If the best four on the 17th at Sawgrass is a title Chad Ramey can claim on the same day he fired his first career ace on Tour, then he might have to consider Ponte Vedra Beach home one day.
At the very least getting out of the “island rough” on golf’s most feared par-3 would be the landslide winner of bogey of the week at the 2026 Players Championship, and the shot that took the most out of any hole — literally.
The No. 155-ranked player in the world survived what fans and analysts can only call “an ordeal” when his ball fell off the green onto a wooden ledge. He decided to attempt his shot from the edge, a move that saved him from dropping.
“Right before I hit it, I was just like, ‘Please just get the ball on the green,’” Ramey told reporters. “The drop zone shot - where that pin is - is not where you want to be. So I just kind of weighed the odds and we determined it was worth taking the chance. It couldn’t have worked for perfectly.”
While Ramey technically is a 17th survivor, the bogey-bogey finish could be marked down as less than ideal. He finished the final round 1-under 71, and looks poised for a top 30 finish though.
The back nine was a rollercoaster. When Ramey stepped onto the notorious No. 17 he was 5-under on the tournament — looking with higher than top 30.
On the 13th hole, he sank his first career ace. A birdie on 16 followed.
“I couldn’t get any putts to fall, so to not have to putt, that was nice,” Ramey said, adding there was a sigh of relief not having to use the putter.
“I was hitting kind of a smooth 7-iron and it landed perfectly, almost pin high right on the slope and fed right down to the hole,” he added of the shot.
Ramey was quick to cut off the next question — which was whether that was the favorite shot of his career.
“Yes, and it’s at The Players.”