Capelle On Golf

It is now official. The notorious architect Pete Dye, 82, has become the fifth designer to be elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame. And why not? Eight of his golf courses are on Golf Digest’s Top 100 in America, and two of them host PGA Tour events within three weeks of each other.

With Tiger Woods sitting out this week, the main attraction at this week’s THE PLAYERS Championship is Dye’s most famous design, the TPC at Sawgrass. Though Golf Digest’s experts have it at #79, it deserves a higher ranking based on several criteria: 1) It’s got 26 years of exposure on TV in one of the game’s biggest events; 2) It is a gorgeous course with tree lined fairways, a variety of bunkers, and numerous strategically placed water hazards. 3) And then there’s the 17th hole, an island green par 3 which is the most pressure packed shot the pros face all year, and the funnest for the fans. So fun, in fact, that the PGA Tour is going to telecast this hole on the internet.

Another big plus for Sawgrass is that the course is exquisitely balanced. You’ve seen those courses where every par 3 is a 200+ monster, the par 4s are straight and long (Firestone C.C.) and none of the par 5s are reachable in two. Not here. As the table shows, Dye has done an excellent job of including all different lengths in each category. The only kind of hole missing is a driveable par 4.

The TPC at Sawgrass is exceptionally well balanced.
Par 3s - 1 Short, 2 medium, 1 long par 3
Par 5s - 2 short, 1 medium, and 1 long par 5
Par 4s - 1 short, 2 medium short, 2 medium, 3 medium long, 2 long

Course Tour
The PGA Tour has done an amazing job of showcasing the tournament and the course on their web site. I’m going to warn you that a visit could eat up some serious time on the clock. You can follow every shot Phil Mickelson played last year on his way to the championship. There are yardage guides, flyovers, and anything a fan could desire. Bravo!

Aerial Views at Golf World Map
Not all satellite maps and views are created equal. But this is a very good one as it provides you with excellent close ups. The second setting lets you see the entire hole on par 4s and 5s. The first setting gives you a super close up of the par 3s

The Card
I typed the scorecard and the average scores from last year to help you (and myself) to gain a feel for the course. The second hole is a water guarded par 5 that is easily reachable in two. It is the only hole that played under par on the front nine. Par was a great score on holes 1, 5, 7, and 8.

Both par 5s and the short twelfth present birdie opportunities on the back nine. A player needs to build their score and their confidence before reaching the tee at 17, because those last two are bona fide card wreckers.

Birdies, Pars, and Bogeys
1–4–423–4.219
2–5–532–4.646
3–3–177–3.065
4–4–384–4.023
5–4–471–4.185
6–4–393–4.005
7–4–442–4.208
8–3–237–3.307
9–5–583–5.020

10–4–424–4.181
11–5–558–4.734
12–4–358–3.932
13–3–181–3.095
14–4–481–4.129
15–4–449–4.129
16–5–523–4.528
17–3–137–3.386
18–4–462–4.409

Handicapping this Year’s Tournament
As for this year’s event, every top ranked player except for Tiger Woods is going to be in the field. His absence should not detract one iota from whoever wins this championship considering that he’s finished out of the top 10 the last six times in this event.

The table list players 2-11 in the WGR. It shows their last three starts and their finish last year in THE PLAYERS. Based on this form chart, Mickelson and Scott look like the odds on favorites. Every other top ranked player did poorly at last year’s event, and most have been on cold streaks lately. This could open the door for a lower ranked player in the supposed best field of the year.

Phil Mickelson (23t, 5t, 12t)—W
Adam Scott (25t, 1, 8t) – 6t
Ernie Els (75, MC, MC)—37t
Steve Stricker (11t, MC, MC)—52t
Geoff Ogilvy (2t, 39t, 22t)—37t
Jim Furyk (33t, 4, 7)—28t
K.J. Choi (12t, 11t, 41)—23t
Vijay Singh (2t, 14t, 17t)—44t
Justin Rose (36, WD, MC)–DNP
P. Harrington (4t, 26t, 5t)—52t