PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The famous Island Green, the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass, played as one of the most difficult holes on the course in Thursday’s opening round at THE PLAYERS Championship, as winds from inclement weather added another challenge to the already daunting par-3.

Thursday’s hole location sat 143 yards from the tee in the back-left quadrant of the green, just several paces from the isthmus attaching the playing surface to the rest of Florida. Shots to the middle of the green were the smart play, leading to many conservative approaches. Players avoided getting overly aggressive in the stormy weather, where winds peaked at around 40 mph during a 21-minute weather delay and swirled from various directions throughout the day.

One player who didn’t take the safe approach was Ludvig Åberg, who took direct aim in one of the first groups of the morning before the winds picked up. Åberg’s shot pitched left of the hole and spun just across the back, likely looking as if it might drop from the perspective of the young Swede. It was one of the few shots to tap-in range, the closet of the day at 1 foot, 6 inches to the cup.

On the other end of the spectrum, Jhonattan Vegas was the Island Green’s biggest victim in the opening stanza. Entering the hole at 3-under in one of the earlier groups, he would post a quadruple bogey to leave the hole 1-over for the tournament. After coming up short with his initial tee shot, Vegas elected to re-tee from the tee box instead of moving to the drop zone up the left side. It’s the smart play, as the shorter shot from the drop zone up the left makes Thursday’s hole location rather inaccessible. However, he put that second shot into the water as well, hitting the green but bouncing over the firm surface and into the drink.

He was one of many victims on Thursday, but there was cause for celebration nearby. Shane Lowry’s wayward tee shot on No. 18 became the 1,000th ball in the water on the closing hole since 2003. Bring on the banners and confetti.

The afternoon session saw the sun return to TPC Sawgrass, with clear skies in the forecast for Friday and Saturday. Stay tuned to see if the firm and fast conditions seen throughout the property early in the week return after Thursday’s periodic rinsing, and how the 17th plays the rest of the week.

In the meantime, here’s a look at how the par-3 17th played out during Thursday’s first round at the 52nd edition of THE PLAYERS Championship:

• Actual yardage: 143 yards
• Balls in the water: 18
• Scoring average: 3.328
• Hole difficulty: third most difficult
• Closest to the pin: Ludvig Åberg (1 foot, 6 inches)
• Holes-in-one: 0
• Birdies: 11
• Pars: 80
• Bogeys: 18
• Double bogeys: 8
• Other: 5