THE PLAYERS (HATERS' BALL)

News Slice

• 💰 Purse: $25M

• 🏆 Scottie Scheffler 🇺🇸 | $4.5M

• 📍 Location: TPC Sawgrass - THE PLAYERS Stadium Course

Full Tournament Results

🏌️‍♂️ THE PLAYERS Championship

THE PLAYERS Championship was this past weekend and was dominated by Scottie Scheffler (surprise, surprise). Most of us were expecting a dramatic finish out of the PGA Tour’s flagship event, but Scheffler had other plans. Going into the final round with a two-shot lead, Scheffler widened the gap even more and won by five strokes for a total 17 under.

Scheffler won a cool $4.5 million and became just the third golfer ever to serve as the reigning champion at The Players and the Masters simultaneously, joining a pair of GOATS 🐐 – Tiger Woods 🐅 and Jack Nicklaus 🐻.

Min Woo Lee from Australia was two shots behind Scheffler going into Sunday, but did any one of us really think he had a chance? Mathematically sure, but the way Scheffler had been playing golf over the past 13 months it didn’t appear anyone was going to stop him. The win this past weekend marked his 6^th overall on the Tour. And the other wins didn’t come from just any small events. Check out the resume so far on the PGA Tour:

• WM Phoenix Open (2022, 2023)

• Arnold Palmer Invitational (2022)

• WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play (2022)

• Masters Tournament (2022)

• The Players Championship (2023)

All of these were won within 13 months, starting in February 2022 when he won his first WM Phoenix Open. The win on Sunday also propelled him back to number one in the Official World Golf Rankings, and rightfully so. As golf fans, we love to see the best of the best go at it and compete at the highest level. We love to see players tied going into the 18^th hole and finish with dramatics, or even win in a playoff. But we also appreciate seeing greatness, and that is what we are seeing right now with Scheffler. Good for him and I am sure this isn’t the last we’ve seen from him.

Quick Hits:

• Former number 1 in the World Jon Rahm 🇪🇸 had to withdraw from the tournament prior to his tee time on Friday due to a “stomach bug” 🦠. It’s unfortunate because he could have gave Scheffler a run for his money. He was 1 under going into Friday.
  

• Rory McIlroy ☘️ missed the cut at 5 over. He had some words afterwards about his driver being off and said, “I wish I could just use the old one”. Maybe him and TaylorMade need to have a sit down and break some bread. Or just not blame the driver and play good golf.
  

• On Friday, Jordan Spieth was at 2 over par going into his last hole, the par-5, 9th when he sliced a drive that was going directly towards the water 💦. Fortunately for him, his ball rocketed off a fan and bounced back into the fairway. From there, he would hit his second shot into the rough near the green (not before apologizing and thanking the fan for his heroism). With the ball sitting in the rough, he hit a beautiful chip shot that landed in the hole for Eagle. The Eagle put him at Even for the tournament and saved him from the cut line. He would finish tied for 19^th with a $275k payout. Check out their conversation below:

• Chad Ramey was in the lead on Friday at one point at 10 under... until he ran into some trouble at the 17^th . He put 2 shots in the water 💦 and scored a quadruple bogey 7 on the daunting par-3. He shot a 64 on Thursday and a 75 on Friday 😬. He would still finish tied for 27^th and win $168k. Not too shabby.

• Speaking of the 17^th hole, there were THREE aces this weekend on the island green par-3! Hayden Buckley, Aaron Rai, and Alex Smalley all made holes-in-one. Check out this last one from Smalley:

Swing for the Fences

Putt Putt, Miss

Putting: the ultimate test of patience, precision, and sheer luck ☘️. You stand there, tapping your foot nervously, as you size up the distance between you and the hole. You take a few practice swings, trying to find that elusive sweet spot, and then you go for it. 😬 The ball rolls agonizingly slowly towards the cup, teasing you with the possibility of success. And then...it stops, just short of its destination, like a runner collapsing at the finish line. 😔 You sigh in frustration, wondering what cruel golf gods ⚡️ have cursed you with this endless pursuit of perfection. But hey, at least you're getting some exercise, right?

Check out these putting drills to get that ball in the 🕳️

1. Three Drills to Improve Putting | Titleist Tips

2. The ONLY 4 Putting Drills You Need!

Course of the Day

TPC Sawgrass - Stadium Course

We’re going to keep it right here and talk a little bit more about the course that pros just played on. TPC Sawgrass – THE PLAYERS Stadium Course is home to THE PLAYERS Championship (just in case it wasn’t obvious with it being in ALL CAPS). THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass was built in 1980 and was designated to be the permanent home of THE PLAYERS Championship.

The course was designed by none other than Pete Dye and is home to one of the most famous holes in golf, the signature island green par-3, 17^th hole. A couple of fun facts that you can impress your friends with at the next barbeque:

• The hole wasn’t intentionally supposed to be an “island green” 🏝, as it was an unexpected by-product of the lake construction 👷‍️.

• It was originally intended to be a simple par-3 with a small pond near the green. However, the area around the green was dug up for all of the valuable sand 🏖️ it had that was needed to build the rest of the golf course. After all of the excavation work was complete, the only thing left was the green ⛳.
  

• Pete Dye credits his wife Alice for the concept of the island green after she saw it during construction one day. He originally did not want it to be an island green, but decided to go with it anyways. Remember gentlemen, the answer is usually “Yes, Ma’am”.
  

• The 17^th hole measures about 137 yards from the pro tees per the official scorecard 📏.
  

• There have been 13 Aces at No. 17 🕳. There were zero from 2003-2016, but there have been 7 in the last 7 years, including 3 of them this past weekend.
  

• The highest score ever on this hole is a 12 – which came from Bob Tway in 2005 😒

How much does a round of golf cost 💵?

⛳️ Stadium Course: Sept through May - starting at $600 per player; June through August – starting at $450 per player

⛳️ Dye’s Valley: Sept through May - starting at $275 per player; June through August – starting at $175 per player

These prices includes green fee, cart fee, forecaddie for the group, and warm-up bag of practice balls (with exception to the Dye’s Valley from June – August).

If you looking to really splurge, you can also take part in the “TOUR Player Experience”, which gives you a pro-like experience and allows you to enjoy every detail of TPC Sawgrass as the professionals would. Each component of your trip is personally customized, from your own professional caddie with VIP service to exclusive access to the TOUR Player-only locker room.

It’s only going to cost you a small fee of $2,632 per person💰. Probably a little much for us regular folk, but probably a great experience nonetheless. Check it out: TOUR Player Experience | TPC Sawgrass

19th Hole

The History of Golf

If you want to hear it from the late great Robin Williams just watch this instead. Golf has been around for centuries, and some say it's even older than sliced bread. Legend has it that the sport was invented by Scottish shepherds 🐑 who used their crooks to whack stones into rabbit holes. And thus, golf was born. The first recorded mention of golf in Scotland dates back to 1457, when 👑 King James II (not that King James 🏀) banned the game because he thought it was a waste of time. But let's be honest, what king wouldn't be a little upset if his subjects were spending more time chasing little white balls than they were paying attention to him?

Despite the early setback, golf continued to grow in popularity, especially among the nobility. By the 16th century, it had made its way to England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, where it was played by such luminaries as King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I. And let's face it, if it's good enough for royalty, it's good enough for the rest of us. Today, golf is played around the world by millions of people who love the challenge, the camaraderie, and the opportunity to drive around in little carts like they're in a low-speed chase 🏎.