SCOTTIE IS MAN TO BEAT AT TPC
FORTY seven of the world’s top 50 are among a high-quality field of 144 teeing it up this week at the Players Championship on the iconic Pete Dye designed TPC Sawgrass stadium course in Florida.
The rewards for this designated tournament are huge, with a whopping €23.5million prize fund and a €4.2million first prize, a five year PGA Tour exemption and three-year exemptions to each of the other major championships.
The Players holds special memories for Shane Lowry, who made a hole-in-one there in last year’s third round.
Scottie Scheffler will defend the title he won here 12 months ago in commanding fashion on a 17 under par total by five shots from Tyrrell Hatton.
Scheffler’s five-shot victory at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational was one of his best ever performances and was down to his return to form with the short stick.
Putting
Tee to green, Scheffler has consistently been the best ball striker in the world, but his putting has let him down at crucial times.
It’s simple this week, if Scheffler putts well, he wins. We tipped him to win last week at odds of 13/2 and he can follow up this week with a successful defence of the Players at the slightly shorter odds of 6/1.
Cameron Smith, was the winner in 2022 on a 13 under par total by a single shot from Anirban Lahiri.
Justin Thomas won in 2021 on a 12 under par total, one shot ahead of Lee Westwood, while the 2020 version was cancelled after the first round due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rory McIlroy won in 2019, finishing on a 16 under par total, one shot ahead of Jim