This is it. The PGA Tour’s biggest stop of the season as far as the PGA Tour is concerned: the PLAYERS Championship. TPC Sawgrass! Pete Dye! Ponte Vedre Beach! The Fifth Major!
As we’ve come to expect, the PLAYERS has one of the best fields of the year, so even if it’s looked upon as little brother in terms of major championships, it’s still the best of the rest. The actual players (lowercase) will trot out their best PR stuff in front of every camera and microphone stuck in their face. It’s like they’ll get paid to be on next year’s commercial, they’re so effusive in their praise.
You know the course. You know the finishing holes. Let’s find out who the experts are picking to win this thing.
What The Experts Are Saying
Jeff Sherman of GolfOdds.com and the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook has set Rory McIlroy as the betting favorite at 8/1. Just behind him are Jordan Spieth and Jason Day at 10/1 and defending champion Rickie Fowler at 15/1. Justin Rose is 20/1 and Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson and Hideki Matsuyama come in at 25/1.
Rob Bolton at PGATour.com set his Power Rankings as follows: 1. Rory, 2. Rickie, 3. Sergio, 4. Stenson, 5. Matsuyama, 6. Rose, 7. Spieth, 8. Day, 9. Zach Johnson, 10. Chris Kirk, 11. Louis Oosthuizen, 12. Bill Haas, 13. Billy Horschel, 14. Adam Scott, 15. Kevin Na, 16. Branden Grace, 17. Danny Willett, 18. Daniel Berger, 19. Francesco Molinari, 20. Martin Kaymer.
Pat Mayo at RotoExperts.com likes the safe plays of Spieth, McIlroy, Stenson and Garcia, and digging a little deeper for Kevin Chappell, Billy Horschel, Patrick Reed and Branden Grace.
Lastly, Steve Bamford at Golf Betting System is backing Stenson, Garcia, Billy Horschel and David Lingmerth.
Horses For Courses
Here’s how guys have fared recently in this tournament, via Golf Betting System:
One and Done
Branden Grace
Used: Jimmy Walker, T10 (Hyundai); Brandt Snedeker, P2 (Sony); Patrick Reed, T56 (CB Challenge); Jamie Lovemark, T31 (Farmers); Bubba Watson, T14 (Phoenix); Phil Mickelson, 2 (Pebble); Charl Schwartzel, T45 (NTO); Sergio Garcia, 2 (Honda); Justin Rose, T17 (Cadillac); Ryan Moore, 3 (Valspar); Henrik Stenson, T3 (Bay Hill); Scott Brown, T5 (Puerto Rico); Paul Casey (Match Play); Louis Oosthuizen, MC (Shell); Rory McIlroy, T10 (Masters); Matt Kuchar, T48 (Heritage); Billy Horschel, T36 (Zurich); Hideki Matsuyama, T11 (Wells Fargo).
Winnings: $3,856,107
———
Be sure to follow us on Twitter @SwingbySwing and Like Us on Facebook.
