take advantage of reduced play due to coronavirus.
PGA Tour Champions veteran Mark Calcavecchia may have said it best of the famed island green at TPC Sawgrass.
“It is like having a 3 o’clock appointment for a root canal,” he said. “You’re thinking about it all morning and you feel bad all day. You kind of know sooner or later you’ve got to get to it.”
Well, golfers playing the Pete Dye layout and home to the Players Championship won’t have the 137-yard shot from the tips at 17 on the mind for the next couple of months. The most-photographed hole in golf is closed starting on Monday, April 27 through July 5 to improve the drainage on that green. (In addition, Stadium greens are scheduled to be aerated.)
“We have decided to take advantage of the lower business volume (due to coronavirus) on the Stadium Course and will be doing a renovation project on No. 17 green,” TPC Sawgrass general manager Derek Sprague wrote in an email to membership. “The primary purpose of the project is to improve the drainage system on the green. The design and slopes of the green will be consistent with its current design.”
The total project time is about 11 weeks. Sprague added that the course was originally scheduled to be closed from June 8 through July 5.
According to one of the assistant pros in the golf shop, the green free, with a typical rack rate of $500 and up with dynamic pricing has been adjusted accordingly and reduced to $350 during construction.
A replacement hole is described as being located between No. 9 green and No. 10 tee. Golfers will drive past 17, play No. 18 as their 17th hole of the day, and then turn right as if he headed to the 10th tee. The temporary hole will be a short par 3 playing to the small practice-putting green originally created for those with a 10th-tee start during the tournament. The temporary tees will be located to the north side towards the clubhouse near the paver walkway, and will range from 70-110 yards. The green does have a miniature-version of Dye’s trademark bulkhead, but that is about where the comparison ends.
The temporary hole to replace the famed island-green 17th at TPC Sawgrass during a drainage project. (Adam Schupak/Golfweek)
It begs the question: Sawgrass without the 17th is like…? Allow yours truly with a longtime love-hate relationship with the hole to take a stab at a few entries: it’s like the Ryder Cup without fans or more apples to apples, Fenway Park without the Green Monster.
After July 5th, the 17th should be back to torturing golfers. Nightmares, cold sweats and heartburn will again be associated with this devilish hole. As Calcavecchia says, “All day you know it’s coming, but that doesn’t make it any easier when it’s finally time to confront it.”
A close-up of the temporary green replacing the 17th green at TPC Sawgrass during a drainage project. (Adam Schupak/Golfweek)
It’s in the unique category of golf conversations, where one only needs to mutter “Island Green,” and the person or persons will immediately understand where they’re headed-No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass. Few holes in golf are as famous, a mistake (it …
It’s in the unique category of golf conversations, where one only needs to mutter “Island Green,” and the person or persons will immediately understand where they’re headed—No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass.
Few holes in golf are as famous, a mistake (it wasn’t originally to be an island green) that exemplifies a sport that thrives on them. Playing between 125 to 140 yards, the 78 feet of green and the water that surrounds it has long been a nerve-wracking battle of short-yardage control, where golfers have to battle themselves along with the winds and Lady Luck.
The par-3 17th has become a must-see moment during the Players Championship, too. Since 2003’s tourney, 757 balls have landed in the water at the 17th, 49 of them in 2019—including a donation by Tiger Woods:
Woods carded a quadruple-bogey (7) that day, the same as Sergio Garcia’s 2013 meltdown that helped end his title chances. Neither makes the worst of the worst, though.
Currently, the 10 highest scores on No. 17 belong to these guys:
Ronnie Black, 1984: 8
(Golfweek)
The first round of the 1984 Players Championship at the Stadium Course has been labeled the “Meanest Day at 17.” With 40-mph wind gusts, guys were playing anything from a 5-iron to a wedge. That day, the hole played 122 over par (a 3.8-plus average). Ronnie Black stepped away from a logjam of six golfers who recorded a seven, one-upping the pack with a dreaded ‘snowman.’
During The Players, the stroll from the green of the 16th to the tee of the par-3 17th can be intimidating even for the best in the world.
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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – It’s not a walk in the park. It’s certainly not a cakewalk. And many times, it becomes a good walk spoiled.
For four days of the year, during the Players Championship, the flagship event for the PGA Tour which carries a $15 million purse, the stroll from the green of the par-5 16th hole to the tee of the par-3 17th can be on the intimidating side even for the best players in the world.
“That walk,” defending champion and world No. 1 Rory McIlroy said, “is something else because you know what’s ahead of you.”
That would be one of the most nerve-racking, nail-biting holes on Pete Dye’s perilous TPC Sawgrass course – the 17th where an island green awaits. It is here that more than 150,000 golf balls per year find a watery grave, hit by pros and amateurs alike, including PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, a polished player. He’s made the walk about 40 times, usually accompanied by partners of the Tour, which increases the pressure.
“It’s horrifying,” Monahan said of the walk and the tee shot on 17. “I’m talking about what our players say about the 17th hole and the walk to get there. When I’m playing, I’m reminded of all the horrible things that have happened at 17.”
As for the professionals, major champion Bob Tway made a 12 there in 2005. In the last three Players, 168 balls found the water. In 2007, a record 93 balls got wet.
Being on the tee, especially when the winds are whipping, can be frightening. Getting there can be daunting. From the tip of the 16th green to the tee of the 17th hole is approximately 135 yards – about the same length as the shot to the 17th green. Some players aren’t sure which is easier to handle.
Billy Horschel plays his shot from the 17th tee during the first round of the Players Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 14, 2019 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
The walk is a 5-yard wide tightrope – the narrow width of the path that separates thousands of fans on the left and water on the right. In a TV spot promoting this year’s event, McIlroy said the walk is “50 to 100 yards too long.”
“You don’t want to think about the worst things that can happen on 17,” McIlroy said. “But it’s not your run-of-the-mill, 130-, 140-yard 9-iron or wedge you’re hitting into 17. There’s a bit more in play with that shot.
“And the walk gets your attention. You take a few glances at the green, but you’re trying to balance keeping your focus and not thinking about what disaster could happen. And you’re fist-bumping the crowd so that helps. You’re trying to get into a mindset where you don’t think of the negative but concentrate on the positive.
“You get into bubble. And hopefully you’re coming off 16 making a 3 or a 4.”
Few people in this year’s field have played the 17th hole more than Billy Horschel, a local resident for 10 years. He’s played 17 about 150 times.
“I know some players may not enjoy the walk, but I do,” he said. “For me, you can interact with the fans and somehow take your mind off the shot that is about to happen. I start thinking about 17 when I get the pin sheet. The sooner I can address it, the sooner I can move on to playing the other 16 holes before I get to 17.
“Anticipation wears on you, so that’s why I address it beforehand.”
Tiger Woods walks to the 17th hole during the third round of the Players Championship on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on May 12, 2018 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
No one has ever played the 17th better than Rickie Fowler did when he won in 2015. He made five birdies on the hole that week, with three coming on the final day – the first in regulation and two in his playoff triumph against Kevin Kisner and Sergio Garcia.
“The walk over to the 17th tee can usually can get loud and rowdy back there,” said Fowler, who also aced 17 in a practice round in 2017. “The walk, the shot, they definitely get your heart rate going. For me, it’s a fun walk because it’s a cool atmosphere. Under regular conditions, you can go and throw a ball down and there’s no flag on the green, it’s pretty simple. It’s basically a wedge.
“But then you put thousands of people around, the tournament is on the line, the potential for embarrassment is there. It’s something you try and control and keep down until after you hit the shot. If you do hit a good shot, you get a shot of adrenaline.”
Sergio Garcia, who won the Players in 2008, has had mixed results on the 17th. He made an ace there in 2017. He’d like to forget 2013, when he was tied with Tiger Woods with two holes to play but dumped two balls into the water on 17 and made a quadruple-bogey 7. Woods won, Garcia dropped to a tie for eighth.
But Garcia always takes the same approach to the hole.
“You just breathe as much as possible, take a lot of deep breaths,” he said. “You try to calm yourself down as much as possible. It’s a long walk so it gives you a little bit of time to calm yourself down as much as possible and get into a good frame of mind. And then when you get to the tee, you figure out what’s going on, what you want to do and trust with whatever you go with.
“I think it’s a great hole. It shows you that you can have a hole that is 130 yards and the best players sweat over it.”
Webb Simpson, the Players champion in 2018, had a six-shot lead in the final round heading to the 17th hole. And he still wasn’t completely comfortable.
“You’re not really thinking bad thoughts, but you’re thinking you’ve seen history, you’ve seen guys hit it in the water there on 17 and make a mess out of it,” he said.
A view of the 17th hole as Jason Day putts during the third round of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass – Stadium Course. (Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports)
But he’s come to enjoy the walk from the 16th green and then playing the 17th hole, saying it reminds him of walking through a tunnel to the tee of the raucous 16th hole in the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
“The more times I’ve played these certain holes, I really try to enjoy it,” Simpson said. “I used to try and block it out. Now I look around and enjoy it. It’s helped me to take it in. It’s awesome.
“I like the walk from 16. I love 17. I think it’s the perfect hole. They don’t need to do anything to it forever.”
