Generally regarded as the “5th major”, the stage is set for the 2022 edition of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass as 48 of the top 50 players in the world will be in action this week. The most iconic Pete Dye course, TPC Sawgrass is a true Florida-style test and hosts perhaps the most competitive and thrilling tournament of the year.
Located in Ponte Vedra Beach on 415 acres of northeastern Florida swampland, and purchased for the sum total of $1, it is one mile west of the Atlantic Ocean. Completed in 1980 under the guidance of PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman, the “swampy jungle” was initially full of alligators, deer, wild boars and poisonous snakes.
Measuring out at 7,256 yards, TPC Sawgrass is a shorter, positional, “less than driver” course. Beman instructed designer Pete Dye to build a true test that would not favor one type of player. So Dye did what he does best. He crafted a balanced course that forces strategic positional tee shots and approaches around complex bunkers and numerous water hazards. There are dog-leg holes that turn both ways and overall, the course is routed so that no two consecutive holes play in the same direction. The course is so equitable and yet full of variance that every single hole has at least an eight percent Birdie or Better % and an eight percent Bogey %.
Even with such a balanced layout, TPC Sawgrass is one of the most volatile courses on Tour. With so much trouble lurking, the line separating success from complete failure is minuscule. This is a big reason why there is such little correlation to past leaderboards. Overall, many of the top-ranked players have just as many missed cuts over the years as top-10 finishes. As Dye himself said, “The mark of a good golf course is when one player can be going for 63 while six others are struggling for 78.” Those that strategize and think their way around the course, combined with pure ball-striking, will be rewarded with the best chances to score.
Since the event moved from May to March back in 2019, the scoring average at TPC Sawgrass has been -0.03 under par. It ranks as the 17th toughest scoring course on Tour. The two-month date change has had such a dramatic effect on how the course has played that it does not make sense to take much of the pre-2019 results into account. With coastal winds gustier in March, scoring is more unpredictable. The course plays softer due to more precipitation. With it so early in the growing season, the Bermuda grass is still dormant. Thus, the course is overseeded with rye on the fairways and rough. The makes the 2.5” rough much easier to hit out of, especially around the greens where Bermuda rough can be quite tricky. According to course Superintendent, Jeff Plotts, greens this week are 100% Poa trivialis.
With the ninth most bunkers and the highest amount of holes with water danger on Tour, there are plenty of means for wayward shots to be penalized. These, along with coastal winds and fast greens are the course’s main defense. Limiting any damage and scrambling for pars and bogeys are the best ways to stay afloat and keep one’s chances alive.
Three of the par 3s are under 185 yards including the infamous 17th hole island green. The par 4s are a mix of challenging holes that include a lot of risks and some rewards. The toughest five are also the longest. Almost all of the par 4s are “S-shaped” as Dye wanted both the draw and fade to be in play. The par 5s are where scoring becomes crucial as three of them are reachable in two shots. Overall, those four holes have a Birdie or Better percentage of 39.4%.
With positional shots off the tee the norm, it is to a player’s advantage to scale back and use less than driver on many of the par 4s. Dye’s setup mitigates the advantage of longer hitters and will reward players who have elite approach games and can scramble around the greens. The move to March does bring cooler air and fairways with less bounce. This has allowed driving distance to inch upwards a bit from prior events, but it is still one of the shortest driving courses on Tour.
One of the biggest themes on PLAYERS leaderboards is driving accuracy. Keeping the ball in play and avoiding the bunkers and water hazards is crucial. TPC Sawgrass had the fourth most penalty strokes on Tour last year. Dye devilishly positioned many of the hazards in conformity with the angle of the green to encourage players to hit towards the trouble areas. Even with so many golfers clubbing down off the tee, driving accuracy is still only at the Tour average of 61%. Though the 2.5” rough doesn’t seem that penal to the eye, proximity to the hole from the rough is 28% further here compared to the average course.
To win at TPC Sawgrass it is absolutely vital to have a great week with your irons. That being said, the ability to gain strokes on approach is the 3rd toughest on Tour. More specifically, approaches from inside 150 yards are the toughest anywhere. Greens are the 16th smallest on Tour and their firmness will be one of the determining factors in how challenging the course will play. With proximities to the hole being so challenging, the best iron players and those in positive “approach” form have an advantage on the field.
With having to save par or bogey a common theme (especially if weather comes into play), players will have to scramble on numerous occasions. Even though the lush rye makes scrambling easier, it is still 22% harder than the Tour average. The Poa Trivialis greens this week run smooth and pure and are much different than the bumpy west coast Poa annua. There are only four other courses with similar greens to TPC Sawgrass, which would include TPC Scottsdale, PGA West Stadium, Innisbrook and TPC San Antonio. While putting on these greens are overall tougher than average, results show that one does not need to have a “great” putting week to win here.
Key Course Stats Compared to Tour Average
*Green = easier
Red = more difficult
Top 10 Most Important Stats
*In order of importance.
- SG: APP
- Total Driving
- Bogey Avoidance
- Scrambling
- Good Drive%
- Par 5 Scoring
- SG: Putting (Poa Trivialis courses)
- Par 4 Scoring
- Birdie or Better%
- SG: Total in Difficult Fields