TPC Sawgrass has a chance for wild finish

Associated Press

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla.

Padraig Harrington would be among the thousands of fans surrounding the island green on the TPC Sawgrass if he came to The Players Championship as a spectator instead of a three-time major champion.

Is there any other place to watch?

Perhaps no other golf course is more defined by a single hole than the par-3 17th at the Players Stadium Course, which is not to suggest it’s one of the great holes in golf or among the most beloved.

Exciting? Usually. Pivotal? Sometimes.

It is part of one of the more dynamic closing stretches on the PGA Tour, coming after the reachable par-5 16th with water framing the right side of the final 200 yards, and before the tough 18th hole, where the wind typically comes in from the left off a lake that runs down the entire side of the hole.

“But 17 is the one because there is glory and some horror shows there,” Harrington said. “And we all, as spectators, that’s what we want to see. We want to see the highs and lows and the emotions. You’ll see a lot of them on 17.”

There should be plenty of action, for sure, when The Players Championship gets under way today.

The PGA Tour’s version of a major championship has all the ingredients for a big show this year. Phil Mickelson has a chance to go to No. 1 in the world for the first time in his career, provided Tiger Woods finishes out of the top five.

Henrik Stenson is the defending champion, and Europeans are trying to win this event for the third straight year. Those hopes lie with players like Rory McIlroy, who won at Quail Hollow with a round of 62 that will be talked about the rest of the year.

But despite having the course for a spectacular finish, the tournament hasn’t delivered too many of those lately.

In the last four years, the only time the tournament had suspense over the closing holes was when Sergio Garcia made par on the 18th to get into a playoff, then won on the 17th when Paul Goydos hit into the water.

“The golf course isn’t boring,” said Harrington. “That is the last thing you could ever accuse it of being.”

Mickelson doesn’t blink when comes to daring plays, yet he says it was only until he stopped trying to make a birdie on the 17th hole and settled for a par that he won his first Players Championship in 2007.

A month after the Masters, there is at least one parallel with Augusta National — no lead is safe on the back nine.

“Both back nines are filled the drama, and drama is highs and lows,” Hal Sutton, the 2000 champion here, said.

“It’s eagles and double [bogeys], you know? I think the difference here is that the drama can be on the last three holes, and the drama usually unfolds at Augusta before it gets to the last three holes.”