Standing on an Island

Tiger Woods thinks the 17th at Sawgrass is "gimmicky." He said it today in his press conference to prepare for the Players Championship/THE PLAYERS/The PLAYERS/whatever it is now. Woods says in this article that he feels the island green cornerstone hole at the Stadium Course would be best suited as the 8th hole of a course instead of the 17th. He says it takes away from the tournament to have such a hole as the 71st hole of a (faux) major championship.

I've been to Sawgrass. I spent the better part of a day at 17 - studying it, the people there, and the players interacting with it on the course. Whether it is a gimmick or not, the players (or is it PLAYERS?) are well aware of its presence and the crowd gathered there. There are a lot of variables that play into success on the hole - the wind, the hardness of the greens, the pin location. But there just seem to be more variables at this hole than maybe any other in championship golf. I'm not sure what it is about it, but it always feels like watching a crapshoot even if the percentages show that an overwhelming percentage of golfers hit the green. Maybe it is because of the island green gimmick, or the prevalent wind, but I think I can understand where Woods sees it as a gimmick. After all, he is the guy who likes courses "with it all out in front of you."