PGA Tour Brunch

Share this post

PGA Tour Brunch | The PLAYERS | '23 Preview

www.pgatourbrunch.com

PGA Tour Brunch | The PLAYERS | '23 Preview

PGA Tour Brunch Preview The PLAYERS from TPC Sawgrass

@TerryLyons
Mar 8
Share this post

PGA Tour Brunch | The PLAYERS | '23 Preview

www.pgatourbrunch.com

By TERRY LYONS

PONTE VEDRA BEACH - THE PLAYERS Championship is the first of five events during the 2023 season offering 600 FedExCup points to the winner. It joins the four major championships. The field this weekend includes 44 of the Top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking and 29 of the Top 30 players in the FedExCup standings.

PGA Tour Brunch is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is the 49th playing of THE PLAYERS Championship and 41st since the tournament moved to TPC Sawgrass in 1982. The purse is $25 million and the winner's share of $4.5 million are the largest in PGA TOUR history.

With three wins this season (Sentry Tournament of Champions, The American Express, The Genesis Invitational), Jon Rahm currently holds the No. 1 position in both the FedExCup standings and the Official World Golf Ranking. He is the third player (fourth instance) to enter THE PLAYERS as the FedExCup leader and World No. 1 (second consecutive year competing at THE PLAYERS as World No. 1). Rahm has one Top-10 (T-9/2021) and has not missed the cut in five previous starts at THE PLAYERS.

Reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler is making his third start at THE PLAYERS Championship (MC/2021, T-55/2022). Scheffler successfully defended his title at the WM Phoenix Open in February and finished T-4 in his second attempt to do so at last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational. Scheffler will also be the defending champion at two tournaments in the four weeks following THE PLAYERS (WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, Masters Tournament). Scheffler leads the PGA TOUR in Greens in Regulation Percentage (73.61%).

The 2019 winner and reigning FedExCup Champion Rory McIlroy finished runner-up at last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational, his second Top-Two result in four starts this season (Won/THE CJ CUP in South Carolina). McIlroy made his tournament debut in 2009 (MC), which was his eighth career start on the Tour, and has four Top-10s in 12 starts at the event.

The PLAYERS | Tournament Facts

COURSE: TPC Sawgrass - THE PLAYERS Stadium Course, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

YARDS/PAR: 7,256 yards/Par 72

ARCHITECTS: Pete Dye

PRIZE Money - Purse: $25,000,000 with Winner: $4,500,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Cameron Smith

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 600

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @THEPLAYERSChamp

How to Watch: In case of changes, visit: (PGATourCom)


The PLAYERS | The Basics

The Tee Times at TPC Sawgrass will run from 6:50am (ET) to 1:51pm (ET) Thursday.

Weather: Thursday forecast is for mostly sunny skies and temperatures hovering around 72 degrees. There’s only a 2% chance of rain and winds will blow at 12 mph after a gusty 23 mph today for the Pro-Am.

Tournament Web Site: (link)

FedEx Cup Info: (link)

PGA Tour Brunch will post at 6:30am (ET) Thursday and Friday.


The PLAYERS : Field/Update, Tee Times and Leaderboard

The Field: (link)

Update: Lanto Griffin WD; Ryan Armour in

Tee Times: (link)

Tournament Leaderboard: (link)


The PLAYERS | Tournament Odds

Source: CBS Sportsline

Jon Rahm +850

Rory McIlroy +850

Scottie Scheffler +1000

Patrick Cantlay +1900

Max Homa +1900

Justin Thomas +1900

Xander Schauffele +2500

Viktor Hovland +2700

Tony Finau +2800

Collin Morikawa +2800

Will Zalatoris +3200

Jordan Spieth +3200

Matt Fitzpatrick +3400

Tyrrell Hatton +3400

Cameron Young +3600

Jason Day +3600

Sungjae Im +3700

Joohyung Kim +4100

Shane Lowry +4800

Keegan Bradley +5000

Rickie Fowler +5000

Keith Mitchell +5500

Corey Conners +6500

Si Woo Kim +7000

Sam Burns +7000

Sahith Theegala +7000

Chris Kirk +7500

Tommy Fleetwood +8500

Hideki Matsuyama +8500

Kurt Kitayama +9000

Justin Rose +10000

Adam Scott +10000

Tom Hoge +10000

Francesco Molinari +10000

Harris English +10000

Webb Simpson +14000

Aaron Wise +14000

Brian Harman +15000

Wyndham Clark +15000

Seamus Power +15000

Russell Henley +15000

Gary Woodland +17000

Alex Noren +17000

Billy Horschel +18000

Ryan Fox +18000

Davis Riley +18000

Taylor Montgomery +18000

Sepp Straka +19000

Adam Hadwin +19000

Min Woo Lee +19000

Maverick McNealy +21000

Patton Kizzire +21000

Justin Suh +21000

Taylor Pendrith +22000

K.H. Lee +23000

Lucas Herbert +23000

Danny Willett +23000

TL’s Wedge for an Edge:  With the bigtime purse and 600 FEDEx CUP points on the line, we’ll be firing away with the picks for this week at The PLAYERS: Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Collin Morakawa and Keith Mitchell. The two reserves: Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.

For the Tour One and Done? Longshot Kevin Mitchell, although Morikawa is the safer play.


What They’re Saying

PGA TOUR Riding Tremendous Momentum (PGATourCom)

Lanto Griffin WDs (Golf Week/USA Today)

Power Rankings for The PLAYERS (PGATourCom)

Nine Things to Know About TPC Sawgrass  (PGATourCom)

How to Watch - The PLAYERS | R-1 (GolfCom)


Sports Gambling and Daily Fantasy

Best Bets, Strategies for The PLAYERS - (Action Net)

Expert Picks for The PLAYERS - (PGATourCom)

Sleeper Picks for The PLAYERS - (PGATourCom)


On This Day in Golf History

March 7-8, 2023 - (Yesterday) - About 50 PGA Tour members gathered in the palatial clubhouse at TPC Sawgrass just after dawn yesterday for a meeting that will have a profound impact on the future of the circuit.

Sweeping changes to the Tour schedule and qualification criteria that were first revealed last week were explained in greater detail to the membership over 90 minutes that, according to various players who attended the meeting, was not nearly as confrontational as some would have thought.

“I think the temperature in the room was nowhere near as hot as I anticipated it to be once the information was sort of laid out,” said Rory McIlroy, one of five player directors on the Tour’s policy board, which approved the sweeping changes last week.

Rory Rips James Hahn for Missing Meeting - (link)


Parting Putt

Twitter avatar for @PGATOUR
PGA TOUR @PGATOUR
Literally 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 out for a @McIlroyRory autograph 😲
2:00 AM ∙ Mar 8, 2023
2,636Likes78Retweets

Next Up


PGA TOUR Brunch is brought to you by Digital Sports Desk. Subscriptions to PGA Tour Brunch are the perfect gift for your friends or family members who love pro golf. This e-newsletter is not affiliated with the PGA Tour organization.

PGA Tour Brunch is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Share this post

PGA Tour Brunch | The PLAYERS | '23 Preview

www.pgatourbrunch.com
Comments
TopNewCommunity

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 @TerryLyons
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing