PLAYBOOK
GOLF GET IN THE HOLE!
ISLAND GETAWAY
TIGER WOODS DEEMED IT “GIMMICKY.” MARK CALCAVECCHIA LIKENED IT TO A ROOT CANAL. TOUR PLAYERS WHO MUTTER THAT IT’S THE WORLD’S LONGEST MINI-GOLF HOLE ARE NOT EXACTLY PAYING IT A COMPLIMENT. BUT EVEN THE HATERS MUST ADMIT: THERE’S NO MORE EXCITING SHOT IN GOLF THAN THE TEE SHOT TO THE ISLAND GREEN OF THE 17TH AT TPC SAWGRASS. IN PREPARATION FOR THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP, WHICH BEGINS MAY 10, WE ADDRESS THE 137-YARD HOLE BY THE NUMBERS. —SCOTT T. MILLER
6 4,344
Number of holes-in-one on the 17th since 1983, out of 12,608 tries—a rate of 0.0476%. Number of tee shots since the last hole-inone here (by Miguel Angel Jimenez in 2002), the longest such streak in the history of the Players.
WATERY GRAVE
0
Number of winners at the Players who hit the ball into the water the year they won.
12
Bob Tway’s score in 2005, the highest ever on the hole—via four wet balls and a three-putt.
11.2
Percentage of all tee shots at the Players that find the water.
THREE THE HARD WAY
1
Number of golfers at the Players since 1983 who’ve holed out from the drop area for a par after hitting their tee shot into the water (Fred Couples, 1999).
BEACH BLANKET BINGO
1.45
HAPPY LANDINGS
Percentage of tee shots since 1992 that have found the 17th’s greenside bunker—at 55 square feet, one of the smallest on the course.
2.88
Average score for golfers who safely reach the green. (Average score for golfers who miss the green: 4.03.)
6.0
Percentage better than the rest of the field that the winning golfer has played the hole, since 1983.
5.5
Percentage of golfers since 1992 who have three-putted the two-tiered green.
1
Number of players since 1992 who have five-putted the green (Fred Funk, 2001). Statistics since 2003, unless otherwise noted.
36
ESPN The Magazine 05/14/2012
illustration by McKIBILLO