Has Anyone Birdied 17th Hole All 4 Rounds of The Players Championship?

The par-3, island green, 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass, home of The Players Championship, is one of the most-famous holes in golf. And the focus there is often on golfers who don't do well — who plop a shot into the water that surrounds the green. But what about golfers who do great on that hole? Has anyone birdied the famous 17th hole in all four rounds of The Players Championship?

Yes. But it has only happened twice since the tournament was first played at TPC Sawgrass in 1982. In the more than 40 years that island-green 17th has been a focus of attention during The Players Championship, only two golfers have birdied it each of the tournament's four rounds:

• Paul Azinger, 1987 Players Championship. Azinger's scores for his four rounds were 68-70-68-71, an 11-under total of 277. That was three strokes out of a Sandy Lyle-Jeff Sluman playoff that Lyle won. Azinger finished solo sixth.

• Kyle Stanley, 2017 Players Championship. Stanley's scores for his four rounds were 69-66-72-75, a 6-under total of 282. Stanley tied for fourth place, four strokes behind the winner, Si-Woo Kim.

Birdying the hole all four rounds means that Azinger and Stanley also share the tournament record for lowest cumulative score on the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass during any given Players Championship — 8 (2-2-2-2). It is possible, however that someone could tie that score without birdying the hole all four rounds, but only if they make a hole-in-one during one of their rounds (for example, 3-1-2-2).

It is also possible that someone could beat Azinger's and Stanley's record of 8 strokes on the 17th hole during one Players Championship. But again, that would require an ace along with birdies in the other rounds (for example, 2-2-1-2).

Theoretically possible, but extremely unlikely to happen. There have been only two golfers make birdie all four rounds on No. 17, after all, and just a small number of players have scored holes-in-one on the island green during The Players. Azinger, though, did both. In addition to his four birdies on the 17th in 1987, he also made a hole-in-one on the 17th in 2000.

Related articles:

• Worst scores on 17th hole during The Players Championship
• Largest come-from-behind wins in Players Championship
• Back-to-back winners of The Players Championship