As we enter the second day of what many, including myself, consider golf's fifth major (Should be the fourth, but more about that later), I have to express my consternation about the annual criticism of the 17th hole at TPC at Sawgrass.
I birdied it yesterday. Gap wedge from 119 to about eight feet and made the putt.
OK, so I was playing the 17th at Wooden Sticks GC, northeast of Toronto, with some friends. Wooden Sticks features holes whose designs "are inspired by" famous courses such as St. Andrews, Pine Valley, Carnoustie, Augusta, and Sawgrass-specifically, the island-green par-3 17th. After 17, you play in on a reasonable facsimile of the 18th at the Old Course. Great fun.
Over the course of a season, more than 100,000 golf balls end up in the pond surrounding the 17th at Sawgrass; in last year's Players Championship, a new record of 50 balls found the proverbial watery grave. This, from the world's best golfers.
Bob Tway can relate. In 2005, he was at seven-under when he addressed his ball on the 17th tee during the third round. When he putted out, he was at five-over after making a 12. He still holds the record for the highest score on that hole during the tournament.
So, when you read Ernie Els's quote in today's stories that the 17th green should be "blown up," take this into account: The official transcript of Els's media conference reads, "Anybody will be wanting to blow up 17 after making a six." Whether the transcript has been sanitized is anyone's guess, but I would think if Els made birdie (like me), he would be speaking in glowing terms about the Pete Dye design.
To me, a large part of the allure of this tournament is the nefarious and unpredictable nature of the penultimate hole, and the fact that it produces such controversy and contradiction.
Prior to last year's TPC, Tiger Woods called the hole "gimmicky," then moments later said it was "wonderful."
In defence of his apparent waffling, Woods was likely criticizing not the hole itself, but where it falls in the routing. He said having so much riding on such an idiosyncratic hole as you come to the wire at a tournament is unfair.
Many players disagree. Paul Goydos, for example, said after yesterday's round (at Sawgrass, not Wooden Sticks) that it's "tremendous. I couldn't imagine not having the hole on 17 … I think what you want down the stretch on Sunday … is a chance for big swings on the leaderboard, and I think this golf course brings that to the plate, and that's what Augusta National used to bring to the plate."
And that brings me to a topic for another time: Why The Masters is the weakest and most overrated major.
(You can watch live coverage of 17 by visiting www.pgatour.com.)
John Gordon (www.johngordon.net) is Sportsnet's golf analyst.