Webb Simpson led wire-to-wire during a dominant four-shot victory at the 2018 Players and Paul Tesori had the best seat at TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course. Of course, there’s not a lot of sitting involved when you’re helping a tour pro navigate one of the most treacherous tracks in golf.
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TPC Sawgrass, and in particular its three-hole closing stretch, has a reputation for keeping the world’s best golfers on their toes. And Simpson couldn’t have a better teammate than Tesori. The longtime caddie is a Florida native with plenty experience playing the Players venue, and he’s a great golfer in his own right, most recently winning a Florida State Golf Association mid-amateur event in February.
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But now, he’s here to help guide you.
In Caddie Confidential, the latest premium series from Golf Digest Schools, Tesori takes you through the par-5 16th, the par-4 18th, and yes, the infamous par-3 17th at TPC Sawgrass. In the 50-minute program, Tesori tours the holes, hits the shots, and provides a unique perspective on how players manage one of golf’s toughest stretches. He also imparts course management strategy that can aid golfers of any skill level, and shares some tremendous battle stories from previous Players Championships, including a memorable exchange with his Vijay Singh on the 72nd hole in 2001. We’ll let Tesori tell the story of his exchange with his notoriously prickly former boss, but here’s how he summed it up, and how he describes the typical player-caddie relationship on tour.
“Hopefully, you get a guy that you can kind of needle back at the same time, which I have now,” Tesori said. “But most of the time, it’s going to be a one-way needle street.”
Here’s a preview of Paul Tesori’s video lesson on the finishing three holes at TPC Sawgrass: