The Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is target golf at its very finest. From its inception in 1980, Pete Dye demanded players hit specific shots to specific targets—and threatened the harshest punishments if they didn't.
But the mastery of TPC Sawgrass isn't just the iron fist it wields, but the cushion it allows for those who chase it. If you're brave and attack the hole the way Dye wants you to, and you don't get it quite right, he'll provide the outcome it deserves. You won't be in a great spot, but you'll be in a salvageable one.
It's why you'll often see players miss in some interesting and unusual spots at TPC Sawgrass—spots that on paper, you'd never want to miss ordinarily. Let's pinpoint a few to show why …
1. Short-sided on the fourth and 10th holes
Fourth green at TPC Sawgrass with approach shots coming from the left on the other side of the water.
Tenth green at TPC Sawgrass.
Pins can be tucked in the right corners on the fourth and 10th holes, where there are bunkers in front and rough lurking. Why would you ever aim at these pins? Nine times out of 10, you shouldn't. Middle of the green, two-putt and onto the next hole in the play, maybe get lucky and make a birdie putt.
Except there's a snaking water hazard in front of the green at four, which you definitely don't want to go in, and a big slope in the middle of the 10th green. Dye is forcing you to stay away from the traditional bail outs, and by extension aim closer to these pins.
What happens then for those who are brave enough to take dead aim, but then miss right? This is where they get some mercy. There are shaved areas in both short-sided zones, where players get up-and-down at a nearly 80 percent clip. If there was rough down here, players perhaps would've settled for the middle. But because there's fairway, Dye is encouraging you to take more risk—and not overly punishing you if it doesn't work.
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2. Front bunker on the 11th hole
Truth be told, I don't exactly understand why this front bunker on the 11th hole plays as easy as it does—Scottie Scheffler hit it in here during the final round of his 2024 victory, and got it up and down for birdie.
Again, it's short-sided. On paper, the bail out is left of the green. But because Dye had placed two small bunkers along that side of the green, then spaced them fairly far apart from each other and the green itself, it keeps pushing the bail out zone to the left. Suddenly, rather than a long-sided chip shot, you've got a sizable pitch shot.
But take on more risk, aim more aggressively at this pin and flirt with the water hazard, and then he'll give you some run even if it doesn't pay off. You may not hit the shot the way you want to, but being brave rather than bailing out means you'll enjoy a flat, long bunker shot without much trouble between you and the pin. It's an easy up and down for tour pros, which is what you see them do from this spot often.
3. Trees on 18th
This is probably the worst of the so-called good spots here, but it fits.
Water left, you definitely don't want to go in there. The play is to aim at the right trees and hope you miss left, into the fairway.
If it doesn't? That's why you see so many players end up in the trees. But it's not quite jail over there. True cruelty would've been putting an additional hazard in that spot. But because the trees act as a kind of half-hazard, Dye's design means players can enjoy the opportunity of a pitch-and-a-putt for a par.
Once again, a punishment that both fits the crime of a bad shot, but with enough mercy to reward the effort.
