The front pin location at the 17th at TPC Sawgrass can be one of the easier pins on the hole. To be more clear, it’s one of the safer pins on the hole to not completely embarrass yourself going at in an attempt to get close. There is no real easy pin on the 17th at the Players Championship.
This slam-dunk hole-in-one may be the best ace ever at TPC Sawgrass’ island hole
Ryan Moore drops one in on the fly!
But when it’s up front, you can just play it safe, take extra club, and hit it to the middle of the green. Ideally, it will land just at the top of the ridge and there will be enough spin on it for the ball to come back down toward the front. Going at the pin is not the most advisable move, given it’s just a few paces from the bulkhead and the water. Just safely hit it to the middle of the green and hope it rolls back down. If it doesn’t, then two-putt from the top of the slope, make your par, and get the hell out of there.
Ryan Moore did not do that. Moore went right at the damn flag, trying to fly it juuuuust onto the front section of the island green. Whether it was intended or not, the play paid off in a big way as Moore’s distance control was perfect. His ball hit about a quarter up on the flagstick and dropped right in the cup.
Moore’s ace is the 9th in the history of the hole, which may be the most famous par-3 in golf. Willy Wilcox ended a 14-year drought in 2016, and then Sergio Garcia made one the next year. Now Moore ensures that there will be no lengthy drought starting again with this slam dunk on the first day of the 2019 edition.
The play to the front section was aggressive, but not nearly as aggressive as the shot of Tiger Woods, who stepped on one late in the day to clear the bulkhead by a foot. This is as close as it gets and it was a risky attempt after Tiger tried to hammer sand wedge in the final round last year and came up short of the Sunday left pin.
Moore’s blast off the pin was similar to Fred Couples slam dunk 20 years ago, except there Couples’ was in for a par after rinsing his first tee shot. The way Moore’s ace slammed in may just make it the best in the history of this event at TPC Sawgrass.
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