TPC Sawgrass hole-by-hole: Your guide to the home of The Players Championship

Make sure you know the Stadium Course inside out with our TPC Sawgrass hole-by-hole guide.

Tuning into the PGA Tour’s flagship event and want to get to know the course a bit better? Allow us to help with our TPC Sawgrass hole-by-hole guide.

The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is one of the most iconic annual stops on the PGA Tour circuit and boasts one of the best fields in golf playing for the largest prize pot on offer in the game.

The Pete Dye design has been home to golf’s unofficial ‘fifth major’ major since 1982, eight years after the tournament made its debut at Atlanta Country Club. 

It course went through an extensive transformation following Jason Day’s victory in 2016 that included resurfaced greens, new bunkers, and new water hazards, as well as a revamped risk-reward 12th hole which will tempt the more accurate drivers. 

TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course Scorecard

TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course Record

Fred Couples became the first player to card a 9-under 63 on the Stadium Course in 1992, and that was matched two years later by Greg Norman.

(Incidentally, Norman smashed the tournament record during that victory with a 24-under-par score of 264. Only two other players have finished on 20-under-par during The Players – Scottie Scheffler in 2024, and Fuzzy Zoeller, who finished runner-up to Norman in ’94.)

Since Couples and Norman, seven more players have carded a 63.

Then, in 2023, Tom Hoge did the unthinkable and recorded the tournament’s first 62 to take sole possession of the TPC Sawgrass course record.

Hideki Matsuyama has also carded a 63 in The Players, but it was during the 2020 edition which was abandoned after 18 holes due to the Covid pandemic.

TPC Sawgrass Hole-by-Hole Guide

Overall
Par 72 | 7,275 yards

Hole No. 1
Par 4 | 423 yards

This fairly gentle opening hole with a touch of dogleg right about it, with a gaping, gleaming white bunker stretching down the right side. The fairway is fairly generous, but it still requires a precise tee shot; and drives favoring the right improving the angle into the long, narrow green.

Expect players to hit a long iron, hybrid or 3-wood off the first – a long fairway bunker, a lateral water hazard and grass bunkers await errant drives to the right, while dense trees guard the fairway to the left. As this is a medium-length par 4, the emphasis is again on accuracy for the second shot. Large maintained bunkers protect the front and left portions of the green. Grass bunkers in the front right, right and rear areas of the green protect the remainder of it.

Hole No. 2
Par 5 | 532 yards

The first par-5 at TPC Sawgrass comes early, and it’s very reachable for most of the field – playing half-a-shot under par last year, even though long, narrow the green isn’t the easiest to hit. Oak and pine trees along the right pinch the landing area, with the second shot (if they’re going for it) played across a narrow lake and a strip of sand (which finishes well short of the green so it isn’t really in play).

If a player hits it too far left off the tee, they might be blocked out by the pines; there’s also swathes of rough down the left. If they do find the fairway, though, it’s a fairly standard approach. There are some deep pot bunkers to try and avoid on both sides of the green, and the swales around the green are mown tight, but anyone walking off here with a par will feel a little disappointed. 

Hole No. 3
Par 3 | 177 yards

A fairly standard mid-iron for most of the field, to a big green with not many issues – traditionally it’s been one of the easiest par 3s. Most players will just aim for the middle of the 30-yard-deep green and take a birdie putt. The danger is mainly on the left, where numerous run-offs call for short game imagination.

There’s also a deep bunker back left that’s a good six to eight feet below the level of the green. Even so, there will probably will be more birdies here than on the other par-3 holes at TPC Sawgrass.  

Hole No. 4
Par 4 | 384 yards

Though it’s not very long, this is a testing hole that calls for an accurate tee shot and an accurate approach. Most players will hit a fairway wood, hybrid or long iron off the tee, and they must find the fairway or they’ll end up in sand (left) or in the rough with a hanging lie off a bank (right).

You don’t want either of those when you see your approach to the green, which is guarded by a sleepered pond around the front and down the left side. If they hit the fairway, most players will only have a wedge into the two-tier green. There are plenty of slopes, and some feed into regular pin positions. This hole is all about hitting the fairway off the tee…

Hole No. 5
Par 4 | 471 yards

The Stadium Course’s longest par 4, and the hardest hole on the front nine, which regularly plays over par. It’s a subtle dogleg right, and off the tee the thing that catches your eye is the cavernous bunker down the right – which is ideally the side you want to come in from.

Many players would probably favour the sand right rather than the hanging lie in the rough they’ll find on the left. The big green is protected by tightly-mown swales, bunkers, bunkers, a waste area and palm trees. This is one of those holes where players will be happy to walk off with a par.

Hole No. 6
Par 4 | 393 yards

Pete Dye once called it the most beautiful hole on the course, and even though it’s relatively short, it’s fraught with danger. There’s a huge bunker down most of the left side (and water if you’re REALLY wayward!), and that’s replaced by a cluster of palm trees. Left isn’t much better – it’s wild brush just off the cart path.

The slightly elevated green is protected by more palms, a handful of  bunkers and swales. The two-tier green  slopes from right to left and back to front.

Hole No. 7
Par 4 | 451 yards

Off the tee your eye is drawn to the sliver of sand all the way down the left, and the water left of that. Miss right and as well as juicy rough, there are three small traps that act as a magnet for balls. The smallish green runs away from the player with a sharp drop at the back.

The green is protected by two tiny bunkers front and left, and a severe slope off the back. In 2017, the water down the left was expanded, making it much more visually intimidating for players. The tee was also shifted five yards to the right, bringing the overhanging trees on the right into play and making a fade the preferred ball-flight.  

Hole No. 8
Par 3 | 237 yards

The longest par 3 on the course requires a long iron or fairway wood to carry into the middle of the green, avoiding 10 bunkers and severe drop-offs around the green. It will test many a player’s short game, especially with some of the tighter pin positions.

Hole No. 9
Par 5 | 602 yards

The final hole on the front nine is a good birdie chance for much of the field. The landing area for the tee shot is wide and flat… problems start with the approach if players play to go for it in two (it’s much easier if they knock a mid-iron and a wedge on).

Oaks, pines and palms come into play down on the second shot, particularly down the left; you can easily catch an overhanging branch and find yourself stuck in the long trap that hugs the approach. The green is very thin and severely sloped from the front to the back right. A severely banked bunker guards the left and rear of the green, along with three tiny pots.

Hole No. 10
Par 4 | 424 yards

A dogleg par 4, with a large bunker down the left side of the fairway and very dense trees to the right. Again, the narrow landing area for the drive demands accuracy. Most players will select a fairway wood from the tee to set up a middle or short iron approach to the green, which is protected by two maintained bunkers in the front right.

Grassy mounds crowd the entire left side. From the landing area the green appears to be very large; actually, it is narrow and fades away from the players. This green offers a variety of pin placements, making the position of the drive very important.

Hole No. 11
Par 5 | 558 yards

It should be a fairly straightforward par 5, but like so many holes at TPC Sawgrass, it’s not as simple as it looks! It’s reachable for much of the field, but a line up the left is preferable and means players are hitting their seconds away from the water in front of the green. A large tree down the right will cause problem, though, it players are too far right.

A large bunker runs the length of the second shot landing area and continues up and around the green, as down the pond. There are two tiny pot bunkers left of the green, along with a large area of fairway where, if we’re honest, most players would be happy to end up after two shots.

Hole No. 12
Par 4 | 369 yards

The 12th was redesigned before the 2017 tournament into a risk/reward, driveable par-4 with water down the left. It was tweaked a little last year, but fundamentally remains the same. Players stepping on the tee have a simple decision – go for it with a driver or fairway, or hit a mid-iron and a wedge. The latter is the safer option, but when tour players have a drivable par 4, they find it hard to resist!

A large fairway bunker stretches the length of the left side of the fairway and forces an accurate shot off the tee for those that do not attempt to drive the green. Fifty yards of fairway lies between the end of the fairway bunker and the green, but the ground slopes severely from right to left, towards the water. The green has several tiers, and slopes dramatically toward the water. Even so, whatever they choose to hit, most players will expect to birdie the 12th.

Hole No. 13
Par 3 | 181 yards

This fairly innocuous par 3’s biggest defence is the green, which has some big slopes down to the water. Three tiers demand precise tee shots; and left-hand flag locations to bring the water into play; the highest part of the green is the right front quarter; the right rear quarter is just slightly lower and slopes away from the tee; the entire left side slopes drastically toward the water.

Hole No. 14
Par 4 | 481 yards

A long, tough hole, with water and sand all the way down the left, and rough-covered mounds down the right. The green is enormous by Stadium Course standards and has plenty of slopes. A bunker protects the front left side of the green and a few other bunkers hide among large swales to the right and the rear of the green.

Hole No. 15
Par 4 | 470 yards

The calm before the storm of the final three holes… The 15th is a fairly straightforward par 4, though you tee off through a shoot of trees before landing in a fairly a fairway that pinches in the further you go towards the green. For most players the massive trap along the left of the hole should really pose a problem, and the green isn’t too severe. But as players walk off it, they’re already thinking about 17…

Hole No. 16
Par 5 | 523 yards

A very reachable par 5, as proved by Brooks Koepka last year when he made an albatross here. The first challenge is to draw one off the tee, so it bends round the corner and bounds down the fairway. If a player does that, he has a great chance of getting home in two.

It’s still a tricky approach though, with water all the way down he right and a troublesome lone tree on the left that can block you out if you’re forced to lay up from the rough. The green has two tiers, sloping left to right towards the water that wraps around the rear of the green. The swales to on the left side of the green are a popular – and safe! – landing area.

Hole No. 17
Par 3 | 137 yards

The most famous par 3 in golf? With the 12th and 16th at Augusta, it’s certainly a contender. Some players love it, others despise it, but there’s no getting away from these 137 yards across the pond… everyone has to face it. If the water wasn’t there, it would be a really simple par 3. But it is there – and it looms large in front of 150,000 whooping spectators…

If you hit the middle of the green and two putt for par, it’s a doddle. But if you over-hit it, or misjudge the wind, or catch it just a little fat… you can either reload on the tee and risk doing the same, or take the walk of shame to the drop zone, where it’s not much easier to hit the green. Club selection on this hole is critically important; with the tricky winds of spring, the Championship could be won or lost here.

Hole No. 18
Par 4 | 462 yards

If you’ve been beaten up on the 17th, you’re not going to get much respite on 18 – a really tough par 4 where water lurks all the way down the left side, and trees wait on the right.

Even if you find the sliver of fairway off the tee it’s not a certain birdie – the green is surrounded by mounds, there’s water all the way down the left side and the rough is as long as anywhere on the course. Another tiered green where a long approach can cause enormous problems, especially if you need to make a par to win…

2024 Players Championship Hole-by-Hole Stats