Rory McIlroy and Others Learn To Love TPC Sawgrass

Rory McIlroy thinks Pete Dye golf courses, like TPC Sawgrass, are an acquired taste.

"“So, 2010 Whistling Straits was when I turned a corner,” Rory McIlroy said to media about learning to like Dye courses. “I had to tell myself, look, you just need to like it for one week. Just get your head around liking this place for one week and embracing the fact that it’s different and the fact that it’s visually a little funky and whatever.”"

He ended up in third place for that PGA Championship, one shot out of a playoff.

"“I think he’s a wonderful golf course designer, but I never liked how he made you feel on the golf course in terms of hiding things and angles, and it makes you a little bit uncomfortable, which is obviously his plan,” McIlroy said about Dye’s work.More from Pro Golf NowGolf Rumors: LIV set to sign Masters Champion in stunning dealFantasy Golf: Grant Thornton Invitational DFS Player SelectionsBrutal return leaves Will Zalatoris looking towards 2024Stars You Know at World Champions Cup Starts Thursday at ConcessionFantasy Golf: An Early Look at the 2024 Masters Tournament"

His courses, McIlroy noted, are “like beer when you’re younger. You sort of don’t like it, but then you think it’s cool to drink it, and then you sort of acquire a taste for it.”

Jon Rahm, who was the 54-hole leader last year at The Players, gave TPC Sawgrass and the tournament a ringing endorsement.

"“I mean, we’ve got to be honest, we’re playing a major championship quality event. It’s as simple as that. It’s the best field there is. It’s one of the best golf courses we play all year,” he said in his pre-tournament interview. “We should treat it like a major championship pretty much, because it is what it is. It’s that high quality.”"

Justin Thomas agreed about the quality of the course and said he “loved” it.

"“I think it’s just a very well-designed course, tee to green, forces you to work it both ways off the tee and into the green,” he said to media before the tournament. “If you get the ball in the fairway you have a lot of wedges and 9-irons into these greens, and I feel like that’s a strength of my game.”"

Thomas has shot low scores at other courses in the past, including a 59 at the Sony Open.

When asked his thoughts about the potential of a new course record at TPC Sawgrass, which would be a 62, he said he thought it was possible.

"“If you get weather like it looks like it could be this week, generally one or two of the days they’re going to have the pins set up a little bit easier, someone could get hot and do it,” he said. “Ten-under par, that’s a low score no matter where you’re playing. But I definitely think that it is doable.”"

The current record is 63, first shot by Fred Couples and then Greg Norman in March, and then tied by Roberto Castro, Martin Kaymer, Jason Day, Colt Knost, Webb Simpson, and Brooks Kopeka in May.

It’s highly unlikely anyone will touch Norman’s four-day record of 24-under par, which was shot during a cool and wet week in March of 1994.

Jim Furyk, who finished second to Rory McIlroy last year at The Players, is now playing in his last Players before turning 50.  He said he read a book by Pete Dye that explained to him what it was Dye was trying to do in golf course design.

"“He said he wanted his courses to be visually disturbing, and I think that would sum up my feeling,” Furyk explained to media before the tournament. “Right out of the chute I think about the first hole (at TPC Sawgrass). The first fairway from the tee looks extremely narrow. You stand on the tee, it’s uncomfortable.  It’s tough to pick a target, and it looks like you’re hitting to about a 15-yard wide fairway. And then you get out there — and I miss the fairway a lot — and I look around, and I go, sheesh, this fairway is pretty big. It’s 35-yards wide.”"

He said it was the same for the green.  From the fairway, the putting surface looks minuscule, but when you actually get to the green, you can see it’s plenty big enough to receive golf shots.

"“It took me a long time to figure this golf course out,” Furyk admitted. “I think I tried to play it a little too conservatively, and then it kind of ate my lunch. Last year I did a very good job of being very aggressive off the tee and I was hitting the ball real well, and I gave myself a lot of opportunities because of it.”"

Webb Simpson, the 2018 winner of The Players really enjoys TPC Sawgrass.

"“I told people before I won, I loved coming here,” Webb Simpson said in a pre-tournament media conference before The Players. “I loved the challenge of this golf course. I feel like this is one of the few golf courses we play throughout the year that, on any given day, somebody can shoot 7-under or 7-over.”"

Not only that, TPC Sawgrass reminds him of Augusta National because he uses every club in his bag when playing the course.

"“Low, high, right to left, left to right, and Augusta has a lot of that, ” he added."

But perhaps David Duval, winner of the 1999 Players and the 2001 British Open, summarized the caliber of the TPC Sawgrass course best.  He has had 20 years of hindsight to reflect on his Players victory.

"“It might not be called a major, but it might simply be better, might be the best golf tournament in the world,” he said in a media interview for NBC Sports/ Golf Channel.  “The fact that the golf course is, again, arguably the best tournament golf course in the world, I think, it lends credence to it.”"

The Players Championship tees off Thursday morning at 7:40 AM Eastern time. You can catch Justin Thomas at 8:46 AM off the 10th tee, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm at 1:51 PM off of the 1st tee, and Jim Furyk at 2:02 PM off the 1st tee.