The Players: Key numbers and four contenders for TPC Sawgrass win
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Thursday 12 March 2020 06:08, UK
After two consecutive weeks of tough scoring on the PGA Tour's Florida Swing, is it possible that the players will get a relative reprieve at - of all places - TPC Sawgrass?
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Consider this: there was only one round in the 60s last weekend at Bay Hill, the first time that had happened in rounds three and four of a PGA Tour event in more than 14 years. For comparison, there were 39 rounds in the 60s on the weekend last year at The Players Championship.
Beautiful conditions are expected this weekend in Ponte Vedra Beach, and with that, more birdies should follow. But Sawgrass will show its teeth regardless of the weather - last year, this event saw more than 200 double-bogeys or worse, the fourth-most of any tournament all season.
Key Numbers
39 - The water surrounding the green at the famed 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass eats up more than 40 balls per year at The Players Championship. None of those have belonged to Jason Dufner, who has never hit a ball in the water in 39 career rounds in The Players.
0.69 - The 18th hole at Sawgrass is arguably the most critical fairway to hit on the golf course. Missing it dishes out a stiff penalty to players - the average difference between hitting a tee shot in the fairway at and missing it since 2015 is a whopping 0.69 strokes.
There are four different holes on the course where the penalty is half-a-stroke or more (fourth, seventh, 14th and 18th).
The Players Championship Live
Seven - Think you can pick a winner this week? Good luck. Since the Official World Golf Ranking began in 1986, there have been as many winners of The Players ranked outside the top 50 (seven) as inside the top five (seven).
March vs May
This is the second year that The Players Championship has been brought forward in the calendar to the month of March. Though 19 players finished last year's event double-digits under par, history says that the switch to March negatively impacts scoring.
Over the last 24 years, there have been 12 of these held in March and 12 in May. During that span, scores in March are 0.66 strokes higher per round.
Players to Watch
Rory McIlroy - The defending champion has been in the top 10 following each of his last 14 PGA Tour rounds, a staggering run of consistently good play.
The Players Championship Live
He will have to kick a couple of trends aside to keep that going, though: not only has no player ever won The Players in back-to-back years, a defending champion has not finished in the top 10 since Adam Scott in 2005.
Tommy Fleetwood - With a career scoring average of 70.17, Tommy Fleetwood is the all-time leader here among players with 10 or more rounds completed.
Over the last three years, Fleetwood ranks first in strokes gained off-the-tee in this event and second in strokes gained tee-to-green. With multiple top-five finishes at the US Open, too, Fleetwood has shown he isn't afraid of a tough test of golf.
Brooks Koepka - The world No 3 has had the ultimate mixed bag in his five appearances at TPC Sawgrass. Since 2015, Koepka is dead last in par-three scoring (18-over-par) and double bogeys or worse (19), but leads all players in par-five scoring (42-under-par).
Still working his way back into form after a knee injury, Brooks is currently outside the top 200 on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting.
Jon Rahm - The Spaniard nearly broke through and won this tournament last year, and this year he comes to Sawgrass with a full head of steam.
Rahm has a staggering 14 top-10 finishes in his last 18 worldwide starts, assembling a scoring average of 68.4 in that span. He's also becoming an elite putter - Rahm ranks fourth or better this season on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting, three-putt avoidance and putting average.
15th Club is a firm that works with players, media outlets, manufacturers and tours around the world telling the true story of golf performance. Find Justin Ray on Twitter at @JustinRayGolf.
