Profile / Editor / 06 May 2007 / Leave a Comment

Mark Calcavecchia once said: "It's like having a three o'clock appointment for a root canal. You're thinking about it all morning and you feel bad all day. You kind of know sooner or later you have to get it."

He can only have been talking about the infamous 17th hole with its island green on the Stadium Course at Sawgrass, and one of golf's most treacherous par threes will be back in all its glory at The Players' Championship this week.

It is estimated that around 100,000 balls are deposited into the water each year by amateurs trying to emulate their heroes - an average of three per player.

But it's not just amateurs who struggle to overcome the many dangers that lurk in front, on and beyond the 137-yard hole, with the par three having wrecked many a player's card when he has been in contention to win golf's 'fifth Major.'

Two years ago, when rain meant that both the third and fourth rounds had to be played on the Sunday, 54 balls found a watery grave on the final day.

An amazing 37 out of the 84 players that had made the cut proceeded to dump at least one ball in the water and it wasn't just the lesser players who suffered the grim fate - Tiger Woods made a splash in his third round while Phil Mickelson missed the target with three tee shots that day.

The hole ruined reigning US Masters champion Zach Johnson's hopes of winning that year as he eventually recovered to finish eighth, but nothing was quite as bad as the experience that befell Bob Tway in 2005.

The former USPGA Champion arrived at the hole well-placed in tenth position but left it 15 minutes later lying in a lowly 72nd place, courtesy of a tournament record 12 that included five attempts to find the green and a three putt for good measure.

The 17th is just one of the reasons that makes The Players' Championship one of the most eagerly awaited tournaments on the golfing calendar and its rescheduling to May strengthens its claim to be the game's 'fifth Major.'

Sawgrass has undergone some major changes since Stephen Ames ran away with the event in 2006, to win by a record-equalling six strokes, with some $8million having been spent to update Pete Dye's magnificent lay-out.

Every green has been dug up and re-laid with an underground air system similar to that at Augusta, while a massive 24,000 tons of organic material have been replaced with sand on the fairways to ensure better drainage and fast and firm conditions.

With the course having been built on marshland, in the past during wet weeks the average winning score was 13.6 under-par as opposed to 8.5 during dry weeks and the organisers are anxious that it returns to the fast, running conditions that were envisaged when it was created.

The TPC committee has been keen to make the challenge fair though and have decided not to lengthen the Stadium course from its present 7,093 yards.

But, with one of the toughest finishes anywhere in the world that tests every facet of a golfer's game, the player that walks away with the trophy this week will be crowned a worthy champion.

Ames was just that last year as, while those around him faltered, he carded an impressive final five-under-par round of 67 to storm clear of the field that contained 48 of the top 50 players in the world.

The result should not have been too much of a surprise. Ames had come runner-up before while he has finished in the top 20 in four of the last five years and he appears to relish the course.

Davis Love III and Freddie Couples are both dual winners of the tournament and know what's required to win, while Ernie Els has only missed the cut once in 12 years and has finished in the top 20 seven times in that spell, including tying for eighth in 2006.

His compatriot Retief Goosen has found the going somewhat tougher, missing the cut on six out of nine appearances, but his second place behind Ames last year suggests that better things are ahead.

Like most PGA tournaments, Tiger Woods has already tasted victory at Sawgrass but that was back in 2001 and he has not finished in the top ten since then.

Vijay Singh has one of the most consistent records at The Players' Championship having finished runner-up behind Woods six years ago and been placed in the top 15 for the last three years.

World number two Jim Furyk may be another player to watch after placing in the top five two of the last three years while Padraig Harrington boasts the best recent record of the Europeans having finished runner-up in 2003 and 2004.

Luke Donald also has good memories of Sawgrass having tied for second behind Fred Funk two years after leading for most of the tournament, but don't be surprised to see some of golf's shorter hitters in contention for honours come the final day.

The beauty of the Stadium course is that it gives all the field a chance. Justin Leonard - also not long off the tee - won here in 1998, Funk has finished in the top 20 the last three years while only Woods and Scott in the world's present top ten have won at Sawgrass.