[PHOTO: Kevin C. Cox]
If Golf Twitter wasn’t complaining about something on the opening day of the Players Championship, you’d need to check its pulse. Much like a pesky in-law, the fine golf fans on the bird app know how to create problems out of thin air.
And yet, Golf Twitter rarely misses the point on the key issues, like the infamous “bumper” surrounding the famous 17th green at TPC Sawgrass. Confused by the ten-pin bowling terminology? Allow us to explain.
The “bumper” that has drawn criticism on social media is the strip of lush rough that wraps all the way around the island green. Numerous times in the opening round, that strip of rough, particularly the very front part of the green, stopped balls from spinning back into the water. If you’re going to bill the hole as one of the scariest golf, a strip of long grass saving golf balls from a watery death doesn’t exactly scream terrifying.
this is a disgrace! pic.twitter.com/c4Py9nefjz
— Joseph LaMagna (@JosephLaMagna) March 14, 2024
Spin control is no longer a skill rewarded on 17 at sawgrass. Not to mention these guys play balls that don’t even really spin.
Maybe a low point for the Tour’s setup and championship management is butchering 17 at sawgrass. pic.twitter.com/MV73IQ5xjd
— Andy Johnson (@AndyTFE) March 14, 2024
Would also lead to more guys going long and ending up with that slippery downhill putt!
— will hardy (@wiliamhardy) March 14, 2024
Question for ya – is the rough on the front or the 17th green good (if it wasn’t there the guys would all just hit it 20 feet past and make par) or bad (make a short shot or a shot without controlled spin pay a penalty!)? pic.twitter.com/2UDXktSHCe
— Shane Bacon (@shanebacon) March 14, 2024
Oddly enough, not long after all of the hashtag discourse, Sam Ryder spun one so hard off the green that the “bumper” couldn’t even save him:
Brutal.
Sam Ryder missed an ace by inches and ended up in the water. pic.twitter.com/tO409kKYtk
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) March 14, 2024
As you can see by that clip, though, the rough still almost held up Ryder’s ball. Obviously, the alternative that is being suggested here would be to completely cut that rough down to the same length as the green and let stuff really hit the fan. The players may disagree, just as Michael Kim did on Twitter Thursday evening:
Most of the time I’d agree but not this instance. Greens are too soft and fast and that bank is too steep plus wind in the face.
— Michael S. Kim (@Mike_kim714) March 14, 2024
Kim quickly changed course after seeing the Adam Svensson video, however:
To be completely honest, I wrote that before I watched this video and yeah the one Adam hit prob should have gone in the water 😂
— Michael S. Kim (@Mike_kim714) March 14, 2024
Changing your opinion with new information. Well done, Michael!
As Golfweek‘s Jason Lusk pointed out in this piece, the 17th is not the only hole with this design feature. Both the par-5 16th and par-4 18th green also have “bumpers” surrounding the greens, making what are supposed to be consequential holes in the tournament a little too easy on the world’s best. Unfortunately, it will remain that way for the rest of the week, because Golf Twitter never gets its way.