Australian Cameron Smith putted his way to a win a challenging, rain-soaked Players Championship. It was a remarkable putting week for Smith—the best in Players history judging by strokes gained putting. Smith birdied the island green 17^th, but bogeyed the final hole to give Anirban Lahiri a chance. But Lahiri, from India, couldn’t make birdie on the final hole, giving Smith the win.

Even with Monday drama, the real story was the nasty weather that delayed the tournament, and led to a heartbreak on the famed par-3 17^th, the island green that is one of the most notorious holes in the sport.

The Island of Defeat

The 17^th is normally not much more than a wedge for the best golfers in the world. But on Saturday, with the wind whipping to 35 miles per hour at points, the little hole became a beast. In all, 29 balls found the water on Saturday alone (compared to four in the first two days), with golfers starting on the hole because of weather delays. Brooks Koepka started on the hole, and immediately made double-bogey after his ball splashed down, his 10^th ball in the water at the hole in his career.

Golfers went after the hole with chipped 6-irons, fearful the wind would get blocked out and ball would fly the green. Xander Schauffele’s tee shot caught the wind and was blown well into the water. British Open champion Collin Morikawa, generally regarded as the best ballstriker on tour, saw his chipped 7-iron catch the wind and drop yards away from the green into the pond.

Golf Channel commentator Brandel Chamblee called the hole “unplayable” in the high winds.

TPC at Sawgrass, which is open to the public, says more than 100,000 golf balls find the pond during a year. The most golf balls in the water at a Players Championship was 2007, when 50 found the pond.

Canadians Excel in Tough Conditions

Five Canadians were entered in the Players’ field, with two—Roger Sloan and Mackenzie Hughes—failing to get to the weekend. The other three, Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, and Taylor Pendrith, all found themselves in a tightly-stacked mix of players as the tournament went into Monday.

Hadwin, from Abbotsford, BC, was the standout with a 5-under closing round that jumped him 27 places up the leaderboard at 7-under for the tournament to finish in a tie for 9^th. It was a fine showing by Hadwin, who has struggled for much of the year.

Taylor Pendrith, playing in his first Players, also played well, and if it wasn’t for a couple of costly missteps in the final round, he would have found himself well up the leaderboard. Even then, he finished at 6-under, in a tie for 13th-place.

Corey Conners, who finished in 7^th-place last year, didn’t have as much success in the challenging cold and wind. He finished at 2-under for the tournament.