A hole-by-hole look at TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course
Courses
TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course
HOLE 1: Par 4 | Yards 423A slight dogleg right requiring an exacting tee shot, with drives favoring the fairway's right side improving the angle into the green. Another 20 to 25 yards added to the championship tee since 2006 ratchets up the difficulty of clearing the landing area bunkers. Drives straying too far could find moguls added in the rough beyond the bunkers. New pine trees and oaks were added on both sides of the fairway. At the long and shallow green, the rear chipping area was enlarged and the bottom of the left bunker was dropped a foot deeper.__ Looking Back:1983:__ Hal Sutton, the rookie of the year the previous season, begins a Monday final round four shots back. But he makes this the first of three straight birdies and six on the day, rallying for a 69 to nip Bob Eastwood by a stroke when overnight leader John Cook drives into the lake and makes double-bogey 6 at the 18th hole.HOLE 1: Par 4 | Yards 423A slight dogleg right requiring an exacting tee shot, with drives favoring the fairway's right side improving the angle into the green. Another 20 to 25 yards added to the championship tee since 2006 ratchets up the difficulty of clearing the landing area bunkers. Drives straying too far could find moguls added in the rough beyond the bunkers. New pine trees and oaks were added on both sides of the fairway. At the long and shallow green, the rear chipping area was enlarged and the bottom of the left bunker was dropped a foot deeper.__ Looking Back:1983:__ Hal Sutton, the rookie of the year the previous season, begins a Monday final round four shots back. But he makes this the first of three straight birdies and six on the day, rallying for a 69 to nip Bob Eastwood by a stroke when overnight leader John Cook drives into the lake and makes double-bogey 6 at the 18th hole.
HOLE 2: Par 5 | Yards 532It is the rare player in this field who does not have the length to reach this green in two, although plenty of challenges surround the green. In 2006 oak and pine trees added to the right rough pinch the landing area, with the second shot crossing the water and sand to a triangle-shaped green. If a player must lay up the fairway angle and width make for a greater challenge than most holes the tour sees. The back-left bunker '06 renovation is at least another foot deeper and the terrain behind the green was contoured to facilitate chipping areas, making for a testing up-and-down.__Looking Back:1989:__ Tom Kite, who began the day one of 10 players within four shots of leader Chip Beck, rips a 2-iron to the green's front edge. Two putts later he has the first of three birdies in the opening 10 holes. A closing one-under 71, his highest round of the week, helps Kite clip Beck (73) by one and provides him with his 12th career title, a week after eliminating Davis Love III in a two-hole Nestle Invitational playoff.HOLE 2: Par 5 | Yards 532It is the rare player in this field who does not have the length to reach this green in two, although plenty of challenges surround the green. In 2006 oak and pine trees added to the right rough pinch the landing area, with the second shot crossing the water and sand to a triangle-shaped green. If a player must lay up the fairway angle and width make for a greater challenge than most holes the tour sees. The back-left bunker '06 renovation is at least another foot deeper and the terrain behind the green was contoured to facilitate chipping areas, making for a testing up-and-down.__Looking Back:1989:__ Tom Kite, who began the day one of 10 players within four shots of leader Chip Beck, rips a 2-iron to the green's front edge. Two putts later he has the first of three birdies in the opening 10 holes. A closing one-under 71, his highest round of the week, helps Kite clip Beck (73) by one and provides him with his 12th career title, a week after eliminating Davis Love III in a two-hole Nestle Invitational playoff.
HOLE 3: Par 3 | Yards 177This yardage is a fairly routine shot for world-class players, reflected in its status as the easiest par-3 in the first 24 Players contested here. That said, most players aim for the center of the 30-yard-deep green and take their chances with the putter. Accuracy is called for by grass bunkers to the right and sand left and long — the back bunker was made a foot deeper in '06 — and the green contours were changed in the renovation.__Looking Back:1990:__ Going to school on a putt Mark Calcavecchia missed on the same line, overnight leader Jodie Mudd drains a 10-footer for his second straight birdie, then stays ahead of Calcavecchia to post a one-shot victory. Seven months later Mudd, a two-time U.S. Amateur Public Links titleholder (1980-81), would duplicate Tom Kite's feat the previous season by also winning the season-ending, 30-man Nabisco Championships.HOLE 3: Par 3 | Yards 177This yardage is a fairly routine shot for world-class players, reflected in its status as the easiest par-3 in the first 24 Players contested here. That said, most players aim for the center of the 30-yard-deep green and take their chances with the putter. Accuracy is called for by grass bunkers to the right and sand left and long — the back bunker was made a foot deeper in '06 — and the green contours were changed in the renovation.__Looking Back:1990:__ Going to school on a putt Mark Calcavecchia missed on the same line, overnight leader Jodie Mudd drains a 10-footer for his second straight birdie, then stays ahead of Calcavecchia to post a one-shot victory. Seven months later Mudd, a two-time U.S. Amateur Public Links titleholder (1980-81), would duplicate Tom Kite's feat the previous season by also winning the season-ending, 30-man Nabisco Championships.
HOLE 4: Par 4 | Yards 384Most players will hit tee shots with a fairway wood or long iron, but accuracy is paramount thanks to a deep fairway bunker right of the landing area and rough-covered knolls on the left. The approach, typically no more than a wedge, leads to a two-tier green with plenty of slopes that can feed balls toward some hole locations.__Looking Back:1993:__ Terming it "probably under the circumstances the greatest shot I've ever hit," Nick Price lofts a 95-yard wedge shot from the rough over the pond and to within three feet, setting up a birdie that puts two strokes between himself and Mark O'Meara. A leader or co-leader each of the first three days, Price, the PGA Championship holder and a five-time winner in seven months, totals 18-under 270 to take three shots off the record.HOLE 4: Par 4 | Yards 384Most players will hit tee shots with a fairway wood or long iron, but accuracy is paramount thanks to a deep fairway bunker right of the landing area and rough-covered knolls on the left. The approach, typically no more than a wedge, leads to a two-tier green with plenty of slopes that can feed balls toward some hole locations.__Looking Back:1993:__ Terming it "probably under the circumstances the greatest shot I've ever hit," Nick Price lofts a 95-yard wedge shot from the rough over the pond and to within three feet, setting up a birdie that puts two strokes between himself and Mark O'Meara. A leader or co-leader each of the first three days, Price, the PGA Championship holder and a five-time winner in seven months, totals 18-under 270 to take three shots off the record.
HOLE 5: Par 4 | Yards 471The Stadium Course's longest par 4, and the hardest hole on the front nine, is a dogleg right where favoring the right side of the fairway — even straying into the bunker — often makes for an easier approach. The green is a mixture of waste bunkers and traditional sand traps and humps and hollows, all ringed by palm trees. Most hole locations are best attacked from the left side of the putting surface.__Looking Back:1992:__ Battling stiff winds in the second round, Jose Maria Olazabal drives into the lake, drops his ball and cans a 6-iron shot from 180 yards — the ball lands on the green, scoots up a knoll beyond the hole and retreats to the cup —for an improbable birdie in a day's-best 65. Olazabal, making his first U.S. start since the previous year's Ryder Cup, triples No. 10 the next day, shoots 75 and eventually ties for ninth behind Davis Love III.HOLE 5: Par 4 | Yards 471The Stadium Course's longest par 4, and the hardest hole on the front nine, is a dogleg right where favoring the right side of the fairway — even straying into the bunker — often makes for an easier approach. The green is a mixture of waste bunkers and traditional sand traps and humps and hollows, all ringed by palm trees. Most hole locations are best attacked from the left side of the putting surface.__Looking Back:1992:__ Battling stiff winds in the second round, Jose Maria Olazabal drives into the lake, drops his ball and cans a 6-iron shot from 180 yards — the ball lands on the green, scoots up a knoll beyond the hole and retreats to the cup —for an improbable birdie in a day's-best 65. Olazabal, making his first U.S. start since the previous year's Ryder Cup, triples No. 10 the next day, shoots 75 and eventually ties for ninth behind Davis Love III.
HOLE 6: Par 4 | Yards 393After several driving holes where the right side is preferable, the right here causes severe problems. Pines and palms prevent all but the luckiest players from having a shot at the green. More palms on the left side between the landing area and green can cause problems on the second shot, too. A chipping area added in 2006 sweeps around to the back-left corner, where part of a bunker was filled to extend the turf.__Looking Back:1992:__ Angered at missing a makeable putt, Lee Janzen throws his putter into the lake here. Reminded by fellow competitor Peter Persons that he used it for his breakthrough title a few weeks earlier in Tucson, Janzen returns that evening with a member of the grounds crew and fishes out the offending tool. The next year he wins the U.S. Open with it. In 1995 he pars here three times and birdies it Saturday during a one-shot Players win.HOLE 6: Par 4 | Yards 393After several driving holes where the right side is preferable, the right here causes severe problems. Pines and palms prevent all but the luckiest players from having a shot at the green. More palms on the left side between the landing area and green can cause problems on the second shot, too. A chipping area added in 2006 sweeps around to the back-left corner, where part of a bunker was filled to extend the turf.__Looking Back:1992:__ Angered at missing a makeable putt, Lee Janzen throws his putter into the lake here. Reminded by fellow competitor Peter Persons that he used it for his breakthrough title a few weeks earlier in Tucson, Janzen returns that evening with a member of the grounds crew and fishes out the offending tool. The next year he wins the U.S. Open with it. In 1995 he pars here three times and birdies it Saturday during a one-shot Players win.
HOLE 7: Par 4 | Yards 442The seventh ordinarily plays into the wind to one of the Stadium's most difficult greens to hit. The waste bunker-and-water combination on the left can become costly, and the trees jutting into the elbow of the dogleg right can menace wayward players. In 2006 even more oaks, pines and bunkers were tucked into the right rough. The smallish green runs away from the player with a sharp drop at the back. Two years ago the right-front bunker was deepened and the back-right bunker removed in favor of a chipping area.__Looking Back:2001:__ Vijay Singh cans a 12-foot birdie, his fourth of the final round, for a one-stroke lead over Tiger Woods and Jerry Kelly. But from that point his fortunes sour. He bogeys No. 9 as darkness falls — play was delayed three hours for lightning and rain — then makes triple-bogey 7 at No. 14. Woods, who won the previous week's Bay Hill Invitational, edges Singh by one. Two weeks later he claims his fourth straight major and becomes the first to capture the Players and Masters in one season.HOLE 7: Par 4 | Yards 442The seventh ordinarily plays into the wind to one of the Stadium's most difficult greens to hit. The waste bunker-and-water combination on the left can become costly, and the trees jutting into the elbow of the dogleg right can menace wayward players. In 2006 even more oaks, pines and bunkers were tucked into the right rough. The smallish green runs away from the player with a sharp drop at the back. Two years ago the right-front bunker was deepened and the back-right bunker removed in favor of a chipping area.__Looking Back:2001:__ Vijay Singh cans a 12-foot birdie, his fourth of the final round, for a one-stroke lead over Tiger Woods and Jerry Kelly. But from that point his fortunes sour. He bogeys No. 9 as darkness falls — play was delayed three hours for lightning and rain — then makes triple-bogey 7 at No. 14. Woods, who won the previous week's Bay Hill Invitational, edges Singh by one. Two weeks later he claims his fourth straight major and becomes the first to capture the Players and Masters in one season.
HOLE 8: Par 3 | Yards 237A necklace of bunkers, some barely large enough for a player to take a stance, circle a long, thin putting surface with several severe contours. Although not a make-or-break test like the 17th, this hole can cause unwelcome late headaches for players who began the first or second round at the 10th tee. This fifth most difficult hole gained 15 yards in the '06 renovation.__Looking Back:1984:__ After never bettering 79 in his first two years at Sawgrass, Fred Couples plugs eight birdies and an eagle between bogeys at the first and 18th for a course-record, eight-under 64 in the second round. On the last day, Couples, 24, paired with Seve Ballesteros and Tom Watson, nearly holes a 2-iron here for ace, shoots 71 and edges 44-year-old Lee Trevino by one.HOLE 8: Par 3 | Yards 237A necklace of bunkers, some barely large enough for a player to take a stance, circle a long, thin putting surface with several severe contours. Although not a make-or-break test like the 17th, this hole can cause unwelcome late headaches for players who began the first or second round at the 10th tee. This fifth most difficult hole gained 15 yards in the '06 renovation.__Looking Back:1984:__ After never bettering 79 in his first two years at Sawgrass, Fred Couples plugs eight birdies and an eagle between bogeys at the first and 18th for a course-record, eight-under 64 in the second round. On the last day, Couples, 24, paired with Seve Ballesteros and Tom Watson, nearly holes a 2-iron here for ace, shoots 71 and edges 44-year-old Lee Trevino by one.
HOLE 9: Par 5 | Yards 583The water shouldn't come into play if competitors elect to treat this as a three-shot hole, but it can become a factor if one tries to hit far down the right side to make for an angle at the tiny green. Oaks, pines and palms added to the left rough in 2006 also shouldn't come into play except for extremely wayward drives. Mature oaks left of the second landing area make for a tricky angle into the green, where a back-right hole location has been made available with an expansion of the green in that quadrant.__Looking Back:1988:__ Mark McCumber holes a 112-yard sand wedge shot at the 582-yard ninth, his last of the day, making an eagle that gives him a 65 and the first-round lead over Curt Byrum and Greg Norman. The next day Payne Stewart posts 65 with his own closing eagle here, hitting driver and "a roping 3-wood hook" to within 15 feet, and takes a one-stroke advantage over eventual four-stroke winner McCumber and runner-up Mike Reid.HOLE 9: Par 5 | Yards 583The water shouldn't come into play if competitors elect to treat this as a three-shot hole, but it can become a factor if one tries to hit far down the right side to make for an angle at the tiny green. Oaks, pines and palms added to the left rough in 2006 also shouldn't come into play except for extremely wayward drives. Mature oaks left of the second landing area make for a tricky angle into the green, where a back-right hole location has been made available with an expansion of the green in that quadrant.__Looking Back:1988:__ Mark McCumber holes a 112-yard sand wedge shot at the 582-yard ninth, his last of the day, making an eagle that gives him a 65 and the first-round lead over Curt Byrum and Greg Norman. The next day Payne Stewart posts 65 with his own closing eagle here, hitting driver and "a roping 3-wood hook" to within 15 feet, and takes a one-stroke advantage over eventual four-stroke winner McCumber and runner-up Mike Reid.
HOLE 10: Par 4 | Yards 424The waste bunker crossing the fairway acts as a collar on players who might otherwise blast away from the tee. The green has tangled rough on the left and humps on the right. The green is contoured and, from the fairway, is an optical illusion: the front much narrower than a back half feeding away from the fairway. For a hole of this length it's surprisingly difficult (seventh overall).__Looking Back:1991:__ Righting himself at a perilous moment in his final round, first-round co-leader Steve Elkington drains a 15-foot birdie that sparks a closing-nine 33. With contenders such as Paul Azinger and Fuzzy Zoeller unable to buy a putt, Ekington's solid 68 pushes him a stroke ahead of Zoeller's 277 total and brings his second title in the U.S., joining the previous year's Greater Greensboro Open.HOLE 10: Par 4 | Yards 424The waste bunker crossing the fairway acts as a collar on players who might otherwise blast away from the tee. The green has tangled rough on the left and humps on the right. The green is contoured and, from the fairway, is an optical illusion: the front much narrower than a back half feeding away from the fairway. For a hole of this length it's surprisingly difficult (seventh overall).__Looking Back:1991:__ Righting himself at a perilous moment in his final round, first-round co-leader Steve Elkington drains a 15-foot birdie that sparks a closing-nine 33. With contenders such as Paul Azinger and Fuzzy Zoeller unable to buy a putt, Ekington's solid 68 pushes him a stroke ahead of Zoeller's 277 total and brings his second title in the U.S., joining the previous year's Greater Greensboro Open.
__HOLE 11: Par 5 | Yards 558 __Players are given so many options in the layup areas that they can become befuddled, a dilemma not diminished by the addition of 15 to 20 yards to this hole, during the 2006 renovation. Continuing down the fairway to the right could bring a large oak into play and calls for a demanding third to a shallow green. Crossing the waste areas and water means a tougher second shot but an easier approach. Some hole locations prevent long hitters from gunning for the flagstick with a second shot. Susceptible but daunting.__Looking Back:1998:__ Holing yet another crucial birdie putt, this one from 10 feet, Justin Leonard slams the Stadium Course with a closing 67 and rallies from five back of Lee Janzen to clip Glen Day and Tom Lehman by two in celebrating the event's 25th anniversary. It was the same scenario as when the 25-year-old won the previous year's Kemper Open and British Open: a handful back starting the last round, shoot a low number and triumph.__HOLE 11: Par 5 | Yards 558 __Players are given so many options in the layup areas that they can become befuddled, a dilemma not diminished by the addition of 15 to 20 yards to this hole, during the 2006 renovation. Continuing down the fairway to the right could bring a large oak into play and calls for a demanding third to a shallow green. Crossing the waste areas and water means a tougher second shot but an easier approach. Some hole locations prevent long hitters from gunning for the flagstick with a second shot. Susceptible but daunting.__Looking Back:1998:__ Holing yet another crucial birdie putt, this one from 10 feet, Justin Leonard slams the Stadium Course with a closing 67 and rallies from five back of Lee Janzen to clip Glen Day and Tom Lehman by two in celebrating the event's 25th anniversary. It was the same scenario as when the 25-year-old won the previous year's Kemper Open and British Open: a handful back starting the last round, shoot a low number and triumph.
HOLE 12: Par 4| Yards 358As with the fourth hole, a pair of precise shots are needed. A hill left of the landing area, covered grass hollows and deep rough, can block a player's view of the flagstick. Most second shots are inside 100 yards, making for dead-aim approaches. By far the easiest par 4 in years past, but much of the green is new: In 2006 the surface was raised a foot, the right side was expanded to allow for more hole locations and the left side was reworked.__Looking Back:2000:__ Resuming play Monday morning after rain halts play at 4:45 p.m. the previous afternoon, Tiger Woods three-putts this green to drop four shots behind Hal Sutton, with whom he is paired. Although Woods birdies the 13th and eagles the 16th, Sutton completes a wire-to-wire run (and backs up vows to stand up to Woods on the course) with a solid par-par finish. It is Sutton's fourth victory since turning 40 in April 1998.HOLE 12: Par 4| Yards 358As with the fourth hole, a pair of precise shots are needed. A hill left of the landing area, covered grass hollows and deep rough, can block a player's view of the flagstick. Most second shots are inside 100 yards, making for dead-aim approaches. By far the easiest par 4 in years past, but much of the green is new: In 2006 the surface was raised a foot, the right side was expanded to allow for more hole locations and the left side was reworked.__Looking Back:2000:__ Resuming play Monday morning after rain halts play at 4:45 p.m. the previous afternoon, Tiger Woods three-putts this green to drop four shots behind Hal Sutton, with whom he is paired. Although Woods birdies the 13th and eagles the 16th, Sutton completes a wire-to-wire run (and backs up vows to stand up to Woods on the course) with a solid par-par finish. It is Sutton's fourth victory since turning 40 in April 1998.
HOLE 13: Par 3 | Yards 181This green may remind some people of the 16th at Augusta National GC, where a ridge feeds balls down toward the water. Three tiers demand precise tee shots, as do two deep bunkers without much wiggle room.__Looking Back:1994:__ World No. 1 Greg Norman, beginning his week on the back nine, follows a 10-footer at the 11th with a 35-foot birdie across the green here, his first of five straight birdies, and ties Fred Couples' 1992 course record with a nine-under 63. Making good on his vow to course designer Pete Dye that he was going to shoot 22 under at the Stadium Course, Norman adds a trio of 67s, goes 24 under and smashes the 72-hole mark by six.HOLE 13: Par 3 | Yards 181This green may remind some people of the 16th at Augusta National GC, where a ridge feeds balls down toward the water. Three tiers demand precise tee shots, as do two deep bunkers without much wiggle room.__Looking Back:1994:__ World No. 1 Greg Norman, beginning his week on the back nine, follows a 10-footer at the 11th with a 35-foot birdie across the green here, his first of five straight birdies, and ties Fred Couples' 1992 course record with a nine-under 63. Making good on his vow to course designer Pete Dye that he was going to shoot 22 under at the Stadium Course, Norman adds a trio of 67s, goes 24 under and smashes the 72-hole mark by six.
HOLE 14: Par 4 | Yards 481The 14th ranks second in difficulty, thanks in part to 15 yards added two years ago but also to a second string of mounds added along the right side of the landing area, now dotted with grass clumps. That and the waste bunker on the left make for one of the toughest drives. The green is enormous by Stadium Course standards and has plenty of slope. A steep scoring slide can begin here without much warning.__Looking Back:1986:__ After short-siding himself by hitting into a right greenside bunker, Larry Mize fails to save par and begins a dizzying slide from four-stroke leader at the turn to losing by one to John Mahaffey, the 1978 PGA Championship winner. Mize, who made back-to-back bogeys at No. 7 and 8, makes three straight from the 14th, then misses putts inside six feet at the 17th and 18th. The previous year Mize blew a four-shot lead at the Kemper Open.HOLE 14: Par 4 | Yards 481The 14th ranks second in difficulty, thanks in part to 15 yards added two years ago but also to a second string of mounds added along the right side of the landing area, now dotted with grass clumps. That and the waste bunker on the left make for one of the toughest drives. The green is enormous by Stadium Course standards and has plenty of slope. A steep scoring slide can begin here without much warning.__Looking Back:1986:__ After short-siding himself by hitting into a right greenside bunker, Larry Mize fails to save par and begins a dizzying slide from four-stroke leader at the turn to losing by one to John Mahaffey, the 1978 PGA Championship winner. Mize, who made back-to-back bogeys at No. 7 and 8, makes three straight from the 14th, then misses putts inside six feet at the 17th and 18th. The previous year Mize blew a four-shot lead at the Kemper Open.
HOLE 15: Par 4 | Yards 449The bunker on the right off the tee was shortened in 2006, with oaks planted in the new rough, making this dogleg right more pronounced. As with the 10th green, sand flanking the green's front half gives way to a wider back half and a tier bisecting the sides. One of the shortest approach shots on the back nine and the last breather hole.__Looking Back:1985:__ Calvin Peete scrambles for par from a fairway bunker, one of just two fairways he misses in the final round, in shooting 66 for a three-shot win over D.A. Weibring. Peete, who won the Vardon Trophy the previous season (70.56 scoring average), wins his 10th career title and his ninth title in the past 39 months.HOLE 15: Par 4 | Yards 449The bunker on the right off the tee was shortened in 2006, with oaks planted in the new rough, making this dogleg right more pronounced. As with the 10th green, sand flanking the green's front half gives way to a wider back half and a tier bisecting the sides. One of the shortest approach shots on the back nine and the last breather hole.__Looking Back:1985:__ Calvin Peete scrambles for par from a fairway bunker, one of just two fairways he misses in the final round, in shooting 66 for a three-shot win over D.A. Weibring. Peete, who won the Vardon Trophy the previous season (70.56 scoring average), wins his 10th career title and his ninth title in the past 39 months.
HOLE 16: Par 5 | Yards 523The drive must be threaded to a spot where the fairway pivots left between trees. The water is an obvious impediment not only for players trying to reach in two from the rough but for anyone looking to punch out from the left trees. The green moves toward the water; long shots, especially in firm conditions, can still make a splash. As with the par-5 11th, it's a risk-reward dream—for the viewer.__Looking Back:1996:__ Fred Couples, playing ahead of contenders Colin Montgomerie and non-winner Tommy Tolles, connects on a 25-foot eagle putt—set up by a magnificent cut 2-iron to a back-right hole location—and keys a stunning eagle-birdie run that secures a 64, the lowest final round in Players history. Tolles, attempting to become the fourth straight first-time winner on tour, wilts after hearing the gallery's roar and bogeys the 15th.HOLE 16: Par 5 | Yards 523The drive must be threaded to a spot where the fairway pivots left between trees. The water is an obvious impediment not only for players trying to reach in two from the rough but for anyone looking to punch out from the left trees. The green moves toward the water; long shots, especially in firm conditions, can still make a splash. As with the par-5 11th, it's a risk-reward dream—for the viewer.__Looking Back:1996:__ Fred Couples, playing ahead of contenders Colin Montgomerie and non-winner Tommy Tolles, connects on a 25-foot eagle putt—set up by a magnificent cut 2-iron to a back-right hole location—and keys a stunning eagle-birdie run that secures a 64, the lowest final round in Players history. Tolles, attempting to become the fourth straight first-time winner on tour, wilts after hearing the gallery's roar and bogeys the 15th.
__HOLE 17: Par 3 | Yards 137 __The simplicity of the test makes for player nightmares: hit the middle of the green and two-putt for par, but find the water and you could be there all day (and video clips of your futility replayed for years to come). The small bunker on the right side is no bargain but better than hitting 3 from the drop area. The putting surface also has more movement than most expect, making for delicate putts toward the right side.__Looking Back:1982:__ A 15-foot birdie putt here as contender Bruce Lietzke makes bogey at the 16th gives Jerry Pate a one-stroke advantage over Brad Bryant en route to winning the ninth Tournament Players Championship and the first at the TPC at Sawgrass.__HOLE 17: Par 3 | Yards 137 __The simplicity of the test makes for player nightmares: hit the middle of the green and two-putt for par, but find the water and you could be there all day (and video clips of your futility replayed for years to come). The small bunker on the right side is no bargain but better than hitting 3 from the drop area. The putting surface also has more movement than most expect, making for delicate putts toward the right side.__Looking Back:1982:__ A 15-foot birdie putt here as contender Bruce Lietzke makes bogey at the 16th gives Jerry Pate a one-stroke advantage over Brad Bryant en route to winning the ninth Tournament Players Championship and the first at the TPC at Sawgrass.
HOLE 18: Par 4 | Yards 462Two closing shots with water offering potential disaster, amped up by another 15 to 20 yards of length added in 2006. The spectator mounds and trees mean bailing out right is out of the question. The water sweeps up next to the green's left flank while rough and sand challenge on the right. Another tiered green where a long approach can cause enormous problems, especially in a tight finish.__Looking Back:1987:__ Sandy Lyle, given a reprieve when a spectator dove into the lake surrounding the 17th green and disrupted Jeff Sluman as he stood over a six-footer to end a two-hole playoff, gets down in two from the back fringe with a seven-foot putt after Sluman misses a 12-footer for par. Lyle, the 1985 British Open winner, had holed a 30-foot chip at the 15th hole in regulation to catch then-leader Scott Simpson.HOLE 18: Par 4 | Yards 462Two closing shots with water offering potential disaster, amped up by another 15 to 20 yards of length added in 2006. The spectator mounds and trees mean bailing out right is out of the question. The water sweeps up next to the green's left flank while rough and sand challenge on the right. Another tiered green where a long approach can cause enormous problems, especially in a tight finish.__Looking Back:1987:__ Sandy Lyle, given a reprieve when a spectator dove into the lake surrounding the 17th green and disrupted Jeff Sluman as he stood over a six-footer to end a two-hole playoff, gets down in two from the back fringe with a seven-foot putt after Sluman misses a 12-footer for par. Lyle, the 1985 British Open winner, had holed a 30-foot chip at the 15th hole in regulation to catch then-leader Scott Simpson.