It’s in the unique category of golf conversations, where one only needs to mutter “Island Green,” and the person or persons will immediately understand where they’re headed—No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass.
Few holes in golf are as famous, a mistake (it wasn’t originally to be an island green) that exemplifies a sport that thrives on them. Playing between 125 to 140 yards, the 78 feet of green and the water that surrounds it has long been a nerve-wracking battle of short-yardage control, where golfers have to battle themselves along with the winds and Lady Luck.
The par-3 17th has become a must-see moment during the Players Championship, too. Since 2003’s tourney, 757 balls have landed in the water at the 17th, 49 of them in 2019—including a donation by Tiger Woods:
Woods carded a quadruple-bogey (7) that day, the same as Sergio Garcia’s 2013 meltdown that helped end his title chances. Neither makes the worst of the worst, though.
Currently, the 10 highest scores on No. 17 belong to these guys:
Ronnie Black, 1984: 8
The first round of the 1984 Players Championship at the Stadium Course has been labeled the “Meanest Day at 17.” With 40-mph wind gusts, guys were playing anything from a 5-iron to a wedge. That day, the hole played 122 over par (a 3.8-plus average). Ronnie Black stepped away from a logjam of six golfers who recorded a seven, one-upping the pack with a dreaded ‘snowman.’
Len Mattiace, 1998: 8
Mattiace’s woes on the 17th highlighted an unfortunate tale. Trailing by one stroke in the final round in 1998, he stepped to the tee box with hopes of continuing an impressive round and pulling off an incredible victory. His mother, who was wheel-chair bound and battling lung cancer, was there to watch her son take on the iconic test. It would be an epic storyline. Like many golfers, though, he struggled, and when he finally finished the hole, the quintuple-bogey knocked him from contention to fifth.
Roger Maltbie, 1990: 9
The now on-course analyst had a tough time on the 17th during the 1990 Players Championship. Maltbie, who was one of the more entertaining figures on Tour at that time—which included his ability to switch-putt depending on the break—carded a nine in the second round. He withdrew from the tournament after finishing with an 85, citing a “45-minute virus.” (Up to that point, Maltbie’s nine was tied for highest score in the tournament’s 17 years. (But he wouldn’t be atop the mountain for long.)
Rex Caldwell, 1983: 9
1983 produced two unwanted PGA trivia answers for Rex Caldwell. First, at the ’83 Phoenix Open, he was part of an eight-hole sudden-death playoff that was won by Bob Gilder. It’s tied for the second-longest sudden-death playoff in PGA history. Then he carded a nine during the second round of the Players Championship, the highest-ever score at the time. Caldwell’s ’83 ended on a better note, though, when he outlasted Lee Trevino at the LaJet Coors Classic for his first (and only) PGAS Tour win.
Angel Cabrera, 2012: 9
The two-time major champion was another golfer to feel the ‘ill’ effects of a poor showing on the 17th. After carding a nine during the first round of the 2012 Players Championship, Cabrera withdrew from the tournament, citing “personal reasons.”
Russell Knox, 2016: 9
Shanks a lot! Russell Knox had a disastrous third-round showing at the 17th back in 2016, an assortment of follies that included the unwelcome Roy ‘Tin Cup” McAvoy yips. The Jacksonville-area resident decided against playing a drop after his first ball found the drink, taking another go from the tee box—which ended up being a direct-right shank. He tried again from the tee and added his third ball to the eventual scuba diver’s collection. He finally played his fourth tee shot from the drop and got on the green. A two-putt later and he went from top 10 to the ceiling of the top 50.
Zac Blair, 2017: 9
Blair rounds out the crowed list of quintuple-bogies on the 17th, but he added a little…um…flare…to his nine. After hitting his first shot into the water during the second round of the 2017 Players, Blair refused to hit from the drop area, instead choosing to tee it up again from the tee box. Again: water-bound. Then, he did it again. (I’d like to think Kevin Costner saw this and smiled.) Unlike Russell Knox the previous year, however, Blair kept going at it from the tee. On his fourth attempt from the tee (laying seven), Blair, with his new fan base behind him, landed his shot on the green. He would two-putt for a crowd-pleasing nine. The group he was paired with—Blayne Barber and Tyrone Van Aswegan—also hit balls in the water, totaling five for the trio.
Phil Blackmar, 1990: 10
During the same round of the 1990 Players Championship that saw Roger Maltbie card a nine on the 17th, Phil Blackmar one-upped his colleague and carded a 10. As Blackmar tells it, his 9-iron skipped over the back of the green (the pin was in the back that day), and it landed in the water. Frustrated, he hit a wedge on his second shot, which also found the water. Sans tee, Blackmar then cranked a ball into the 16th fairway—a safe, but crazy play—and eventually got on the green. A few lackadaisical putts later, and Blackmar had rewritten the Island Green History Book.
Robert Gamez, 1990: 11
Blackmar’s reign would last one round. Robert Gamez, the hot rookie from the University of Arizona (who dropped out), had won the 1990 Tucson Open. He was 21. He was flashy. Things were clicking, including a huge win at Bay Hill. He stepped to the 17th during the third round of the Players Championship, however, and the wheels came off—a splashy display that ended with an 11 and Gamez telling his mom, “I don’t want to play this game anymore.”
Bob Tway, 2005: 12
Bob Tway’s third-round effort on the 17th in 2005 has become a footnote with the infamous Island Green. The former-PGA Championship winner knocked four balls in the water that day, a causality of the 25 mph gusts that tormented the approach. Tway was tied for 10th when he hit his first shot on the 17th, and when he finally sank his putt, he was tied for 72nd…but No. 1 in the history books. He was on his own island, for now—but 2020 awaits, with No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass ready to wreak havoc on the weary!
*Angelo Spagnolo, 1986: 66
So, it’s not an “official” score at the hands of a professional, but you can’t talk about the worst score on the 17th and not mention Angelo Spagnolo. He will forever stand for the everyday golfer—or, those who dabble in the 50-plus handicap range—and what could happen when challenging the Island Green. Spagnolo was part of Golf Digest’s ‘America’s Worst Avid Golfer’ competition back in ’86, which was held at TPC Sawgrass.
The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native was 104 over par as he stepped up to the 17th tee box, in contention to be crowned un-royal. What followed was a historical display into the watery donation basket. Spagnolo, as you’d almost expect from a 50 handicapper, didn’t have the shot-making ability to land the ball on the green. Again and again, he shot found the drink. His eventually was given range balls, but still—splash! Finally, he was urged to putt around the hazard. He obliged, and 63 shots later, the hole was over. He finished the day 257 over, which was a lock for America’s Worst Avid Golfer.
