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Justin Thomas is attempting to become the first player to
successfully defend at the event. While he's among the
pre-tournament favorites, sportsbooks are also offering a bevy
of prop bets around the iconic 17th hole.
Field Level Media's golf experts break down key tournament info,
best bets and intriguing props for the island green that is the
scene of great drama every year.
THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., March 10-13
Course: TPC Sawgrass, Stadium Course (Par 72, 7,256 yards)
Purse: $20M (Winner: $3.6M)
Defending Champion: Justin Thomas
FedExCup Leader: Scottie Scheffler
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 12-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel);
Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (NBC)
PGA Tour Live: Four live feeds per day on ESPN+
Social Media: @ThePlayersChamp (Twitter)
NOTES
--The Players is the first of five events on the PGA Tour
schedule, along with the four majors, to offer 600 FedExCup
points to the winner.
--If there is a playoff, it will be a three-hole aggregate
format played on hole Nos. 16-18. If necessary, it would be
followed by sudden death (17-18-17).
--World No. 12 Bryson DeChambeau withdrew as he continues to
recover from a wrist injury. No. 19 Harris English (injury) is
the only other top-25 player not in the field. The only other
players who qualified who are not playing this week are Phil
Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods.
--Woods (2013) is the only player in the FedExCup era to enter
The Players atop the standings and go on to victory at TPC
Sawgrass.
--The best result by a defending champion at The Players was a
T5, accomplished three times. In the past six Players, Webb
Simpson in 2019 is the only defending champion to finish within
the top 50.
--Thirty-four players in this week's field, including reigning
Korn Ferry Tour player of the year Stephan Jaeger, have yet to
win on the PGA Tour. Only Craig Perks (2002) and Tim Clark
(2010) have made The Players their maiden win on tour.
--Adam Hadwin and Chez Reavie, both in this week's field, have
hit the famous 17th green in all 20 of their respective career
rounds at TPC Sawgrass. Paul Casey leads this week's field with
the most career balls in the water at 17, with nine.
BEST BETS
--Thomas (+1000 at DraftKings) won last year despite ranking
32nd in the field in driving accuracy, but he averaged only 28
putts per round.
--Jon Rahm (+1000) is ranked No. 1 for the 34th consecutive
week. The last world No. 1 to win The Players was Jason Day in
2016. He leads the tour in strokes gained off the tee and
tee-to-green.
--Rory McIlroy (+1600) won the event in 2019 and has four
top-10s in 11 previous starts.
--Collin Morikawa (+1600) is second on tour in greens in
regulation and is fourth in strokes gained putting. He tied for
the low round of the day with a 66 on Sunday last year. Morikawa
leads the way at DraftKings with 6.4 percent of the outright
winner bets and 11.5 percent of the handle. He's second at
BetMGM with 7.9 percent of the bets at +1400 while leading with
15.7 percent of the handle.
--Scheffler (+2000) is attempting to become the fourth player to
win the Players after winning the previous week. He has two wins
in his past three starts but missed the cut at The Players last
year.
--Patrick Cantlay (+2000) snapped a streak of six consecutive
top-10s in his last start at the Genesis. He's also being
offered at +2000 at BetMGM, where Cantlay has been backed by 5.0
percent of the bets and handle and is the book's third-biggest
liability this week.
--Viktor Hovland (+2200) also missed the cut in his event debut
last year. He's coming off a T2 last week and has three wins
among six top-four finishes in his past eight worldwide starts.
--Hideki Matsuyama (+2500) is the only other two-time winner on
tour this year. He also missed the cut last year but tied the
TPC Sawgrass scoring record with an opening 9-under 63 in 2020
before the rest of the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.
--Brooks Koepka (+3000) has slipped to 18th in the world and has
missed half of his past eight cuts. However, he thrives at the
marquee events and has drawn 6.2 percent of the bets and 7.5
percent of the handle at DraftKings. Koepka has also moved to
+3000 at BetMGM after opening at +3000, making him the book's
biggest liability while being backed by 8.8 percent of the bets
and 10.2 percent of the handle.
--Jordan Spieth (+4000) is third at DraftKings with 3.8 percent
of the bets and 4.5 percent of the handle. However, he does not
have a great track record at The Players, a course that has not
traditionally suited his game well.
--Talor Gooch (+6500) faded to a T7 with a 77 on Sunday at Bay
Hill but already has a win this season and finished T5 last
year.
17th HOLE PROPS
The famous island green at the par-3 17th hole always makes for
some intriguing prop bet action.
DraftKings is offering +250 odds that there will be a
hole-in-one on No. 17 this week compared to -360 odds for no
ace.
SportsBetting.ag has gone a layer deeper, adding player-specific
odds for an ace on the iconic hole.
--Jon Rahm +10000
--Collin Morikawa +10000
--Justin Thomas +10000
--Rory McIlroy +12500
--Scottie Scheffler +12500
--Hideki Matsuyama +12500
--Dustin Johnson +12500
--Brooks Koepka +12500
--Jordan Spieth +12500
--Sungjae Im +12500
--Louis Oosthuizen +12500
--Sergio Garcia +17500
--Bubba Watson +20000
--Tommy Fleetwood +20000
It is one of a host of prop bets the sportsbook is offering
focused on No. 17. Among the others:
Tee Shots In The Water: Over/Under 51.5
Tee Shots In The Water, Round 1: Over/Under 16.5
Tee Shots In The Water, Round 4: Over/Under 9.5
Highest Score On No. 17: Over/Under 7.5
And for those looking to score a big payday off a modest wager,
SportsBetting.ag is offering +6600 odds that a seagull will pick
up a ball off the 17th green during the tournament.
--Field Level Media
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