Many of the best golfers in the game have talked about the psychological impact of the 17th hole - how, during the final round of The Players Championship, those golfers in contention know throughout the round that the island green is lurking up ahead.
The hole's fearsome reputation belies its ranking on the scorecard as only the No. 13 handicap hole at TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course.
How did Pete Dye come up with the idea for this hole? He didn't - his wife, Alice Dye, also a golf course architect, is the one who suggested the island green to Pete. A huge amount of dirt had been excavated from this part of the golf course for use elsewhere during construction. Alice essentially said to Pete, "Why don't you just fill in that hole with water?" And the island green 17th at TPC Sawgrass was born.
