Dye's Sawgrass shines anew

Early last year, after the final putt fell at the Players Championship, work crews fanned out across the Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass, giving Pete Dye's renowned layout its first major renovation since it opened a quarter-century ago. Greens were revamped, bunkers were deepened, dead trees were replaced, and a drainage system that had long been a weak spot in the course's defenses was overhauled. The result is a course that plays firm, fast and fair — exactly what Dye always intended.

Dye's design, never meant to overwhelm with length, has been left largely intact and still requires subtlety and precision. Some holes (like Nos. 1 and 8) have been lengthened modestly, and pot bunkers were added along the seventh fairway (at 270 to 310 yards from the tee, they aren't an issue for most ofus). Even the most iconic hole at Sawgrass — the island-green 17th — was tweaked: the front slope was flattened a little and the left side widened to accommodate a perilous new pin position. But one thing hasn't changed, and it never will: there's still a lot of water around the green.