Known by many as the PGA Tour’s fifth major, THE PLAYERS Championship is certainly one of the biggest events on the schedule. The tournament always attracts the world’s best golfers thanks to its enormous prize pool with the winner taking home $3.6 million. The top 36 players at the end of four rounds pocket six-figures, so there’s plenty of incentive. And the best golfers always produce a number of interesting matchups. With 47 of the top 50 in the OWGR scheduled to take a twirl around the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass there won’t be a shortage of exciting moments. No. 1 ranked Jon Rahm tops the odds board in the outright market with defending champ Justin Thomas and No. 2 Collin Morikawa all positioned at shorter than 20/1. And all three are featured in tournament matchups. Visit BookMaker.eu for a complete list of matchup betting odds when you’re ready to place a wager.
THE PLAYERS Championship Matchup Odds at BookMaker.eu
Jon Rahm -190 vs. Collin Morikawa +150
Jon Rahm -165 vs. Justin Thomas +131
Jon Rahm -174 vs. Rory McIlroy +138
Collin Morikawa +103 vs. Justin Thomas -133
Collin Morikawa -113 vs. Rory McIlroy -117
Justin Thomas -125 vs. Rory McIlroy -105
Viktor Hovland -129 vs. Patrick Cantlay -101
Viktor Hovland -120 vs. Scottie Scheffler -110
Viktor Hovland -151 vs. Xander Schauffele +121
Patrick Cantlay -115 vs. Scottie Scheffler -115
Patrick Cantlay -131 vs. Xander Schauffele +101
Scottie Scheffler -144 vs. Xander Schauffele +114
Hideki Matsuyama -130 vs. Cameron Smith +100
Hideki Matsuyama +121 vs. Daniel Berger -151
Hideki Matsuyama -112 vs. Sungjae Im -118
Cameron Smith +136 vs. Daniel Berger -171
Cameron Smith -106 vs. Sungjae Im -124
Daniel Berger -147 vs. Sungjae Im +117
Dustin Johnson -141 vs. Brooks Koepka +111
Dustin Johnson -144 vs. Will Zalatoris +114
Brooks Koepka -108 vs. Will Zalatoris -122
Shane Lowry -106 vs. Tyrrell Hatton -124
Shane Lowry -130 vs. Adam Scott +100
Tyrrell Hatton -125 vs. Adam Scott -105
Sam Burns +105 vs. Billy Horschel -135
Sam Burns -121 vs. Jordan Spieth -109
Billy Horschel -144 vs. Jordan Spieth +114
Joaquin Niemann -110 vs. Louis Oosthuizen -120
Louis Oosthuizen +105 vs. Corey Conners -135
Gary Woodland +111 vs. Talor Gooch -141
Gary Woodland -107 vs. Max Homa -123
Talor Gooch -131 vs. Max Homa +101
Webb Simpson -124 vs. Tony Finau -106
Tony Finau -111 vs. Jason Kokrak -119
Marc Leishman +106 vs. Sergio Garcia -136
Sergio Garcia -123 vs. Abraham Ancer -107
Chris Kirk +106 vs. Russell Henley -135
Jason Day -102 vs. Justin Rose -128
Maverick McNealy +120 vs. Keegan Bradley -150
Bubba Watson -114 vs. Tom Hoge -116
Matt Kuchar -111 vs. Brendan Steele -119
Erik Van Rooyen -110 vs. Jhonattan Vegas -120
Patrick Reed -151 vs. Matthew Wolff +121
Martin Laird -139 vs. Sepp Straka +109
Dylan Frittelli +100 vs. Branden Grace -130
Need to Know
TPC Sawgrass has hosted every year since 1982 so there aren’t a lot of surprises. With the exception of the iconic island green on No. 17, it’s a stock track that stretches to 7,256 yards at par 72. Moving the event to March from May a few years ago brought out more drivers and the field seemed to have an easier time. But by no means is this an easy course. Water hazards surround all but one hole and strategically-placed bunkers throughout the property have big numbers lurking around every corner. Sawgrass can even the playing field making course management important. And it is Florida where wind always seems to be a factor.
THE PLAYERS Championship Matchup Picks
Rory McIlroy +138 vs. Jon Rahm
Can we hit on this matchup again? I backed McIroy at plus-odds against Rahm last week and came out ahead, so why not. Rahm hasn’t been the dominant player he was at the end of last season and his struggles around the green cost him at the API. It wasn’t the best weekend for Rory either, with a pair of 76s over the weekend. Wipe the slate clean this week and although Rahm’s stats are nice, he hasn’t put a solid tournament together in some time. Rory won this thing a few years ago and he’s hell bent on moving on from last week’s disaster.
Scottie Scheffler -110 vs. Viktor Hovland
The best players in the world make for great matchups, and this certainly is one. It’s hard to win consecutive tournaments so backing Scheffler for the outright is more of a gamble than a matchup. Scheffler is the hottest player on Tour with a pair of wins in his last three starts. The other result was a T7. He also has a pair of top-5s from earlier in the season moving him into first in the FedExCup standings. Scheffler held off Hovland and the rest of the field last week and he’s playing too good to not back.
Adam Scott +100 vs. Shane Lowry
If anything Scott should have a greater knowledge of the course than anyone else since he’s played every tournament since 2002. And he hasn’t been bad over his career playing the weekend in each of his last nine starts here. Over that time his has six top-20s and he enters on a nice run of form. He’s 7 for 7 this season with a pair of top-5s and he’s been a strong player on the Florida swing during his career. At even-money Scott looks like a good bet.
Sergio Garcia -123 vs. Abraham Ancer
I’m not a Garcia fan, but in order to win you have to bet with your head and not your heart. And knowing Sergio has had all kinds of success at Sawgrass makes backing him more tolerable. Not many players have enjoyed the success Garcia has had with 17 straight made cuts that included a win, two runner-up finishes and a third among his eight top-15s in that span. I can overlook his season results knowing that Garcia is a likely candidate to play the weekend.
Louis Oosthuizen +105 vs. Corey Conners
Since we haven’t seen much of Oosthuizen this season I think he’s undervalued with this being the right time to jump on him. One thing we know for sure is that Oosty isn’t afraid of the big stage with his three podium finishes in three major championships last season. His accuracy and approach game are sharp helping him avoid some of the pitfalls at Sawgrass, and as long as he doesn’t sulk about not winning a major he should be among the leaders.
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