Needing to strike a membership starting from a robust sand wedge to a chippy 9 iron, gamers proceed to have nightmares of Pete Dye’s devilish design whereas competing at The Gamers Championship. It measures solely 137 yards on the official scorecard, however the par-3 seventeenth at TPC Sawgrass is something however simple.
The variety of water balls has solely elevated over final two editions of The Gamers, but it isn’t all unhealthy information for rivals because the island inexperienced has confirmed to be a tipping level in lots of championships, together with a pair years in the past when Cameron Smith’s tee shot within the ultimate spherical arrange a championship-winning birdie.
Rickie Fowler gained The Gamers on the seventeenth by making three birdies on it on the identical Sunday in 2015 (two of them in a playoff). Sergio Garcia gained one in 2008 and misplaced one in 2013 due to the “Island Inexperienced.” Tiger Woods made a quadruple-bogey final time he performed the occasion.
Tiger can also be the writer of most likely probably the most well-known second on the outlet, which by the way was truly a putt. It was 2001 — over 20 years in the past now — when Tiger hit his “higher than most” putt on Saturday earlier than overcoming a two-stroke deficit on Sunday to win for the twenty sixth time in his profession (he would additionally go on to win the Masters and maintain all 4 majors and The Gamers on the identical time).
How do you sum up a gap? You possibly can recall all of the reminiscences anecdotally or maybe relive the mayhem of 2022. One other is a dive into the numbers through the years. Your expertise watching (or enjoying?) could also be indicative of the sphere’s expertise in any given yr.
Let’s take a look at the figures together with these from final yr when a notable file tumbled.
- 5 — Occasions by which the outlet has performed underneath par on common. Final yr, it was 3.13 for the event and three.37 in Spherical 2 because it performed because the second most tough gap on that day (sixth for the event). Chad Ramey held a two-stroke lead when he arrived at 17 on Friday and carded a quadruple bogey 7 to drop from the highest spot. Gamers received their revenge on 17 in Spherical 3 because it yielded a 2.72 common — the second-easiest day since 1983; the bottom got here within the third spherical in 1996 with a mean of two.68.
- 58 — Balls hit within the water in 2023. The all-time file (for the reason that stat began being saved in 2003) is 93 in 2007. During the last six playings, this quantity has surpassed 60 thrice (2017, 2021-22). The general complete since 2003 stands at 990 getting into the week.
- 50 — Most balls hit within the water throughout a spherical. That got here within the first spherical in 2007, greater than have been hit within the water throughout your entire 2019 event. The second spherical in final yr’s event noticed 25 balls discover the water.
- 13 — Aces at No. 17. There have been none from 2003-15, however there have been seven within the final six tournaments together with three in 2023: Willy Wilcox (2016), Sergio Garcia (2017), Ryan Moore (2019), Shane Lowry (2022), Hayden Buckley (2023), Aaron Rai (2023) and Alex Smalley (2023). Final yr marked the primary time there have been a number of holes-in-one on 17 in the identical event.
- 12 — Highest rating ever on this gap got here in 2005 when Bob Tway quadrupled the par. It ties the very best rating on any gap at TPC Sawgrass throughout a Gamers (12 was additionally shot on the 4th gap as soon as). In 2021, Ben An made a 11 within the first spherical. Tyson Alexander and Lucas Herbert each made 8s for the very best scores in 2023.
- 65.96 — The share at which gamers discovered the inexperienced in regulation in 2022, the bottom in championship historical past. The very best fee got here in 2014 when the sphere discovered the placing floor at a whooping 86.79% clip.
With all of that thoughts, we’ll finish with a thought forward of this yr’s occasion.
The seventeenth tends to attract golf followers to at least one facet of the aisle or the opposite. Some consider it to be overrated and given an excessive amount of air time whereas others benefit from the insanity and the necessity for contenders to hit a easy shot within the midst of an in any other case sophisticated stretch of the championship.
Tiger stated this in 2009: “I’ve all the time thought that that gap is just too gimmicky for the seventeenth gap of a championship.”
From a participant’s perspective, it is sensible why some might lean this manner. You play nicely for 16 holes and one poor wedge shot may result in a double bogey or worse and sink your championship aspirations. Maybe it’s too penal, however then once more, the perfect gamers on the planet ought to have the ability to hit a inexperienced from 137 yards.
It can be thought-about only a cog within the machine that may be a nice ending stretch at TPC Sawgrass. Nos. 16-18 demand gamers to step up and hit golf pictures. Whether or not they can finally decides championships and defines legacies. There shall be loads to observe for on No. 17 this yr (as there’s yearly), particularly when the leaders roll up on Saturday and Sunday with an opportunity to card something from a two to a seven.
“It’s like having a 3 o’clock appointment for a root canal,” Mark Calcavecchia stated in 2009. “You are fascinated by all of it morning and you are feeling unhealthy all day. You sort of know in the end you have to get to it.”