TPC at Sawgrass, island green don’t fit eye of Tiger
The first iconic fist pump of Tiger Woods’ career came at the 17th hole at the TPC at Sawgrass. Wearing khaki shorts and a panama hat, Woods rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt from the fringe, completing a rally from 6-down against Trip Kuehne in winning the 1994 U.S. Amateur.
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But 15 years later, even Woods shudders at the prospect of playing the infamous island-green No. 17 at the TPC at Sawgrass.
Woods has called the hole “gimicky” and inappropriately placed at the 17th, suggesting it should be on the front nine. Woods returned to Sawgrass Tuesday for this week’s Players Championship.
“When you play it on Tuesday and Wednesday, it’s a pretty easy hole, a little flip 9-iron, no big deal,” said Woods. “You get out there in the tournament, all the sudden, and the green seems to shrink a little bit.”
And Woods seems to do the same at Sawgrass, where he has just one win (2001) in 11 appearances and one close call, finishing second to Hal Sutton in a memorable Monday duel in 2000. In 44 rounds, Woods has played Sawgrass’s par-three holes in an aggregate 24-over-par.
Asked to describe the Pete Dye course in one word, Woods called it “tricky,” Tuesday morning, adding, “not just visually, but also if the wind blows here.”
Since the Players moved to Sawgrass in 1982, no one has won more than twice. The list of victors in this decade ranges from long hitters (Davis Love III) to short (Fred Funk), from creative geniuses (Phil Mickelson) to automatrons (Sutton), from brilliant talents (Sergio Garcia) to flash-in-the-pans (Craig Perks).
“More players have a chance to win here,” said Woods. “You can say the same for [Quail Hollow] as well. There’s certain golf courses that have bunched leader boards and this is one of them.”
One thing Sawgrass demands is precise driving. That doesn’t bode well for Woods who struggled from the tee in the Masters and last week at Quail Hollow, where he finished fourth. Woods ranks 136th on the tour in driving accuracy and 185th in total driving, prompting him to experiment with equipment changes.
“I tried a couple of different shafts last week, trying to get a little better flight to the golf ball, but I went back to my old driver,” said Woods. “This morning I was trying different lengths to my driver. Again, stuck with my same old driver. So I haven’t changed.”
Woods’ comeback from knee surgery, he said, has been stalled by his inability to hit practice balls after rounds. But he was recently cleared to do so and expects to be able to use those practice sessions to work out the kinks in his swing.
Another test for Woods’ left knee comes this week as he plays on back-to-back weeks for the first time in 14 months.
“That’s the unknown. That’s one of the challenges we were looking at, at the beginning of the year,” said Woods. “I haven’t had any setbacks so far this year. That’s a big thing going into my second week playing in a row. You would think that’s no big deal, but to me it is.”
