One of the highlights of the PGA Tour season is the Players Championship. Carrying one of the largest prize pools of the season, the Players is often regarded as the game’s unofficial fifth major championship and heavyweight icons such as Scottie Scheffler, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Fred Couples, Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus have all been able to capture one of the most prestigious titles in the game.
First held back in 1974, the Players Championship was first played at the Atlanta Country Club in Georgia and after a stop in Fort Worth, Texas, the tournament then moved down to Florida.
In 1977 the tournament was played at the Sawgrass Country Club but was then moved to its permanent home at TPC Sawgrass in 1982. Now known as the Stadium Course, this has been the home of the Players Championship ever since and due to several iconic features, the stadium course at TPC Sawgrass has risen to become one of the most famous courses in all of golf.
Let’s find out a little more.
TPC Sawgrass: Stadium Course a history
When you look at TPC Sawgrass you see a course and a plot of land that looks simply perfect for golf. The inspiration behind former PGA Commissioner Deane Berman, who wanted a permanent home for the Players Championship, the land that TPC Sawgrass sits on only cost the PGA Tour a dollar.
An absurd price, there were plenty of reasons why Berman and the PGA Tour were able to purchase the land so cheaply. With the majority of the 415 acre plot being submerged by water, the land was also awash with dangerous wildlife and for many, to turn this wasteland into one of the best golf courses in the world seemed fanciful at best.
However, despite the various challenges that lay ahead of him, Berman and his dreams weren’t to be deterred and with the help of one of the most visionary figures to ever grace the game of golf, Pete Dye, work to convert the course began in 1978 and by 1981, the extraordinary renovation was complete.
Despite opening in 1982, the course wouldn’t hold the first Players Championship until 1984 and fittingly it was the game’s most successful ever player, Jack Nicklaus who was the tournament’s first ever inaugural champion.
Although the connection between the Players Championship and TPC Sawgrass ran deep, the course was constantly being upgraded and tweaked and it wasn’t until 1987 that Dye was finally happy to sign off on his work.
TPC Sawgrass: Features
Despite being over forty years old, TPC Sawgrass still presents a huge challenge to today’s new wave of modern golfers and although the game has become awash with huge technological advances, Pete Dye’s extraordinary design still holds true and the course has the ability to reward great play and severely punish those who veer offline.
A par 72 course which measures 7,245 yards, the course has several iconic features. Water plays a key role on several holes. Not only does it protect numerous greens, but on holes such as the first, seventh, twelfth and eighteenth water alongside the entire length of the fairway. Not only does the almost constant presence of water make those fairways narrower and tighter, but the nerves of the players are always being jangled.
Alongside the water, the course is littered with bunkers, whilst some are standard, there are some bunkers across the course that are some of the biggest on the PGA Tour with each one of these huge sand traps containing the ability to massively derail any scorecard.
The other challenge that Sawgrass has always presented is the firmness of its greens and they have always been regarded as some of the best on Tour, with several approaches being concealed by crafty placed humps and hollows finding the perfect yardage with approaches can be a real challenge and it's a common sight to see balls trickle off greens leaving players with plenty to do.
TPC Sawgrass: The 17th a hole like no other
If you surveyed 100 people and asked them to tell you one thing that sprang to mind about the course it would be a huge surprise if the overwhelming answer wasn’t the 17th hole.
Arguably the most famous hole in the world, the seventeenth is a par 3 that measures 132 holes and although it is a short approach, the features surrounding the hole are like no other.
Dividing the tee box and the green is just water and the island green that the hole sits upon is left in the middle, presenting a small and tricky target to hit. Over the years we have seen tears and disasters and for any player to have a chance of winning the Players Championship, a 3 at the 17th is an absolute must.
It's estimated that the bottom of the 17th is flooded with thousands of balls and on average the four day tournament will see at least fifty balls meet a watery end. With little margin for error, the green has a small walkway and a tiny pot bunker at the front and for any player who ends up hitting a second shot from here, they can count themselves as incredibly fortunate.
The drama surrounding the 17th has helped make the Players Championship become one of the most popular tournaments in golf and it is a hole that will continue to play a major role in who comes out on top in future Players tournaments.
The Players Championship: Scottie Scheffler looking to become the first man to win three in a row
Considering the quality of the fields that assemble for the Players Championship, it's quite hard to believe that up until 2024, Scottie Scheffler became the first man to win back to back Players Championship titles.
In so many ways Sawgrass offers up the perfect conditions for the world number one, with the course reliant on accuracy, there is no player in the world of golf who finds the centre of fairways and greens as regularly as the Texan and over the last two years he has had Sawgrass completely under his spell.
Nobody has come close to winning three successive Players Championships but that is exactly what Scheffler is aiming to do by the time that the tournament rolls around in March 2025. With those affiliated to the LIV Tour still unable to tee it up at events such as the Players, as long as he is fit, Scheffler will start the tournament as the overwhelming favourite for victory.
Jack Hartman
A keen golfer and huge fan of the game, Jack has been covering golf for the last five years. Bringing you all the latest coverage and news from the PGA, LIV, LPGA and DP World Tours, never before has golf been so popular and Jack can’t wait to bring all the excitement to his readers.
