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Is a new green to blame for the carnage on the 17th hole at The Players?

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During the first round of The Players at TPC Sawgrass, there was an unusual amount of shots hit into the water around the island green 17th hole, especially considering the relatively calm conditions that mother nature delivered.

In total 35 balls found the drink – and it should be noted that there are a couple more groups that still need to finish their first-round since it was suspended due to darkness.

During the first-round (to this point) the total of 35 balls in the water puts it only second behind the 2007 first-round where the final tally was 50 – but the difference being it was a much windier day. It had a lot of players questioning whether it was the fault of the green?

The reason is the 17th green was rebuilt this past summer of 2020 to improve the overall health of the green complex. The contours and shaping were kept identical to the previous design, but new greens take time to mature and although it might look the same as others on the course it’s what’s underneath that counts.

From the USGA

“New putting greens are highly susceptible to thinning and wear injury because they have not yet developed a thin layer of organic matter between the grass and the soil. This thin mat layer is necessary for the grass to be resilient and receive incoming shots without experiencing exploding ball marks and collapsing edges around the hole. The mat layer is formed as the grass goes through its normal growing processes, depositing old leaves, stems, and roots. Maintenance practices such as aeration and topdressing make sure that the mat layer has enough sand intermixed amongst the old plant material, so it does not become excessive and hold moisture.”

This underlying layer could be just that much firmer than other greens around The Stadium course which is causing players issues in judging bounce and roll-out. Although it’s a small sample size the majority of the balls that did find the water did so over the back vs short so the data would suggest it is a likely cause.

One player that took notice was Justin Thomas who brought up the 17th green during his post-round press conference.

“That green is substantially firmer than the rest of them, I would say. I had a 5-iron on 2 today that rolled out probably eight paces and then I had a pitching wedge on that hole that rolled out like six. So that, it doesn’t add up.”

Whether firmer or not, the 17th green always creates lots of drama and excitement at The Players and the rest of the tournament is going to be exciting to watch.

Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Rory Mcllroy

    Mar 15, 2021 at 6:27 pm

    It’s all Bryson’s fault!

  2. Ondra

    Mar 13, 2021 at 3:06 am

    Why is JT complaining ? No practice round before Players ?

    • Slap Happy

      Mar 14, 2021 at 3:32 pm

      JT will cry his way around the course.

  3. Throat Puncher

    Mar 12, 2021 at 7:50 pm

    I want to punch Jimmy Roberts in the throat.

  4. Ty Tryon

    Mar 12, 2021 at 10:28 am

    They all should have figured that out during their practice round(s). The health of the course comes first, the players have to figure out how to handle those changes

    • sprcoop

      Mar 12, 2021 at 11:08 am

      Exactly what I was thinking. Not rocket science. It’s not like all the greens are identical. What about high spots on the green being harder etc.? Whiner.

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It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy. Various versions have evolved over the years, sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose (injected humour and the like).

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Scottie Scheffler leads the betting ahead of the second major championship of the year, with the World Number One a +345 favorite to get his hands on a second PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy who won the Masters back in April is a +800 shot to complete half of the calendar slam at Aronimink Golf Club this week, while Jordan Spieth can be backed at +5900 to become a career grand slam winner.

Here is the full betting board for the 2026 PGA Championship courtesy of DraftKings.

Scottie Scheffler +345 – (Check 0ut his WITB here)

Rory McIlroy +800 – (Check out his WITB here)

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Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

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GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.

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