There aren’t many courses in the world where a 137-yard par 3 is the hole every player will be thinking about and dreading all week, but that’s the case with the iconic “Island Green” on the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass.
Depending on the wind and pin position, players will be pulling wedges or a 9-iron on the 17th all week for the four (they hope) most nerve-racking short iron shots they will hit all season. There is nothing quite like the drama of the 17th hole, which truly begins with the players walking down the 16th, where it’s impossible not to glance across the water at the scene that awaits at the Island Green.
It is a generous green and a short approach, but when the wind picks up and swirls around the grandstands, it is downright diabolical. It’s the centerpiece of Pete Dye’s masterpiece, and it can be a kingmaker or a tournament ruiner, depending how you play it.
Typically, the winner of the tournament is someone who finds dry land all four days and successfully navigates their way through four trips to the Island Green without any drama. However, last year Rory McIlroy became the first to win The Players with an average score over par on the 17th hole since Webb Simpson in 2018.
On the week, McIlroy made three pars and two bogeys on the short par 3, including a three-putt in the playoff, but that was a moot issue after J.J. Spaun sent one sailing over the green and into the water to make a double bogey.
Some players love the atmosphere and challenge of the 17th, while others find it gimmicky. However they feel about it, it’s impossible to avoid if you want to call yourself a Players champion, and those who embrace the task at hand are often those rewarded with good fortune and dry golf balls.
As the 2026 Players Championship gets set to begin in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, we wanted to have some fun looking at key stats and numbers to know about one of the world’s most iconic golf holes.
Key stats for the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass
- 14: The number of aces on the 17th hole in Players Championship history.
- 836: The number of tee shots hit on the 17th hole since the last hole-in-one (Ryan Fox, 2024 first round).
- 12: The highest score ever posted on the 17th (Bob Tway, 2005 third round).
- 3.12: The scoring average of the 17th hole over the last 23 years. That’s the highest scoring average for a par 3 under 150 yards on the PGA Tour in that time.
- 2.81: Rickie Fowler’s scoring average on the 17th hole, which is the best scoring average of any player in the 2026 Players Championship field (min. 20 rounds played). His performance on No. 17 in 2015 won him the Players Championship and was capped off by a legendary tee shot on the fourth playoff hole against Kevin Kisner to set up the winning birdie — his third of the day on the 17th.
- 1,068: The total number of balls hit in the water on the 17th hole since 2003.
- 93: The most balls in the water in a single year on the 17th hole (2007).
- 39: The number of balls hit into the water in the 2025 Players Championship — somewhat incredibly, the same number as in 2024.
- 11: The number of balls Justin Rose has hit in the water on the 17th hole, the most of any player in the 2026 Players Championship field — Brooks Koepka is second with 10. Rose is three shy of the record for most balls hit in the water by a single player since 2003, held by Aaron Baddeley with 14.
- 71.00: The percentage of players to safely find the green in 2025. The lowest rate all-time was 65.96% in 2022, with the highest coming in 2014 when players hit the green 86.79% of the time.
- 1: Putts that were “Better than most.”
Article Originally Posted Here.