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.
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
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;
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