By now we’ve all seen the commercials of PGA players approaching the par-three 17th Island Green at TPC Sawgrass with a hefty dose of trepidation as Run-DMC’s It’s Tricky or Stevie Nicks’ Edge of Seventeen plays in the background.
What usually follows is a knee-buckling montage of elite golfers watching their tee shots roll back into the water or miss the island entirely. And there’s no shortage of people watching at home who can’t wait to criticize these pros for missing a 137-yard chip shot that they believe is all too easy.
Well, 95 amateurs were captured trying to prove it when TPC Sawgrass two months ago. It went spectacularly off the rails.
Seasoned golfers of all ages and handicaps gave No. 17 their best shot —from an even shorter distance than the pros — and proved just how difficult one of the most famous holes in the sport really is thanks to data collected by the course.
The pros make it look easy. It's not.
We captured video and data of every amateur that played No. 17 @TPCSawgrass for one day.
The results … pic.twitter.com/xGp2vw8EVq
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 6, 2023
Here are some quick stats from just one day of tracking shots:
- 95 players put 102 balls into the water
- Every group that played hit at least one shot in the water
- 3 of 95 amateurs carded a birdie
- 23 of 95 made par
- 57 of 95 made double bogey or worse
- Total score to par +225
- Curse words uttered: incalculable
Dating back to 2013, the 109 pros have hit 13 shots into the water. The amateurs likely eclipsed that number by the time the third group reached No. 17.
What’s most telling about the video is just how nerve-wracking it is for amateurs to stand in the tee box even when their round has already gone well above their typical score. Amateurs talked about being 100-over par on the day and still feeling the anxiety that comes with staring down the island.
Rates to get onto the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass start at $600 between September and May. Of course, if you’d like your money back afterwards, you can always jump in the water at No. 17 and collect the thousands of Titleist Pro-V1s sitting at the bottom of the pond.
Let’s do some quick math and say an average 100 balls per day go into the drink. That’s around 27,200 during peak season,
Remember that the next time you get ready to laugh at the best golfers in the world for missing a chip shot.
