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Players Championship picks 2023: This star is ready for his biggest win

If you’ve been paying attention, 2023 has already delivered one thrilling finish after the next. We’ve barely caught our breath, and now (another) one of the biggest events of the year is here. If you’re one of those casual golf fans, don’t worry: You’re in the right place.

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Our betting panel has hit three of the past four outright winners correctly —and more impressively, we’re up a collective 42 units on top-10 and matchup bets on the season. As any golf bettor knows, that’s where you can make a living. We’re doing just fine.

Now we’re eyeing up a winner at one of the most volatile weeks of the year. We wish you luck. To help your best bets, we’ve assembled the best collection of experts in the industry—which consists of a caddie reporting anonymously from TPC Sawgrass; Pat Mayo of DraftKings and FantasyNational.com; Brandon Gdula of numberFire/FanDuel; Rick Gehman of RickRunGood.com; Andy Lack of RRG and his Inside Golf Podcast; and your two authors. Scroll down to read our best bets for the 2023 Players Championship.

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Scroll down for our full analysis and best bets for this week at the 2023 Players Championship.

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Players Championship picks 2023: Our Experts’ Outright Predictions

Anonymous Caddie Picker of the week : Justin Thomas (20-1, DraftKings) — Some windy conditions throughout the event play right into the hands of the 2021 winner. You need to be incredibly well-rounded in all facets of the game—and he’s that player.

Pat Mayo, DraftKings/Fantasy National,  Mayo Media Network analyst : Max Homa (22-1, DraftKings) — One poor week on the greens has led to Homa being vaulted by a few on the betting board. No player gained more strokes between driving and approach at Bay Hill than Max Homa, but he just happened to lose more strokes on the greens than in any start in 18 months. If Homa just has his average putting week he actually wins the API, and we’re talking about him in the 12- to 14-1 range right now.

Brandon Gdula, FanDuel/numberFire managing editor : Collin Morikawa (24-1, FanDuel) — Morikawa has one of the best overall course fits for TPC Sawgrass, so I’m willing to look past his MC last week. He’s super accurate off the tee (usually), and we know how good the irons are. He’s in pretty elite form despite two missed cuts in his past three starts, as he has three top-sixes in his other three 2023 events.

Rick Gehman, data scientist and RickRunGood.com founder : Viktor Hovland (27-1, FanDuel) — Hovland’s game is getting dialed, showing ball-striking improvements nearly every single week. He gained 5.24 strokes in Phoenix, 6.01 at Riviera then 9.60 last week in Orlando. Hovland dismantled TPC Sawgrass in that category last year, gaining 14.17 strokes, per the RickRunGood.com golf database, by far the most in the field. His game is trending in the right direction and is headed to a course that will amplify his strengths.

Stephen Hennessey, Golf Digest dep. managing editor : Patrick Cantlay (16-1, DraftKings) — Cantlay was always an “avoid in Florida” kind of guy, but that hot Sunday and a T-4 at the API really impressed me. More than anything, as our guy Rick has pointed out on his show, Cantlay is a master at shaping the ball both ways off the tee and on approach. That is a huge asset here, where Pete Dye routinely asks you to shape the ball around trouble. He’s too good of a golfer to not contend in the biggest events of the year, so I think he finally does this week.

Christopher Powers, Golf Digest staff writer : Patrick Cantlay (16-1, DraftKings) — Not to be “I caught Cantlay at 20-1 on Sunday night” guy, but I caught Cantlay at 20-1 Sunday night—so I got some sick closing-line value, which makes you seem smart in the gambling community even when you lose. All jokes aside, it’s hard not to back Cantlay off that insane final-round 68 on an impossibly tough golf course. The only thing that should scare you this week is he hasn’t had success in this tournament since the move to March, but we can chalk that up to the volatility of this course. He’s an elite ball-striker and elite ball-striking usually gets the job done at this place.

Andy Lack, RickRunGood.com and Inside Golf podcast : Viktor Hovland (27-1, FanDuel) — Viktor Hovland was frustratingly close last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, sitting in the middle of the fairway just one stroke off the lead with a 9-iron in his hands on the par-5 16th hole. The bogey-bogey finish led to a deceiving 10th-place finish. Operating with a glass-half-full approach, Hovland had his best ball-striking week since last year’s Players, gaining a whopping 6.3 strokes off the tee and 3.7 strokes on approach. The uber-talented Norwegian now returns to the site of the best ball-striking performance of his career, as Hovland gained over 14 strokes ball-striking last year at the iconic Pete Dye venue. Everyone is already aware of the talent, and this is the perfect spot for him to pick up that elusive first breakthrough victory.

Past results: Ladies and gentlemen, we are officially heating up. We cashed our third straight winner at the Honda Classic with Christopher Powers backing Chris Kirk at 30-1 to win the Honda Classic. That continues a streak that started with Brandon Gdula correctly predicting Scottie Scheffler’s win at the WM Phoenix Open (13-1) and Rick Gehman hitting Jon Rahm at the Genesis Invitational (+750). Add in Gdula and Stephen Hennessey’s Tony Finau (16-1) winner at the Houston Open in the Fall and that gives the panel four outright hits on the 2022-’23 season. Let’s keep it rolling at The Players!

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Listen to Golf Digest's weekly betting podcast, "The Loop," (above) where we interview the industry's leading experts (and sometimes tour pros) to help you make your bets and pick your fantasy lineups. And be sure to subscribe to "The Loop" wherever you get your podcasts!

Players Championship picks 2023: Sleepers/Dark Horses Who Could Win

Caddie: Keith Mitchell (55-1, FanDuel) — He’s gone toe to toe with top-five players in the world and proven he can hang. That’s two top-fives in his past five starts, plus he’s won in the state of Florida. It wouldn’t surprise anybody if Cashmere Keith contends.

Mayo: Tom Kim (40-1, DraftKings) — It’s crucial to hit fairways this week, and Kim sits 15th in the field in fairways gained in the 2023 season. He’s great with his wedges and can scramble, so it’s likely to hinge all on his putter. His putting stroke seems like a legit coin flip each week. He’s lost as many as 6.7 strokes/putting over two rounds at one point. He also gained 12.5 over four en route to a victory in the same stretch. There really seems to be no in-between.

Gdula: Keith Mitchell (55-1, FanDuel) — Mitchell is one of the absolute best drivers on Tour, and he pairs distance with accuracy, which is very helpful at TPC Sawgrass. Mitchell’s got pop potential when other aspects of his game click along with the driver, as evidenced by a T-13 here last year, a T-5 at the Genesis, plus a T-4 at Pebble Beach recently when the short game was on point.

Gehman: Adam Scott (100-1, BetMGM) — Scott missed the cut here last year, ending a stretch of nine straight weekends at TPC Sawgrass with six top 20s during that run. His game is quietly rounding into form, earning a T-31 finish last week in very difficult conditions. He’ll be able to tap into his experience around a golf course that requires it.

Hennessey, Golf Digest: Tommy Fleetwood (85-1, FanDuel) — Tommy Lad led here after Round 1 last year and had a fifth-place finish in 2019 and a seventh-place in 2018. TPC Sawgrass clearly brings out the artist in Tommy. He can shape his shots off the tee and into these greens, and he’s got one of the best short games in the world. Fleetwood should be live here.

Powers, Golf Digest: Hideki Matsuyama (85-1, FanDuel) — Yes, Matsuyama seems broken if you just look at his recent results, but he’s actually still gained on approach in four of his last five starts, and he’s not that far removed from a top 10 at Torrey Pines. Also, it’s impossible to not think about his scorching hot start here in 2020 before the world shut down. 85-1 for a Masters champion who tied the course record here in 2020? It’s too tempting to pass up.

Lack: Keegan Bradley (50-1, BetMGM) — Keegan Bradley is the exact type of player further down the odds board who I know is capable of winning an event of this caliber. A major champ, in addition to a FedEx Cup playoff and WGCevent winner, Bradley is coming off a strong performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, gaining 6.6 strokes ball-striking. Now he returns to a track where he has experienced a fair amount of success at, including a fifth-place finish last year. I would be far from surprised to see Bradley raise the trophy come Sunday afternoon at a venue that has been kind to him over the last decade.

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TPC Sawgrass: Stadium

Players championship picks 2023: players we’re fading.

Caddie: Sam Burns (66-1, BetMGM) — Ranking 193rd in SG/approach with these small greens and some wind is the recipe for disaster here. Something looks off with Burns … I would take a wait-and-see approach.

Mayo: Patrick Cantlay (16-1, DraftKings) — I just can’t stomach these odds. It’s not about him missing his past three cuts at Sawgrass, it’s that Cantlay’s priced closer to the top 3 (Rory, Scheffler and Rahm) than the group behind (Thomas, Homa, Morikawa, Schauffele, Finau). That’s simply not right.

Gdula: Viktor Hovland (27-1, FanDuel) — Hovland wouldn’t be priced here if not for the T-10 last week. I know he led The Players in SG/tee to green last year, however, he consistently loses strokes around the green (including last year at this event), and his wins are historically at events when the winning score is closer to 20-under than 10-under. It’s more to do with believing that there are better plays at better numbers than not believing in Hovland, but I just don’t like the number enough.

Gehman: Hideki Matsuyama (85-1, FanDuel) — This isn’t a favorite, but allow me to present reasons for fading Hideki in matchups and DFS. The driver is a huge problem right now for the 2021 Masters champ, who lost 2.6 strokes off-the-tee last week at Bay Hill. That’s his worst driving week since the 2021 Valero Texas Open, per the RickRunGood.com golf database. He’s lost strokes off-the-tee in 12 of his past 16 measured events, and the rest of his game hasn’t been good enough to make up for those woes.

Hennessey, Golf Digest: Justin Thomas (20-1, DraftKings) — It’s scary to fade JT at TPC Sawgrass, but he leaves me no choice. He has been pedestrian with his approach play, ranking 74th in this field over his past 36 rounds, per RickRunGood.com. That’s not peak JT. We’ve seen flashes, like in Phoenix, which prompted me to bet him at Riv … then he disappointed. You can make a case for so many of these top guys, but for me JT ain’t it.

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Powers, Golf Digest: Collin Morikawa (22-1, DraftKings) — Morikawa has been boom-or-bust this year, with three top-sixes and two missed cuts in five events. Coming off a MC at Bay Hill, it’s risky to fade a potential boom week, but Morikawa has somewhat shockingly gone backwards with his irons over the last few weeks. Also, he struggles on Bermuda greens, and he’s already a shaky putter.

Lack: Jon Rahm (+900, BetRivers) — This is a pure heat-check fade for me. After firing a flawless 65 on Thursday last week, Jon Rahm looked absolutely gassed over the weekend. With wins in five of his past 10 starts, fading the World No. 1 is always a scary proposition, but something appears to be shaky right now with his biggest weapon, his driver. TPC Sawgrass is the wrong golf course to enter with off-the-tee concerns, and it has notoriously been more of a challenge for faders of the golf ball. This is simply too steep of a price to pay right now for a player with question marks surrounding the strongest aspect of his game.

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Players Championship picks 2023: Matchups

Caddie: Taylor Montgomery (-110) over Brian Harman (DraftKings) — The rookie has cooled off since the hot start to his season, but there’s reason to like him over Harman. The former Georgia Bulldog ranks worse than 130th in SG/approach and SG/short game, which is not a good formula. Montgomery being a top-five putter here can mitigate some of the struggles elsewhere.

Mayo: Jon Rahm (+105) over Rory McIlroy (DraftKings) — The guy who wins every other event is available at plus-money against one other player. It doesn’t matter if that other player is Rory. Seems like a good deal for a coin flip at worst.

Gdula: Justin Rose (-136) over Harris English (FanDuel) — English has putted his way to two top-12s in his past three starts but has been very mediocre tee-to-green lately. Rose is coming off two MCs yet holds a big edge in ball-striking over English.

Gehman: Jason Day (-125) over Tom Kim (DraftKings) — Over the past 36 rounds, there are only four golfers in this field who have gained two-plus strokes per round. They are Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and … Jason Day. He’s been electric with the putter and pristine with his ball-striking. Now he goes back to TPC Sawgrass, where he won in 2016 and has three more top-10 finishes.

Hennessey, Golf Digest: Davis Riley (-110) over Aaron Wise (PointsBet) — These are two players trending in the opposite directions. Look at the longer-term data, and Aaron Wise will outperform Davis Riley in most metrics—but Riley’s coming off an eighth-place finish in a stacked field at Bay Hill, whereas Wise missed the cut badly, losing more than five strokes on approach in his two rounds. The data guys might not like this one, but I’m riding the hot hand on a Southern boy who should like this Bermuda-filled course more than a kid from Cali.

Powers, Golf Digest: Xander Schauffele (+105) over Max Homa (DraftKings) — Well aware of how good Homa has been this season, and even more aware of Schauffele’s disastrous weekend at Bay Hill. However, I think Schauffele bounces back and contends here and getting him at plus money over anybody is extremely attractive.

Lack: Rory McIlroy (-120) over Jon Rahm (DraftKings) — I’m going right back to well with the same matchup for the second week in a row. Quite simply, I trust Rory McIlroy’s ability to drive the ball in play here more than Rahm’s right now, and while Rahm has shown flashes at TPC Sawgrass, his course history pales in comparison to the 2019 champion. I’ll take my chances with McIlroy for one more week, as this will be a fun showdown between the world’s two best players.

Matchup Results from the Arnold Palmer Invitational: Hennessey and Lack: 1 for 1 (McIlroy (+110) over Rahm; Gehman: 1 for 1 (Theegala +100 over Lowry); Powers: 1 for 1 (Bradley (-120) over Conners); Caddie, Mayo, Gdula: 0 for 1.

Matchup Results from this season (Wins-Losses-Pushes): Hennessey: 12-6-0 (up 5.2 units); Gehman: 11-5-2 (up 4.92 units); Powers: 10-8-0 (up 1.46 units); Lack: 5-4-0 (up 0.80 units); Mayo: 8-9-0 (down 1.51 units); Caddie: 8-10-0 (down 2.16 units); Gdula: 5-12-1 (down 7.42 units)

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Players Championship picks 2023: Top 10s

Caddie: Tyrrell Hatton (+360, DraftKings) — The Englishman has two top-sixes in his past three starts and hasn’t missed a cut on the PGA Tour since early June. And if the conditions get tough, Hatton’s piercing ball flight can hang.

Mayo: Ben Griffin (+1600, DraftKings) — Griffin has become a short-course superstar. In his past five starts on courses under 7,200 yards, like TPC Sawgrass, he’s found the weekend four times with results of T-4, T-3, T-12 and T-21 along with a missed cut at Pebble Beach. Yes, it’s worrisome he’s never played in The Players previously, but that’s baked into this price.

Gdula: Tom Kim (+470, FanDuel) — Whenever I like Morikawa, I like Tom Kim because of the overlap in their games in terms of accuracy off the tee and iron play. Kim isn’t as good of an overall driver, but I’m also not asking for a win—just a top-10.

Gehman: Rickie Fowler (+550) — Fowler’s comeback tour continues to impress! Fowler faded to a T-31 last week but can still boast three top 25s in his past five starts, which also happen to be the biggest events this calendar year. He’s gained strokes on approach in seven of his past eight events, and the putter is heating up again. The 2015 Players champion is playing his best golf in the past three years and will look to continue it again this week.

Hennessey, Golf Digest: Chris Kirk (+650, PointsBet) — Kirk’s great at positional golf—like we saw in his win at the Honda, which we’ve seen at the Sony Open at Waialae, and him contending in the past at places like TPC Sawgrass and Harbour Town. We always dial up Kirk here, and now he’s back to peak Kirk.

Powers, Golf Digest: Davis Riley (+1200, DraftKings) — Riley was completely lost between September and mid-February but has now seemingly been found on the Florida Swing. He backed up a top 30 at Honda with a T-8 at Bay Hill that featured a six-under 66 on Sunday, matching Webb Simpson for the low round of the day. This is his first Players, but that can actually work in your favor at a course like TPC Sawgrass. The less he knows, the better.

Lack: Will Zalatoris (+320, DraftKings) — I certainly believe that he’s capable of winning here, but I’ll shift my attention to the top-10 market for Zalatoris. He’s coming off a ho-hum 53rd at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but he gained 4.7 strokes off the tee, which is incredibly encouraging as he now heads to a venue where off-the-tee performance is crucial. I think there is tremendous value in all markets on Zalatoris, and I expect him to be firmly in the mix.

Top-10 results from the Arnold Palmer Invitational: Hennessey: 1 for 1 (Keegan Bradley (+650); C addie, Lack: 1 for 1 (Cameron Young (+360); Gehman: 1 for 1 (Jason Day (+335); Mayo, Gdula, Powers: 0 for 1.

Top-10 results from this season: Gdula: 7 for 18 (up 16.6 units); Gehman: 6 for 18 (up 12.9 units); Mayo: 6 for 17 (up 11.1 units); Hennessey: 5 for 18 (up 9.35 units); Lack: 4 for 9 (up 6.5 units); Powers: 2 for 18 (down 9.9 units); Caddie: 3 for 18 (down 5.35 units)

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The Players Championship 2023: One and Done

Gehman: Jon Rahm — This is the biggest purse of the year, so we’re going with the biggest dog. I don’t need to describe how good Rahm is, so let me attack this from a strategic angle. Rahm has already been used by about 30 percent of users in most pools, compared to only 18 percent for Scottie Scheffler. There are only four golfers who have been used more frequently than Rahm to this point in the season. This is your chance to get the best player, at somewhat low ownership, in the biggest event of the season.

Previous weeks: Fortinet Championship: Emiliano Grillo. Sanderson Farms Championship: Sam Burns. Shriners: Taylor Montgomery. Zozo: Sungjae Im. CJ Cup: Matt Fitzpatrick. Bermuda: Denny McCarthy. Mayakoba: Viktor Hovland. Houston Open: Aaron Wise. RSM Classic: Brian Harman. Sentry TOC: Cameron Young. Sony Open: Hideki Matsuyama. American Express: Brian Harman. Farmers: Jason Day. AT&T Pebble Beach: Maverick McNealy. WMPO: Scottie Scheffler. Genesis: Justin Thomas. Honda: Sungjae Im. API: Rory McIlroy.

Hennessey: Rory McIlroy — I could save him for The Open, but this is a bigger payday—and I saw enough last week to where I’m confident that he’ll be lurking again come Sunday.

Previous weeks: Fortinet Championship: Cam Davis. Sanderson Farms Championship: Denny McCarthy. Shriners: Emiliano Grillo. Zozo: Hideki Matsuyama. CJ Cup: Sungjae Im. Bermuda: Mark Hubbard. Mayakoba: Viktor Hovland. Houston Open: Jason Day. RSM Classic: Brendon Todd. Sentry TOC: Patrick Cantlay. Sony Open: Matt Kuchar. American Express: Brian Harman. Farmers: Will Zalatoris. AT&T Pebble Beach: Seamus Power. WMPO: Collin Morikawa. Genesis: Justin Thomas. Honda: Chris Kirk. API: Keith Mitchell.

Powers: Patrick Cantlay — Coming off consecutive top-five finishes, Cantlay appears to be building toward a ninth PGA Tour win.

Previous weeks: Fortinet Championship: Sahith Theegala. Sanderson Farms Championship: J.T. Poston. Shriners: Sungjae Im. Zozo: Hideki Matsuyama. CJ Cup: Tyrrell Hatton. Bermuda: Russell Knox. Mayakoba: Thomas Detry. Houston Open: Sepp Straka. RSM Classic: Davis Riley. Sentry TOC: Xander Schauffele. Sony Open: Gary Woodland. American Express: Cameron Young. Farmers: Taylor Montgomery. AT&T Pebble Beach: Maverick McNealy. WMPO: Sungjae Im. Genesis: Collin Morikawa. Honda: Chris Kirk. API: Will Zalatoris.

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About our experts

Pat Mayo is an award-winning video host and producer of long and short-form content, and the host of The Pat Mayo Experience daily talk show. Mayo helped create the golf stats and research website Fantasy National along with the Race for the Mayo Cup One and Done contest. Mayo won the 2022 Fantasy Sports Writing Association Daily Fantasy Writer of the Year and is a finalist for three FSWA Awards in 2023 (Best Podcast, Daily Fantasy Writer of the Year, Golf Writer of the Year). His 27 FSWA nominations lead all writers this decade and are second-most all-time. Follow him on Twitter: @ThePME .

Brandon Gdula , managing editor and analyst for NumberFire, a FanDuel daily-fantasy analysis company, recently won the 2018 FSWA Golf Writer of the Year. Gdula also co-hosts the DFS Heat Check podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @gdula13 .

Rick Gehman is the founder of RickRunGood.com and the RickRunGood YouTube Channel, is one of the industry’s leading experts on golf DFS and gambling. Gehman is co-host of the First Cut Podcast and appears regularly on the Pat Mayo Experience golf podcasts. Follow him on Twitter: @RickRunGood .

Andy Lack is a PGA Tour writer and podcaster from New York City who now resides in Los Angeles. He hosts Inside Golf, a twice weekly podcast focused on the PGA Tour, betting, daily fantasy, golf course architecture, and interviews, as part of the BlueWire podcast network. As well as contributing to Golf Digest, Andy is also a data analyst and writer for RickRunGood.com, where he covers PGA Tour betting and daily fantasy. He came to Golf Digest’s betting panel after previously writing for Golf.com, the Score and GolfWRX. In his free time, Andy can likely be found on a golf course. Follow him on Twitter: @adplacksports

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Pinehurst #10 opened last week. Want to play it?

Players Championship betting guide: 8 picks our expert loves at TPC Sawgrass

Might this week bring Jason Day's return to glory?

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Welcome to our weekly PGA Tour gambling-tips column, featuring picks from G OLF.com’s expert prognosticator, Brady Kannon. You can follow Kannon on Twitter at @LasVegasGolfer and you can read below to see his favorite plays for the Players Championship, which kicks off Thursday at TPC Sawgrass , in Ponte Vedra, Fla. Keep scrolling past Kannon’s picks, and you’ll also see data from Chirp, a free-to-play mobile platform — and GOLF.com affiliate — that features a range of games with enticing prizes, giving fans all kinds of ways to engage in the action without risking any money.

This has been the year of “the elevated event.” In just three months, we’ve already had four such tournaments and each has been a treat. The Players Championship has always been elevated, if you will. It carries the largest purse on Tour and arguably assembles the game’s most competitive field. Kurt Kitayama earned $3.6 million at Bay Hill last week , holding off Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, and Jordan Spieth for his first PGA Tour victory. This week we head north to Ponte Vedra Beach, where a $4.5-million winner’s check awaits.

The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass , a Pete Dye design, has been hosting The Players Championship since 1982. It is commonly referred to as “the 5th major.” The governing body at Augusta National Golf Club puts on the Masters . The PGA of America conducts the PGA Championship. The USGA plays host to the U.S. Open and the R&A runs the Open Championship. The Players Championship is the Tour’s baby and its crown jewel event. The 17th hole, a par 3 with an island green, is part of a three-hole finish that ranks among the most dramatic closing stretches in the world.

At less than 7,200 yards, the course is short by Tour standards, but we have seen both bombers and short knockers win here in the past. Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Fred Couples, Davis Love III fit the bomber mold, but they’re offset by former champions, Si Woo Kim, Webb Simpson, Matt Kuchar, Tim Clark and Fred Funk. I favor Driving Accuracy over Driving Distance this week. But at Sawgrass, it is really about positioning. Many players will play 3-woods and long irons off the tee to avoid water hazards and other trouble. The rough is not as brutal as what we saw last week at Bay Hill, and the greens, which are also Bermuda grass, are smaller than Tour average. Ball Striking will be paramount this week. The forecast calls for 10-15 mph winds. Nothing fierce. But given that no two holes run in the same direction, players will be tested from all possible angles and will have to be able to work some shots.

That said, the most important statistics this week are Good Drives Gained and/or Fairways Gained (Total Driving is not a bad place to look either), Strokes Gained: Approach, Par 4 Scoring (or SG: Par 4’s) and Scrambling. Work around the greens has proven crucial at the Players, with the top tier of past leaderboards loaded with players who scrambled best. It makes sense with the undulations on and around the greens, the quirky bunkering, and the small putting surfaces. Other areas I looked at this week were Bogey Avoidance, Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermuda Grass), and how these players have fared on other Pete Dye courses and/or the comp courses. For comps, I considered Sedgefield (Wyndam), Innisbrook (Valspar), The Concession (WGC-Workday), Muirfield Village (The Memorial), and Sea Island (RSM Classic). The Pete Dye designs I used were Harbour Town (RBC Heritage), TPC RIver Highlands (Travelers), TPC Louisiana (Zurich Classic) and the Stadium Course at PGA West (American Express).

Picks to win the Players Championship (and finish Top 20)

Patrick Cantlay (16-1)

Cantlay is getting a lot of betting attention this week. I could have taken 18-1 but got greedy and waited, thinking I might get something a tad higher. Ultimately, I had to settle for 16-1 but I’ve seen as low as 13-1. This is our third time in four weeks backing the UCLA Bruin and while we have cashed Top 20 finishes, the outright win still eludes us. He was 3rd at the Genesis and 4th last week in his first ever trip to Bay Hill. Cantlay fits our criteria this week. He’s 4th in Total Driving, 19th in Scrambling, 2nd in Bogey Avoidance, and 1st in Par 4 Scoring. He is also 22nd in this field over the last 36 rounds in SG Approach. He’s been tremendous on some of the comp courses with 2nd, 7th, and two 3rd place finishes at Harbour Town, a win at TPC Louisiana, and three Top 10 finishes, including a runner-up at the American Express. In his last five trips to TPC River Highlands, Cantlay hasn’t finished worse than 15th and shot a 60 on that course back in 2011. I feel like he’s primed and ready to put it all together this week at TPC Sawgrass.

Collin Morikawa (27-1)

I like it when it seems like one of the best players is being ignored or there isn’t much buzz in the betting world about that player. That feels like the case this week with Morikawa, the 10th ranked player in the world. He stumbled mightily in the final round at Kapalua to kick off 2023 (I remember it well as I was on him that week) and his stock has drifted downward ever since. He missed the cut last week at Bay Hill and did so in Phoenix, too — but he also recorded a 3rd at Torrey Pines and finished 6th at the Genesis. He is a Top 5 player in the field for Good Drives Gained, Fairways Gained, and SG Approach over the last 36 rounds. He also won the WGC-Workday at The Concession in 2021. The problem is the short game as it has been off recently. Over the course of the 2022-23 season, his Scrambling is solid, but it will need to return to form if he’s going to win here this week. With everything else he does so well, I believe he has a real shot and at close to 30-1, he’s almost an auto-play in my opinion.

Jason Day (32-1)

As with Cantlay, we took a shot with Jason Day to both win and finish in the Top 20. He delivered for us by recording his 4th straight Top 10 finish on Tour. I wrote about how he has sneaked up on us in the last five months. It has been an incredible return to form for the Australian and I’m going to back him again this week, on another course, like Bay Hill, where he has won. Day ranks No.1 in this field for Bogey Avoidance over the last 36 rounds, 2nd for Scrambling, and 1st in SG Par 4’s. In addition to his win here, Day has also finished 8th, 5th, 19th, and 6th. He has a Top 10 in his career at Harbour Town, a 20th at the Valspar, and was 18th in 2021 at The Concession. Though Whistling Straits is a far cry from a clone of Sawgrass, it’s also worth nothing that Day one the 2015 PGA Championship on that Dye design. As we noted last week, we’ve always known about his short game – but now the driver and the irons are working too. I have to take another shot with him as it appears he is destined to win again soon.

Tyrrell Hatton (35-1)

The Englishman has really been playing great golf with two Top 10 finishes and a Top 15 in his last four starts. He is 2nd on Tour in Total Driving, 40th in Scrambling, and 4th in this field over the last 36 rounds for SG Putting on Bermuda. He has Top 10 finishes at Harbour Town and Sedgefield and Top 25 finishes at Innisbrook and The Concession. He was 13th here at The Players last year. His iron play can sometimes get away from him despite ranking 28th on Tour in SG Approach. With his work off the tee and around the greens however – combined with his comp course history and current form, I think he’s in the mix again here roughly 140 miles from his Florida home.

This Canadian long shot could help you win BIG at TPC Sawgrass: 2023 Players Championship odds

Sungjae Im (40-1)

As is the case with Cantlay, we are backing Im for the third time in four weeks. Unfortunately, he missed a Top 20 finish for us last week by one shot. But we can’t ignore his consistency in all areas of the game while still getting juicy prices on him to win. Im ranks Top 21 in this field over the last 36 rounds in SG Off the Tee, Bogey Avoidance, Scrambling, and Fairways Gained. He hasfinished as high as 13th at the RBC Heritage and 17th here at Sawgrass. He has a 4th place finish at the Valspar, a runner-up, a 6th, and a 9th place finish at the Wyndham, and has never finished worse than 18th in five trips to the American Express. If you also look at what Im has done on courses that measure less than 7200 yards, he ranks 10th in this field over the last 36 rounds on such courses for SG Ball Striking. I believe he’s worth another shot at 40-1 or better.

Si Woo Kim (90-1)

Yes, 90-1 appears to be an outlier that I came across, but I am okay with anything at 65-1 or better. Si Woo is a former Players champ and along with Webb Simpson, he is probably the “co-owner” of the Wyndham Championship with finishes of 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 1st in his career. He checks in with a runner-up finish at the RBC Heritage as well. To illustrate his prowess on these types of courses, Kim ranks 12th in this field over the last 36 rounds for SG Tee to Green on Pete Dye designed courses. He is also 5th for Bogey Avoidance and 12th in Fairways Gained. He’s extremely accurate off the tee and ranks 15th on Tour in Scrambling. I did not use Wailae Country Club as a correlated course this week but there are some ties – narrow fairways, Bermuda grass, wind – and Si Woo won the Sony Open there just three months ago.

Full tournament head-to-head matchups

Tyrrell Hatton (-135) over Jordan Spieth

Jason Day (-120) over Matt Fitzpatrick

Kannon’s season-long head-to-head picks record: 11-7-1

Who Chirp users think will win

Jon Rahm – 22.86%

Rory McIlroy – 21.65%

Scottie Scheffler – 20.30%

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2024 The Players Championship expert picks, betting rankings and fantasy golf tips

The 2024 The Players Championship is here, and we're back with our PGA Tour expert picks and betting tips for the PGA Tour event at TPC Sawgrass' Players Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Every week, we share our PGA Tour player rankings, and they are agnostic of competition. Whether you're betting on golf, playing in a fantasy golf leagues or competing in a DFS (DraftKings, FanDuel) event, our picks highlight the top players to watch this week.

Here are our 2024 The Players Championship rankings and expert picks, as we do each week of the PGA Tour season.

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2024 The Players Championship: Tournament Model | Field | Rankings  | Horses for Courses | Betting Odds | DFS Picks | One and Done | Past Results | Cheat Sheet | Recent Form | Finish Database

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2024 The Players Championship preview

The Players Championship is this week, and the PGA Tour continues the Florida Swing at their home for their crown jewel of the season. Look, it's hard to win this tournament, but the last four winners have been studs. If you believe in the Theory of Dueness, then we're due for an out-of-nowhere champion.

2024 The Players Championship rankings: Top 10 expert picks

1. Scottie Scheffler : If Scottie Scheffler can just not putt badly, he wins a lot of tournaments. But the title has never been defended successfully at Sawgrass.

2. Shane Lowry : In consecutive tournaments, Lowry has put himself in position to win and then just didn't get it done on Sunday. He's in a good place, though.

3. Rory McIlroy : McIlroy shows signs of greatness off the tee, but his approach play is substandard, and his putting continues to lag.

4. Wyndham Clark : I gotta tell you, this feels like a Wyndham Clark tournament. He likes the tough ones, got close last time around, and he might really embrace the villain role after a rules incident last week.

5. Will Zalatoris : Willy Z is playing awfully well at the moment, and no one seems to be complaining about the putter. Could be a big week.

6. Max Homa : Homa is coming around after a T-16 and a T-8 in his last two tournaments, so he could go 8 (well, 7) better this week, too.

7. Hideki Matsuyama : Hideki didn't play well on Sunday at Bay Hill, but he's clearly found something, and he has a good track record here.

8. Sahith Theegala : Theegala has been in the top six in two of his last three starts, and he has the imagination to make this course work for him.

9. Xander Schauffele : Schauffele has to get some consideration because he plays so consistently relative to his peers, but he and this course do not get along.

10. Brian Harman : Harman really enjoys slapping it around Sawgrass. He can play the golf course well, and he thrives on the tougher challenges.

About the author

Ryan Ballengee

Ryan Ballengee is founder and editor of Golf News Net. He has been writing and broadcasting about golf for nearly 20 years. Ballengee lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his family. He is a scratch golfer...sometimes.

Ballengee can be reached by email at ryan[at]thegolfnewsnet.com

Ryan occasionally links to merchants of his choosing, and GNN may earn a commission from sales generated by those links. See more in GNN's affiliate disclosure.

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2024 Players Championship one and done picks, sleepers, rankings: PGA Tour predictions, golf betting advice

Mike mcclure locked in his expert pga one and done golf picks, rankings, projected leaderboard and top sleepers for the players championship 2024 at tpc sawgrass in ponte vedra beach.

The PGA Tour descends upon the iconic Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass this week for the 2024 Players Championship. The flagship event on the PGA Tour schedule is often referred to as 'golf's fifth major'. Defending champion Scottie Scheffler headlines the 2024 Players Championship field. Scheffler, who won last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, is listed as the 11-2 betting favorite in the latest 2024 Players Championship odds. Other top contenders on the PGA odds board include Rory McIlroy (12-1), Justin Thomas (22-1), Xander Schauffele (22-1), Viktor Hovland (22-1), Patrick Cantlay (25-1), and Will Zalatoris (25-1). The field will be competing for a total purse of $25 million, with the winner's share of the prize money coming in at $4.5 million. 

With his top notch recent form, and history of success at TPC Sawgrass, Scheffler will likely be a popular one and done pick for The Players. Should you back Scheffler? Or should you target a long shot like Jordan Spieth (35-1), Jason Day (45-1), or Matt Fitzpatrick (70-1)? Before locking in your 2024 Players Championship one and done picks, you need to see what SportsLine DFS pro and PGA expert Mike McClure has to say . 

The One and Done format is growing in popularity. It has several noticeable similarities to NFL Survivor pools, with the main difference being entries are not eliminated with a bad week. Players pick one golfer per week and earn points based on their selected golfer's prize money for that tournament. Golfers can only be used once per season, and the point format makes nailing majors, signature events, and big money tournaments critical.

McClure is a DFS legend with over $2 million in career winnings, and he's been red-hot on his PGA picks dating back to the PGA Tour restart in June of 2020. McClure uses his proprietary simulation model to analyze the field and crush his  golf picks .

McClure nailed plenty of One and Done picks in 2023. At the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open, McClure's top One and Done pick, Max Homa, outlasted the entire field to take home his sixth career PGA Tour victory and $1.566 million. At the WM Phoenix Open, McClure nailed Scheffler winning the tournament, taking home $3.6 million.

He correctly called Jon Rahm's wins at The Masters and the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Then at the RBC Canadian Open McClure listed Nick Taylor and Tyrrell Hatton as two of his top one and done picks. Taylor would go on to win the tournament, while Hatton finished in third place. And finally, at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, his top OAD pick was eventual tournament champion Rickie Fowler.

This season, one of his top OAD picks was for The American Express was Justin Thomas, who finished in third place and took home $635,600. At the WM Phoenix Open, McClure recommended OAD players use Scottie Scheffler as their pick. He ended up finishing in third place, taking home $519,200. At the Genesis Invitational, McClure tabbed Patrick Cantlay, who finished in fourth place at the signature event, as his top OAD pick. Finally, at the Cognizant Classic, McClure's top one and done pick, Min Woo Lee, finished in a tie for second place. 

At last week's Arnold Palmer Invitation, a signature event, McClure again recommended using Scheffler (if he hadn't already been used) and Will Zalatoris. The Result: Scheffler won the event by five strokes, and Zalatoris finished in fourth place.

Now, McClure has dialed in on the Players Championship golf tournament and just locked in his one and done picks and PGA predictions. They are a must-see for any player looking for an edge in their One and Done pool. You can only see McClure's Players Championship 2024 one and done picks at SportsLine .

Top 2024 Players Championship One and Done picks

One of McClure's top one and done picks this week for The Players is former Alabama standout Justin Thomas. The 30-year-old PGA Tour veteran has 15 career outright wins, including two major championships (at the PGA Championship in 2017 and 2022) and a victory at The Players in 2021. Thomas was uncharacteristically inconsistent in 2023, but has bounced back and gotten off to a fast start to the 2024 season. 

In five starts in 2024, Thomas has a third place finish (The American Express), sixth place finish (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am), and two 12th place finishes (WM Phoenix Open and Arnold Palmer Invitational). Thomas has long been considered to be one of the best irons players in the world and enters this week ranked eighth on the PGA Tour in strokes gained tee-to-green (1.220), 21st in strokes gained around the green (0.401), and 25th in total strokes gained (0.900). McClure believes Thomas will be in contention until the end at the 2024 Players Championship.  You can see who else to back at SportsLine .

How to make Players Championship 2024 One and Done picks

McClure is also targeting another golfer for his 2024 Players Championship one and done picks who has a long track record of success against elite competition. This former major championship winner has the ability to win any tournament he enters, and is one of the most talented golfers in this field. You can find out who it is, and check out all of McClure's Players Championship one and done picks at SportsLine .

Who wins the The Players Championship 2024, and which golfers should you target for your PGA one and done picks this week at TPC Sawgrass? Visit SportsLine now to get Mike McClure's Players Championship 2024 one and done picks, all from the DFS pro who called Nick Taylor's epic win at the RBC Canadian Open and Rickie Fowler's win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2023, and Scottie Scheffler's win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational , and find out.

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Players Championship 2024: Odds, prediction, value picks for TPC Sawgrass

The PGA Tour’s unofficial 5th major is upon us. We break down the odds, best bets and make a pick for The Players Championship.

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Share All sharing options for: Players Championship 2024: Odds, prediction, value picks for TPC Sawgrass

The marquee event of the PGA Tour season has arrived. The top 144 players on the PGA Tour will tee it up on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, the home of The Players Championship since 1982.

The Pete Dye design features the world-famous 17th hole, a par-3 almost surrounded by water. The course never fails to entertain and surely, it will amuse golf fans again this week.

So, let’s get to the 2024 Players Championship odds.

The Players Championship Odds

Every year, The Players Championship prides itself on having, “The strongest field in golf.” This week is no different, despite the lack of LIV golfers present.

Here are the current odds for players to win, per DraftKings:

• Scottie Scheffler +500
• Rory McIlroy +1200
• Xander Schauffele +2200
• Viktor Hovland +2200
• Justin Thomas +2200
• Will Zalatoris +2500
• Patrick Cantlay +2500
• Hideki Matsuyama +2500
• Max Homa +2800
• Wyndham Clark +3000
• Ludvig Åberg +3000
• Shane Lowry +3500
• Sam Burns +3500
• Jordan Spieth +3500

The Players Championship Predictions

Water comes into play on all 18 holes at TPC Sawgrass, which helps make this one of the most unpredictable tournaments of the season.

Despite that, top players have emerged victorious since 2019, when The Players returned to its March spot on the calendar. Scottie Scheffler , Cameron Smith, Justin Thomas, and Rory McIlroy are the four most recent winners at TPC Sawgrass. At the time of their victories, these players’ average Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) was 5.25.

Scheffler re-established himself as the top player in the world after his five-shot win a season ago.

Max Homa primed for another top-finish

After inexplicably missing the cut at the WM Phoenix Open, Max Homa has put together two solid performances at the Genesis Invitational and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, tying for 16th and eighth, respectively.

Homa putted very well at Bay Hill , ranking third in strokes gained putting. But overall, his short game has shown up in big spots this season. He ranks 10th in scrambling and 15th in bogey avoidance.

You need to avoid the big numbers at TPC Sawgrass, and Homa has done that so far in 2024.

Plus, he played well there last year, tying for eighth—it would have been a top-5 if not for his water-ball on 17. Homa doubled his penultimate hole, finishing at 8-under for the championship.

We like him to finish in the top 10 once again at +260. If you are really feeling the Homa hype, the price for a top 5 finish is pretty nice at +550.

Min Woo Lee rebounds after tough weekend at Bay Hill

Min Woo Lee was our value pick at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, and he got off to a solid start with an opening 3-under 69.

But the beast that is Bay Hill stumped the young Australian over the weekend, as Lee carded rounds of 73, 76, and 73 to tie for 44th.

Still, Lee is one of the most talented young players in golf, and that was on display at last year’s Players Championship. He played in the final pairing alongside Scheffler, trailing him by two shots at 12-under through 54 holes.

His final 18 did not come as easily, as he shot a 4-over 76 to ultimately tie for 18th. Yet, Lee has proven that he can hit any shot required of him, a necessity to succeed at TPC Sawgrass.

If you are feeling really dangerous, you can get Lee to win at +11000. But we like him to finish in the top 10 at +500.

Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa struggle again

Two of the game’s top stars have struggled so far in 2024.

Viktor Hovland has changed golf coaches again and is now working on his swing with Grant Waite.

In addition, his improved short game has completely abandoned him. So far this season, Hovland ranks 173rd in strokes gained around the green and 144th in scrambling percentage.

A season ago, when Hovland won the FedEx Cup , he ranked 86th in strokes gained around the green and got up and down successfully 62% of the time—ranking 48th.

Perhaps that explains why the Norwegian has not come close to finishing in the top 10 so far this season. We do not anticipate him finding his form on a course where trouble lurks everywhere.

The same can be said for Collin Morikawa , who missed the cut for the second time this season at Bay Hill.

Morikawa made two double bogies and two other bogies over his first six holes on Friday, leading to an 8-over 80. He missed the cut by three shots.

His short-game metrics are poor, too. He currently ranks 100th in strokes gained around the green and 135th in strokes gained putting.

If you are trying to re-discover your game, TPC Sawgrass is a hard place to do so.

Players Championship Long Shot

Since the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in early February, Tom Hoge has quietly been one of the best players on the PGA Tour.

Hoge—not Scheffler—ranks first on the PGA Tour in strokes gained approaching the green and first on tour in proximity to the hole.

His superb iron play, which is required at TPC Sawgrass, has produced good results, too.

He tied for 6th at Pebble Beach, 17th at the WM Phoenix Open, and then finished solo 8th at Riviera to wrap up a successful West Coast swing.

His first event in Florida did not go as well, as he tied for 28th at the Cognizant Classic. However, he bounced back with a solid finish at Bay Hill, tying for 12th.

Once again, he led the Arnold Palmer Invitational field in strokes gained approaching the green. But his driver and putter let him down, which explains why he finished at 3-under.

But if he can keep it in play off the tee, and drain some putts at TPC Sawgrass, Hoge could very well emerge as an unlikely winner. He is +5500 to win, but we like him to finish in the top 5 at +1200 the best.

The Players Championship Pick

Fresh off his dominant win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational , we like Scottie Scheffler to win The Players Championship for the second consecutive year.

Simply put, Scheffler is playing in a league of his own. He leads the tour in scoring average, strokes gained overall, and strokes gained off the tee. He has hit 78% of his greens in regulation, also ranking at the top of the PGA Tour.

His recent play is reminiscent of Tiger Woods , and Scheffler will achieve something that not even Woods has done this week: repeat at TPC Sawgrass.

In fact, no player has ever repeated as The Players Champion. But we like Scheffler to become the first player to do so, relying on his superior play tee-to-green and his new mallet putter to win yet again.

He is +500 to win, which, frankly, might be too low of a price.

For all other sports betting content, check out SB Nation’s DraftKings site .

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

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5 sleeper picks for the 2024 players championship, share this article.

The Florida Swing continues in Ponte Vedra Beach this week, as the PGA Tour’s biggest stars have made their way to TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course for the 2024 Players Championship .

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler — winner of last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational in large part thanks to a new mallet-style putter — is hoping to become the first to ever win the Players in back-to-back years. He’ll have to fend off a field that includes 2019 winner Rory McIlroy, 2021 champion Justin Thomas, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Jordan Spieth, among others.

Players :  Tournament hub  |  Picks to win, odds

One notable name missing from the tee sheet: Tiger Woods . There was hope the 15-time major champion would play in the Tour’s flagship event, but it seems like we won’t see him until the Masters.

TPC Sawgrass is a par-72 track measuring 7,275 yards.

While there is plenty of star power in the field, there are a few sleepers to keep an eye on this week.

Betting odds

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Sleeper picks

Min woo lee (50/1).

Min Woo Lee of Australia looks on from the first green during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines South Course on January 27, 2024 in La Jolla, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

One Players finish:  T-6 (2023)

Last five Tour finishes:  T-44 (Arnold Palmer Invitational), T-2 (Cognizant Classic), T-71 (WM Phoenix Open), T-43 (Farmers Insurance Open) and T-21 (American Express)

Brian Harman (60/1)

Brian Harman hits his fairway shot on the 10th hole during the second round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Last five Players finishes:  T-44 (2023), T-63 (2022), T-3 (2021), T-8 (2019) and MC (2018)

Last five Tour finishes:  T-12 (Arnold Palmer Invitational), T-44 (Genesis Invitational), T-60 (WM Phoenix Open), T-54 (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am) and T-18 (Sony Open)

Byeong Hun An (65/1)

Byeong Hun An on the 16th hole during the third round of the Sony Open in Hawaii golf tournament at Waialae Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Last five Players finishes:  MC (2023), 5th (2022), T-29 (2021), T-16 (2019) and T-7 (2018)

Last five Tour finishes:  T-8 (Arnold Palmer Invitational), T-21 (Cognizant Classic), T-16 (Genesis Invitational), T-66 (WM Phoenix Open), and T-31 (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am)

Tom Hoge (65/1)

Tom Hoge of the United States walks from the third green during the third round of The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on February 17, 2024 in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Last five Players finishes:  T-3 (2023), T-33 (2022), T-22 (2021), T-30 (2019) and T-72 (2018)

Last five Tour finishes:  T-12 (Arnold Palmer Invitational), T-28 (Cognizant Classic), 8th (Genesis Invitational), T-17 (WM Phoenix Open) and T-6 (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am)

Keegan Bradley (90/1)

Keegan Bradley of the United States follows his shot from the fifth tee during the final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii at Waialae Country Club on January 14, 2024 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Last five Tour finishes:  T-36 (Arnold Palmer Invitational), MC (Genesis Invitational), T-11 (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am), T-43 (Farmers Insurance Open) and T-2 (Sony Open)

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The nine best bets to win this year’s Masters

The PGA Tour schedule so far this season has been ruled by long shots. Take away Scottie Scheffler’s two victories in 2024, and the tournament winners have mainly come out of nowhere.

That trend is unlikely to continue this week at the Masters , where surprise winners are rare. Yes, you’ll occasionally see triumphant golfers such as 60-to-1 long shot Danny Willett in 2016 or 40-to-1 Hideki Matsuyama in 2021, but most Masters champions follow the same criteria: They have good history at Augusta National, good form entering the tournament and good standing in certain key metrics.

While it’s hard to judge the form of the 13 LIV golfers in the field because they play less often and in less-challenging fields, we have a pretty good sense of what a Masters winner should look like:

He’s good at Augusta National: According to Datagolf, course history is far more predictive at Augusta National than at any other course in the PGA Tour rotation. Nine of the past 14 winners (and 13 of the past 18) had a previous green jacket or a top-10 Masters finish.

He’s not a Masters rookie or an amateur: Only three players have won the Masters in their first appearance at the tournament, the last being Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. I won’t be considering the following Augusta National first-timers: Ludvig Aberg, Wyndham Clark, Eric Cole, Nick Dunlap, Austin Eckroat, Ryo Hisatsune, Lee Hodges, Nicolai Hojgaard, Jake Knapp, Peter Malnati, Denny McCarthy, Grayson Murray, Matthieu Pavon, Adam Schenk and Stephan Jaeger. Plus, no amateur has won the Masters, and there are five in this year’s field: Santiago de la Fuente, Stewart Hagestad, Christo Lamprecht, Neal Shipley and Jasper Stubbs. In terms of picks to win, you can ignore them.

He’s highly ranked: Of the past 24 Masters winners, 17 entered the tournament in the top 12 of the Official World Golf Ranking, and 22 were in the top 30. But because the OWGR does not award ranking points to LIV golfers , who have plummeted down the rankings board, this trend has become a bit dicey. LIV’s Brooks Koepka had at least a share of the lead for the first three rounds at last year’s Masters before he fell apart on Sunday.

He’s in good form: Of the past 13 Masters champions, only Matsuyama in 2021 did not have at least two top-12 stroke-play finishes in the calendar year of the tournament, either on the PGA Tour or the European Tour. These golfers haven’t exactly been tearing it up this year (or are well past their primes), and they’re off my list: Fred Couples, Rickie Fowler, Ryan Fox, Lucas Glover, Sungjae Im, Zach Johnson, Tom Kim, Kurt Kitayama, Min Woo Lee, Luke List, Phil Mickelson, Collin Morikawa, José María Olazábal, Patrick Reed, Justin Rose, Charl Schwartzel, Vijay Singh, Sepp Straka, Camilo Villegas, Bubba Watson, Mike Weir, Willett, Gary Woodland and Tiger Woods.

He’s good on par-4s: Of the past 11 Masters champions, nine ranked first, second or third in the field in par-4 scoring during the tournament. Nine of the past 12 winners also entered the tournament ranked 11th or better in the PGA Tour’s par-4 birdie-or-better statistic . Rory McIlroy, for instance, ranks 70th in par-4 scoring and 72nd in par-4 birdie-or-better this season, and I won’t be betting him to end his Masters jinx this week. Other golfers who aren’t attacking par-4s this season include Cam Davis and Will Zalatoris (though the latter is tempting because of his strong Augusta National history).

He’s not the defending champion: Only three players since 1960 have won back-to-back Masters — Jack Nicklaus in 1965-66, Nick Faldo in 1989-90 and Tiger Woods in 2001-02. Since 2002, only Woods (2006) and Jordan Spieth (2016) have finished in the top five as the defending champion. Three of the past seven defending champions have missed the cut, and none of those seven finished better than Scheffler’s 10th last year. That means I won’t be betting Jon Rahm, last year’s winner , to repeat.

He didn’t win the week before: The last player to win the tournament immediately preceding the Masters and then win the green jacket was Phil Mickelson in 2006. Since then, only two golfers (Anthony Kim in 2010 and Spieth in 2021) have won the week before and then finished in the top 10 at Augusta. Akshay Bhatia, who just won the Texas Open , will not be on my card.

Now that we’ve eliminated 49 golfers from the field of 89, let’s take a look at a few who can actually win. Odds are as of Thursday morning at DraftKings Sportsbook :

Scottie Scheffler (+400)

Betting Scheffler at any tournament these days means accepting preposterously low odds, and the Masters is no different. The champion from two years ago and the OWGR No. 1 is again the favorite, for ample reasons. Scheffler has won two of his past three tournaments and was a missed six-footer away from forcing a playoff at the Houston Open two weekends ago. His worst finish this calendar year was a tie for 17th at the American Express; he has been in the top 10 in his seven other tournaments. The knock on Scheffler has always been his putting, but he has gained strokes on the greens in five of his past six tournaments after an equipment change. He’s first on the PGA Tour in par-4 scoring and par-4 birdie-or-better. What’s not to like here, other than the low odds?

Xander Schauffele (+1400)

Schauffele is probably the best player without a major championship (though he does have an Olympic gold medal ), and you have to think he’s about due: The world’s fifth-ranked player has far more top-10s (11) than missed cuts (three) in his 26 major appearances. Three of those top-10s came at Augusta National. Schauffele, who has finished T-5 or better in three of his past four tournaments, trails only Scheffler in par-4 scoring this season and is tied for 17th in par-4 birdie-or-better. And how about this from Kyle Porter of CBS Sports ? Nine of the past 11 Masters winners had gained at least 1.7 strokes tee to green per round in the three months leading into the tournament. Only two PGA Tour golfers fit that bill this year: Scheffler and Schauffele.

Hideki Matsuyama (+1800)

Matsuyama already has a green jacket as the 2021 champion. He also has some blinding form, with a win in February at Riviera (a good course comparison to Augusta National), followed by a tie for 12th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and a tie for sixth at the Players Championship (two tournaments with elite fields), plus a tie for seventh last weekend in Texas. Matsuyama is one of three golfers in the field to finish at least in the top 25 in each of the past four Masters — Scheffler and Shane Lowry are the others — and he can’t be overlooked.

Joaquín Niemann (+3000)

I think Niemann has one of the better shots out of all the LIV golfers because he comes in with white-hot form: three wins and four top-fives since November, with one of those victories in a full-field DP World Tour event. (LIV golfers can play on the European tour.) He’s also one of only two LIV golfers to average at least two strokes gained per round this season. (Rahm is the other; Dustin Johnson — No. 3 on that list — is well behind both at 1.54 strokes gained per round.) Niemann’s best finish at Augusta National is a tie for 16th last year, but he has made the cut each of the past three years.

Tony Finau (+4000)

Every year, it seems, golf fans get talked into considering Finau at the Masters, and every year he seems to do just okay: He has never missed the cut in six Augusta National appearances, with three top-10s. This year, the world’s 26th-ranked player has missed just one cut in PGA Tour play and tied for second at the Houston Open, his most recent event. Finau can be a little wild off the tee, but that shortcoming is negated a bit at Augusta National because the rough isn’t very penal, and Finau shines at courses with short rough .

Shane Lowry (+5500)

The 2019 British Open champion has been picking up steam as the season has worn on, with a tie for fourth at the Cognizant and a solo third the next week at the Arnold Palmer. Lowry has finished no worse than a tie for 25th in his past four Augusta National appearances and tied for third two years ago. He’s top-20 in par-4 scoring and par-4 birdie-or-better this season.

Sahith Theegala (+4000)

The 26-year-old has played in only one Masters, but it was a ninth-place finish at last year’s tournament. This year, the world No. 15 has four top-10 finishes, with three of them coming over his past five events. Theegala is a respectable 24th in par-4 scoring and 31st in par-4 birdie-or-better.

Cameron Young (+5000)

Young is coming off a tie for seventh at last year’s Masters, has four top-10s this year and is respectable enough on par-4s (12th in par-4 birdie or better, 31st in par-4 scoring). And while Young has yet to win on the PGA Tour, he has four top-10s in major tournaments, including a tie for eighth at last year’s British Open. A win is coming, and it could be at Augusta National.

Jason Day (+6000)

The Aussie, ranked 21st, has the 2015 PGA Championship title on his résumé, and he has finished in second place in each of the other three majors, most recently at last year’s British Open. Day’s recent Masters form has been spotty (two missed cuts and a tie for 39th in his past three visits), but he has four Augusta National top-10s in his career. This season, Day has posted three top-10s and ranks in the top 10 in par-4 scoring and par-4 birdie-or-better.

The betting favorites

As of Thursday morning, here were the odds to win the Masters of the leading contenders, according to DraftKings Sportsbook:

• Scottie Scheffler: +400
• Rory McIlroy: +1000
• Jon Rahm: +1100
• Xander Schauffele: +1400
• Brooks Koepka: +1600
• Hideki Matsuyama: +1800
• Jordan Spieth: +2500
• Ludvig Aberg: +2800
• Joaquín Niemann: +3000
• Viktor Hovland: +3500
• Wyndham Clark: +3500
• Dustin Johnson: +4000
• Bryson DeChambeau: +4000
• Tony Finau: +4000
• Sahith Theegala: +4000
• Matt Fitzpatrick: +4000

The Masters 2024

Professional golf makes its annual visit to Augusta National Golf Club at the 2024 Masters, beginning Thursday and ending Sunday. See the latest Masters updates, scores and schedule .

Tee times: First- and second-round pairings and tee times have been announced. See the full schedule .

Who’s playing: The Masters field has 89 players, including five-time winner Tiger Woods , defending champion Jon Rahm and 2022 winner Scottie Scheffler . Five amateur golfers are also in the field .

LIV and PGA: Thirteen LIV players will compete at the Masters with their PGA Tour counterparts, distinguishable only by the LIV team gear they’ll be sporting. More than 10 months have passed since the PGA Tour announced plans to partner with LIV Golf’s Saudi backers, but no deal is imminent.

Betting: From historical performance to odds, here’s a breakdown of nine players who could win the Masters .

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THE PLAYERS Championship 2024 picks and best bets for PGA Tour golf this week

By cody williams | mar 12, 2024, 5:29 pm edt.

THE PLAYERS Championship is the flagship event on the PGA Tour and everything about the tournament backs that up. Whether you want to talk about the atmosphere around TPC Sawgrass, the iconic shots like on the 17th hole and the island green, or the stellar list of winners at this tournament, it all tracks as a can't-miss week in golf. But THE PLAYERS Championship picks can sometimes be a bit tricky.

Frankly, course history at TPC Sawgrass can be somewhat sporadic. Winners have finished outside the Top 50 immediately after, and vice versa. But what always stands out at THE PLAYERS Championship is the ball striking, smart and positional shot-making (especially off of the tee) and being deft around the greens. Of course, defending champion Scottie Scheffler, fresh off a win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational , is a heavy favorite, but the value is elsewhere.

We flirted with a quite good week at the API, but ultimately missed out with just one Top 20 best bet hitting. Things are getting in better shape, though, and we're going to try and clean up with our THE PLAYERS Championship expert picks and best bets for the week.

Note:  All odds are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook unless otherwise noted. Odds will be updated when made available. For more betting picks and advice, check out BetSided .

Golf betting record in 2024 through API: 8-52-0, -9.63 Units (1-19 on outrights and longshots | -1.0 units at API) | One and Done Total for 2024: $1,517,962 (Jordan Spieth at API, $123,500)

PGA Tour expert picks for THE PLAYERS Championship: Winner, Top 10 and One and Done

Top 10 pick for the players championship: hideki matsuyama (+300).

Hideki Matsuyama is playing like one of the best in the world of late, including his late surge to win The Genesis. He's gaining 1.59 strokes tee-to-green over his last eight rounds -- a win and a Top 12 last week at the API -- but he's also gaining 1.28 strokes with his short game over those two finishes too. Matsuyama has also played well at THE PLAYERS, registering two Top 10 finishes in his last three completed tournaments while also being the first round leader in 2020 when the tournament was canceled thereafter. His form and history make me love these Top 10 odds.

Outright Winner pick for THE PLAYERS Championship (0.5 Units): Will Zalatoris (+3300)

Will Zalatoris is back and he's going to win this week, or at least that's my pick. Zalatoris has struggled a bit by his standards at THE PLAYERS with a best finish of T21 in three starts. In the last two signature events, though, he was T2 at The Genesis and T4 at API. He's gaining more than 1.70 strokes tee-to-green in his last 16 rounds, and has gained with the long putter in the bag now as well. He's playing like one of the best in the world and, with his driving accuracy also locked in right now, I love for him to show up again in a big-name field and this time get the victory.

One and Done pick for THE PLAYERS Championship: Scottie Scheffler

There's no world wherein I feel good betting Scottie Scheffler at +550 to win this week. Those odds are just too short -- but they are deserved. With the biggest purse on the PGA Tour this week, we have to pull out a heavy-hitter for One and Done and Scheffler checks all the boxes from a ball striking aspect, but may have unlocked something more with the putter.

THE PLAYERS Championship picks: More best bets for PGA Tour

Andrew novak to finish top 20 at the players championship (+500).

We've got to start putting some respect on Andrew Novak. At Phoenix, Mexico and the Cognizant, he went T8, T8 and T9. The guy is just playing great golf and the numbers back it up. He's gaining 1.23 strokes ball striking over his last 16 rounds and has also been positive around the green and with the putter too. He seems to be a great fit with accurate driving and strong approach play, even after missing the cut here a year ago. It's a bit of a longer-shot play, but his form says he's worth this look.

Keith Mitchell to finish Top 20 at THE PLAYERS Championship (+300)

Don't sleep on Cashmere Keith Mitchell this week. He's finished Top 20 in each of his last three starts and has a Top 20 in one of his last two starts at THE PLAYERS. Furthermore, his other finish was a decent-enough T35. Mitchell's ball striking has been stellar of late, gaining 1.87 strokes there over his last 12 rounds. His short game remains inconsistent, but it's been passable if not sub-average. Still, at a place that rewards shot-making and ball striking like TPC Sawgrass, Mitchell cracking the Top 20 seems very much in the realm of possibilities.

Tom Hoge to finish Top 20 at THE PLAYERS Championship (+260)

Our one bet that hit last week and we're running it back this time around. The putter remains the bugaboo for Tom Hoge, but the rest of his game has been right where you want it coming to TPC Sawgrass, a place where he's played extremely well. Hoge finished Top 3 at THE PLAYERS last year and hasn't finished worse than T33 in his last four starts here. He's gaining a ridiculous 1.46 strokes on approach over his last 16 rounds, in addition to driving the ball accurately. He's being undervalued, but I'm taking a swing on him this week.

Longshot Pick to win THE PLAYERS Championship (0.1 Units): Doug Ghim (+15000)

Doug Ghim missed the cut at THE PLAYERS last year, but was T6 the year prior. More importantly, though, his form has been excellent as of late, gaining 1.30 strokes with his ball striking to go along with 0.48 strokes gained with the putter. He also hasn't finished worse than T16 over his last four starts. I love his fit and the way he's playing, so 150/1 is looking tasty as a flier to take.

SL - Best golfer from every US state. The best golfer from every US state. dark. Next

Sleeper Picks: THE PLAYERS Championship

Sleeper Picks

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Adam Hadwin (+350 Top 20) … He finished T9 here last year, so this is a fair target, but he’s been dynamite since, so another top 20 would serve as the convergence of trends. On second thought, that’s an insult because it suggests that he needs some sort of cosmic combination to keep the finely-tuned machine humming down the highway. He remains one of the most underrated ball-strikers because the putter is his primary weapon, but he feasts on par 5s of which there are four at TPC Sawgrass.

Brandon Wu … The PGA TOUR sophomore is enjoying the opposite of a slump this season with a co-runner-up finish at Pebble Beach among 10 paydays to sit 42nd in the FedExCup. He finished T14 in his last start at PGA National where he slotted third in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and seventh in proximity. He’s making his first appearance at TPC Sawgrass where the tallest hurdle will be learning the nuance of the greens, but ball-strikers like the 26-year-old can plug and play pretty much everywhere. His pedigree increases our confidence in him to make noise despite the inexperience.

Robby Shelton … The 27-year-old has been a popular middle-tier go-to basically all season, so he’s been paying off the renewed hype as the only multiple winner on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2022. Still shy of the midpoint of the 2022-23 PGA TOUR campaign, he’s already only one or two solid performances from matching or surpassing career bests across the board. Where he wows is in capitalizing in the opportunities he generates. He’s wringing out every stroke he can on most occasions, but make no mistake, his strength is on approach, which is why he deserves a unit for a top-30 or -40 finish where available.

Ben Martin … Had he stuck with his commitment in Puerto Rico last week, he may have been the favorite to win. The 35-year-old has reignited a sizable fragment of old form this season, and especially of late with a T13 at Pebble Beach and a T5 at PGA National in his last two starts. In his best season on the PGA TOUR, he placed T4 in what also was his debut at TPC Sawgrass in 2015. Currently 13th in greens in regulation and T28 in proximity to the hole.

Odds were sourced on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. For live odds, visit BetMGM .

The PGA TOUR is committed to protecting our fans. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, the National Council on Problem Gambling operates a confidential toll-free hotline that you can reach by phone or text at 1-800-522-4700.

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Masters 2024 props, golf odds: Expert reveals top PGA Tour prop bets, parlay picks for Augusta National

Mike mcclure locked in his expert pga golf prop picks and parlay for the masters 2024 at augusta national.

The first 2024 Masters tee times will begin at 10:30 a.m. ET on Thursday after weather delayed the start of the opening round. At 100-1 to win outright in the 2024 Masters odds, it's unlikely that Tiger Woods will pick up his sixth career green jacket this week at the Masters 2024. However, there are still plenty of intriguing Masters Tiger props on the board for golf bettors to consider before he tees off. The latest 2024 Masters prop bets list Woods' Round 1 score over/under at 73.5, with the Over favored at -165 (risk $165 to win $100).

Other Tiger prop picks include a top-10 overall finish paying +900 and a top-20 performance returning +350. Which 2024 Masters props should you target involving Woods and every other golfer in the 2024 Masters field? Before locking in your 2024 Masters prop picks or entering Masters pool picks, you need to see what SportsLine DFS pro and PGA expert Mike McClure has to say . 

McClure is a DFS legend with over $2 million in career winnings, and he's been red-hot on his PGA picks dating back to the PGA Tour restart in June of 2020. McClure uses his proprietary simulation model to analyze the field and crush his  golf picks . He is up almost $9,500 on his best bets since the restart.  

McClure's model predicted Jon Rahm would finish on top of the leaderboard at the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions and The American Express. At the 2023 Masters, the model was all over Rahm's second career major victory heading into the weekend. It was the second straight Masters win for the model, which also nailed Scheffler winning in 2022. 

This same model has also nailed a whopping 10 majors entering the weekend. Anyone who has followed McClure's picks has seen massive returns.  

Now, McClure has dialed in on the Masters golf tournament and just locked in his top prop picks and PGA predictions. You can only see McClure's Masters 2024 prop picks at SportsLine .

Top 2024 Masters prop picks

We can tell you that one of McClure's favorite Masters prop picks is Ludvig Aberg to be the top debutant at +275. Despite turning pro less than a year ago, Aberg comes to Augusta in strong form. He's already picked up wins on both the PGA Tour and European Tour in the past seven months.

He's also made every cut during his 2024 PGA Tour schedule and hasn't finished worse than 25th in his past six events. His average finish position during that span is 12.8 and he's posted four rounds of 66 or lower this year, including an astonishing 63 in Round 4 of the Sentry. Wyndham Clark is the only other first-time Masters player who can claim a comparable recent run to Aberg, so McClure loves the value of betting on Aberg at a return that approaches 3-1.  You can see who else to back at SportsLine .

How to make Masters 2024 prop picks

McClure has also locked in a slew of other prop bets for the 2024 Masters, including a prop that pays almost 20-1 and comes from an unlikely player. You can find out who it is, and check out all of McClure's Masters prop picks at SportsLine .

Who wins the Masters 2024, and which golfer should you target for almost a 20-1 payout? Visit SportsLine now to get Mike McClure's Masters 2024 prop picks, all from the golf expert who is up almost $9,500 on his best bets since 2020 , and find out.

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