“Why do you think The Players hasn’t gone as well for you as other tournaments?” they asked Brooks Koepka bluntly in the build-up to the start of the flagship tournament of the PGA Tour... The reality is the question was pertinent, the American has played the tournament on six occasions, and despite making four cuts, he has not recorded a top ten and has only two finishes inside the top twenty (T11 in 2019 and T16 a year earlier). Both in his debut in 2015 and in his last appearance in 2022 he missed the cut
The question got to the point and the answer was clear, direct and concise: “Hole 17”. He didn’t hesitate, he didn’t beat around the bush and with a smile on his face, Koepka was honest
Given that answer, we set about diving into the statistics. The reality is the American wasn’t far off in his analysis
The five-time major champion has played the legendary and feared 17th at TPC Sawgrass Club on 20 occasions and, mind you, has a cumulative +21 on the island. That’s something — more than one over par on average (4.05 strokes on the par three). He has been beaten by the hole ten of the times he’s played it, exactly 50%. Of course, no year does he leave with a cumulative par or under on his visit to the 17th. Looking at all his appearances there are two quadruple bogeys, two triple bogeys, three double bogeys and three bogeys. He’s also managed eight pars and two solitary birdies
His debut was memorable, a sign they weren’t meant to be together. A seven as a welcome, a baptismal quadruple bogey. It would not be the last of his career; in the second round of 2018 he also carded a seven
His last year before heading to LIV wasn’t not bad either. A double bogey and a triple bogey to sign off the tournament on Friday with an 81. Four years later he’s looking to redeem himself
It’s not all negative, of course. Two cheers for the two birdies the former Saudi circuit player managed on this hole. Interestingly he got them in consecutive rounds — the fourth round of 2018 and the first round of the following year
Returning to the journalist’s initial question, we assumed what would have happened if he’d come away unscathed from the 17th, that is if he’d played it at par across all four rounds. It turns out that in 2018 he would have finished second and in 2017 he would have been sixth, two results that would undoubtedly completely change the perception of the player’s performance in the tournament
Here are Brooks’ reflections on why he thinks The Players hasn’t gone as well for him: “Hole 17. I don’t know if there are statistics on this, but I’m sure there are. Hole 17 has punished me over the years. I’ve played good rounds here; it’s simply like that ‘stone in the shoe’ that always gets me. So I don’t know, but the 17 really gets to me”.
Average golfers, when they have a hole at a course where they’ve posted high numbers, tend to think something like: “Ugh, I messed up here before”. Is that the case for Koepka?: “No, I don’t think about that. It doesn’t haunt me. Well, my mates do give me a lot of stick about it. Between the 17 here and the 12 at Augusta… it seems to be the par 3s. But, well, I’ve missed shots too… I think the last time we played here I hit a 5-iron on that hole. It was the year the wind was blowing a gale. We stopped, I think we were on the 16th green. I’d say I was playing with Scottie or maybe Rory, one of the two. Someone hit a 6-iron and came up short, so I hit a 5… and I went past. My mates laugh at me a lot for that. In the end it’s all banter, but it doesn’t affect me; you’ve got to go out there and play”.
Returning to matters this week, the golfer arrives after recording his first top ten on his return to the PGA Tour and certain that he has found some answers with the putter; he will undoubtedly need to be very sharp in all facets if he wants to break into the top ten for the first time… if the 17 allows it, of course.
