PGA Tour Brunch | The PLAYERS | '23 Preview
PGA Tour Brunch | The PLAYERS | '23 Preview
PGA Tour Brunch Preview The PLAYERS from TPC Sawgrass
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.
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
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