The best Players' bird's-eye view

Florida Times-Union sports columnist Gene Frenette is at The Players Championship all week, providing daily content for jacksonville.com This is his entry for Thursday May 8.

For the last two decades, one of the best and most exclusive vantage points to watch The Players Championship belongs to Brian Phraner, an NBC cameraman who operates his equipment on a tiny island between the 16th and 17th greens.
Phraner takes a 12-foot, flat-bottom boat with a small electric motor from behind the 17th green to get to his work station. He has the island all to himself, unless you count several different species of birds who park themselves in the gigantic oak tree above Phraner.
Except for a late morning lunch break, and occasional bathroom emergencies, Phraner will be staying on that island from the time the first group arrives after 9 a.m. until the last group comes through around 7 p.m.
"It's a good spot, nice and private," said Phraner. "No distractions."
On Thursday, he was there when 48-year-old Tommy Armour III and Jose Coceres narrowly missed hole-in-ones. Armour's shot stopped a foot short of the hole, while Coceres rattled the pin and settled five feet behind the cup. Both made birdie.
Terry Hester, another veteran NBC cameraman who operates his lens in a television tower 30 feet high behind the par-3 17th hole, and Phraner both love the golf portion of NBC's schedule because it's their favorite sport to capture in pictures.
"Anybody would want to be up here," said Hester. "This is as good as it gets."
Unlike last year's first round, when high winds contributed to 50 balls finding the water at No. 17, it played rather tame for the golfers teeing off in the morning. Only five of the first 77 players failed to stay on dry land Thursday.
For more on the good life for spectators around the 16th and 17th greens at the TPC Sawgrass Players Stadium course, check out my column in Friday's Florida Times-Union.