Hoping to see a hole-in-one at the iconic par-3 17th hole at this week’s Players Championship for the third year in a row?
Don’t bet on it.
A $100 wager would yield a $350 profit if someone in the 144-player field were able to make an ace at TPC Sawgrass’s famous island green. But a $500 bet to make $100 on no hole-in-one at No. 17 might actually be the safer play, as there have only been eight at the hole in the tournament’s history. While Sergio Garcia and Will Wilcox each have an ace over the past two years, prior to that there was a stretch of 14 years (and more than 6,000 tee shots) without one dating back to Miguel Angel Jimenez in 2002.
The holes-in-one by Garcia and Wilcox mark the first time there were ever aces in back-to-back years at No. 17 at the Players Championship.
The only other players to make a hole-in-one during tournament play at the 17th hole were Paul Azinger (2001), Joey Sindelar (1999), Fred Couples (1997), Brian Claar (1991) and Brad Fabel (1986).
Scanning the list of prop bets for the Players Championship at online sportsbook BetDSI, it comes as little surprise to see the 17th hole featured so prominently.
Think Tiger Woods will dunk a wedge into the water on No. 17? A winning $100 wager would return a $200 profit. The same $100 bet on Phil Mickelson (whose eight career water balls at the 17th are the most of any player in the field) could return $550. Incidentally, those two will be paired together during the first two rounds for the first time at a PGA Tour event since 2014.
Over the past 15 years at the Players Championship there have been a total of 703 balls hit into the water that surrounds the 17th green; it’s the second-most of any hole behind only the 18th (704). That averages out to 46.9 water balls a year dating back to 2003.
The over/under betting line for the number of tee shots hit into the water at the 17th for this year’s tournament is 42.5. (At that line, the “under” would have won six of the past nine years)
Interestingly though, while the water surrounding 17 is the first thing viewers and visitors notice, the island green is actually the second easiest green to hit at TPC Sawgrass. It is the eighth-toughest hole on the course, however, yielding the fewest 1-putts and the second-most 3-putts since 2003.
While there are no betting lines set for the number of 1-putts at 17, the over/under for the number of tee shots hit into the water on the hole during the final round is 9.5. In seven of the past nine years, the “under” wager was the winner.
The highest score ever on the 17th? That would be a 12 by Bob Tway in the third round of the 2005 Players Championship. A year ago, Zac Blair had the tournament’s highest score at the hole with a 9. The worst score over/under for this year on No. 17 is set at 8.
The 17th hole might be short, but it can be fearsome – for a variety of reasons. In fact, over the past 15 years on the PGA TOUR, there have been a total of 26 par-3 holes that measured less than 150 yards. The island green at TPC Sawgrass is among just four of them with a scoring average of over par – at 3.12.
While the Players Championship is renowned to have one of the strongest tournament fields in the game every year — the top 50 players in the world are all playing this week — the combined score at the 17th over the past 15 years is +762 over par.
Here are a few other popular 17th hole wagers for this week (courtesy of BetDSI):
Dustin Johnson hits a tee shot into water on No. 17
Yes +450
No -800
Rory McIlroy hits a tee shot into water on No. 17
Yes +550
No -1000
Jordan Spieth hits a tee shot into water on No. 17
Yes +500
No -900
Justin Thomas hits a tee shot into water on No. 17
Yes +575
No -1200
Winner hits a tee shot into the water on No. 17 during any round
Yes +450
No -800
Total birdies by winner on No. 17
Over 1.5 (-105)
Under 1.5 (-125)
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