PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The island-green, par-3 17th featured an accessible front-left hole location in Friday’s second round at THE PLAYERS Championship, meaning a wedge approach and birdie opportunity for most of the 144-player field at TPC Sawgrass’ THE PLAYERS Stadium Course.

It led to a 2.92 scoring average Friday at the island green, nearly two-tenths of a stroke lower than in Thursday’s opening round, which utilized a back-middle location that caused several pros to play a conservative approach to the middle of the green.

There were several near-aces on Friday – including by Collin Morikawa, who converted from 4 feet as part of a 7-under 65 that moved him to 9-under total, two off the 36-hole lead shared by Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia.

Justin Thomas made 11 birdies in a tournament record-tying 62 that vaulted him from T134 to T29 on the leaderboard. One of those 11 birdies came at No. 17, as he drained a curling 19-footer to move to 11-under on the day, onto the verge of the solo course record before a water ball en route to bogey at the par-4 18th.

Here’s a look at how the par-3 17th played during Friday’s second round at the 51st iteration of THE PLAYERS Championship:

• Actual yardage: 128 yards
• Balls in the water: 9
• Scoring average: 2.923
• Hole difficulty: 11th most difficult
• Closest to the pin: Adam Schenk, Eric Cole (1 foot, 3 inches)
• Holes-in-one: 0
• Birdies: 37
• Pars: 86
• Bogeys: 15
• Double bogeys: 4
• Other: 1

Round 1 recap: Justin Lower makes hole-in-three

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Justin Lower found the water off the tee at the island-green, par-3 17th hole during Thursday’s opening round at THE PLAYERS Championship.

He walked away with an unlikely par.

The famed island green was persnickety Thursday at TPC Sawgrass’ THE PLAYERS Stadium Course, despite softer conditions, as the back-middle hole location caused players to proceed with caution on the 146-yard shot. Those who pushed the ball close to the hole risked finding the water behind the green, as did Lower on his first shot; it splashed without touching the putting surface.

Lower played his third shot – from the drop area – to perfection. His 89-yard shot landed roughly 25 feet short of the hole, took a few hops and trickled into the cup.

“You’re happy but at the same time you’re like, ‘Why can’t golf always be this easy?’” Lower laughed afterward. “But it was fun.”

As Lower approached the green, he thought back to Fred Couples’ hole-in-three en route to victory in 1999 at THE PLAYERS. Lower didn’t want to make comparisons to Couples after signing for an opening-round, even-par 72, six strokes off the first-round lead of 6-under 66 – Couples slam-dunked his par-save and proceeded to finish the week in fourth place; Lower knows there’s plenty of work to do. (He also quipped that he wished he had played better so Golf Channel’s Johnson Wagner might have considered re-playing the shot.)

It marked a fun memory nonetheless, and one that kept Lower on the projected cut line (even-par) into Friday’s second round in northeast Florida.

“(Playing partners) Keith (Mitchell) and Nicolai (Højgaard) both hit wedge, and they hit them really high and landed into the slope and they almost brought it back into the water off the slope,” Lower said. “That was one thing I was trying to avoid, so I took one more club and tried to hit it a little softer, but it was just pure adrenaline on that hole, as it always is.

“I flagged it, it was all over it, but just too much club, and then the third shot, I dropped it and I started thinking, ‘Should I have gone back to the tee, because this shot might be harder,’ and I was pretty nervous over it, but luckily I hit it just perfect … it was great that it went in.”

Local favorite Billy Horschel closed with three straight birdies for a 5-under 67, including a 6-foot birdie at No. 17. It was one of the day’s more aggressive shots at the island green, and it propelled him to within a shot of the first-round lead as he chases an elusive first PLAYERS title.

“I actually thought we needed to hit about a 130 (-yard) pitching wedge. I thought that would fly about 8 to 10 (yards) more,” Horschel said afterward. “And I saw Rosey (Justin Rose) hit a good shot, what I thought was going to be a better shot, didn't fly as far. So I just hit it a little bit harder to make sure I got it up on top, and hit a great golf shot. It was perfect to have the wind down off the right. It's a tough pin because you want to get it up there but you don't want to fly it. Hit it to 6 feet, make birdie … Couldn’t ask for a better finish.”

PGA TOUR rookie Karl Vilips, making his first PLAYERS appearance, hit the green and safely two-putted for par, en route to an even-par 72. Vilips made five starts in the Junior PLAYERS as he rose the amateur golf ranks, so he’s plenty familiar with the island green. That didn’t make the moment less intimidating – but he handled the challenge.

"I was just so nervous (over the tee shot.) I liked that it was downwind,” Vilips said afterward. “Just tried to not think about it. I was just so relieved to hit the green there and have a good look at birdie."

Others weren’t as fortunate. Second-year TOUR pro Max Greyserman arrived at No. 17 at even-par for the tournament but hit two balls into the water, en route to a quadruple bogey that moved him from T55 to T121 on the leaderboard. Greyserman signed for a 2-over 74 and is two strokes off the cut line into Friday’s second round.

Play was suspended due to darkness at 7:34 p.m. ET, with five players left on the course. Two players (Ryan Gerard and Max McGreevy) have yet to complete No. 17.

The AI Course Setup Tool Presented by Morgan Stanley projected that the average score on No. 17 would be 3.11, and it was exactly that. Here’s a look at how the par-3 17th played during Thursday’s opening round at the 51st iteration of THE PLAYERS Championship:

• Actual yardage: 146 yards
• Balls in the water: 11
• Scoring average: 3.11
• Hole difficulty: Seventh most difficult
• Closest to the pin: Chad Ramey (2 feet, 5 inches)
• Holes-in-one: 0
• Birdies: 20
• Pars: 98
• Bogeys: 16
• Double bogeys: 5
• Other: 3

PGA TOUR’s Stephanie Royer contributed to this report.