The Players Championship's 17th hole a golf icon, looms large shadow

• The par-3 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass is one of the most famous holes in golf.
• Architect Pete Dye created the iconic "Island Green" at the suggestion of his wife, Alice.
• The hole has its own line of merchandise and is a popular spot for fans.
• Since 2003, more than 1,000 golf balls have been hit into the surrounding water during The Players Championship.

Divas are frequently known by one name. 

Madonna. Taylor. Beyonce. 

Then there’s the First Coast’s diva, known by one number. 

17. 

That's all that’s needed to conjure the image and evoke memories. 

It’s a prime number in every sense, the star of the PGA Tour’s biggest show on turf: The par-3 17th hole of the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is an Emerald island surrounded by blue water that looks beautiful until the moment a Tour player sticks a tee in the ground during The Players Championship, places a ball on it and contemplates everything riding on one swing. 

Then 17 bats her green eye and beckons seductively. 

“Come up and see me sometime.” 

All the player needs to do to make that date is judge the winds of March, swing a wedge or 9-iron, and land the ball somewhere on a putting surface of less than 4,000 square feet, with around 30,000 fans in full throat, conflicted between wanting to see a good shot or anticipating disaster. 

It’s the mind game that is repeated four times during tournament week, with the pressure on Sundays multiplied by a factor that depends on the player's position on the leaderboard. 

A good shot can either win the tournament or keep a player alive going to the final hole. 

A bad shot ― even a marginal shot ― destroys hopes with the splash that almost surely follows. 

It’s a process that will be renewed again March 12-15 when The Players Championship is contested at the Stadium Course. 

Architect Pete Dye’s wife inspired 17th hole 

The number comes from its spot on the Stadium Course. It’s the 17th hole of 18, the final par-3 hole on the course and the creation of architect Pete Dye, with inspiration from his wife Alice, when they found a vein of sand under what used to be a thick, tangled swamp. 

They kept digging because the sand was white gold, wholly suited to be used for the banks and mounds Dye and former PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman envisioned for the “Stadium Golf” concept that would give fans a view of almost every shot, from multiple vantage points. 

Eventually, so much sand was dug around what was going to be a par-3 green at the end of a peninsula that Alice Dye made the suggestion that came to define the hole, the course and the tournament. 

“Just make it an Island Green,” she said. 

Put another way, Alice Dye essentially echoed the cliché of a Hollywood producer discovering the fresh young face at Schwab's Pharmacy on Sunset Boulevard.

"We’re going to make you a big star, baby.” 

17th hole has its own merchandise line 

And like a star, it’s not just the performance. Taylor Swift makes gobs of money on clothing, hats, phone cases, jewelry and accessories. Fans going into the PGA Tour Fan Shop the week of The Players can find T-shirts, hats, golf towels, glasses, coasters, key chains and hoodies branded with the Island Green or simply the number 17. 

Lea Osol, the TPC Sawgrass Director of Merchandising, said there are 10 versions of the Island green on items for sale in the Fan Shop, from photographs, paintings and graphic designs. 

“It’s our iconic hole and people like to purchase products with No. 17 on it,” she said. “It’s hard not get excited about that.”

Then there’s the setting. Avid golfers have proposed to their future wives at No. 17. Fans have secretively scattered the ashes of deceased loved ones in the pond (the ashes of one Tour caddie, Brad “the Mad Russian” Krosnoff, were sprinkled into the water at No. 17 in 2003 by fellow caddies). Fans wandering into the TPC Sawgrass Clubhouse implore the “Storytellers,” or guides to take them on a cart to the 17th hole just to take photos.

If a plot of land could sign autographs, No. 17 would. 

But has it become too much flash for a par-3 hole, one of the shortest played on the PGA Tour? 

Can it be that hard and therefore, that famous, or infamous, depending on your last swing at the hole? 

After all, Lee Trevino once said that if it was surrounded by nothing but grass and sand, “they’d all make birdie.” 

Does the 17th hole dominate the tournament to the detriment of 17 other spectacular and/or difficult holes? 

“No. 17 has stolen the show, publicity-wise,” said 1988 Players champion and architect Mark McCumber. “It’s the hole you think about when you think about The Players. I’m not saying I love that. Architects don’t like the phrase ‘signature hole,’ and Pete was no different. It means, to me, that I’ve only built one hole in 18 that stands out.” 

PGA Tour veteran Jim Furyk, who made 23 starts in The Players, doesn’t mind the emphasis on No. 17 and said it’s part of Dye’s overall plan for the final three holes: the par-5 16th, No. 17 and the par-4 18th. 

“I don't know if [No. 17] overshadows the rest of the course,” he said. “I think the finish is exciting. So much can happen at No. 16 ... risk-reward, eagles or bogeys and you have to hit two great shots at No. 18 to have a chance at birdie. But I like the way they’ve marketed No. 17 when tournament time comes. No lead is safe.” 

Despite critics, No. 17 hasn’t changed 

It didn’t take long for 17 to achieve its notoriety. Despite initial complaints by players that the Island Green and other aspects of the course were just a bit whacky or downright unfair, this is the 46th year of the Stadium Course and the 44th Players to be conducted on Dye’s design.

With just a few variations, the course has stood the test of time, and one hole that hasn’t been modified from Dye's original vision has been the 17th.

Beman worked with Tour players and Dye on modifying areas of the course over the years. Some of the rough edges, such as love grass, tiny pot bunkers and railroad ties have been smoothed out or removed. 

The masterpiece at No. 17 looks the same as it did when Jerry Pate, the winner of the first Players at the Stadium Course in 1982, landed his orange Wilson golf ball on the Island green to set up the birdie that clinched the victory. No cosmetic surgery or facelifts have been required.

The PGA Tour has made certain the hole stands out. Dye and Beman built huge spectator mounds to give fans prime views of par-5 16th hole and No. 17 and it’s also surrounded by dozens of hospitality venues. 

The NBC and Golf Channel telecasts offer aerial shots from towers, drones, cable-suspended cameras and the blimp. There’s even a camera inside the only bunker near the green. TV viewers get graphics on wind speed and direction. 

And the fans on-course flock to the hole many spending an entire day watching and waiting for the good shots (there have been 14 holes-in-one and players such as Fred Couples, Nick Price, David Duval, Craig Perks and Rickie Fowler have secured Players Championships with birdies at the Island Green) or the disasters (1,068 shots have gone in the water since the Tour began tracking in 2003). 

However, Players Championship executive director Lee Smith said that while the 17th hole captures national attention for the tournament, First Coast fans are knowledgeable enough at golf to know 17 other holes matter. 

“Maybe the national audience focuses on No. 17,” he said. “But I think our local fans know the brilliance of No. 4, the difficulty of holes such as No. 5 and 14, the awesome spots to watch golf at Nos. 12 and 13.” 

But the Tour isn’t making T-shirts with the 12th green on it. 

“You’re right,” Smith said. “But the New England Patriots aren’t selling a lot of jerseys of their right guard, as opposed to the quarterback. But that right guard was an integral part of their success.” 

Golf fans identify with the tee shot at No. 17 

Beman, who had the final say in where the Island Green was in the course rotation, said the hole resonates with golf fans when they see the professionals botch a simple wedge or short iron under pressure. 

“It clearly identifies a challenge for every golfer who’s ever played,” he said. “It’s a shot that almost anybody can make and because it’s a resort course, anyone can play it. But at its place on the course, in competition at The Players, it presents a significant challenge to the best players in the world. It’s an easy shot but a perfect mental test.” 

Here’s one scary thought: Beman had to push back on Dye’s original plan to make the tee as far as 165 yards from the center of the green. 

“I was completely opposed to that,” Beman said. 

Furyk said fans might tell themselves they can hit a 140-yard shot. But the week of the tournament, under PGA Tour conditions, presents a different test than resort guests get. 

“If you play No. 17 every day, that green looks massive,” Furyk said. “If you play it on tournament days when the greens are firm, it shrinks significantly. A lot of the balls that land on top kick off.” 

At this stage of the tournament’s history, there’s no walking back on the fame that the 17th hole has brought the tournament. Critics still harp on the hole (Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee said as recently as last month that he still thinks No. 17 “is a terrible hole,” even though he touted the Players as a major), but many an entertainment figure’s agent has reminded them that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. 

People will talk about the 17th hole. They will watch, albeit some with morbid fascination. They will buy a hat with the green and the words “Island Time” on it. 

And it will remain a star. 

No. 17 by the numbers 

Who was King of the Island? 

Tom Lehman played the 17th hole better than any PGA Tour pro ever, with a cumulative score of 11-under par in 62 Players Championship rounds and an average score of 2.822. Mark Wiebe is second at 10-under par in 42 rounds (2.761 average) and three players are tied for third at 9-under, Bob Gilder, Scott Hoch and Hale Irwin.

The active player with the best record at No. 17 is Rickie Fowler, who is 8-under in 43 rounds (2.81). That doesn’t count his two playoff birdies at the Island Green when he won in 2015. 

Who’s the leader for Island birdies? 

Longevity had its place for Bernhard Langer. In 26 Players Championship and 21 cuts made, Langer racked up 26 birdies at No. 17. Adam Scott is next with 22, followed by Hal Sutton with 19 and Davis Love III, Lehman, Phil Mickelson and David Frost with 18 each. 

Not among the top 10 on that list, but still memorable at Paul Azinger and Kyle Stanley. They are the only two players to have birdied No. 17 in all four rounds of a Players: Azinger in 1987 and Stanley in 2017. 

How many holes-in-one have been made at No. 17? 

There have been 14 aces at the Island Green, the most recent by Ryan Fox in the first round in 2024.  

It took four years for the first hole-in-one at the Island, by Brad Fabel in 1986. There were six aces through the 2002 tournament, then a 14-year gap until the next, by Willy Wilcox in the second round in 2016. Since then, there have been eight aces and six in the past seven years. 

A Players champion has never aced the 17th hole the same year he won. 

Who’s had the worst Island Times? 

In no surprise, the player who had the highest all-time score at No. 17, Bob Tway, has the highest cumulative score at No. 17 at 30-over in 64 rounds (3.468).  

In a fierce wind on a Monday finish in 2005, Tway hit five balls in the water and three-putted for a 12 that is not only the highest score in history at No. 17 but a match for the highest score on any hole at The Players (Phil Hancock made a 12 at No. 4 in 1985). Byeong Hun-An (2021) and Robert Gamez (1990) both made 11 at the 17th. 

Duffy Waldorf (24 over in 46 rounds, 3.52) has the next-highest score in relation to par at No. 17 and Aaron Baddley (21 over in 48 rounds, 3.43) is third-worst. 

Brooks Koepka has a chance to improve his record at No. 17 when he returns to The Players this year after missing 2023-2025. Among active players, he currently has the worst cumulative score at No. 17 at 20 over in 20 rounds and is averaging 4.0. 

Swimming around the Island Green 

Since the Tour began officially counting the number of balls hit into the water at No. 17 during The Players Championship, Baddeley has the dubious distinction of dousing the most balls with 14. Justin Rose is next with 11 and Koepka has knocked 10 into the drink. Past Players champions Sergio Garcia and Mickelson have hit nine each into the water. 

The best and worst of the Island 

• Since 2003, the tournament with the most balls hit in the water was in 2007, when 93 golf balls slept with the fishes. It was the first tournament in May and the 93rd ball in the water, hit by Sean O’Hair, cost him the tournament. He was one shot behind Mickelson with two holes to play at the time. 
• The most balls in the water during a March player during that span also is no surprise: 68 in the weather-battered 2005 tournament, with five of them by Tway on his way to a 9-over 12 on the hole. 
• The fewest balls in the water since 2003 were 28 in 2014. 
• There have been 1,068 balls hit into the water at No. 17 since the Tour began counting on an official basis with its ShotLink technology, an average of 48.54 per year. 
• The highest average score at No. 17 was 3.386 in 2007 when it was the second-toughest hole on the course after No. 18. There were 16 scores of triple-bogey or higher that year and only 42 birdies. The other 17 holes had a combined 22 triples or higher. 
• The lowest score at 17 in one tournament was 2.902 in 1987, ranking 13th in difficulty on the course in that Players. There were only three triple bogeys or worse that week, and 114 birdies. 
• The scoring average at No. 17 in tournament history is 3.12, eighth in difficulty on the course.