PGA Tour Brunch | The PLAYERS

@PGATourBrunch and @DigSportsDesk Preview The PLAYERS

Mar 9

PONTE VEDRA BEACH - This week’s PLAYERS Championship will be more of a challenge than the Tournament Players Club of Sawgrass usually can dish out. The weather report is not cooperating as thundershowers, high humidity and a 30-degree dip in temperature from Friday to the weekend could wreak havoc for the contenders when the sun shines on Sunday.

The PLAYERS Championship is the first of five tournaments on the PGA Tour schedule offering 600 FedEx Cup points to the winner, along with the four major championships.

The field includes 47 of the Top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking and 109 PGA TOUR winners combining for 418 titles. Justin Thomas is looking to become the first player to successfully defend a title at The PLAYERS Championship. The best result by a defending champion of The PLAYERS is T5 (Jack Nicklaus/1977, Tom Kite/1990, Hal Sutton/2001). In the last six attempts, only one defending champion has finished in the Top 50 (Webb Simpson, 2019). Thomas, a 14-time Tour winner (most recently at The PLAYERS in 2021), has successfully defended a title once on the PGA Tour (2016 CIMB Classic) and has earned multiple titles at three different PGA Tour events.

PGA TOUR @PGATOUR

One of the strongest fields in golf descends on @THEPLAYERSChamp. (Odds presented by @FDSportsbook)

Preview | The PLAYERS Championship

COURSE: TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach - Florida

ARCHITECT: Pete Dye

YARDS/PAR: 7,256 yards/Par 72

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $20,000,000/$3,600,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Justin Thomas

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 600

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @ThePLAYERSChamp

THE PLAYERS @THEPLAYERSChamp

Let's have a day! Gates open at 7:30 AM

TV COVERAGE: First two rounds of The PLAYERS Championship (March 10 & 11) are scheduled for coverage from 2:00pm to 6:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel. Saturday and Sunday, coverage is set for 12:30pm to 2:30pm (ET) on Golf Channel and 2:30 to 6:00pm (ET) on NBC.

PGA TOUR LIVE STREAMING on ESPN+: Streaming coverage from TPC Sawgrass will be featured on ESPN-Plus Thursday and Friday with Main Feed, Featured Hole and Featured Groups from 6:45am to 6:00pm (ET). Weekend streaming on ESPN+ from 6:45am to 6:00pm (ET).

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: SiriusXM Radio will have live radio coverage Thursday and Friday broadcasts originating from TPC Sawgrass from 11:00pm to 6:00pm (ET). Saturday and Sunday coverage on Sirius XM Radio runs from 12:00pm to 6:00pm (ET). PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92 or online via PGATourCom.

How to Watch/Stream The PLAYERS: (ESPNCom)

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

The Basics:

The PLAYERS Championship Tee Times start Thursday at 6:45am (ET) and go to 1:51pm (ET).

Weather: Thursday’s forecast calls for wind and thunderstorms with temperature 69-degrees with high humidity (88%). Winds 13 mph. 80% chance of rain. both Friday and Saturday forecasts are not good with the weekend temps dipping to the 50s.Sunday will be mostly sunny but 50-degrees

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

Next Week: The Valspar Championship

The PLAYERS Championship - The Field and Tee Times:

The Field: (link)

Update:

Ryan Brehm (in) / Hayden Buckley (out)

Bryson DeChambeau (out) / Hayden Buckley (in)

Kevin Na (out; expecting third child) / Taylor Moore (in)

Tee Times: (link)

Odds for The PLAYERS - 2022 :

Source: CBS Sportsline

Justin Thomas +1400

Collin Morikawa +1400

Jon Rahm +1400

Rory McIlroy +1800

Viktor Hovland +2000

Scottie Scheffler +2500

Patrick Cantlay +2500

Xander Schauffele +2800

Hideki Matsuyama +3000

Dustin Johnson +3000

Daniel Berger +3000

Cameron Smith +3300

Brooks Koepka +3500

Shane Lowry +3500

Matt Fitzpatrick +3500

Jordan Spieth +4000

Sungjae Im +4000

Sam Burns +4000

Will Zalatoris +4000

Billy Horschel +4000

Joaquin Niemann +4500

Tyrrell Hatton +4500

Louis Oosthuizen +5000

Corey Conners +5000

Adam Scott +5000

Talor Gooch +5000

Tony Finau +5500

Paul Casey +6000

Webb Simpson +6600

Max Homa +6600

Cameron Young +6600

Tommy Fleetwood +6600

Abraham Ancer +6600

Gary Woodland +6600

Marc Leishman +6600

Sergio Garcia +7000

Chris Kirk +7000

Russell Henley +8000

Si-Woo Kim +8000

Jason Kokrak +8000

Jason Day +8000

Justin Rose +9000

Alex Noren +10000

Brian Harman +10000

Keith Mitchell +10000

Harold Varner +12500

Seamus Power +12500

Lee Westwood +12500

Patrick Reed +12500

Bubba Watson +12500

Cameron Tringale +12500

Maverick McNealy +12500

Thomas Pieters +12500

Ian Poulter +12500

Aaron Wise +15000

Lanto Griffin +15000

Sebastian Munoz +15000

Jhonattan Vegas +15000

Lucas Herbert +15000

Francesco Molinari +15000

Tom Hoge +15000

Mito Pereira +15000

Ryan Palmer +15000

Mackenzie Hughes +15000

Erik Van Rooyen +15000

Kevin Kisner +15000

Matthew Wolff +15000

Keegan Bradley +15000

Matt Jones +15000

Luke List +15000

Sepp Straka +17500

Cam Davis +20000

Dylan Frittelli +20000

Martin Laird +20000

Kyoung-Hoon Lee +20000

Emiliano Grillo +20000

Patton Kizzire +20000

Brendon Todd +20000

Andrew Putnam +20000

Joel Dahmen +20000

Sahith Theegala +20000

Cameron Champ +20000

Russell Knox +20000

Denny McCarthy +20000

Matt Kuchar +20000

Adam Hadwin +20000

Charley Hoffman +20000

C.T. Pan +20000

Doug Ghim +25000

Stewart Cink +25000

Brendan Steele +25000

Wyndham Clark +25000

Lucas Glover +25000

Matthew NeSmith +25000

Pat Perez +25000

Chez Reavie +25000

Troy Merritt +25000

J.T. Poston +25000

Carlos Ortiz +25000

Henrik Stenson +25000

Beau Hossler +25000

Garrick Higgo +25000

Taylor Pendrith +25000

Matt Wallace +25000

Zach Johnson +25000

Charl Schwartzel +30000

Adam Long +30000

Hayden Buckley +30000

Sam Ryder +30000

Adam Schenk +30000

Hudson Swafford +30000

Doc Redman +30000

J.J. Spaun +30000

Lee Hodges +30000

Kevin Streelman +30000

Harry Higgs +30000

Brian Stuard +30000

Branden Grace +30000

Kramer Hickok +30000

Henrik Norlander +30000

Brandt Snedeker +30000

Ryan Brehm +30000

TL’s Wedge for an Edge: This week at The PLAYERS, the oddsmakers have the usual names as favored picks, but Tee Els’ PGA Fantasy game foursome (and two reserves) will include some players who can play in the rain and the wind: Rory McIlroy can play in poor conditions anywhere, so he’s the top pick. Ty Hatton is playing well and can be considered a “mudder” while Bubba Watson and Shane Lowry round out my foursome. TL’s bench players will be: Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka

What They’re Saying:

Nine Things to Consider at TPC Sawgrass (PGATourCom)

First Look at The PLAYERS Championship (PGATourCom)

Draws & Fades for The PLAYERS Championship - (PGATourCom)

Power Rankings for The PLAYERS (PGATourCom)

FedExCup Standings (PGATourCom)

Industry News, #Sports Gambling and Daily Fantasy News

Woods, Finchem to Enter World Golf Hall of Fame (PGATourCom)

Three Outright Picks for TPC Sawgrass (Action Net)

Expert Picks at The PLAYERS - (PGATourCom)

Sleeper Picks at The PLAYERS - (PGATourCom)

On This Day in Golf History:

March 9, 1964 - Gary Player won a playoff for the first time in his career, a three-way 18-hole playoff with Arnold Palmer and Miller Barber to win the Pensacola Open in Florida. Player was previously 0-7 in playoffs in his career..- Courtesy of Randy Walker, Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE

Parting Putt:

The Island Green with hazards everywhere;