The Players Championship: Expert Picks

Tournament Information

The Players Championship
Date: March 11th – 14th
Course: TPC Sawgrass
Purse: $15MM ($2.7MM to winner)
2020 Winner: Rory McIlroy (-16)
OWGR Points: 80

Course

TPC Sawgrass, Stadium Course — Built in 1980 by Pete and Alice Dye it stands as one of the more difficult course in the United States. Sitting at 7,190 yards, this par 72 course is a ‘jack of all trades’ course forcing players to use the entirety of their swiss army knife to pass it’s illustrious tests. Notorious hole 17 will stand out in infamy to most as the green stands alone surrounded by water. The great joy of this course is watching the players lean after their shot on 17 trying to use their mental capacity to direct the ball mid flight.

Photo by Chris Condon/PGA TOUR via Getty Images

My Starting 4

Adam Scott (third selection this year) — Scott has been a staple elite performer here for years—2017-2019 was nothing but top 10 finishes. Adam has made all eight cuts this season.

Webb Simpson (third selection this year) — Simpson finished among the top 20 here in 2017, 2018 and 2019 (with 2018 being a championship year). He has top 20 finishes in seven out of nine tournaments this season.

Jason Day (third selection this year) — Day was among the top 10 at TPC Sawgrass the last two years they had it. He’s 30th in strokes gained off the tee and he comes into the tournament with three straight top 35 finishes.

Tommy Fleetwood (second selection this year) — Fleetwood has steadily gotten better here each year. He was 41st here in 2017, 7th here in 2018 and then 5th here in 2019 so perhaps he’s top 3 in 2021? He’s 21st in OWGR and he comes into this tournament having finished 10th last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

My Bench 2

Rory Sabbatini (first selection this year) — Sabbatini was among the top 35 in 2018 and 2019 here. He is among the best putters on tour as he’s 26th in strokes gained. He comes into this tournament having missed three straight cuts so there is a bit of risk in this selection.

Keegan Bradley (first selection this year) — Back to back top 20’s here for Bradley in 2018 and 2019. He’s 9th in both strokes gained tee to green and approaching the green. His putting is crushing him and the main obstacle.

Fun Fact: TPC Sawgrass uses a special mini-verde grass for the greens.

2020-2021 Stats (1st percent would be the top golfer picked every week)
Starting 4: avg finish 35th (28th percent)
Bench 2: avg finish 48th (38th percent)