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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 12: Shane Lowry of Ireland reacts after finishing the 18th hole during the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship at Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 12, 2026 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)
PGA TOUR
A new Mr. 1000 was crowned at TPC Sawgrass during The Players Championship on Thursday as Shane Lowry hit the 1,000th tee shot into the pond on the 18th hole during tournament play.
The 18th plays as one of the most difficult holes on the course, carrying a scoring average of 4.371, with only 45 percent of the field hitting the green in regulation. The cape-style hole is unique. Water runs from the tee along the entire left side of the hole and continues past the green. Instead of a large bailout area typical of the design, architect Pete Dye placed a grove of trees on the right side that narrows the landing area roughly 270 yards off the tee.
Laying back for the wider portion of the fairway leaves a long approach of more than 200 yards to a green that slopes toward the water on the left. This leads many players to hit driver, often finding themselves in the right-side trees or the water.
Lowry’s troubles on the 18th did not end there. The Open Championship winner re-teed after his drive, found the fairway, but pulled his approach into the water again, resulting in a quadruple-bogey eight. His approach shot was not counted toward the 1,000-ball pond total.
In the history of ShotLink data, the 18th hole at Sawgrass has recorded the most double bogeys on tour, making the final two holes at The Players Championship one of the most formidable finishing stretches in golf.
Source: PGA Tour
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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 12: Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela plays his shot from the 17th tee during the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship 2026 at THE PLAYERS Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass on March 12, 2026 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
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Not to be outdone, Lowry’s quadruple was matched on the par-3 17th by Jhonattan Vegas on Thursday. His first tee shot came up short of the island green and splashed into the pond. His second attempt flew long and suffered the same watery fate. His third tee shot finally found the front left of the green, and he would go on to two-putt for a seven.
The hole claimed 18 water balls in the first round, well above last year’s 11. The group of Kevin Yu, Gary Woodland and Cam Davis all hit tee shots into the water Thursday, resulting in a painful case of follow-the-leader.
After play concluded, Golf Channel commentator Smylie Kaufman stepped onto the 17th tee to attempt the shot himself. His two swings resulted in two balls finding a watery grave—one pulled left and the other long over the green.
“Well, Randal, I have never hit a ball in the water here at the 17th,” Kaufman said. “I had a pretty good record here back in the day. I made a lot of pars, maybe one birdie. It’s 143 yards and I am going to try to rip a pitching wedge.”
Source: YouTube
Kaufman laughed as his first shot splashed into the pond. Golf Channel frequently sends him out after the round as an on-course reporter to attempt some of the tournament’s toughest shots once play has concluded.
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