Tiger, Phil Succumb to TPC Sawgrass' Treachery; 18th and 17th Hardest for Field

North winds blew in unfriendly gusts at TPC Sawgrass during the first round of The Players Championship, dashing many hopes for good scores.

The 17th and 18th holes punished the rich and famous. Nearly three dozen scores of double bogey or worse were posted on the holes with the 18th earning the title of hardest on the course. It averaged a score of 4.65.

The 17th showed its teeth, grabbing 21 golf balls in round one, the second highest number since 2007.

Those two holes alone damaged a lot of players, including Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

Woods, despite errant drives during the afternoon, appeared to have made it safely through the round at 1-under par. He then hit his tee shot on the 18th. It went 235 yards before plummeting into the water.

Mickelson cruised along at 1-under par until he reached the 18th tee. He blasted a drive and, somewhere around 276 yards, it fell out of the air and into the lake.

Justin Rose came to the 18th at 3-under and smashed his drive into the water.

Gary Woodland, who was in the final of the Cadillac Match Play last week, had to sign for a double and triple on the final two holes of the course. On the 17th, like many, he came up short, went to the drop zone, re-teed and ended up with a 5 for the hole. On the 18th, his tee ball ripped into the water that guards the entire left-hand side. He elected to re-tee and posted a double bogey.

The cruelest blow was delivered to Louis Oosthuizen. He came to the 17th tee tied for the lead. His shot to the green then came up just short of the bulkhead.   

The most damage, though, was done to Brooks Koepka, who managed to hit two balls into the water on both the 17th and 18th holes. That gave him a pair of quadruple bogeys. No one says anything repeatable after doing that.

While the 18th and 17th were No. 1 and No. 2 in difficulty, disasters could be found in most locations. Adding up the worst score made by the entire field on each hole gives an idea of the kind of damage. The total in round one would equate to a score of 111. That's a nasty 55 on the front nine and a one-over-nasty 56 on the back.  

Here are some others who had unfortunate bounces.

Jason Dufner posted triple, double at the 12th and 13th.

Scott Piercy hit two in the water off of the 18th tee and then played the hole from the drop area for a quadruple bogey 8.

Darren Clarke, according to some reporters who were following him, was 10-over par on the 12th hole when he withdrew. He said it was because he injured his wrist during the warm-up, but at +10, who can blame him?    

Even co-leader Charley Hoffman wasn't immune. He avoided trouble at the 17th and 18th, but he had a triple at the 1st. He hit trees, trees again, hit right of the green, flubbed a chip, skulled one across the green, chipped up to about four feet and made that for a 7.   However, he had eight birdies in the round, including one at the 17th, proving greatness or disaster was possible anywhere on the course.   

Kathy Bissell is a Golf Writer for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand or from official interview materials from the PGA Tour, USGA, R&A or PGA of America.