The Players Championship Caddie Competition
The caddie closest to the pin competition is always popular amongst spectators
The Players Championship Caddie Competition takes place in Wednesday practice on the day before the tournament starts and it's all for a good cause.
The Players Championship Caddie Competition
Each year during Wednesday practice for the Players Championship the 'Caddie Closest to the Pin' competition takes place on the infamous island-green 17th hole on TPC Sawgrass' Stadium Course.
The 17th at TPC Sawgrass: Golf's Scariest Hole?
The competition is named in honour of Tom Watson's long-time caddie Bruce Edwards who sadly died in 2004 from the ALS disease.
10 years on in 2014, the PGA Tour began matching any donations made to the Bruce Edwards Foundation.
Players Championship Golf Betting Tips
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Just as it sounds, the caddies arrive onto the 17th tee during practice and get to hit a shot into the island green.
Every pro puts money in and the caddie who hits it closest takes the half the cash with the other half going to the Bruce Edwards Foundation.
The winning caddie also gets their own VIP parking spot in the TPC Sawgrass car park for the four competition days as well as their name engraved into a plaque in hospitality.
TPC Sawgrass 17th hole: Video Games Aces
Last year, Pat Perez's caddie Michael Hartford won the Closest to the Pin competition with an impressive effort to 3' 7".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDnIui_VZdo
Shawn Stefani's caddie Chris Callas won the contest in 2014, hitting his shot to 7' 8".
Of the 92 caddies that took part last year, 50 of them hit it into the water.
The Players Championship by the numbers
Mark Wilson's caddie Chris Jones holds the record for his effort that finished up 1'4" away from the hole in 2005.
Rickie Fowler defends the Players Championship this week after his record finish last year where he played the final six holes in six-under-par before beating Kevin Kisner in a sudden-death play-off after a 3-hole aggregate play-off with Kisner and Sergio Garcia.
Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!
Elliott is currently playing:
Driver: Titleist TSR4
3 wood: Titleist TSi2
Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1
Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Ball: Srixon Z Star XV
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