Even on Soggy Opening Day, TPC Sawgrass Proved Again That It's a Special Course That Gives Everyone a Shot

TPC Sawgrass has evolved in numerous ways since the first Players Championship in 1982, but the first day of the 2022 edition was a reminder that much of Pete Dye's original vision still holds up.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Pete Dye, the creator of TPC Sawgrass, didn’t have any specific plan for what would become the permanent home of the Players Championship.

He used his creativity to carve out 18 holes that today looks much different and certainly more finished than the layout that hosted the first Players in 1982, when Jerry Pate won by two stroke over Scott Simpson and Brad Bryant.

Back then grass was at a premium and the course didn’t run anywhere near as hard and fast. The course evolved over time, and many of those tweaks and changes have altered the setup that Dye originally designed.

But today it remains what many consider to be a democratic course, as TPC Sawgrass tests all aspects of a player’s game, but does not favor any particular style.

Long and short hitters are treated equally, and those who veer offline are punished, sometimes severally.

Brian Harman is a Sawgrass savant, with two top 10s in the last two Players, a T8 in 2019 and a T3 last year. (The event was canceled in 2020.) The 35-year-old left-hander loves playing the Dye masterpiece.

Even when things go wrong, like today when he started bogey-bogey.

“It's really easy to imagine how the day could just keep going bad,” Harman said after signing for a 4-under 68. “You just have to remind yourself, it's a long golf tournament, 72 holes. So, you to settle down and hit some good shots."

Harman missed the cut at the Honda Classic two weeks ago and skipped the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week to prepare for this event, where he has made $1.577 million in his career.

A solid driver of the golf ball, Harman believes that good driving is a premium for success at Sawgrass. But a tee-shot advantage was lost to some extent during Thursday’s damp first round, and with more rain on tap for Friday and Saturday, this course could favor a mudder and not a ball striker.

“This course is designed so uniquely to where there's almost always some sort of a hill to kind of bring the ball to the hole or there's a place where you can kind of land it short when the greens are firm and use the green contour,” Harman said.

But now with the wet conditions, Harman and the rest of the field will have to adjust and take spin off the ball. It's a skill Harman possesses, but not one he was hoping to use this week.

South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen has also had success at the Players, courtesy of a T2 in 2017 where he was tied for the lead with Kyle Stanley at the halfway point. Like Harman, Oosthuizen, 39, knows the kind of courses he plays well and TPC Sawgrass is one of them.

He fired a 3-under 69 on Thursday. Oosthuizen enjoys this track because it puts a premium on driving, and ball striking is a hallmark of the South African’s game. Last year, he finished T2 at the PGA Championship, 2nd at the U.S. Open and T3 at the British Open, three majors where driving and ball striking are key.

“Normally, you'd run shots in and it's completely different,” Oosthuizen said of how wet conditions altered his opening round. “I had a plugged lie with an 8-iron on the 7th green, so it's a completely different style you need to get yourself to adjust. It's sort of the feeling when we were at Augusta in November. So, you sort of have to forget about what you used to hit into greens, especially with all the rain that is still coming and just be a little bit more aggressive.”

In the end both Harman and Oosthuizen are professionals, and adjusting to conditions is part of what they do for a living. But rain delays aren't fun. Both guys may be lucky to get back on the course before Saturday.

“That's a bummer,” Harman said of the forecasted rain. “But we'll just hang out with the kids and take it day by day I guess."