TPC Sawgrass: A Look at the History of the Famed 17th Hole

In advance of the Players Championship, we take some time to look at the most iconic of holes at TPC Sawgrass, the par-three 17th hole.If you are a golf fan, then you are familiar with the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass. It’s an iconic one, and chances are you can get a decent image in your mind of it just by thinking about it.

The island setup. Fans off to the left and behind it. The pathway coming up to the back of the green. The island way off to the right that anyone would both be embarrassed and impressed to hit. Pete Dye put this course together, so it makes sense that one of the most iconic and exciting holes in golf can be traced back to the most legendary course designer of all-time.

What’s crazy about the green, at least for the professionals that will be playing there this week at the Players Championship, is the scoring breakdown. You are just as likely to bogey or double bogey as you are to birdie the hole. Last year, it actually played a just a smidge under-par, coming in at -0.002 for the week.

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Although the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass isn’t that long, coming in at just 132 yards, it sure doesn’t make it easy to hit. There are estimated to be over 100,000 golf balls taken out of the water every year, with 50 or so coming each year during the Players Championship.

Even when Pros struggle with the hole, they are occasionally able to come through and save the day. Just take a look at what happened to Fred Couples back in 1999. After going in the water on his first shot, he sunk his second one off of the tee box, leading to the rarest of occurrences, a hole-in-three.

Don’t expect to see a hole-in-one this week, as it isn’t something that happens too often. Only nine times has it happened, although it has been happening more often in recent years. From 1986-2015, there were only six players who made it in one. Since 2016, Willy Wilcox, Sergio Garcia, and most recently Ryan Moore have aced it.

If you are a fan of the other side of it, and want to see shots hit into the water, you better keep an eye out on the weather report. Winds and inclement weather drastically change the hole. Since 2003, just under 48 balls are hit into the water during each iteration of The Players Championship. However, there have been some instances at TPC Sawgrass where the 17th hole decides to not play nice. During a single round in 2007, a record 50 golf balls found the water.

Last year, there were just 45 golf balls hit into the water. In 2017, that number was over 50% higher at 69.

For all the balls that have gone in the water, and shanks that have been hit on the hole, there have been some pretty incredible saves as well.

Luckily for us fans, the PGA Tour twitter account comes through, and you can see all kinds of interesting shots in the video that they released earlier this week.

It’s unlikely that we see anyone break the record for the worst score on the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass, as they would need to dunk ball after ball to get close. That honor belongs to Bob Tway, who shot a 12 on the 17th hole back in 2005. He put four balls in the water and finished with a three-putt to get the now infamous 12.

Even though he won’t be there this week, don’t forget that regardless of how close you are to the edge of the tiny island (yes, I know it’s a peninsula… obviously they aren’t going to ferry each player out to the green) that you can still make birdie. Just check with Tiger Woods.

It’s not just Tiger that can drain it from deep, either. Last year, the record for longest putt on the hole wasn’t just broken, it was obliterated. Previously, it was 59 feet and 9 inches (Tiger’s was from the fringe, and “technically” doesn’t count), but Jhonattan Vegas upped that mark… by nearly ten feet.

It’s unlikely that his record is ever broken. You cannot get much further away than he was, so not only is someone going to need to have the pin in the right spot for it to happen, they are going to need to flirt with the water that 100,000 other golf balls are going to come down in.

Stay tuned all week at Pro Golf Now for coverage of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, as well as recaps of the 17th hole.