The PLAYERS Championship

The Players Championship is always an exciting week - definitely one of the best events of the year. The Players Championship is often referred to as the ‘5th major', and I think it deserves that status. You have one of the strongest and deepest fields of the year (156 players), competing on one of the toughest golf courses for one of the richest purses. Winning this event definitely goes down on your list of career highlights!

As I said, TPC Sawgrass is one of the toughest courses out there, and after being re-done a few years ago it is better (and tougher) than ever. The timing of the tournament was changed from March to May a few years ago, which actually makes the course play firmer and faster due to the Bermuda grass, giving it more of a ‘major' feel. The course has a lot of runoff areas around the greens which makes approach shots more challenging.

I think everyone would agree, though, that the highlight of TPC Sawgrass has to be the final three finishing holes.  They are great risk/reward holes and make for a lot of excitement for the fans. The 16th hole is a relatively easy Par 5, but seeing the famous 17th hole as you walk down the fairway can sometimes get in your head and make it a little more difficult. With a good drive on 16 you can get to the green in two shots with a long iron or a wood, or you can lay up and give yourself a nice wedge shot. It's a great hole on Sunday if you need to make up a few shots.

The 17th is a hole that I probably don't have to say much about. It's the toughest and most intimidating short hole in golf. It's a hole that the fans look forward to and it's broken more than its fair share of hearts and championship dreams over the years.

The 18th hole is a very difficult finishing hole and is intimidating on the tee with water all the way down the left side. You have to hit a couple of very good shots to make a birdie or par. If you opt for the bailout area to the right off the tee, you're looking at a difficult second shot as you're staring at the water and trying to curve the ball back to the green.  It might be the most pressure-packed three-hole finishing stretch that we play and makes for great drama at such an important event.

On Wednesday, the 17th hole is home to the traditional closest-to-the-hole caddy shot.  There is a plastic bucket on the 17th tee and as the players play the hole they throw some money in the bucket for the winning caddy. Let's just say that there are some players who throw in more money than others! Normally the caddy who hits the ball closet to the hole takes home the money and a computer donated by CDW. I stuck mine close to five feet, but it wasn't close enough to win it this year. This year the money is going to go to Greg Rita's wife. Greg was one of the great caddies out on tour who worked for a lot of great players and passed away this year. I think it's a great idea to donate the money for his family to try and help out a bit. I am sure knowing that the money is going to a great cause that everyone will step up and donate just a little bit more. Greg is missed by everyone on tour. The caddies will be wearing GR patches on our hats this week in memory of him!

One of my favourite things about this week is that there is great fishing on the course and next door at Sawgrass Country Club where a group of us rent a condo. As you can see from the picture attached, I caught one of my best bass ever on Tuesday! Sawgrass Country Club is a fisherman's dream - nothing but ponds surrounded by 27 holes of golf. It makes for a great week, getting back from the course and walking out the back door to fish for a while and relax. I love it.

Finally, the tournament had a nice appreciation event for the military last night and country singer Tim McGraw played a concert. It was pretty cool and looked like everyone had a great time.

Overall this is a very good week to play well, good for world ranking points, lots of money, and to really get some confidence knowing you beat the best field in golf!

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy watching The Players Championship.
Brennan