Stadium applause
There are those who still prefer to focus on what the Players Championship is not – it’s not the fifth major, and this year it doesn’t have Jon Rahm or Brooks Koepka, who are reigning major champions – but that’s missing the bigger picture.
The Players Championship is cool.
It’s a golf tournament of immense importance and, for the viewing public whose place in golf’s version of “Game of Thrones” has been badly undervalued, it’s the rare week that looks and feels different.
There is not a more famous hole in golf than the par-3 17th, which isn’t technically an island green as someone always points out but it’s great theater, especially when the wind blows.
Love it or loathe it, people who don’t typically watch golf know the 17th at TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Augusta National has its ghosts. The Stadium Course, particularly the 17th, has its skeletons.
The Stadium Course literally was built for this, and with all of its angles and railroad ties and sharp edges, it’s eye candy for the fans and can be a barefoot stroll through broken glass for the players.
If you’re among the thousands who attend the Players Championship, it’s like a high-end hotel that gets both the big things and the little things right. It helps not having to worry about keeping the membership happy the other 51 weeks out of the year.
Not everyone loves the Stadium Course, but it has a well-earned reputation for not favoring any particular style of player. That’s a nice reputation to have.
There are taco trucks and hospitality chalets, there is plenty of room to walk and hillsides on which to park for a while and there is a history to the place that has accumulated over the past four decades or so.
Players initially hated the place but gradually, with some softening around the edges, they came to appreciate it. Not everyone loves the Stadium Course, but it has a well-earned reputation for not favoring any particular style of player. That’s a nice reputation to have.
It’s said that the tournament winners tend to say plenty about the quality of the place where they won. Let’s see, Scottie Scheffler, Cam Smith, Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy are the last four winners.
Tiger Woods, Sergio García, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, Davis Love III, David Duval, Fred Couples, Nick Price, Greg Norman, Tom Kite, Calvin Peete and Hal Sutton also won at the Stadium Course.
That pretty much says it all.
Ron Green Jr.
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