TPC now one of the golf's greatest spectacles
IN: News | US PGA | The Players Championship (2003) | Preview | by Bruce Young | 25 Mar 2003
The Tour Players Championship has become accepted by most on tour as the most prestigious event after the four majors and the quality of the field assembled here reflects that.
Now into its 30th year, the event attracts not only the leading players from the USPGA Tour money list and winners of various events but the top fifty in the world rankings leading into the event.
The event has had its home at the TPC of Sawgrass near Jacksonville since 1977, although the event was staged on three occasions prior to that at the Atlanta Country Club, the Colonial Country Club and the Inverary Golf and Country Club.
The course and stadium concept is the brainchild of original Tour Commissioner Deane Beaman, who in the 1960's had seen the merit in developing a course that would accommodate large galleries and make viewing golf user-friendly.
He engaged the respected but, perhaps at the time, controversial course designer Pete Dye to assist in the project and the concept of TPC courses was born. It opened to rather mixed reaction, especially from the players in 1978, but the fans and sponsors loved it and soon the players warmed to the course and the concept.
The par three 17th is perhaps the most feared in golf but it is holes such as the par four 18th and the par four 10th that are considered equally demanding. They do not, however, have quite the same exposure or the potential to perhaps wreck a score the way the 17th does and of course do not offer quite the same study in human nature as players stand over their tee shot on the par three.
Recent winners have included Craig Perks, Tiger Woods, Hal Sutton, David Duval and Justin Leonard with Woods also scoring a second placing here in 2000.
Perks' win last year must go down as one of the greatest upsets in the game in recent times. He holed out for an eagle on the 16th, holed a 40-footer for birdie at the 17th and holed a pitch from behind the green at the last to edge out Stephen Ames by two.
The favourites this year will be Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson if his parental duties do not interrupt, Vijay Singh, David Toms, Retief Goosen, Davis Love III, Sergio Garcia and Canadian Mike Weir.
Australasians entered as this goes to print are Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Michael Campbell, Greg Chalmers, Steve Elkington, Peter Lonard, Greg Norman, Geoff Ogilvy, Rod Pampling, Craig Parry, Craig Perks, John Senden and Phil Tataurangi. Australia's Stephen Leaney has now gained a late start in the field courtesy of his 49th placing in this week's World Golf Rankings.
It is one of those events that I really look forward to each year and it's hard to imagine that this year will be any different.
