Gary Woodland didn’t just come to THE PLAYERS Championship 2026 to play. He came with a PTSD diagnosis that he had kept to himself for a year. He was finally ready to stop pretending everything was okay. But on Thursday, TPC Sawgrass found out exactly how much he had left.

The pivotal moment occurred minutes later after Gary Woodland rolled in a 6-foot 10-inch birdie putt on the par-5 16th, building some momentum. However, his tee shot on the very next hole, the notorious 17th, splashed into the water. His frustration was visible as he yelled right after hitting the shot. Gary Woodland finished Round 1 at +3, carding a 75, and sits T82 heading into Round 2.

The 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass is not that long, but the island green makes it very difficult to hit. There is water all around the green, and the winds are always blowing, making it highly probable for the ball to land in the latter. This attribute makes it one of the hardest par-3s in professional golf, and it showed the entire day on Thursday.

Jhonattan Vegas was the Island Green’s biggest victim. He entered the hole at 3-under in one of the earlier groups, but he posted a quadruple bogey, leaving the hole 1-over for the tournament. Here’s a look at how the notorious hole played out in the first round at the 52nd edition of THE PLAYERS Championship:

• Actual yardage: 143 yards
• Balls in the water: 18
• Scoring average: 3.328
• Hole difficulty: third most difficult
• Closest to the pin: Ludvig Åberg (1 foot, 6 inches)
• Holes-in-one: 0
• Birdies: 11
• Pars: 80
• Bogeys: 18
• Double bogeys: 8
• Other: 5

This reaction, coming in from Woodland, means more, as the 41-year-old has been going through PTSD that has made it even harder to handle high-pressure situations on the course. He had surgery in September 2023 to remove a brain lesion. The procedure went well, but the aftermath was difficult. He has since had anxiety, hypervigilance, and emotional strain. A year later, he was officially diagnosed with PTSD.

During a tournament in Napa in the FedExCup Fall, that hypervigilance overwhelmed him mid-round. A walking scorer startled him from behind, blurring his vision, and he lost track of what he was doing entirely. He finished the round but spent the rest of the day crying in bathroom stalls and running to his car just to hide it.

Doctors suggested he avoid high-stress environments, but stepping away was never a real option.

“This is my dream,” Gary Woodland said. “I have a lot of fight in me, and I’m not going to let this thing win.”

On another note, TPC Sawgrass has seen this type of play before. At the 2025 PLAYERS Championship, Jordan Spieth tried to attack the par-5 16th aggressively, only to watch his shot find the water. The mistake turned a birdie opportunity into a double-bogey seven, and Spieth threw his club into the fairway in frustration. He later admitted the reaction was not appropriate, saying it came from a buildup of frustration during the round.

Gary Woodland’s or Spieth’s frustration has plenty of company in TPC Sawgrass history.

When TPC Sawgrass breaks you down

In 2013, Sergio Garcia was tied for the lead when he reached the 17th. He hit two tee shots into the water in a row, then walked off with a quadruple bogey seven and saw his chance to win slip away in minutes.

In 2007, Sean O’Hair went through something similar. He was in second place behind Phil Mickelson going into the final round. He hit the tucked pin on 17 and found the water twice. The quadruple bogey seven dropped him from second to eleventh place and cost him about $747,000 in prize money.

Bob Tway’s trip to the island green in 2005 will always be remembered for the wrong reasons. On his fifth try, he finally made it to the green after four straight tee shots that went into the water. Then he putted three times. The final score was 12 on a par-3, which meant that the tournament was a total washout.

In 2024, Adam Hadwin reached his limit after a rough ending at Sawgrass and threw his club into the water in front of fans and cameras.

So, the conclusion is that Island Green doesn’t just test how well you hit the ball. It checks to see how much a player can handle before they break.