World number one Tiger Woods is hopeful that his experience at TPC Sawgrass will help him win a second Players Championship title.

The 14-time major champion has won only once in 15 years of competing at the Florida course, but the fact that he has only one top 10 finish since his win in 2001 is even more surprising.

Woods isn't alone in his struggles at the Pete Dye-designed 72-par course though, and several other big names have failed to impress there. Phil Mickelson has only one victory at the event, while Ernie Els and Jim Furyk have never been able to taste success at the Players Championship. Even Rory McIlroy has struggled there, failing to make the cut in each of his three visits.

"It is a tricky kind of golf course. We're all playing to the same spots. Pete (Dye) normally does that on most of his golf courses, he likes to angle tee shots," Woods explained.

"Now that it's gone to Bermuda, these greens have gotten a lot more fiery coming into them. So it makes it even more important to hit the ball in these fairways to have a chance to spin the ball.

"You miss these greens and you've got some of the weirdest, funky little shots that you'll ever face. Playing out of Bermuda-grass it's really hard to get the ball up‑and‑down."

Despite his relatively poor record at Sawgrass, Woods doesn't believe a specific aspect of his game is to blame.

"Some of the years I've driven it well and not hit my irons well, and other years I've hit the ball great and not putted well, and other years I've drove it awful and didn't score well.

"You've got to have all facets of your game going here. It's one of those type of golf courses. If you're not playing well, you're going to get exposed.

Having found the water there on three occasions, Woods added that the signature 17th - the par three island hole - is definitely the hole he struggles with the most.

"When it's blowing out of the north, northwest, I've hit five‑iron into that hole. Not a good hole to hit five‑iron to. The flag is dancing up there, and it's cold and it's about 40 degrees out. That was one of the tougher shots I've ever faced," he continued.

"Some of the holes obviously suit my eye, some don't, but a lot of it is based on wind, what direction the wind is coming from, what shape I'm swinging well at the moment.

"Some days I'm drawing the ball better, some days I'm cutting the ball better. It just kind of goes with the flow."

Golf 365