Players Championship: Analyzing 4 most challenging holes at TPC Sawgrass

The TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida is most famous for two things. It's the Player Championship and the par 3 hole 17.

This 137-yard par-3 is one of the world's most famous short holes, and can be argued that it is perhaps second only to the Augusta National's 12th hole.

But all golf fans know the 17th and how the water surrounds the greenery of this island.

Instead of exploring the nuances of hole 17, we decided to go in a different direction, instead of exploring some of the other holes that TPC Sawgrass gives that character.

We analyzed four of the most challenging holes from the 2024 Championship Championship, which Scottie Scheffler won. Anyone who plays the best in this series of holes will have a chance to win on a Sunday afternoon.

4. Hole 5-Par 4, 469 yards

The trouble is always coming from the right side of this beastly par 4.

Dogleg right, the fairway twists and spins like a snake, but features a relatively generous landing area. That said, the ideal shot from the tee is fade.

A long sand trap and water lurking along the right, with two other bunkers sitting on the left side of the fairway. Pushed tee shots will find a trap. Alternatively, go further right and you will find a penalty area. You will need a 320 yard carry to clear this problem.

Ask Keith Mitchell. I was frustrated and found the water In the fifth season.

However, players should prefer the right half of the fairway. Because it offers a better angle.

This field is well protected by waste bunkers, mounds and palm trees, using irons that are long in the second shot.

The green is mainly sloping from the back to the front, but it features several outflows, as on the right.

There is another spill slope towards the deep bunker that you have to sit and leave long enough to avoid.

Overall, in 2024, the fifth hole produced 62 birdies, producing over 67 bogeys and 14 double bogeys. Anyone who leaves with four in this hole will be happy.

3. Hole 8-par3, 236 yards

Photographed by Chris Condon/PGA Tour

On hole 8, the most challenging PAR-3 in TPC Sawgrass, some players need to hit long irons, while others hit the fairway wood into a severely sloping narrow green.

The length itself is a challenge, but so is the nine bunkers scattered around the putting surface.

There are two kidney-shaped traps on the green front, one with the left and one with the trap. The green then tilts from these two bunkers and leaks towards the center of the green. Sometimes players who hit a tee shot near it will see a lucky bouncing as the tee shot drips from the slope from the carom towards the hole.

However, most of the time it bounces back into the trap, leading to difficult ups and downs.

Unfortunately, the eighth hole only gave up 53 birdies a year ago. It produced 93 bogeys and seven doubles or less, playing an overall average score of 3.125, making it the third most challenging hole.

2. Hole 18-Par 4, 462 yards

Photo by Jennifer Perez/PGA Tour

You cannot leave on the 18th on the par 4. This explains why the finishing holes in TPC sawgrass were the second most difficult in 2024.

It played 0.253 strokes on par and saw the player make 92 bogeys. More than 28 double bosies were recorded, mainly due to the large lake that this dogleg enveloped.

Ideal shot shape Tee-off is a drawhowever, players cannot over hook it for obvious reasons. However, if the draw is not executed and the tee shot is missed to the right, trees, thick coarse, spectator mounds, and poor angles await. Perhaps other tees filmed around the world have not exemplified this kind of sparkle of Pete Dye. Relief is not a good option, but many players do so because of the water remaining.

These trees on the right sit 281 yards from the tee, with many players holding the property for many years. Anyone with a tee shot faces difficult situations and often gets bogeyed or bad.

Like tee shots, this approach also requires precision. The lake stretches all the way to the putting surface so you cannot go left.

The bunker also sits on the left with a green length. This is an absolute no-go.

However, remedying properly is not an option.

From about 60 yards from the green center, the mound and waste bunker sits short and on the right. Players who pushed their tee shots into the tree will need to deal with these “gumdrop”-shaped ridges.

They only lead to nasty lies and frustration.

Similarly, this two layers of green, which are mainly sloping from the front to the front. This will also gently lower the greenery towards the water.

The 18th may be difficult, but it's a great finishing hole.

1. Hole 14-Par 4, 481 yards

Photographed by Chris Condon/PGA Tour

Players will need to find a fairway from the tee if they expect to leave at least 14 pars.

A terrible, rough, vast mound sits on the right side of the fairway, with a long, thin trap of sand running through the entire length of the left hole. The water is on the other side of the bunker, absorbing badly pulled tee shots.

With that in mind, the landing area itself is quite large.

Still, if a player finds a fairway from the tee, the second shot won't be easy.

The same trap of sand stretches into green and snatches the pulled approach. A tough up-in is waiting for anyone who finds it.

Five other pot bunkers and sand traps are scattered across this intricate putting surface. It has numerous swells and slopes, including those on the right half of the green. Short shorts will flow down into the collection area.

Last year, the 14th was ranked as the most challenging hole in TPC Sawgrass, with only 33 birdies giving up. Meanwhile, 99 bodies are made, with most holes, and it does not include anything other than the 22 double bodies.

Jack Mirco is a golf staff writer who plays SB Nation. Follow him with x @jack_milko.