TPC Sogrease... 'Welcome, Hall of Hell'

The Players Championship Course 17th Hole 'Nightmare'
Only 137 Yards Long, Claims Over 50 Victims Annually
Tway's 9-Over Par 12 Strokes 'Historic Disaster'

A tournament that makes top-level players' hearts tremble is about to take place.

This is an overview of the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass.

The PGA Tour's "fifth major," The Players Championship (total prize money $25 million), is the battleground. It kicks off on the 14th (local time) at TPC Sawgrass (par 72, 7,275 yards) in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA. Among the PGA Tour events held this year, it has the largest total prize money. This is the 50th edition of the tournament, and no player has achieved back-to-back wins yet. The defending champion is world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (USA). Except for Jon Rahm (Spain), ranked 3rd and affiliated with LIV Golf, all players ranked 1 to 10 in the world are participating. Korea is represented by 2017 champion Kim Si-woo, along with Kim Joo-hyung, Im Sung-jae, An Byeong-hun, Kim Seong-hyun, and Lee Kyoung-hoon.

The 17th hole (par 3) at The Players Championship is the decisive point. The hole length is only 137 yards. Players can easily reach the green with a pitching wedge, but the island green faces constantly changing wind directions and strengths, which is the problem. Every year, more than 50 balls are lost here, earning it the notorious nickname "the death hole." Last year, 58 golf balls were lost over four days. So far, a total of 926 balls have been lost. Bob Tway (USA) is the protagonist of the "historic disaster." On the third day in 2005, he scored a staggering 12 strokes, 9 over par.

An Byeong-hun, who entered the top 10 three times in seven tournaments this year, also collapsed with an "octuple bogey" in 2021. He suffered the misfortune of losing his ball in the water four times and finished the hole with 11 strokes, 8 over par. At that time, An Byeong-hun posted on social media, "Everyone has bad days in life, and we have to learn from them," adding, "Still, the tee shot on the 17th hole was terrible."

Of course, the 17th hole has not only been a nightmare. There have been quite a few hole-in-ones on the tee shot. Last year was a highlight, with three lucky hole-in-ones in a row. In the first round, Hayden Buckley (USA) made a hole-in-one. Then Aaron Rai (England) achieved one in the third round, and Alex Smoly (USA) became the hole-in-one hero in the fourth round. This was the 13th hole-in-one in the history of the 17th hole.