Whether this is your first time reading, or you’re a Tour Vet, the First Cut should have something for you. In this “First Cut,” we’ll cover a wide variety of topics in a short amount of time! Ultimately this article should serve as a guide for the week and what’s to come.
Here’s what you can expect to see in the article:
- Tournament Intro
- Course Preview= By the Numbers, Course Guide
- DFS-Preview- Sweat-sheet/Contest Preview
- Statistical & Player Preview
Tournament Intro: The Players Championship
Much will be made about The Players Championship being “Golf’s Fith Major” this week, and every year it’s played, and by the strength of the field, it actually may be the toughest test for a golfer to win. I don’t mean to take the importance of the tournament away from it, I’m just in the ballpark of it’s not a major nor will it ever be. But enough of my anecdotes, let’s learn about TPC Sawgrass.
This Week’s Course(s): TPC Sawgrass
Course Commentary:
The course is a tough Pete Dye-designed par 72, that received a partial face-lift after the 2016 event. The course highlight is, of course, the famed 17th hole, an island green par 3 measuring just about 140 yards, with the smallest and most treachours green. But a bit beyond that it’s also final three holes provide some of the best dramatics will see all year!
The course is a typical Dye design that is routed back and forth across the once swampy marshland and cut into the dense, mature vegetation along the inter-coastal grounds. The course features Tif Eagle Bermuda greens and stretches 7,215 yards of tactical golf requiring precision from tee to green wand some shot making imagination if a golfer hopes to hoist the crystal this week. No two consecutive holes face the same direction at Sawgrass which requires players to always adjust to the frequently windy and changing conditions of golf on Florida’s coast.
A tight and tactical course that requires less distance and more accurate drives and creative chess-like game management. TPC Sawgrass a fair but tough test of golfers all around skill. Dye’s intent upon his original design was: first, a course that didn’t favor any particular type of game, then it had to require precise execution of a variety of shot shapes/types and lastly in needed large viewing mounds & central hubs for optimum viewership. It is an incredible event to attend, and for all golf fans, I highly recommend going at least once.
Dye is famous for the visuals he presents from the tee and his unique routing that is designed to keep the players on their toes throughout their rounds. The rough has been minimal in recent years, around 2.5 inches per the Tour standard recommendation. It will be overseeded since it is March now, which actually will likely make it more relaxed around the greens than if they tournament was in late May, where they have to cut it down due to the extreme temperatures. Want to know more about the rough lengths, just check out Phil’s tweet from earlier:
Hanging with Steve Loy and Glenn Cohen while practicing at TPC. The course here is in spectacular shape with very little rough, much like Augusta! If I remember correctly, the week before I won at Pebble I missed the cut. Just saying? #Lefty pic.twitter.com/4wHW1ZOmPe
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) March 10, 2019
Scoring Averages and yearly rank:
- 71.49 (-.51)
- 29/51 hardest
Course Numbers:
- Par 72, 7,260 yards
- Winning Score: -18
- Top 5 Score- -12
- Cut Number- -1 or a two day total of 143
- Easiest Hole: 16th
- hardest Hole: 18th
- Best Chance at Streaks: 9-12
DFS Sweatsheet & Scorecard
DFS Preview:
A full preview on the best contests offered in the industry this week.
Our BIGGEST contests of the year await us: Even FANDUEL gives us 50K up top!
Player & Statistical Preview:
Player Preview:
This space will merely highlight the golfers competing and their OWGR. For full-field regular events we’ll list out the top 25 ranked golfers by OWGR:
This Weeks top 25:
Everyone in the top 25 in the world is here to compete except for Phil Mickelson. BUT upon further review, after missing the cut this week it looks like PHILL THE THRILL is going to play!
Statistical Preview:
The PGA Tour has a set of “statistics” that measure golfers performances vs. each other/the rest of the field. Here is the information on “Strokes Gained” from the winners of The Players Championship over the last 5 years
Commentary:
As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, this course is IMO, the best Pete Dye design out there. He rewards you with positional shots of the tee. Strokes gained off the tee is a measure of distance plus accuracy. Dye’s design here doesn’t yield for many opportunities to use length as a significant advantage. Thus you can see why the OTT numbers are smaller compared to the other statistics. We saw SG ARG have its highest importance relative to the winners that we’ve seen all year.
Approaches and putting remain king of the land, however, but by a much smaller margin.
For now, that’s all. I’ll be updating the article the more info we get! Around 5:00 PM EST will be the next one.
Until then,
Cheers! As always message me on Twitter or in the Slack Channel if you have any questions.
