What a great feeling for the “regular” golfers of the world… watching more than a third of the world’s best golfers on the US PGA Tour dunk their ball into the water at the short-but-treacherous 120m 17th at THE PLAYERS Championship last week.

94 balls were hit in the water on 17 for the tournament, shattering the former record of 67 in 2005 — and 50 of those were in the first round. By the end of Friday, that record from 2005 had already been broken. See all of the stats for the 17th.

So it’s not only us amateurs that can come apart when the terrain is tough.

The TPC is known as the unofficial “fifth major” and in 2007 had a $9 million prize purse, so it definitely attracts the top players on the US PGA Tour.

But as the stats for the 17th show, even the world’s best can be intimidated. It’s no wonder the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course’s 17th is rated one of the most difficult holes in golf. Forget the path leading to the green from the rear of the hole… you could probably walk across water on top of the golf balls in their watery grave.

It doesn’t matter what your golf skill, holes like this one prove just how much of your golf is played “between the ears”.

Mind you, during the tournament, two players managed to make an albatross (double eagle) “2″ on a par 5 — Hunter Mahan and Aussie Peter Lonard, the first two in the history of the TPC — let alone the bevvy of eagles and chip ins making the tournament a spectator’s delight. So the pros aren’t about to give up their status as the best in the world!

One word sums up this picture, for every golfer… intimidating! It’s fascinating to watch even the world’s best tackle this kind of challenge.

PS: Must get to this course one day! And another interesting stat — the clubhouse is apparently nearly twice as big as the US White House.