By the numbers: No. 17 at THE PLAYERS

ROUND 1

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The opening round of THE PLAYERS Championship produced a record low for balls in the water on the iconic par-3 17th hole with just three players sending their ball to a watery grave on Thursday at TPC Sawgrass.

It beat the previous low of six (from 2003 and 2016) for an opening round of THE PLAYERS and equaled the second fewest of all time for any round since the figures have been kept (2003). Only the third round of 2014, where just one ball got wet, has seen less aqua action.

The entire morning wave made it through dry before Andrew Landry, Adam Schenk and Talor Gooch all went long in the afternoon. While Gooch made bogey, the other two left with doubles. Nick Watney was only saved from the water by the walkway that connects the island green to the mainland, but he still made double bogey.

Corey Conners was the best of the day, hitting it just one-foot, six-inches away from the back left hole location. First-timer Matthew Wolff showed off his muscle and adrenalin by getting his 56-degree wedge to eight-feet and converting a birdie. "I was between gap and sand and I thought 144 with a sand wedge was pretty ridiculous but then I ended up hitting it,” he laughed.