Question of the week [March 10-16]: When you see or hear the words "The Players Championship," what comes to mind?
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I automatically think of hole 17. It usually plays 145 yards. I would like to see them put heart monitors on the players as they walk up to the tee box and then hit their tee shot.
Bob Floresca
Wilmington, North Carolina
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Hal Sutton: "Be the club today."
Jim Noyd
San Marcos, California
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1. Like most everybody else, I think of No. 17, the island green.
2. Next would be the shared thought that perhaps the TPC is the fifth major.
3. Lastly, I think of Rickie Fowler birdieing the 17th hole five times en route to his victory in 2015.
Marty Schwartz
Macomb, Michigan
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A field lacking many major and former champions who have been excluded because of [PGA Tour Commissioner Jay] Monahan's lack of vision. So it's not worth watching.
Jim Ryan
Oxford, Michigan
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What comes to my mind is the term “The Fifth Major,” the formal arrival of the spring season with a photogenic golf course, $700-plus green fees, great weather with no disruptions of play, and a major-worthy lineup.
Players are now comfortable with their Florida Swing wedges and have tuned their game to begin “serious” play this week as the launch for the majors is soon to follow (OK the API is serious to me, but it did leave some marquee folks out).
For the PGA Tour, this is their homecoming week, their prom and the viewing audience is likely to further boost this season’s growing PGA Tour TV audience ratings.
What memories might be made this week? We older duffers recall Greg Norman’s strut with Fuzzy Zoeller waving the towel, and who can forget Hal Sutton’s "be the club today" and how, hopefully, even long-gone Strata is still paying him for that iconic moment that is often aired to this day.
This and the Masters are the only tournaments in the “five majors” that do not rotate their venues, so I look forward to its annual arrival and like Augusta, to see what small, but impactful, changes have been made, this time by Davis Love.
From Deane Beman’s vision to Pete and Alice Dye’s most difficult project, the TPC Sawgrass and its island green has much golf history to celebrate and much more to be made.
Steve Moore
Birmingham, Alabama
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My first thought is: Here we go again with the non-stop arguing about whether or not it should be a major. I don’t care. Just go play golf.
Bill Metcalf
Dunedin, Florida
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First thought when hearing the Player's Championship is Sawgrass and the 17th green.
James Brock
Atlanta, Georgia
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I think of lots of water, sand, narrow fairways, roller-coaster greens and 50 of the top golfers in the world. Oh yeah, there’s alotta alligators.
Ed Randolph
Plymouth, Michigan
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For me, The Players is all about the golf course and the best field golf. For most hardcore golf fans, we know the layout of almost every hole and what the players are facing, especially down the stretch. Only Augusta National compares for the TV viewer in knowing the course. Plus, I’ve played the course in Jacksonville and attended practice rounds at the Masters, so a little first-hand knowledge makes it that much more fun to watch.
Barry Duckworth
Knoxville Tennessee
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The most difficult golf course I have ever played.
Rick Garrison
Port Saint Lucie, Florida
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What comes to mind for me? A tournament created by the PGA Tour to try to rival the three U.S. and U.K. major championships. The Players is not any bigger to me than Arnold Palmer's [Arnold Palmer Invitational] or Jack Nicklaus' [Memorial Tournament]. I think the course was created and tricked out to be a TV showcase.
Donn Rutkoff
Oceanside, California
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MORE THOUGHTS ON 59
My personal hero — at least one of them — was the Desert Fox, Johnny Miller. I always predicted that he would be the first to shoot 59 since he was shooting 61s and 62s back in the 1970s. I would love to see what he would have shot with the equipment we have now. Everything about our new equipment is made to hit the ball long and straight and it doesn't seem quite fair to the game I knew.
Vince Zachetti
Greensburg, Pennsylvania
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Front: The Players Championship Trophy on display in front of the TPC Sawgrass Clubhouse.
Photo: Ken Murray | Golffile