The island green at the 17th hole claimed victims from the opening round of the PGA Tour Players Championship (total purse $25 million).
The first round was held Thursday at TPC Sawgrass Players Stadium Course (par 72) in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The 17th hole, featuring a circular green floating in water, is the course's signature landmark. Though not particularly long, the water-surrounded green with its firm surface creates immense pressure on players.
Set at 143 yards on Thursday, the 17th hole swallowed 18 balls throughout the day and recorded a scoring average of 3.33. Of the 122 players in the field, only 11 made birdie, while the hole produced 18 bogeys, 8 double bogeys, and 5 scores worse than double bogey.
Among those suffering the greatest misfortune was South Korea's Kim Sung-hyun. Starting from the 10th hole and playing steadily at 1-under par, Kim lost four strokes at once with a quadruple bogey. When his first tee shot found the water left of the green, he moved to the drop zone on the left and hit his third shot, but this time the ball landed on the green before rolling into the water behind it. Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela also recorded a 7 on the hole. Cruising at 3-under par, he too dumped two balls in the water, surrendering four strokes on the single hole. Both finished tied for 82nd at 3-over par 75.
Though not on the 17th hole, Shane Lowry of Ireland earned an unwelcome distinction related to water. Lowry sent his tee shot into the water left of the fairway on the 18th hole (par 4). The PGA Tour noted that Lowry's tee shot on 18 became the 1,000th ball to find the water on that hole since 2003.
With four players unable to complete the first round due to sunset, five players share the lead at 5-under par: Maverick McNealy, Lee Hodges, Sahith Theegala, Austin Smotherman (all United States), and Sepp Straka of Austria. Kim Si-woo, the 2017 champion, finished tied for 52nd at 1-over par, while Im Sung-jae ended tied for 82nd at 3-over par. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler of the United States sits tied for 40th at even par, while defending champion and world No. 2 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland is tied for 69th at 2-over par.