An amazing shot that only Phil The Thrill would attempt.

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.

Continued...

U.S. TV Coverage (EST)
5/10, 1:00 - 7:00 p.m. GOLF
5/11, 1:00 - 7:00 p.m. GOLF
5/12, 2:00 - 7:00 p.m. NBC
5/13, 2:00 - 7:00 p.m. NBC

SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio (EST)
5/10, 12:00 - 7:00 p.m.
5/11, 12:00 - 7:00 p.m.
5/12, 12:00 - 7:00 p.m.
5/13, 12:00- 7:00 p.m.

A lot more coverage this week than normal. I particularly recommend PGA Tour radio. I’ve been listening to it on the computer, but I’m *this* close to buying a dedicated unit.

World number one Rory McIlroy is—appropriately I think—the favorite at this week’s Players Championship. Given 9/1 odds, he’s several points better than the next in line, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald. Both of those are 14/1, for an effective 6.67% chance of winning.

Phil Mickelson is next in at 20/1 along with—amazingly, I think, Tiger Woods. When will people wake up and realize that this guy isn’t a top five favorite in every tournament he enters. In case anybody wasn’t paying attention, Woods missed the cut at the Wells Fargo. To be sure, Mickelson barely made the line himself, but at least had a decent weekend and ended up in a T26.

Hunter Mahan, Jason Dufner and Steve Stricker are in the next group at 33/1. Mahan is just one of two PGA Tour players in his twenties with five or more wins (the other is Dustin Johnson). That’s a pretty good record. Dufner has actually shown flashes of brilliance in recent months, and Stricker is ... Stricker.

Finally, there’s a huge group at 40/1 (effective 2.44% chance of winning): Adam Scott, Jason Day, Jim Furyk, Justin Rose, Louis Oosthuizen, Nick Watney, Sergio Garcia and Webb Simpson. None of those would be a surprise to win.

The compete odds to win the 2012 Player Championship are below, courtesy of bovada.lv:

Here’s the infamous incident where a seagull stole Steve Lowry’s ball at the 17th at Sawgrass at the 1998 Players Championship.

Under the rules, the ball was deemed to have been moved by an outside agency.

There may be no more famous (or more imitated) hole in golf than the 17th at Sawgrass. Thanks to television coverage, golf fans are annually treated to the spectacle of the world’s best golfers plunking their balls in the water like so many amateurs.

Here are a few statistics on the TPC Sawgrass’ 17th hole at the Players Championship:

Since 2002, of the players in the field, nobody has hit their first tee shot in the water on No. 17 more than Aaron Baddeley and Heath Slocum (both have 7). Phil Mickelson has hit six tee shots in the water. Paul Azinger, in 1987, is the only player to birdie the 17th hole in all four rounds of a single PLAYERS Championship. Brian Gay (2011) is the last player to birdie No. 17 in each of the first three rounds.