Horses for courses: TPC Sawgrass

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Year-in and year-out, THE PLAYERS Championship is touted as the most egalitarian tournament on the PGA TOUR schedule.

Past champion Adam Scott has a good record at TPC Sawgrass. (Halleran/Getty Images)

Top-five horses

TPC Sawgrass

1. Adam Scott His 71.36 average ranks fourth best all time and is second only to Tom Lehman, who is third, among active players in the field. 2. Padraig Harrington Twice a runner-up, the Irishman has a steady all-around game for every major venue. His scoring average is ninth all-time at 71.69. 3. Vijay Singh His tee-to-green game is sublime. Why he hasn't won THE PLAYERS, his home course, is a mystery. 4. Davis Love III Has played 73 rounds -- second to Bernhard Langer -- and still averages under par at TPC Sawgrass. 5. Jim Furyk Another player who spends frequent practice time on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course. His U.S. Open performances suggest he should contend consistently in THE PLAYERS.

It is the least snobby among the big-time events, welcoming winners whose skill sets cover the spectrum of golfing styles. Bombers and bumpers, putters and pugilists, strategists and short-game wizards all have found a way to succeed on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

The reason that this famously peril-laden layout full of humps and bumps provides such a relatively level playing field for competitors is known only to its creator, architect Pete Dye.

"That's a secret," Dye said at first. But it turns out it's a secret even to him.

"If I tried to tell you, I'd just be lying, so what the heck," he said. "I haven't any idea, to tell you the truth."

Equal opportunity forces aside, there might indeed be some horses for the PGA TOUR's home course. Though no player has ever won back-to-back in the tournament's 34-year history, four players have won this event twice, and three of them are in the field: Davis Love III, Fred Couples and Steve Elkington.

Experience and pedigree seem to loom large.

Sixteen of the top 21 scorers in tournament history have at least 20 rounds under their belt, and 11 are in the field this week. All 11 have won one of the four grand slam tournaments. (The injured Tiger Woods would have made it 12.)

Winners of the PLAYERS among the group are Adam Scott (fourth), Elkington (eighth), Love (13th) and defending champion Phil Mickelson (20th).

"I think being a rookie coming here is pretty tough if you don't know the golf course," said Adam Scott, who won the 2004 PLAYERS in his third appearance. "I think if you've played a lot of rounds out here, it certainly helps. Even though the changes have been made, I still think you have a good feel of the golf course anyway.

"But I knew when I came here my first year, I was lost out there. I found it hard going. And yeah, I think guys with a lot of rounds under their belt and who have scored well here, yeah, they might feel a little more comfortable, and it could be an advantage."

Love, who won in 1992 and 2003, agrees that experience is an advantage not so much because of local knowledge as simple comfort level.

"I think it really takes a very different approach to play well on this golf course beyond being able to hit the ball straight," Love said. "You have to have patience and an ability to hang in there and just be able to take what's there.

"Pete's courses are very different, and you have to get used to it. He forces you to hit away from pins, and you just never feel like any shot is a really standard shot. You're always having to think about so many different things, and it takes a lot of discipline to make the right decisions and then hit the right shot."

Love and Scott agreed that power can help only on a couple of holes. Accuracy, obviously means more. "I think if you look back on the winners, what they did well was hit a lot of greens and then putt pretty well."

And anyone can do that on a given week.

"It's a pretty fair golf course that lets everyone in," Scott added.

The only player it doesn't seem to favor is the defending champion.

"You mean, until this year?" Mickelson countered, drawing laughs.

"I have no idea why that is," he added.

It's a secret -- just one of many at TPC Sawgrass.