The Players Championship Betting Tips
Sink the winning put with top golf tips for the 5th Major
The Players Championship has become known as the unofficial “fifth Major” owing to the quality of the field the event attracts, the iconic Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass over which it’s played, and the level of prizemoney on offer. “The Players” is one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the season and it tends to produce a stellar champion and who better to guide you down a winning weekend with Betsafe than leading website Golf Monthly.
Top 10 shots in Players Championship history
Players Championship 2015 highlights
Format
Like most significant tournaments on the professional circuits, this event is contested over 72 holes of strokeplay. 144 men will start and the top 75 and ties will make the 36-hole cut. The man with the lowest score at the end of four rounds will be the champion. In the event of a tie, there will be a three-hole playoff over the dramatic closing holes (16-18) at TPC Sawgrass. If players are still tied after that, the title will be decided by sudden-death extra holes starting at the infamous, island green par-3 17th.
The top-50 players on the Official World Golf Ranking are exempt for the tournament and there are 13 further qualification categories, including: Major champions from the last five years, the previous year’s Web.com Tour money leader (Patton Kizzire) and the previous year’s Senior Players champion (Bernhard Langer.)
The winner of this event picks up 80 points counting towards the Official World Golf Ranking, only the Majors offer more. Winners of the World Golf Championship events receive between 70 and 78 points. As such, this tournament attracts one of the strongest fields of the year in men’s professional golf.
Also enticing the world’s best to compete is the biggest prize fund in golf. The total purse for the 2016 tournament is $10,500,000 – up $500,000 from last season. Last year’s winner Rickie Fowler walked away with $1,800,000.
Course
Pete Dye’s iconic Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass opened for play in 1980 and first played host to The Players in 1982. The layout was redesigned by Dye in 2006. It’s one of the most recognisable courses on the PGA Tour and is famed for delivering a total examination of the players’ games.
Dye’s objective was to create a layout to find the most complete player through the week. He didn’t want a course that could be overpowered by the long hitters, rather a track that demanded precision as well as power. Careful placement of water hazards and bunkering means this is a course where a clear strategy is required.
Look for players who feature high on the “all round” statistics to perform well. The holes all point in slightly different directions so the wind will have a variable impact. There are also an equal number of dog-legs from right to left and left to right, so players will need to be able to shape the ball both ways.
The last three at Sawgrass epitomise the test. The 16th is a fabulous par-5, reachable for nearly all the field at just 523 yards on the card. It should be a birdie hole but with water lining the right side and lurking to the right of, and beyond the green, the approach must be extremely precise. Anything turning slightly from left to right could end up in the wet stuff.
Then there’s the 17th: one of the most famous holes in golf. A par three to an island green (it’s actually a peninsula as a narrow spit connects it to the course,) It provides as much of a psychological test as a technical one. On paper it shouldn’t cause these top players too many difficulties, measuring less than 150 yards and requiring just a short iron. But when the pressure’s on, it’s a demanding shot – green or bust!
The 18th is a very tough finishing hole with water down its entire left side. Both drive and second must be extremely accurate. The challenge of this hole means the tournament won’t be over until the final putt drops.
Favourites
Let’s look at the guys who have consistently performed well in this event in recent years.
Garcia goes well around TPC
Sergio Garcia has the best recent record of any player. He won back in 2008 and in the last three years he’s been tied eighth, third and tied second (losing that playoff to Rickie Fowler.)
McIlroy will pose a threat
Of the current “big three,” Rory McIlroy has the best recent form in this event. He has finished no worse than tied eighth in the last three instalments of the tournament.
Stenson winner in 2009 and made every cut since 2001
Henrik Stenson is a former winner (2009) and his recent record has been solid. He’s made every cut since 2001 and was tied fifth in 2013.
Defending champions Rickie Fowler
As defending champion, Rickie Fowler has to be one to watch. He’ll be returning to a course where he’ll have nothing but good memories. He was also runner up in 2012.
2012 winner Matt Kuchar always consistent at Sawgrass
Look out also for the form of 2012 winner Matt Kuchar. He’s one of the most consistent players out there and his patient, strategic game is one well suited to this course.
Spieth and Day expected to challenge
Both Jordan Spieth and Jason Day missed the cut in this event last year. The Australian carded a second round 81. But neither can be counted out in any tournament they enter and both have had top-10s in this event in the past, so check their form coming into this event. Both are streaky players so if they look to be peaking, they’ll be worth considering.
Betting Tips
If picking an outright winner, refer to our golf betting strategy here. Check current form but also consider past performances on this course. As it’s always played at the same venue, it’s fairly easy to find players who consistently perform well. Try to find someone coming into a bit of form who has a good record at Sawgrass.
Other than the outright winner markets, consider the options on betting within first round three-balls, top European finisher and even number of balls in the water on the 17th: The record is 50, set back in 2007.
History
The event was first contested in 1974, instigated by then PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman. The inaugural event was called the “Tournament Players Championship” and was hosted by the Atlanta Country Club. Jack Nicklaus was the first winner and “The Golden Bear” claimed the title twice more – at Inverary Country Club in 1976 and at Sawgrass Country Club in 1978. Nicklaus remains the only player to win this event three times.
Mark Hayes, Lanny Wadkins, Lee Trevino and Raymond Floyd also enjoyed success at Sawgrass Country Club, then, in 1982, the tournament moved to a new home: The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. The event has been held over this fabulous Pete Dye layout ever since and the course has become one of the most recognisable and revered in world golf.
The champion’s roster of The Players reads like a who’s who of professional golf. In the 1980s, Lee Trevino, Fred Couples, Sandy Lyle and Tom Kite were winners. In the 90s, Davis Love III, Nick Price, Greg Norman and David Duval were among the champions. In the ‘00’s Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia lofted the trophy and more recently, K.J. Choi, Matt Kuchar and Martin Kaymer have all won.
Last year, Rickie Fowler produced a sensational finish to force, and then win, a playoff against Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner.
Fowler was five shots off the lead at the start of his back nine, but he went crazy on the run for home. His last six holes were: birdie, par, birdie, eagle, birdie, and birdie.
That was enough to match the 72-hole scores of Garcia and Kisner, but Rickie wasn’t done. He birdied the island green 17th in the three-hole playoff, then birdied it again in sudden-death to finally claim the title. Fowler birdied the par-3 17th three times in three attempts on the Sunday!
For most of its life, this event was played in late March, two weeks before The Masters. But in 2007, the tournament was shifted in the schedule to mid-May. This move allowed more players to consider making it part of their personal playing schedules and served to further enhance the prestige of the tournament.
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