Why is TPC Sawgrass’ 12th the most redesigned hole?

In 1982, the PGA Tour built a new hole by tearing apart the original 12th hole of the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. The renovation was done by Peter Dye. He had to do this several more times till 2011.

After several agronomic changes, PGA Tour and leading architect Steve Wenzloff reconstructed the par 4 12th hole, which changed the whole dynamics of the back nine at TPC Sawgrass.

Spectators felt the 12th hole was one of the weaker holes. The idea of the course was to provide the best viewing experience to the fans through elevated grass embankments.

However, the 12th hole didn't have a great viewing angle for the fans as it was located amidst trees and had minimal traffic around it. The view used to get obstructed by the mound on the left side of the green and the fairway.

There was also the perspective that every player used the same strategy on the 12th hole the same way as the putting surface surrounded by bunkers and hollows of long rough.

Stephen Cox, the PGA Tour's senior tournament director, said that they felt there was not much movement on the back nine in terms of scoring.

“We began to consider if there was a way that we could add a little bit of drama early on the back nine with guys making moves," he said.

Between 2010 and 2016 the stroke average at the Par 4, 12th hole was 3.894, and not more than a 0.1 stroke difference happened over the years. This resulted in 111 birdies per event.

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TPC Sawgrass Par 4,12th hole details

The Wenzloff-designed new par 4, 12th hole at TPC Sawgrass is about 370 yards from the championship tees. However, it has been set up between the 280-320 yard range since 2017.

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Players Championship 2023 details

Cameron Smith will not be seen in the 2023 Players Championship

The 2023 Players Championship begins on Thursday, March 9. 144 players will be competing at TPC Sawgrass. The tournament has a purse size of $25 million and the winner will get a share of $4.5 million.

Many big names won't be featured in this year's Players as they have defected to Saudi-backed LIV Golf. The defending champion Cameron Smith and veteran Phil Mickelson are among them.

Here's a field of 2023 Players:

• Aaron Baddeley
• Aaron Rai
• Aaron Wise
• Adam Hadwin
• Adam Long
• Adam Schenk
• Adam Scott
• Adam Svensson
• Alex Smalley
• Alexander Noren
• Andrew Novak
• Andrew Putnam
• Austin Smotherman
• Beau Hossler
• Ben Griffin
• Ben Martin
• Billy Horschel
• Brandon Wu
• Brendon Todd
• Brian Harman
• Byeong-Hun An
• Callum Tarren
• Cameron Davis
• Cameron Young
• Chad Ramey
• Chesson Hadley
• Chez Reavie
• Chris Kirk
• Christiaan Bezuidenhout
• Collin Morikawa
• Corey Conners
• Danny Willett
• David Lingmerth
• David Lipsky
• Davis Riley
• Davis Thompson
• Denny McCarthy
• Doc Redman
• Doug Ghim
• Dylan Frittelli
• Dylan Wu
• Emiliano Grillo
• Eric Cole
• Erik Barnes
• Francesco Molinari
• Garrick Higgo
• Gary Woodland
• Greyson Sigg
• Harris English
• Harrison Endycott
• Hayden Buckley
• Hideki Matsuyama
• J.J. Spaun
• J.T. Poston
• James Hahn
• Jason Day
• Jerry Kelly
• Jhonattan Vegas
• Joel Dahmen
• Jon Rahm
• Jordan Spieth
• Joseph Bramlett
• Justin Lower
• Justin Rose
• Justin Suh
• Justin Thomas
• Keegan Bradley
• Keith Mitchell
• Kelly Kraft
• Kevin Kisner
• Kevin Streelman
• Kevin Tway
• Kramer Hickok
• Kurt Kitayama
• Kyoung-Hoon Lee
• Lee Hodges
• Lucas Glover
• Lucas Herbert
• Luke List
• Mackenzie Hughes
• Mark Hubbard
• Martin Laird
• Matt Fitzpatrick
• Matt Kuchar
• Matt Wallace
• Matthew NeSmith
• Matthias Schwab
• Maverick McNealy
• Max Homa
• Max McGreevy
• Michael Thompson
• Min Woo Lee
• Nate Lashley
• Nick Hardy
• Nick Taylor
• Nick Watney
• Nicolas Echavarria
• Patrick Cantlay
• Patrick Rodgers
• Patton Kizzire
• Peter Malnati
• Rickie Fowler
• Robby Shelton
• Robert Streb
• Rory McIlroy
• Russell Henley
• Russell Knox
• Ryan Armour
• Ryan Brehm
• Ryan Fox
• Ryan Palmer
• Sahith Theegala
• Sam Burns
• Sam Ryder
• Scott Piercy
• Scott Stallings
• Scottie Scheffler
• Seamus Power
• Seonghyeon Kim
• Sepp Straka
• Shane Lowry
• Si Woo Kim
• Stephan Jaeger
• Stewart Cink
• Sungjae Im
• Taylor Montgomery
• Taylor Moore
• Taylor Pendrith
• Thomas Detry
• Tom Hoge
• Tom Kim
• Tommy Fleetwood
• Tony Finau
• Trey Mullinax
• Troy Merritt
• Tyler Duncan
• Tyrrell Hatton
• Tyson Alexander
• Viktor Hovland
• Webb Simpson
• Will Gordon
• Will Zalatoris
• Wyndham Clark
• Xander Schauffele