Philip Reidon what is surely the scariest hole in golf

What makes the 17th at Sawgrass the scariest hole in golf? At just 137 yards, it is - for most players - a mere flick of a wedge, or an eight or nine-iron.

But it is not so straightforward, this monument to golfing torture.

Oh no, it causes angst and pain to golf's greatest players, without exception. Nobody is immune.

Mark Calcavecchia famously described the 17th hole as akin to a visit to the dentist. "It's like you have a 3pm appointment for root canal. You're thinking about it all morning and you feel bad all day. But, you know, sooner of later, you'll get to it."

Many players wish they never reached the 17th tee in the first place. Len Mattiace ran up an eight in the final round of The Players when in contention in 1998, while Bob Tway set the unwanted record of 12 there in the third round of The Players in 2005. Tway needed five attempts to find the green, and took the record from Robert Gamez, who had shot an 11 in the tournament in 1990.

It's a combination of elements that makes the 17th, a hole created by accident by designer Pete Dye, the most infamous on the course. But Tiger Woods, for one, doesn't believe that it should be the penultimate hole in such a big tournament.

"I think it's a wonderful hole, but I don't agree with it being the 17th or the 71st hole of a championship because I just think it is a little gimmicky. It'd be a great eighth hole, or another part of the course.

"I understand the fans love it. The players? Some do, some like it, some don't, but, hey, it's a challenge. You've got to hit a proper shot. There's no getting around it, you've got to hit a proper shot to the proper distance."

For his part, though, Phil Mickelson wouldn't have the hole anywhere other than as the 17th. "I think it makes for the most exciting finish in golf, when combined with the 16th and the 18th.

"I think the 16th provides a great chance for birdies and eagles, the 17th provides a great chance for a birdie but also a double bogey or worse, and the 18th is one of the toughest par fours we'll ever see."

The problem has not so much to do with the water, but the swirling wind - as Mickelson discovered in practice on Tuesday when he needed six shots to get a ball on the green. "This is one of the few holes anywhere that has no margin of error, no area for recovery. It's an all-or-nothing type of shot."

And, yet, there are those down the years who have conquered it in the best possible way - by having a hole- in-one. Brad Fabel was the first to achieve the feat in 1986, Miguel Angel Jimenez the last (of six) in 2002.

But it is not just professionals who find it tough. It is estimated that 120,000 balls each year find a new home in the lake around the 17th, which equates to an average three balls from each of the 40,000 green fees playing the course.

And as former tour player-turned- tv analyst Brett Ogle observed, "I never really mastered the hole, only on PlayStation . . . anyone who plays it on PlayStation thinks it is easy. You ought to stand there on the tee when you've got the elements to deal with. It's the scariest shot in golf."