The PGA Tour would very much like for The Players Championship to be considered a “fifth Major,” and in many respects it is, boasting perhaps the strongest field in golf. The inaugural rounds were played at the Atlanta Country Club in 1974. The tournament was played at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth in 1975, and at the Inverrary Country Club in Ft. Lauderdale in 1976. In 1977, it moved to Ponte Verde Beach, Florida. From 1977 to 1981, it was played at the Sawgrass Country Club. In 1982, it was moved to the Stadium Course, commonly referred to as the TPC at Sawgrass (The Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass). The TPC at Sawgrass is perhaps most famous for its island green on the par 3 17th hole.

Below, you’ll find a list of all the past champions of The Players Championship, their winning scores, and the margin of victory.

The TPC Sawgrass boasts perhaps the most famous hole in golf—the island green 17th—but the rest of the course doesn’t evoke such interest. However, in examining it closely with satellite images from Google Earth, I found a course that’s not only long (more than 7,200 yards), but that is also mentally taxing. As a high school golf coach, I will help my players plan their way around an unfamiliar course by drawing lines on a scorecard, helping them to plan their shots to maximize reward for the risk. Most important, I thought, was to plan the tee shot so that they could get the best look at the green.

But that turned out to be fiendishly difficult at the TPC Sawgrass. Usually, the best like to the green is guarded by imposing bunkers, water or trees (and sometimes all three). On a lot of the holes I couldn’t figure out where the “bail out” shot was.

Of course, I’m thinking like a mid handicapper who coaches high school golf. The Tour player likely see it quite differently. But from The Golf Blogger’s perspective, it looks like a trip through golfing hell. I firmly believe that every hole should have a variety of options for play, including an easy one that’s bound to lead to a bogey, but at least prevents a disaster. But I don’t think that Pete Dye agrees with me.

At any rate, you can see a couple of satellite photos below, and hole-by-hole satellite photos of the entire TPC Sawgrass course here.

In spite of their whining about a lack of Tiger sightings, EDS has decided to extend their agreement with the PGA Tour to sponsor the Byron Nelson tournament.

EDS has extended its commitment as title sponsor of the EDS Byron Nelson Championship through 2014, PGA TOUR officials have announced. This is the second early extension agreed to between EDS and the Salesmanship Club of Dallas since EDS became title sponsor in 2003. Financial terms of the extension were not disclosed.

“We believe in this tournament and appreciate the tremendous impact it has in the Dallas community, and we are excited about the opportunity to play a key role in its future,” said Ron Rittenmeyer, chairman, president and chief executive officer of EDS.

“The EDS Byron Nelson Championship is our hometown PGA TOUR event and provides a great venue for us to attract our key clients, as well as a wonderful opportunity for our employees to get involved in supporting a great cause,” he added. “The Championship is woven into the fabric of our employee base. This year alone we have over 300 employees from 24 states and 11 foreign countries volunteering at the tournament.

The bottom line is that all but a few exclusive tournaments are going to have to get used to not having Tiger attend. And short of passing a bill of attainder against Tiger, there’s really nothing the PGA Tour can do.

It’s interesting that the terms of the extension weren’t disclosed. I’ll bet EDS got a cut rate deal.

It was quite an exciting finish to yesterday’s Byron Nelson.

First Adam Scott had to make a birdie putt to get into a playoff with Ryan Moore. Then, he blasted his way out of a bunker and sank a 50 foot putt to win on the third hole of sudden death.

It’s interesting how the strategy changes in a playoff—what essentially is a match play event. On the second hole of the playoff, Moore had hit a ball to the far side of an undulating green, some sixty feet away. At that point, you could see Scott thinking. If he played it safe, and got his ball inside Moore’s he could be sure of at least matching his opponent. Best case was that Moore would misread the green, and give himself a difficult second putt for par. On the other hand, if Scott went right at the flag—just over a water hazard—he might get a birdie and end it all there.

I love those sort of strategic decisions.

Scott went for the flag, just sneaking the ball over the hazard. Unfortunately, his putt didn’t break as he thought it might, and Moore’s two putts were good. So they went back to the 18th for a third hole.

A hole like that, however, really drives home Bobby Jones dictum that golf is played on a five and a half inch course—the space between your ears.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution has a profile of Kevin Hall, the deaf golfer on the Nationwide Tour.