2021 Players Championship: Top 10 power rankings at TPC Sawgrass
With the cancelation in 2020 after round one, Rory McIlroy is still your reigning Players Champion. No one has ever won this event in consecutive years. He’ll be glad to get a second crack at pulling off the feat after his title defense began in 72 a year ago.
The Northern Irishman fired 67-66-70-70 in 2019 to win this event for the first time. It was one of the best ball-striking weeks of his career. McIlroy averaged 305 yards off the tee and hit 80.56% greens in regulation to win in spite of an average putting week.
The Jupiter, Florida resident is coming off a T-10th finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He co-led after a round one 66 but let windy conditions get the best of him on the weekend.
Fortunately, the forecast may not be so menacing coming up in Ponte Vedra Beach.
McIlroy played poorly at this event as a youngster with three straight missed cuts. He’s since taken a liking to this Pete Dye design and the move to March, which no longer coincides with his May 4 birthday.
He plays a lot more in America these days, too, which makes it easier to put more dedication into playing well at this event.
Starting in 2013, he’s accumulated five top-12 finishes at the Players Championship and has made the cut all but one year.
“So for me two big things were, off the tee, the course plays a lot longer in March than it does in May, so I was able to hit driver a lot more,” McIlroy was quoted by ASAP Sports in 2020. “The fairways are a little softer, so the course plays a touch wider. And then I think the other thing is having the rough overseeded around the greens, that was a big thing for me because I’ve always been more comfortable chipping out of that sort of overseeded rough rather than a pure Bermuda.”
Talking about McIlroy’s results is always about scale. He’s put up 11 top-21s in his last 12 worldwide events, which would outpace 99% of the competition.
When that stretch lacks a win or even a runner-up, and you’re a future Hall of Famer, things still aren’t quite adding up.
Sunday’s usually where McIlroy leaks oil. He’s 141st in final-round scoring average (71).
The 31-year-old has admitted that a lack of fans at events has been tough on him. There will be upwards of 9,000 on the grounds per day at the spacious Stadium Course.
If he’s in contention, a lot of them will be at his back fueling him on. An inspired Rory is still tough to beat.