Opening odds for The PLAYERS Championship 2023

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Often referred to as the fifth major, the field for the PLAYERS is made up of many of the best golfers in the world, including 49 of the top 50 golfers in the Official World Golf Rankings.


Jon Rahm opened as the favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook at +700. Rahm has already won three tournaments since 2023 began. He’s followed on the odds board by Rory McIlroy at +1100 and Scottie Scheffler at +1200.


Last year’s PLAYERS winner, Cameron Smith, has since defected to the LIV Golf League and therefore will not be part of the 2023 field. Tiger Woods will also not join the field this year. 2021 champion Justin Thomas is installed at +1600.


Here is the full list of odds for the 2023 PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass

2023 The PLAYERS Championship Odds​

Golfer	Winner
Jon Rahm	+750
Rory McIlroy	+1000
Scottie Scheffler	+1200
Justin Thomas	+1600
Xander Schauffele	+1800
Collin Morikawa	+1800
Patrick Cantlay	+2000
Tony Finau	+2200
Max Homa	+2200
Will Zalatoris	+2500
Viktor Hovland	+2500
Sungjae Im	+2800
Matthew Fitzpatrick	+2800
Hideki Matsuyama	+2800
Shane Lowry	+3500
Jordan Spieth	+3500
Cameron Young	+3500
Joohyung Kim	+3500
Tyrrell Hatton	+4000
Sam Burns	+4000
Jason Day	+4000
Tommy Fleetwood	+5000
Rickie Fowler	+5000
Si Woo Kim	+5500
Corey Conners	+5500
Keith Mitchell	+5500
Keegan Bradley	+6500
Justin Rose	+6500
Chris Kirk	+6500
Billy Horschel	+6500
Taylor Montgomery	+6500
Tom Hoge	+8000
Russell Henley	+8000
Davis Riley	+8000
Adam Scott	+8000
Aaron Wise	+8000
Sahith Theegala	+8000
Min Woo Lee	+8000
Kurt Kitayama	+8000
Harris English	+9000
Gary Woodland	+9000
Seamus Power	+10000
Maverick McNealy	+10000
Brian Harman	+10000
Lucas Herbert	+10000
Mackenzie Hughes	+10000
Wyndham Clark	+10000
Thomas Detry	+10000
Patrick Rodgers	+10000
Webb Simpson	+13000
Luke List	+13000
Francesco Molinari	+13000
Christiaan Bezuidenhout	+13000
Denny McCarthy	+13000
Cam Davis	+13000
Emiliano Grillo	+13000
Sepp Straka	+15000
Russell Knox	+15000
Matt Kuchar	+15000
Alex Noren	+15000
Adam Hadwin	+15000
Taylor Pendrith	+15000
Kevin Kisner	+15000
Scott Stallings	+15000
Lanto Griffin	+15000
Joel Dahmen	+15000
Will Gordon	+15000
Trey Mullinax	+15000
Nick Taylor	+15000
J.J. Spaun	+15000
K.H. Lee	+18000
Erik Van Rooyen	+18000
Taylor Moore	+18000
Ryan Palmer	+18000
Danny Willett	+18000
Andrew Putnam	+18000
Ryan Fox	+20000
Jhonattan Vegas	+20000
Matthew NeSmith	+20000
Martin Laird	+20000
Doug Ghim	+20000
Brendon Todd	+20000
Troy Merritt	+20000
S.H. Kim	+20000
J.T. Poston	+20000
Garrick Higgo	+20000
Davis Thompson	+20000
Byeong Hun An	+20000
Ben Griffin	+20000
Aaron Rai	+20000
Dylan Frittelli	+25000
Stephan Jaeger	+25000
Sam Ryder	+25000
Nick Hardy	+25000
Tyson Alexander	+30000
Tyler Duncan	+30000
Stewart Cink	+30000
Scott Piercy	+30000
Patton Kizzire	+30000
Nate Lashley	+30000
Michael Thompson	+30000
Mark Hubbard	+30000
Lee Hodges	+30000
Joseph Bramlett	+30000
James Hahn	+30000
Hayden Buckley	+30000
Greyson Sigg	+30000
Eric Cole	+30000
Dylan Wu	+30000
Doc Redman	+30000
David Lipsky	+30000
David Lingmerth	+30000
Chez Reavie	+30000
Chesson Hadley	+30000
Chad Ramey	+30000
Callum Tarren	+30000
Beau Hossler	+30000
Andrew Novak	+30000
Alex Smalley	+30000
Adam Svensson	+30000
Adam Schenk	+30000
Adam Long	+30000
Robby Shelton	+40000
Peter Malnati	+40000
Matthias Schwab	+40000
Matt Wallace	+40000
Lucas Glover	+40000
Kevin Streelman	+40000
Justin Suh	+40000
Justin Lower	+40000
Harry Higgs	+40000
Harrison Endycott	+40000
Brandon Wu	+40000
Ben Martin	+40000
Aaron Baddeley	+40000
Ryan Brehm	+50000
Ryan Armour	+50000
Robert Streb	+50000
Nick Watney	+50000
Max McGreevy	+50000
Kramer Hickok	+50000
Kevin Tway	+50000
Kelly Kraft	+50000
Jerry Kelly	+50000

 

[MAGAking1]

Some betting ideas

At The Top​

Justin Thomas (+1900) - Don't let this year's stats fool you. Just 74th as of this week in strokes gained: approach, Thomas is digging himself out of a massive hole and will no doubt climb back toward the top 10 to 15, if not higher, where he's finished each of the last six seasons. He hit every green in regulation on his Sunday round when winning in 2021, and he's been on the cusp of a breakthrough week all season. Since the calendar turned to 2023, he's played all the elevated events plus the Farmers Insurance Open and has finished top 25 each and every week. His only "close" finish was a fourth at the WM Phoenix Open that wasn't close at all. Thomas fired a Sunday 65 to climb up the leaderboard but still finished six shots back of Scottie Scheffler (+1000).

Thomas is primed for a week where he puts it all together, and he's the rare golfer to make the weekend consistently at Sawgrass. Since 2015, he has just one finish here worse than 35th. Besides his win, his best finishes are T3 in 2016 and T11 in 2018.

Value Picks​

Collin Morikawa (+2800) - The golden boy has two major championships to his name and convincingly was the best young golfer in the world just 18 months ago, but a winless 2022 has relegated Morikawa to the middle-class betting range, where we'll continue to hammer him. He began his career as a model of consistency, but Morikawa has become the ultimate feast-or-famine golfer. Despite the winless stretch last season, he managed eight top-10 finishes, and he's back at it again this year with 2023 finishes of 2nd, 3rd, MC, T6, and MC. Nowhere is variance on the table quite like TPC Sawgrass. At a course that does not require massive distance and demands elite iron play, Morikawa looks like a perfect fit.

Sungjae Im (+3700) - One of the few in the field playing his fifth straight event, Sungjae found his touch on the bermuda greens last week after a poor weekend at PGA National. Fatigue is not a concern for the Tour's ironman, and Im's birdie-making ability is what catches the eye at 37/1. His T17 finish in good conditions in 2021 is weighted far more heavily than his T55 in the downpour last year, and consecutive top 10s a few events ago speak to how close Sungjae is. He is a winner who is still looking for that marquee championship, and THE PLAYERS would cement him among the game's elite.

Shane Lowry (+4800) - Like Im, Lowry opted not to skip the Honda Classic and is on his fifth consecutive week of tournament golf. He's on the cusp of putting it all together. Lowry was one of the best iron players on Tour in the 2021-22 season, full stop. He was solid enough to stretch from January to July with just two stroke play finishes outside the top 25 but unlucky enough that he failed to find a win over that stretch of consistency. He picked up a nice one overseas at the BMW PGA Championship, but his closing ability is the main reason he's available at such a big number this week. He's been 13th and 8th the past two years, and if he can shake off the poor weekend at Bay Hill, there's no reason he can't hang around the leaderboard again this week.

Long Shots​

Hideki Matsuyama (+8500) - Hideki stormed out to the lead at TPC Sawgrass in 2020 only to see the tournament canceled before the second round. He missed 2022 with an injury and missed the cut in 2021 thanks to a disastrous putting performance. Before that, his history at TPC Sawgrass was rock solid. Throw out the first-round lead in 2020, he was 8th in 2019, missed cut in 2018, T22 in 2017, T7 in 2016, T17 in 2015, and T23 in 2014. The current form is a bit dicey, with a T9 at the Farmers Insurance Open the lone bright spot on his recent record. Consecutive missed cuts at The Genesis Invitational and Arnold Palmer Invitational spell trouble, but Matsuyama has never missed three straight cuts as a pro. At this price, we will gladly ride the course form and buy the Hideki variance pendulum swinging all the way the other way.

 

[MAGAking1]

a little course preview....click link if you want to read the rest

The Starter - The Players Championship | Underdog Network

Golf news and updates for the 2023 Players Championship. Follow Underdog Golf for more.

underdognetwork.com

The Players Championship(March 9th-12th, 2023)​

• TPC Sawgrass (Stadium Course) - Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
• Event #19 of the 2022-23 FedExCup Regular Season
• Designated Event #5
• Full-field cut event

Overview​

The third stop of the Florida Swing is TPC Sawgrass for the PGA Tour's flagship event: THE PLAYERS Championship. It's an event that the PGA Tour often hypes up as the unofficial 5th major, which at this point feels justifiably earned.

Credit where credit is due, The Players was essentially a designated event before the idea of elevating certain events fully materialized. A major championship-like field and a massive prize purse, with a title and trophy that feel truly meaningful to win.

For me personally, The Masters and The Players Championship are in a class of their own when it comes to TV coverage and ease in following an event. It's a week that gives a glimpse into a utopian world where just about any golf shot from any player can be seen.

The Players Championship dates back to 1974 when Jack Nicklaus won the first iteration of this tournament. Since 1982, it's been played at the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra.

TPC Sawgrass is home to one of the most recognizable golf holes in the par-3 17th, aka the island green. Despite measuring less than 150 yards, the 17th hole presents an intimidating tee shot that gets even more daunting with the presence of wind. Since 2003, the 17th at Sawgrass has played as the toughest par-3 measuring less than 150 yards on the PGA Tour with a scoring average of 3.13.

With 17 sandwiched between the very scoreable par-5 16th and the difficult par-4 18th (the second toughest hole on the PGA Tour in 2022), TPC Sawgrass ultimately offers one of the most intriguing closing stretches in golf. A perfect end to the unofficial 5th major.

The Course​

At just 7,275 total yards and playing as a Par 72, TPC Sawgrass presents a very strategic and positional test of golf, as is generally the case with Pete Dye courses.

TPC Sawgrass continues the Florida theme of how wind and water can pose a serious challenge to the world's best golfers and also cause complete chaos at times.

Last year was perhaps the most extreme example of how wind can impact this tournament. Those who had to finish their second round on Saturday morning were greeted with brutal wind gusts. The tee shot into the 17th hole island green became near impossible, with 29 out of 33 balls going in the water.

With 17 water hazards that come into play on 17-of-18 holes, danger lurks around every corner at TPC Sawgrass.

When you combine these things with a Pete Dye-designed course that demands being in the right position off the tee, tricky around-the-green shots, and hitting approach shots into the right parts of undulated greens, TPC Sawgrass ultimately becomes one of the most high-variance courses on TOUR.

This becomes apparent when you look at past results of The Players Championship. Even the golfers with some of the best course history at TPC Sawgrass also tend to have random missed cuts or low finishes.

Or you can look year-by-year at who missed the cut here. Here are some big names who missed the cut in 2022: Adam Scott, Jason Day, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau, Cameron Young, Sahith Theegala.

Course Snapshot

• Architect: Pete Dye (1980)
• Renovation Architect: Dye and Steve Wenzloff (2016)
• Yards: 7,275 (Par 72)

(All grass areas are on bermuda base)

• Fairway: Champion fine rye overseed
• Rough: 3.5" Champion fine rye overseed
• Greens: Poa Trivialis overseed
• Avg. green size: 5,500 sq. ft.
• Sand Bunkers: 88
• Number of Water Hazards: 17
• Number of Holes Water is in Play: 17
• Changes to the course:
  • #1 - moguls long of the right fairway bunker were strengthened and three small pot bunkers were added.
  • #9 - extended to get option to play 20 yards longer.
  • #15 - replaced rough grass area right side fairway bunker with trees and natural landscape materials.

Course Scoring Stats

In 2022, TPC Sawgrass ranked as the 8th most difficult course on the PGA Tour (out of 38) in terms of scoring average. Much of this was due to extreme weather conditions that caused the second-round scoring average to be much higher than the other three rounds of the tournament.

2022 field scoring average by round:

• R1, 71.90 (-0.10)
• R2, 74.46 (+2.46)
• R3, 71.46 (-0.54)
• R4, 71.57 (-0.43)

Winning Scores last ten years:

• 2022: Cameron Smith -13
• 2021: Justin Thomas -14
• 2020: Cancelled after Round 1
• 2019: Rory McIlroy -16
• 2018: Webb Simpson -18
• 2017: Si Woo Kim -10
• 2016: Jason Day -15
• 2015: Rickie Fowler -12
• 2014: Martin Kaymer -13
• 2013: Tiger Woods -13

Additional scoring stats last three years:

• 2022 Scoring Average: 72.62 (+0.62)
  • Birdie-or-Better: 19.67%
  • Bogey-or-Worse: 19.42%
• 2021 Scoring Average: 72.42 (-0.58)
  • Birdie-or-Better: 20.09%
  • Bogey-or-Worse: 19.31%

Tournament cancelled in 2020 because of COVID.

• 2019 Scoring Average: 71.51 (-0.49)
  • Birdie-or-Better: 22.46%
  • Bogey-or-Worse: 17.61%
    

    The Players Championship(March 9th-12th, 2023)​

  • TPC Sawgrass (Stadium Course) - Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
  • Event #19 of the 2022-23 FedExCup Regular Season
  • Designated Event #5
  • Full-field cut event
  • Overview
    
  The third stop of the Florida Swing is TPC Sawgrass for the PGA Tour's flagship event: THE PLAYERS Championship. It's an event that the PGA Tour often hypes up as the unofficial 5th major, which at this point feels justifiably earned.
  Credit where credit is due, The Players was essentially a designated event before the idea of elevating certain events fully materialized. A major championship-like field and a massive prize purse, with a title and trophy that feel truly meaningful to win.
  For me personally, The Masters and The Players Championship are in a class of their own when it comes to TV coverage and ease in following an event. It's a week that gives a glimpse into a utopian world where just about any golf shot from any player can be seen.
  
  
  
  The Players Championship dates back to 1974 when Jack Nicklaus won the first iteration of this tournament. Since 1982, it's been played at the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra.
  TPC Sawgrass is home to one of the most recognizable golf holes in the par-3 17th, aka the island green. Despite measuring less than 150 yards, the 17th hole presents an intimidating tee shot that gets even more daunting with the presence of wind. Since 2003, the 17th at Sawgrass has played as the toughest par-3 measuring less than 150 yards on the PGA Tour with a scoring average of 3.13.
  With 17 sandwiched between the very scoreable par-5 16th and the difficult par-4 18th (the second toughest hole on the PGA Tour in 2022), TPC Sawgrass ultimately offers one of the most intriguing closing stretches in golf. A perfect end to the unofficial 5th major.
  

  The Course​

  At just 7,275 total yards and playing as a Par 72, TPC Sawgrass presents a very strategic and positional test of golf, as is generally the case with Pete Dye courses.
  TPC Sawgrass continues the Florida theme of how wind and water can pose a serious challenge to the world's best golfers and also cause complete chaos at times.
  Last year was perhaps the most extreme example of how wind can impact this tournament. Those who had to finish their second round on Saturday morning were greeted with brutal wind gusts. The tee shot into the 17th hole island green became near impossible, with 29 out of 33 balls going in the water.
  With 17 water hazards that come into play on 17-of-18 holes, danger lurks around every corner at TPC Sawgrass.
  When you combine these things with a Pete Dye-designed course that demands being in the right position off the tee, tricky around-the-green shots, and hitting approach shots into the right parts of undulated greens, TPC Sawgrass ultimately becomes one of the most high-variance courses on TOUR.
  This becomes apparent when you look at past results of The Players Championship. Even the golfers with some of the best course history at TPC Sawgrass also tend to have random missed cuts or low finishes.
  Or you can look year-by-year at who missed the cut here. Here are some big names who missed the cut in 2022: Adam Scott, Jason Day, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau, Cameron Young, Sahith Theegala.
  Course Snapshot
• Architect: Pete Dye (1980)
• Renovation Architect: Dye and Steve Wenzloff (2016)
• Yards: 7,275 (Par 72)

(All grass areas are on bermuda base)

• Fairway: Champion fine rye overseed
• Rough: 3.5" Champion fine rye overseed
• Greens: Poa Trivialis overseed
• Avg. green size: 5,500 sq. ft.
• Sand Bunkers: 88
• Number of Water Hazards: 17
• Number of Holes Water is in Play: 17
• Changes to the course:
  • #1 - moguls long of the right fairway bunker were strengthened and three small pot bunkers were added.
  • #9 - extended to get option to play 20 yards longer.
  • #15 - replaced rough grass area right side fairway bunker with trees and natural landscape materials.

Course Scoring Stats
In 2022, TPC Sawgrass ranked as the 8th most difficult course on the PGA Tour (out of 38) in terms of scoring average. Much of this was due to extreme weather conditions that caused the second-round scoring average to be much higher than the other three rounds of the tournament.
2022 field scoring average by round:

• R1, 71.90 (-0.10)
• R2, 74.46 (+2.46)
• R3, 71.46 (-0.54)
• R4, 71.57 (-0.43)

Winning Scores last ten years:

• 2022: Cameron Smith -13
• 2021: Justin Thomas -14
• 2020: Cancelled after Round 1
• 2019: Rory McIlroy -16
• 2018: Webb Simpson -18
• 2017: Si Woo Kim -10
• 2016: Jason Day -15
• 2015: Rickie Fowler -12
• 2014: Martin Kaymer -13
• 2013: Tiger Woods -13

Additional scoring stats last three years:

• 2022 Scoring Average: 72.62 (+0.62)
  • Birdie-or-Better: 19.67%
  • Bogey-or-Worse: 19.42%
• 2021 Scoring Average: 72.42 (-0.58)
  • Birdie-or-Better: 20.09%
  • Bogey-or-Worse: 19.31%

Tournament cancelled in 2020 because of COVID.

• 2019 Scoring Average: 71.51 (-0.49)
  • Birdie-or-Better: 22.46%
  • Bogey-or-Worse: 17.61%

 

[MAGAking1]

Tees off in a few hours but if anyone else is up and looking for some prop ideas......Im up filling out fantasy lineups?️‍

Finishing Position​

Shane Lowry Top-5 Finish (+1000) - Lowry has finished T13 and T8 the past two years at TPC Sawgrass, and he's primed for his best finish yet as he kicks into gear for the most important stretch of the season. He has been one of the best approach players in the world for the past year, and after a poor week at Bay Hill (lost 0.49 strokes on approaches), he's due for positive regression in his iron play.

Collin Morikawa Top-10 Finish (+260) - Like most young players, TPC Sawgrass has chewed up Morikawa early in his career. But the accuracy off the tee and elite approach play should make him a staple on the leaderboard for years to come. In his last five full-field events, he has three top-10s and two missed cuts. We'll ride that high-end variance with Morikawa, who has gained on approach even in the two events where he didn't make the weekend.

Kyoung-Hoon Lee Top-10 Finish (+1100) - "TPC Lee" has not quite broken through at THE PLAYERS, but his best finishes have come in consecutive wins at TPC Craig Ranch, a 2021 runner-up at TPC Scottsdale, and a T6 at TPC Twin Cities.

Hideki Matsuyama Top-20 Finish (+320) - Matsuyama has been T23 or better five times in seven trips to TPC Sawgrass. The other two were missed cuts, and that's not counting the canceled 2020 event in which he led after the first round. Health is a question, but both here and in the outright market, that uncertainty is factored into the price. When he's right, Hideki's iron play can carry him into the top 20 week in and week out.

Tommy Fleetwood Top-20 Finish (+350) - Fleetwood's Sawgrass finishes in the last four years are T22, missed cut, T5, and T7. It's been a slow start to his 2023 PGA Tour campaign aside from a T4 at THE CJ CUP and a T20 at the Genesis Invitational, but Fleetwood still has plenty left in the tank and has gained strokes with approaches and around the green in three straight events.

Leader After Round 1​

Collin Morikawa (+3400) - In those three events where Morikawa made the cut and finished top 10, he came out of the gates hot with first rounds of 64 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, 67 at the Farmers Insurance Open, and 66 at the Genesis Invitational.

Going back to last season into 2023, he's followed up three of his last four missed cuts with rounds in the mid-60s and a top-10 finish. He's right on the cusp of his best stuff and showed tremendous resilience after collapsing at Kapalua to find the top 10 in two of his next three events.

Miss The Cut Parlay​

Jordan Spieth (+184), Matthew Fitzpatrick (+198), and Will Zalatoris (+215) | Parlay +2565 - TPC Sawgrass claims victims every year, and it's easy to like these three stars to fall on the wrong side of the line this week.

All three are afternoon starters on Thursday, so if there is a wave advantage, these three picks are correlated. Winds are not expected to be too strong, but if it gets gusty in the afternoon and these guys get the worst of it, we'll have a stake in monitoring the cut line in addition to our picks at the top of the market.

Spieth has missed the cut in five of his eight trips here and hasn't finished better than T41 since a T4 on debut way back in 2014.

Fitz, likewise, has just one good finish, which was a T9 in 2021. Otherwise, he's missed three cuts, T41, and T46.

Of course, Zalatoris rarely misses cuts, and in his first two cracks at THE PLAYERS, he's impressed in finishing 21st and T26. But, he's battled health and form issues since finally earning his first career PGA Tour win in last year's FedEx Cup Playoffs, and Sawgrass comes for all of these guys eventually.

 

[MAGAking1]

Rahm withdraws....WOWZER