Gimmicky Hole Still Just As Gimmicky as the Tiger Diagnosed It

It’s that time of the year again, the time where you might actually watch a golf tournament that is not a major.

I know, I know, you’ll watch when Tiger is in contention. And you’ll root for Tiger, or against him, or both, it does not matter. But in your eyes, if Tiger has a chance to win, the tournament is basically a major.

Yet every May, right after you decide to watch horse racing for the only time that year, you’ll tune into a non-major golf tournament even if Tiger is not in contention because you want to see people suffer.

You sick, sick individual.

I don’t know why we all love the 17th green at Sawgrass. I really don’t.

Okay, so it’s basically an island and god knows how many people have pissed away hundreds of thousands of dollars into the lake.

Like, for instance, Sean O’Hair, who enters this year’s the PLAYERS Championship off of a win at Quail Hollow last week.

In 2007, O’Hair was in second place on Sunday, chasing down Phil Mickelson, when he found water on the Island Green. Then he found water again.

Instead of having a chance for a title and at the very least the $972,000 second place paycheck, O’Hair fell to 11th and $225,000.

Simply, O’Hair surrendered nearly three-quarters of one million dollars.

Sure, it’s pocket change for many of the world’s top golfers, but it’s also not only the top golfers who have fallen victim to this gimmick.

Quite possibly the most legendary happening on the Island Green occurred in 1998, when Steve Lowery got his ball on the green, only for it to be picked up by a seagull and dropped in the water.

Luckily, Lowery was able to invoke Rule 18-1 and replace the ball where it had stopped on the green without penalty.

Each year, about 120,000 balls, including those hit by professionals, land in the lake surrounding 17 at Sawgrass. O’Hair’s two clankers were among a record 94 hit into the pond during that year’s championship, including 50 during the swirling wind of the first round.

Paul Goydos lost the championship last year when he found the water in a sudden death playoff against Sergio Garcia, one of two balls he hit into the water on 17 in 2008’s tournament.

Major champions like Bob Tway and Mark Calcavecchia have all had trouble on the hole, speaking out against it. But no criticism rings as loud as Tiger’s.

“It’s a wonderful hole,” Woods said before the 2007 Championship, “but I don’t agree with it being the 17th or 71st hole of a championship because I think it’s a little gimmicky in that sense.”

Gimmicky? That’s being nice.

What other hole on tour can you hit an almost perfect shot on it with perfect conditions and still find the water, only to have to basically redo the shot until you get it just right?

Sure, more often than not these guys find the green; they are professionals after all. But at the same time, come on.

This is not the type of hole a major tournament needs.

Okay, the PLAYERS Championship is not technically a major.

It does not technically have the same history or prestige as the Masters Tournament, United States Open, the Open Championship, or the PGA Championship.

But to make up for it, it has all the same participants, the frugal entry requirements, the special, set amount of points awarded for the World Golf Rankings, and the insanely high purse.

The only notch against it is that it was once won by journeyman kiwi Craig Perks, who two years later could not make a cut on the PGA Tour even if he was allowed to use mulligans.

Simply, it’s as close to a major as possible.

But unlike the courses used in any given year for the four official major championships, Sawgrass has that one hole that asks people to lose the championship.

No matter what golfer you are, you do not want to be coming home, two holes from a title, and have to deal with that hole. You just don’t.

It’s like mandating that Derek Jeter may only win the World Series by singling through the hole between first and second. A home run? Sspphh, it’ll be ruled a flyout.

It’s like ruling that Rafael Nadal can only win Roland Garros by a backhand volley. An ace? A forehand? They’ll just call it a let.

It’s like forcing Ronaldinho to win the World Cup on a free-kick strike 15 feet outside the box, or Lewis Hamilton winning the Monaco Grand Prix only by passing Robert Kubica to the left at the swimming pool, or Kobe Bryant winning the NBA title with a swish-three at the buzzer in Game Six.

I’m sure you get the point.

Golf is a game of choice. At least, it normally is.

Do you lay up, or do you go for the green in two?

Do you drive the trees, or do you hit safely around past the bunker on the right side?

Do you hit a five-iron and try to carry the stream or do you lay up and pitch it on during the next shot?

But at Sawgrass, the only choice is which club do you use. You figure out the wind and try to find a way to get it safely on the green.

Sure, it’s a par three; you’re going to try to get it on the green anyway, but usually you at least have some safety.

Miss to the right? Miss to the left? Miss short? Long? At Sawgrass, it’s all the same. There’s no safety net.

You misjudge the wind? Water.

You got a little too much of the ball? Water.

You’re John Daly and someone flashes a camera? Water, and a withdrawal with a back injury.

All this hole is is one big gimmick, but it’s a gimmick we’ll gladly watch.

For the past few years, there has been live streaming coverage online of solely the 17th hole. Broadcast networks switch to the hole to show any shot that found or almost found water. Crowds congregate around the fabled hole and pretend like they’re upset when someone actually finds the water.

But really, they’re all rooting for it.

If they were not, they would not be there watching.

You can’t win a championship on the 71st hole; I get that. But you should have the opportunity.

At Sawgrass, the only thing you can do is lose it.

And that, at least in my book, is a gimmick.

So I’ll watch the PLAYERS Championship because I watch golf, but for no other reason. I’ll cringe whenever anyone finds the water on 17 and pray that maybe next year this great tournament won’t include such a gimmicky penultimate hole.

Unless, of course, this time Sergio finds water and it costs him thousands.

There’s nothing better than hearing Sergio whine and blame someone else when he messes up.

That is a gimmick I can cheer for.