The best golfers in the world will make their way to Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida this week for The PLAYERS Championship. Considered by many to be the fifth major of the PGA Tour season, The PLAYERS Championship will once again feature an absolutely loaded field with 48 of the top 50 golfers in the world in action. With a monstrous $10.5 million up for grab this week it should be no surprise that so many top golfers have made their way south for The PLAYERS Championship this week.
Event Details
Event: The PLAYERS Championship
Category: PGA
Date: May 11-14
Location: TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
Jason Day returns as the defending champion at this event. The odds are against him repeating with another victory here this year. Jack Nicklaus is the only golfer to win this event on three different occasions. Meanwhile, Fred Couples, Steve Elkington, Hal Sutton, Davis Love and Tiger Woods are the only other golfers to win this event twice. Day will have a tough time pulling out his second win here in as many years against an absolutely loaded field of contenders.
Past Five Winners
2016: Jason Day -15
2015: Rickie Fowler -12
2014: Martin Kaymer -13
2013: Tiger Woods -13
2012: Matt Kuchar -13
What To Know About The Course
Length off the tee should be an important factor this week. Martin Kaymer ranked 19th for Driving Distance when he won here in 2014. Rickie Fowler ranked 11th in that department in 2015 on his way to victory. Day ranked 15th in Greens In Regulation here last year so that is another statistic worth keeping a close eye on this week. Nobody scrambled better than Day last year. 10 of the last 12 winners have ranked inside the top-10 in Scrambling so keep that in mind this week.
The Field
Current form combined with the fact that it has been so hard to repeat here in the past means Day is available at a decent price this week. Day is listed at +2200 odds to repeat with the outright win this week. Meanwhile, it’s no surprise that Dustin Johnson is the favorite at +700 odds to win outright. D.J. has been on an absolute tear and he will get plenty of support again this week. Rory McIlroy is listed at +1100 odds followed by Jordan Spieth at +1400 odds to win outright. Sergio Garcia, Jon Rahm and Fowler round out the list of sports betting favorites to win The PLAYERS Championship this year.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Rickie Fowler over Jon Rahm
Rahm continues to impress overall but this will be his debut at The PLAYERS Championship so expectations need to be tempered this week. Hal Sutton and Craig Perks are the only two golfers to win The PLAYERS Championship in their first start here so the odds clearly aren’t in his favor. Meanwhile, Fowler won this event just two years ago in 2015. Fowler is in solid form all year and he will be eager to bounce back at this tournament after a rare missed cut here in 2016.
Top-Five Pick: Dustin Johnson
The weather at the Wells Fargo Championship played a role in D.J. settling for a runner-up finish last week. If it wasn’t for a rough second round, Johnson would enter this week in search of his fourth straight win on the PGA Tour. No golfer has come even close to matching Johnson’s level of play over the past three months as he has finished inside the top-three in four straight starts. Johnson’s game should be well suited to the conditions this week. It won’t surprise anybody if D.J. finds a way to pull out the victory at the The PLAYERS Championship. At the very least, he should be able to finish in the top-five this week.
2017 Odds To Win The PLAYERS Championship
Dustin Johnson +705
Rory McIlroy +1050
Jordan Spieth +1215
Sergio Garcia +1650
Rickie Fowler +1850
Hideki Matsuyama +1850
Jason Day +2050
Justin Rose +2250
Jon Rahm +2050
Justin Thomas +2550
Henirk Stenson +3250
Adam Scott +3550
Brooks Koepka +3550
Paul Casey +4050
Matt Kuchar +4550
Phil Mickelson +5500
Francesco Molinari +5050
Kevin Kisner +5050
Martin Kaymer +6550
Kevin Chappell +5500
Patrick Reed +6550
Lee Westwood +7050
Charl Schwartzel +7550
Louis Oosthuizen +8550
Bubba Watson +9050
Branden Grace +8550
Jason Dufner +7550
Pat Perez +7550
Tyrrell Hatton +7550
Russell Henley +7550
Others on request call or e-m
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