Special branch - new sixth tee tree honours Sawgrass designer
Scottie Scheffler plays his shot from the sixth tee prior to THE PLAYERS Championship on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
They say everything old is new again. So it goes with the “new” overhanging live oak tree in front of the sixth tee at TPC Sawgrass that will surely rekindle some old gripes at that Players Championship.
A tree that players had to flight their drives under on the par-4 sixth tee was one of the more vilified aspects of the original Pete Dye-designed course, and when it became diseased in 2014 and had to be removed many players welcomed its demise. One of them cheering was two-time Players champion Davis Love III, who was ironically tapped to lead a project to revitalize the Dye aspects to the course including restoring the tree on the sixth tee whose removal he once tirelessly advocated for during his playing days.
“To come here and look at it and think, ‘What would Pete say if he could see that we did that?’” Love said. “You know, that’s what we want to do. We want to honor Pete.”
Another live oak with a large curved branch that could extend across the entire front of the tee box was located deep in the woods on the right of the sixth fairway and relocated to the spot where the original once stood. While even the first tree rarely got hit during the Players, it always messed with players’ minds in their field of vision.
The restoration has been pretty well received before any meaningful shots have been struck underneath it.
“I think it frames the tee shot really well and think it makes the tee shot a little easier, for me anyways,” said Shane Lowry. “I would never hit a high tee shot there. I always hit a little flighted one down there.”
Rory McIlroy, however, would hit higher drives on that hole without the tree interfering with the line of sight or flight.
“It’s sort of like you’re hitting under a bridge or hitting through a tunnel almost,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, you’ve got to be a little aware of your launch angle and make sure you don’t get the ball too high at the start.
“I think it’s better (than the pre-2014 tree) and it forces you to hit more of a particular shot.”
Love planned to sit near the tree and watch play come through and face whatever critiques come his way.
“I’m sure I’ll get comments from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,” Love told PGATour.com before Players week started, “but I can’t wait to watch Thursday."
