TPC Sawgrass: Hole 17
HOLE 17
PAR 3, 137 YARDS
SCORING AVERAGE: 3.169
Front Nine: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Back Nine: 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18
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.
FIVE FACTS ABOUT THE 17TH AT SAWGRASS
➤ In the last 15 years, the field is a combined 762 over par on the 17th. Between 2003-2017, 703 wound up in the water.
➤ Bob Tway hit in during the wind-swept third round in 2005 en-route to making a 12, the highest score on the hole in its history.
➤ In the first round of the 1999 Players, Fred Couples knocked his tee shot into the water. He re-teed… and holed his third for par. “I don’t really know how hard I was trying on my third shot,” he said. “If I don’t make that shot, I think I shoot 80, 81 and probably miss the cut. Three days later, I was in fourth place.”
How many balls are hit into the water each year on the 17th hole during The Players Championship? The PGA Tour has kept records on this only since the 2003 tournament. Here are the numbers:
2018 – 53
2017 – 69
2016 – 36
2015 – 45
2014 – 28
2013 – 44
2012 – 39
2011 – 40
2010 – 29
2009 – 32
2008 – 64
2007 – 93
2006 – 67
2005 – 68
2004 – 30
2003 – 29
There have been eight aces scored on TPC Sawgrass’ No. 17 during The Players:
2017 – Sergio Garcia, first round
2016 – Will Wilcox, second round
2002 – Miguel Angel Jimenez, first round
2000 – Paul Azinger, third round
1999 – Joey Sindelar, first round
1997 – Fred Couples, fourth round
1991 – Brian Claar, third round
1986 – Brad Fabel, first round
Has anyone birdied the 17th in all four rounds? Yes! Once… by Paul Azinger in 1987.
➤ The longest putt on the 17th was 59 feet, 9 inches, made by Bernhard Langer during the second round of the 2008 tournament. Tiger Woods’ 60-footer putt in 2001 was from the fringe so, technically, under PGA Tour rules, doesn’t count as a putt.
➤ Langer has made the most career birdies on 17, with 24. Hal Sutton is next with 19.
NEXT: HOLE 18 >>
