What’s the secret to winning this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first leg of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs? Players might start by keeping their golf balls out of the water.
Sounds simple, right? PGA Tour players are immensely skilled at avoiding the double and triple bogeys that often follow any splashdowns. But TPC Southwind in Memphis is a different animal than most Tour courses, with water directly in play on 10 holes for top-quality players.
Since 2023, TPC Southwind leads all Tour courses with most balls in the water. Players have deposited 6,166 balls into the wet stuff in that period, more than a thousand more than at any other Tour course.
If lined up, that would be 287.75 yards worth of golf balls.
A golf ball weighs 45.93 grams – actually, they can’t weigh more than that, but manufacturers do try to max out their density. So altogether those wet golf balls would tip the scales at just more than 624 pounds. And you thought your carry bag was heavy with those open-in-case-of-emergency 18-packs.
Keep scrolling for the top three Tour courses of the past 20 years to see the most balls in the water.
Denny McCarthy walks to the green on No. 9 during the final round of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club. (Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch)
Event: The Memorial Tournament
Where: Dublin, Ohio
Balls in water since 2003: 5,022
(Data provided by PGA Tour)
The 17th green of the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via AP Images)
Event: Players Championship
Where: Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
Balls in water since 2003: 5,089
Stonework lines a stream on the 15th hole at TPC Southwind in Mephis, Tennessee. (Max Gersh/The Commercial Appeal)
Event: FedEx St. Jude Championship
Where: Memphis, Tennessee
Balls in water since 2003: 6,166
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