The Players Championship Preview and Picks
By Matt Hupfer
Best Bets for THE PLAYERS
Quite the frustrating Sunday at the API as my outright misfortune continues. Viktor Hovland and Billy Horschel both held the lead at one point on Sunday before crumbling down the stretch. It’s always nice having a couple picks in contention in the final round, but two T2’s pays just the same as DFL.
Outright odds are so long because there can only be one winner. Congrats to Scottie Scheffler by the way!. All of my picks this week are all in great form and have no glaring weakness, except for my obligatory Viktor Hovland play and his atrocious chipping. I play Hov every week but I only include a write up if he’s going to be one of my official picks.
Odds provided by WynnBet and are current at the time of publication
Collin Morikawa (+1500)
An elite player tends to win this event and I can’t pass on perhaps the best player in the world. In five events this year, his worst finish is 7th. He’s going to be the highest owned player in DFS this week so I’m unlikely to play him there, but I want to have some exposure to the best iron player on the planet.
Patrick Cantlay (+2000)
The price is reflective of him missing his last two cuts here, but the course history doesn’t concern me. He had two top 25s prior to the last two MCs, and he didn’t reach his peak level until the end of last season. There’s no weakness in his game and it takes balance to win at Sawgrass. He finished T33 at Riviera and prior to that he started the season with four straight top 10s. Being number one in par-5 scoring is icing on the cake.
Daniel Berger (+3000)
He’s been in great form this year. 7-5-20-MC-4 are his results in the five tournaments he’s played this year. The MC was due to a back issue he had. He said his back was better right before the Honda and opened up a five-shot lead after three rounds. The Sunday round is concerning but he’s won big events with strong fields in the past. He’s top three in APP, T2G, BS, and Good Drives Gained. The only red flag is putting but so was JT’s last year, and Thomas won The Players last year by excelling in the stats that Berger is thriving in this year. Like Morikawa, he has high projected ownership in DFS and I want some exposure to Berger.
Sungjae Im (+5000)
I don’t think there’s a player on tour who loves golf as much as Sungjae. Is there a tournament this guy won’t play in? His numbers look unreal across the board. Outside of his mediocre approach (62) and decent putting (34) stats, he’s in the top 25 in the other eight categories I’m looking at. The MC at the Honda doesn’t worry me at all, as it was his first time playing with the pressure of being the favorite. He’s coming into this tournament under the radar so none of that pressure will apply this week. In 11 events this year he has missed two cuts. In the other nine tournaments he has four top 10s and finished outside the top 25 only twice, but none lower than 33.