As we saw this week, anything can happen on TPC Sawgrass’ famed 17th hole. A caddie made a hole-in-one. A YouTuber made an 11. And the latter got the bigger ovation.
So it should be no surprise that this devilish par 3 is already producing crazy moments on the first morning of the Players Championship. Enter Justin Lower.
Starting on the back nine, the 35-year-old parred his first eight holes. If you looked at his scorecard, you’d think pretty boring, right? Wrong.
Because on 17, Lower found the water with his tee shot. And after heading to the drop area, he did this:
Zero putts. One water ball. Two swings.
Three.
Take a bow (and a breath), @JustinLower_1.
📺 @PGATOURLIVE pic.twitter.com/MUrficFPwf
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 13, 2025
Nicely done, Justin. Talk about grit. It wasn’t quite Fred Couples, who famously slam-dunked his third shot during the first round in 1999 after re-teeing, but this has to be the best par of Lower’s career. Certainly, the most memorable. Just look at the reaction from his group’s standard bearer:
Definitely had the walking scoreboard kid hyped
Par on #17 for @justinlower_1 after hitting it in the water. #ThePlayers pic.twitter.com/KL7YY9hOWh
— Grant Gates (@grantwgates) March 13, 2025
Lower parred 18 as well to make it nine consecutive pars to start his round. For a guy who is looking for his first made cut in this event in his third try, he’ll take pars – boring or otherwise – all day.
