The 17th at TPC Sawgrass. A phrase that resonates with every golfer.
The par-3 17th at TPC Sawgrass has become one of the most iconic holes in golf, mainly thanks to Pete Dye’s wife, Alice, whose idea it was to build a green in the middle of a swamp.
There have been many memorable moments from the Players Championship and many of those have come at the famous Sawgrass 17th hole.
Here are some of our favourites…
9. Fred Couples, 1999
It had been an opening round to forget for Couples. He stood on the 17th tee five-over par and looking to salvage what was left of his round.
It didn’t start well, his tee shot falling short and into the water. The coolest man in golf then holed his next for arguably the best par in Players history.
Couples went on to finish T4 in the tournament and cited the miracle hole-in-three as his inspiration to go on and make the cut.
8. Jhonattan Vegas, 2019
There have been plenty of notable putts holed on the iconic par-3 over the years but perhaps none more impressive than than Vegas’ long birdie effort in 2019.
7. Rickie Fowler, 2015
Seven years after his play-off win, Garcia found himself on the receiving end of a fabulous Sawgrass 17th tee shot. This time it would be Fowler who prevailed.
Fowler hit his tee shot close enough to set up a birdie to see off Garcia and Kevin Kisner at the first extra hole.
6. Russell Knox, 2016
Knox felt the full force of the 17th hole during the third round in 2016.
Standing on the tee at eight-under-par, the Scotsman hit three tee shots in the water to blow his chance of winning the Players.
Knox saw the funny side of the collapse the next day as he flung his arms in the air after finding the green with his tee shot.
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5. Steve Lowery, 1998
It wasn’t a shot at the 17th that grabbed the headlines at the 1998 Players Championship. Instead, a seagull would provide the most entertaining moment.
Lowery had just found the middle of the green with his tee shot only for the bird to pick up his ball and drop in the water surrounding the island green.
4. Miguel Angel Jimenez, 2002
It wouldn’t be a par-3 without a Miguel Angel Jimenez hole-in-one. The Spaniard holds the record on the European Tour for the most aces, with 10.
Miguel was also the last person to score a hole-in-one on the 17th until the 2016 tournament, holding the accolade for 14 years.
But Miguel, where was the famous dance!?
3. Will Wilcox, 2016
We had to wait 14 years and more than 6,000 tee shots for the next ace at Sawgrass 17th.
How’s this for a celebration?
2. Sergio Garcia, 2017
Just one month after claiming his first major championship at The Masters, Sergio Garcia continued his dream season with a memorable ace.
The 2008 Players champion hit a perfect 52-degree wedge to become only the eighth player to hit a hole-in-one on the infamous hole.
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1. Tiger Woods, 2001
You can’t have a memorable moments list without Tiger Woods.
Trailing by three shots, Tiger found himself on the fringe of the 17th hole with a tough downhill putt to follow.
Well, you know what happened next…
He went on to win the tournament that year – and to this day remains the last player to win the Masters and Players in the same season.
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