Thirty things you didn't know about the PGA TOUR's flagship event

Chris Condon/PGA TOUR

Tim Clark is one of only two players to win at TPC Sawgrass for his first PGA TOUR win.

It was 30 years ago that THE PLAYERS Championship made its permanent move to the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. In that short period, the course has become one of the most well-known layouts in the mind of the nation's golf fans.

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Here's a chance to test your knowledge of the course and the tournament. Here are 30 facts you might like to know. Some might make you go "hmmm" while you watch the players sweat it out on the three best finishing holes in golf.

1. Only four players (Fred Couples, Steve Elkington, Hal Sutton and Davis Love III) have won the tournament more than once and no one has won more than twice since it moved to TPC Sawgrass. (Jack Nicklaus won it three times but never at its current location.)

2. No player has ever successfully defended their championship at TPC Sawgrass. But Padraig Harrington did finish second in consecutive years (2003-04).

3. Defending champions have had it rough. Since moving to TPC Sawgrass, only five defending champions have finished in the top 10; Adam Scott was the most recent in 2005. And seven defending champions played well enough to take the weekend off. Henrik Stenson missed the cut last year after winning THE PLAYERS in 2009.

4. Twice a player has finished second one year and then returned twelve months later to win. Tiger Woods did it in 2000 and 2001 and Sergio Garcia did it in 2007 and 2008. (Keep an eye on Robert Allenby, last year's runner-up.)

5. THE PLAYERS is typically the property of a proven winner. Only two players have had their first career win come at Sawgrass, including defending champion Tim Clark.

6. No rookie has broken through at TPC Sawgrass. The best finish by a first-year player was Fulton Allem in 1988 and Camilo Villegas in 2006, who each tied for third.

7. Six of the last nine tournaments have been won by international players. The last American winner was Phil Mickelson in 2007.

8. Fairways and greens are the key at Sawgrass. Four winners have led the tournament in the number of fairways and greens in regulation.

9. No one has ever led the tournament in driving distance and won the title, although four have finished second in that category, most recently Davis Love III in 2003.

10. Five winners have led the category of driving accuracy, most recently Sergio Garcia in 2008.

11. The average drive in 2010 was measured at 285.7 yards; it was 263.2 in 1982.

12. Scores were crazy in 1994. Greg Norman set a scoring record with a 24-under 264 that beat Fuzzy Zoeller by four shots. And Zoeller's score broke the previous tournament record set a year earlier by Nick Price.

13. A seagull once picked the ball of Steve Lowery off the 17th green and dropped it in the water. Lowery was able to replace the ball where it had originally come to rest on the green. (The seagull was never apprehended and is a YouTube star today.)

14. While No. 17 gets most of the attention, the most difficult par-3 on the course is No. 8. The 237-yarder has given up only 10 birdies per round over the last eight seasons.

15. First tee pressure doesn't bother Pat Perez. He's made a birdie on the first hole six times in his 24 rounds.

16. Statistically speaking, the toughest hole on the course is No. 18, the 462-yarder that allowed only 30 birdies in 2010. It also gave up five triple bogeys or more.

17. Sawgrass doesn't typically lend itself to big comebacks. The winner has never come from further back than being tied for seventh. Justin Leonard (five shots) overcame the largest deficit for his victory in 1998. Henrik Stenson matched that comeback in 2009.

18. Not only does the winner get more FedExCup points here -- 600 compared to 500 most weeks -- but he also receives a five-year exemption on the PGA TOUR.

19. Lucas Glover won last week at Quail Hollow, but that means little this week. Only twice has a player won the week prior to THE PLAYERS and returned to win at TPC Sawgrass: Tiger Woods in 2001 and Tom Kite in 1989.

20. Oldest winner at TPC Sawgrass? Fred Funk, who was 48 years, nine months, and 14 days old.

21. The oldest player to start the event was Sam Snead, who was 69 years, nine months and 21 days when he teed it up in 1982.

22. The oldest to make the cut at TPC Sawgrass was Arnold Palmer, who was 55 when he accomplished the feat in 1985.

23. Ten international players have won THE PLAYERS. There are 19 countries represented in this week's field.

24. The risk-reward par-5 16th hole has enticed 72 percent of the field to go for the green in two shots. And an average of 25 percent of the attempts are successful. No one has made more eagles there than Fred Couples (six).

25. Charity is a big winner at TPC Sawgrass. Since the tournament moved there, more than $40 million has been given to charitable organization and causes in Northeast Florida.

26. The biggest winning margin of victory: Steve Elkington by seven shots in 1997.

27. The last hole-in-one at the 17th hole came from Miguel Angel Jimenez in 2002 during the first round.

28. The 13th hole is a three-putt paradise. The 181-yard hole has produced more three-putts than any other hole on the course.

29. Paul Azinger is the only player who has birdied the 17th hole during all four rounds of competition. He did it in 1987.

30. In a contest to find the worst golfer in the country, Pennsylvania resident Angelo Spagnolo took a 66 at the 17th hole. After plunking 27 balls in the water, he putted it down the cart path and over the little runway leading to the green. Unfortunately, there was no seagull to blame this time.

Stan Awtrey is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR.