The Players Championship, known as golf’s “5th major” has been around since 1974 when the first ever champ was crowned. That champ was Jack Nicklaus. Since, he has been followed by some of golf’s best players to win it, including Greg Norman, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, and Rory McIlroy. Now that you know a little bit about the background of The Players, let’s dive into our favorite bets for this weekend at TPC Sawgrass. 

Dustin Johnson

Dustin Johnson is no stranger to TPC Sawgrass. According to an article from Golfweek, DJ loves playing The Stadium Course in March. “Obviously the rough’s a little thicker, it plays longer, but the greens are a little more receptive, you can actually hit some shots. So I think the course plays better overseeded and playing this time of year and I definitely like it better.” That is generally not a quote you want to hear if you’re going up against the World’s Ranked #1 golfer. 

If that doesn’t speak enough for you, since DJ has had his run at World #1 in 2017, he has placed in the Top 20 in The Players Championship every single year. His best, being when the tournament was moved to March in 2019 when he placed T5. One of DJ’s matchups this weekend comes against Bryson DeChambeau, who has only been in the Players Championship twice. In those performances, he placed 39th and 20th. Not too shabby, but Bryson is a different player this time around who has evolved into a fairway bomber. TPC allows for him to play a bit more aggressive off the tee, which we think will get him in some trouble in the thick rough and greens surrounded by water. Bryson is a very good up and coming player, but we feel comfortable taking DJ over him at -125 odds for the tournament.

Pick #1: Dustin Johnson (-125) over Bryson DeChambeau

Pick #2: Dustin Johnson Top 20 Finish (-175)

Rory McIlroy

The reigning champ, Rory McIlroy is another player that is very familiar with The Stadium Course. He has placed Top 20 in 5 of the last 7 years, and Top 10 in 4 of those 7 years. No matter what stretch Rory may be going through, he comes back with vengeance at TPC Sawgrass. When the tournament got moved to March it seems these veterans loved it, because Rory won it that year. This could be all Rory needs to reset his mind and get back into the Top 20 in the FedEx rankings. 

Pick #3: Rory McIlroy Top 20 Finish (-135)

Viktor Hovland

Viktor Hovland has been on an absolute TEAR this season. He’s made every cut this season, and placed in the Top 20 in 7 of the 10 events he’s played in. As a 23 year old fresh out of Oklahoma State, Hovland is laying it all out there for the world to see. 

Outside of the fact that Hovland has just been hot lately, he knows how to put the ball on the green. He hits the green in regulation at a 71% clip, which ranks 23rd in all of golf. At TPC, that is going to come in handy with their large bodies of water and long bunkers that surround the fairways and greens. We are looking for Hovland to continue his run in 2021 and break the Top 20 at The Players for the first time in his career.

Pick #4: Viktor Hovland Top 20 Finish (+105)

Scottie Scheffler

Here is another young gun in the PGA. At 24 years old, Scottie is another golfer that has been making cuts and Top 20’s all year long it seems. As a matter of fact, when he makes the cut this season, he places in the Top 20 at a whopping 66% of the time. 

One of the more accurate golfers off the tee, he should find success at TPC with the thick rough and hazards that come into play here. Just for the sake of that, we are taking 2 of the youngest and most accurate golfers on tour and predicting them to finish Top 20 this year to continue their run. 

Pick #5: Scottie Scheffler Top 20 Finish (+160)

Adam Scott

Adam Scott has been around the game for a while. At 40 years old, he has played in The Players Championship since 2002. While he is very familiar with the course and has had success there, you can’t deny the numbers from this year that point to him having an unfortunate weekend. Adam Scott is one of the least accurate drivers off the tee this year, hitting the fairway only 52.68% of the time. That ranks 196th out of the 229 golfers on tour. Not only that, but he doesn’t crack the Top 80 in any of the “strokes gained” categories this season. 

You could argue that he is managing to make cuts this year, but we think his bad play catches up to him this weekend. As an old vet on tour, it’s time to let the others shine. 

Pick #6: Adam Scott to Miss the Cut (+120)  

Play tees off this Thursday, March 11th at 6:45am EST. We will be releasing daily matchup plays as well on our Action Network profile. You can also listen to our breakdown of this on Episode 113 of our podcast presented by the Belly Up Sports Network. Thanks for reading and best of luck! Catch more fantasy related articles here.