{"id":518196,"date":"2026-03-12T02:05:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T02:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/518196\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T02:05:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T02:05:14","slug":"how-tpc-sawgrass-12th-hole-will-play-different-at-this-years-the-players-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/518196\/","title":{"rendered":"How TPC Sawgrass\u2019 12th hole will play different at this year\u2019s THE PLAYERS Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

4H AGO<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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<\/a>*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]>\"Jordan<\/p>\n

Jordan Spieth drives the green and converts for birdie at THE PLAYERS<\/p>\n

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Written by Jimmy Reinman<\/p>\n

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. \u2014 Pete Dye\u2019s career opus is TPC Sawgrass\u2019 Stadium Course, 18 holes of perfectly perplexing golf that welcomes the world\u2019s best each year to try to crack the code on a design that can never truly be conquered, only deftly navigated.<\/p>\n

This year, the team at TPC Sawgrass led by Director of Agronomy Lucas Andrews, has benefited from what he calls ideal conditions to produce a championship-caliber course. In the days leading up to the tournament, players have commented on a bit more fire in the greens and fairways across the property.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re definitely a little bit firmer than they have been the last couple years,\u201d Scottie Scheffler said Tuesday. \u201cOverall, I think they\u2019re playing really nice right now, and we\u2019ll see what the forecast is as the week goes forward, but definitely firm to start the week.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe set up to prepare the golf course for a championship of this caliber,\u201d Andrews, who took over as director of agronomy last fall after 17 years on staff at TPC Sawgrass, told PGATOUR.COM on Wednesday. \u201cThere\u2019s not really been a directive that was, \u2018Hey, we want to challenge the pros.\u2019 This has just kind of been what we target every single year.\u201d<\/p>\n

He credits Northeast Florida weather as a catalyst for helping the staff reach their already-high standards ahead of the tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cFortunately, the weather has played into our hands to allow us to get to this position. The rough has gotten thicker in the past couple of weeks than we\u2019ve seen previously, and with that we made the collective decision to mow the rough one last time on Sunday and then let it grow through the championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rough has been notacibly longer to players on the ground, with balls disappearing in multiple areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard that it was f4 1\/2inches,\u201d said Justin Rose. \u201cSo I think it\u2019s a conscious decision to go a tiny bit longer this year. The emphasis is on hitting the fairway. This is a golf course that I\u2019ve always felt, first and foremost, is about getting the ball in the fairway. It doesn\u2019t change your strategy, but it might change the penalty if you\u2019re unable to do part one of your job, which is get the ball in play.\u201d<\/p>\n

No bigger example of this bolstered defense is the short par-4 12th, one of the key pillars in the risk-reward arsenal at TPC Sawgrass. The scorecard lists the hole at 365 yards, but tournament officials have an array of tee boxes to choose from, including shortening the hole to as little as 270 yards.<\/p>\n

*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]>\"Jordan<\/p>\n

Jordan Spieth drives the green and converts for birdie at THE PLAYERS<\/p>\n

The risk comes from water lining the raised green along the entire left side, while dense trees protect the right side parallel to the putting surface.<\/p>\n

In the past, the 12th has often played more like a standard two-shot par 4, with players pulling less than driver and laying up short of the trees up the right side to set up a short pitch into the green. That approach was more in line with Dye\u2019s original vision, as the designer took a rather firm stance against the drivable par-4 concept.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can drive it, it\u2019s not a par 4,\u201d Dye once said when discussing another of his famous designs at French Lick Resort.<\/p>\n

The same concept applied to Sawgrass\u2019 12th, where his trademark mogul-style bunkers helped protect the green from overly ambitious tee shots. That changed in 2011, when Steve Wenzloff was brought in to overhaul the layout.<\/p>\n

From then on, the hole assumed its current role as a reachable target for players looking to get their back nine started on the right foot. In 2025, the hole played to a 3.868 scoring average, the fourth-easiest hole of the week.<\/p>\n

Over the years, the hole has drawn flack for giving players a bailout area to the right and for having rough between the green and the water on the left that kept poorly struck shots, taking some of the teeth out of the hole.<\/p>\n

This year, things are looking a bit different.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis past summer, the bunker was lengthened on the left-hand side of the fairway,\u201d Andrews said. \u201cThe pond was drawn back so you could see it from the tee a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most notably, a new bunker was added on the right-hand side of the fairway, placed to deter players who might try to bomb and gouge their way up the right side.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was kind of a deterrent for really just making it into a bomber\u2019s delight.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the firmer greens now in play, there is additional danger to the left of the putting surface. <\/p>\n

Contrary to reports, the strip of rough to the left of the 12th green still exists.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s actually the same as it was last year,\u201d Andrews said. \u201cThat was a directive established last year with rules and competitions, and we\u2019ve maintained it that way. It\u2019s just been getting a little more buzz this week \u2014 I think people have noticed it more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there is a massive contrast between some of our short-cut areas and then the primary rough. So I think people are more drawn to those spots on the golf course now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A shot of the rough to the left of TPC Sawgrass’ 12th green on Wednesday. (Tracy Wilcox\/PGATOUR)<\/p>\n

Despite Andrews\u2019 claims that there is no added danger in that department, he acknowledged that the added firmness in the turf could easily send balls tumbling into the water if they take a turn off the left side of the putting surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s probably a fair point as well,\u201d Andrews said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got the fairways really firm, and the greens are firmer than we\u2019ve seen this time of year. I think all of that plays into it, and this is sort of what the vision for that hole has been all along since it was redesigned.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo to make that a real risk-reward hole \u2014 just fortunately this year we were able to achieve that.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the forecast shows rain headed in Thursday, look for a more defensive TPCSawgrass to emerge with a chip on its shoulder.<\/p>\n

*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-11jnzpa>img,.css-11jnzpa>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-11jnzpa::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:66.66666666666666%;}]]>\"Image<\/p>\n

Mar 11, 2026<\/p>\n

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Presented by<\/p>\n

\"MORGAN<\/a>\"Image\"Image<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"4H AGO 5 Min Read Latest *:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]> Jordan Spieth drives the green and converts for birdie at THE…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":["post-518196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}