Records on TPC Sawgrass' 17th Hole

The 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass is one of the most famous in golf, and each year the hole plays a pivotal role in The Players Championship. What are the records for the hole - the bests and worsts and mosts - during Players Championship week? Records are listed below, including the number of balls hit into the water during each tournament.

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Balls in the Water, Highest Score, Aces and More on the 17th Hole

Ben Curtis hits his tee shot on the 17th hole during the third round of the 2011 Players Championship
Scott Halleran/Getty Images

How many balls are hit into the water each year on the 17th hole during The Players Championship? The PGA Tour has kept records on this only since the 2003 tournament. Here are the numbers:

  • 2019 - 45 balls in the water on No. 17
  • 2018 - 53
  • 2017 - 69
  • 2016 - 36
  • 2015 - 45
  • 2014 - 28
  • 2013 - 44
  • 2012 - 39
  • 2011 - 40
  • 2010 - 29
  • 2009 - 32
  • 2008 - 64
  • 2007 - 93
  • 2006 - 67
  • 2005 - 68
  • 2004 - 30
  • 2003 - 29

What is the highest score on No. 17 during the Players?
Bob Tway holds the record for worst score on the 17th hole during The Players Championship with a 12 in the third round of the 2005 tourney. Tway put four balls in the water, reached the green on his fifth attempt, then 3-putted.

Has anyone birdied the 17th hole all four rounds of The Players Championship?
Yes, that has happened twice in tournament history. Paul Azinger accomplished the feat first at the 1987 Players, then Kyle Stanley did it in the 2017 tourney.

How many holes-in-one have there been at No. 17?
There have been eight aces scored on TPC Sawgrass' No. 17 during The Players Championship:

  • 2017 - Sergio Garcia, first round
  • 2016 - Will Wilcox, second round
  • 2002 - Miguel Angel Jimenez, first round
  • 2000 - Paul Azinger, third round
  • 1999 - Joey Sindelar, first round
  • 1997 - Fred Couples, fourth round
  • 1991 - Brian Claar, third round
  • 1986 - Brad Fabel, first round

What is the longest putt made on the 17th?
That is a putt of 59 feet, 9 inches, made by Bernhard Langer during the second round of the 2008 tournament. (Note: Tiger Woods' 60-foot "better than most" putt in 2001 was from the fringe so, technically, under PGA Tour stat-keeping rules, doesn't count as a putt.)

Who has made the most birdies on the 17th?
That's Langer again with 24 career birdies on the TPC Sawgrass 17th. Hal Sutton is next on the list with 19.

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Other Players Championship Records Involving the 17th Hole

Birdie-Eagle Streaks
The record for best birdie-eagle streak at TPC Sawgrass during The Players Championship is 6-under over four holes by Fulton Allem in 1999. But two golfers have gone 5-under over four holes that include the 17th:

  • Sergio Garcia: birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie on holes 14-17 in final round, 2011
  • Mike Heinen: birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie on holes 14-17 in third round, 1995

Best Score Over Final Four Holes
The closing stretch of four holes at TPC Sawgrass can be one of the most exciting "stretch runs" in golf. The best cumulative score over the final four holes at The Players Championship is 11:

  • Rickie Fowler, fourth round, 2015

Seven other golfers have played the final four holes in 12 strokes:

  • Sergio Garcia, fourth round, 2011
  • Vaughn Taylor, fourth round, 2006
  • Padraig Harrington, fourth round, 2004
  • Tommy Tolles, second round, 1997
  • Rocco Mediate, fourth round, 1996
  • Fred Wadsworth, first round, 1987
  • Gary Koch, fourth round, 1983

Most Consecutive Birdies in One Round
Eight golfers have reeled off six consecutive birdies during the same round at The Players Championship. Tom Watson, Paul Azinger, Louis Oosthuizen, K.J. Choi and Tim Herron are five of them, but their streaks did not include the 17th hole. But three golfers' streaks did:

  • Rocco Mediate, holes 13-18, fourth round, 1996
  • Dave Rummells, holes 16-18 and 1-3, second round, 1986
  • Fred Wadsworth, holes 15-18 and 1-2, first round, 1987

Note that Rummells and Wadsworth began their rounds on the back nine and their birdie streaks continued over to the front nine. That makes Mediate the only golfer to birdie each of the final six holes of TPC Sawgrass consecutively.