Thrill Ride At Stadium Course Goes Beyond No. 17

Rory McIlroy (left) and Sergio García played together Thursday at the Players Championship, but their first-round results differed greatly. Photo: Sam Greenwood, Getty Images

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA | Ask a casual golf fan – the person who knows who Dustin Johnson is but may not know Billy Horschel – to name their favorite hole in the game and the answer is easy.

They’re going to pick the par-3 17th hole at the TPC Stadium Course with the so-called island green, even if it isn’t actually an island. It’s as recognizable as it is fun, maybe the shortest thrill ride in golf.

It has come to symbolize the Players Championship, similar to how a green jacket defines the Masters and bourbon defines an Old Fashioned.

The 17th hole is just part of what makes this place unique. All you had to do was look at Thursday at this Players Championship.

How could you not? It was hard to look away.

There is a broken-glass quality to the Stadium Course, where on...