Ponte Vedra awaits the best players on the PGA Tour this week, as TPC Sawgrass once again plays host to The Players. This year's playing of the event comes at a time when the talk of it becoming the fifth major tournament has been at its loudest, with CEO Brian Rolapp and tournament director Lee Smith (not the most underrated closer of all time) being more vocal about the possibility of making the designation official in the coming years.
Look, The Players is a special tournament that has more of an identity than the PGA Championship, but it's not a major. It's not a regular Tour event, either. It exists in its own special tier above the other Tour events, and I think we should be okay with that. The golfers can treat it like a major in their prep, but I think that's as far as it should go.
This year's tournament feels a little more up for grabs than expected, with Scottie Scheffler in a weird skid right now and Rory McIlroy dealing with a back injury. This is anyone's ballgame this week, and I am excited for it.
Much like last year, we missed out on the Arnold Palmer winner, but nailed Ricky Castillo winning in Puerto Rico, so we broke the cold streak in the rankings. Let's keep it going this week.
Honorable Mentions: Ludvig Aberg, Daniel Berger, Hideki Matsuyama, Marco Penge, Sepp Straka
9. Akshay Bhatia
You can do nothing but applaud Akshay Bhatia coming from five behind at one point on Sunday to chase down Daniel Berger for the biggest win in his career so far. This is the game that has always been there with Bhatia; he just needed to fully unlock it.
Now, it seems like the lefty has fully come into his own. Remember, Bhatia almost won The Players last year, finishing T3 after bouncing back from a Saturday 75. The 24-year-old feels different this year, and this could be another step towards superstardom for him.
8. Rory McIlroy
This placing of Rory McIlroy is purely out of fear for the back spasms. Based on his mid-tournament withdrawal last week and the statement he made about planning to get to TPC Sawgrass on Wednesday, I don't have high hopes on McIlroy being 100% during this week's tournament.
Obviously, we know what his ceiling is when he's healthy (see: last year's tournament), but if the back causes him to not be able to go full out with any club in his bag, then I don't expect McIlroy to be a serious contender. However, on the off chance he is full speed ahead, he has to be on the list.
7. Cameron Young
After a pretty unassuming start to the season, it seems like Cam Young has settled in once again, with a T7 at the Genesis and a T3 last week at Bay Hill. Now, the one issue with Young is that he has never played well at TPC Sawgrass, with his best career finish being a T51 in 2023.
This pick is a little bit of a hope and a prayer because his past form isn't good, but I think PGA Tour winner Cameron Young will bring a new mindset to The Players this year.
6. Si Woo Kim
At this point, Si Woo Kim has gone from an under-the-radar pick to potentially being too popular among the golf betting crowd. It's hard to blame them, as Kim is one of the best ball strikers on Tour and he's a past winner of The Players. We just need the putter to be right around average this week, and Kim will be right near the top of the leaderboard.
5. Rickie Fowler
Rickie Fowler's start to this season would make 12-year-old me immensely happy. Four of his five starts have resulted in top-25s, a stretch of play he hasn't had since 2023, when he almost won the U.S. Open.
I think a lot of golf fans remember Fowler's mastery of 17 when he won the 2015 Players, but since then, it's been very much a mixed bag for the Golf Boy. However, it really feels like 2023 again for Fowler, and he finished T13 at The Players that year, so we're rolling with the vibes this week.
4. Min Woo Lee
Look, I've never personally been the biggest Min Woo Lee fan on the planet, and kind of always felt he was a little overrated. However, these last few weeks have been pretty undeniable from Lee, and he really feels like one of the most in-form players on Tour right now.
You could argue he should be higher, but his weekend performance from last year, when he was primed to win, haunts me just a little bit. The irons have been much better this season than last, so if he can keep this trend up, then the Aussie might be the first Australian winner since Cameron Smith in 2022.
3. Jake Knapp
An illness forced Jake Knapp to withdraw from the Arnold Palmer, but I think everything I said in last week's rankings still applies. He's the hottest player on Tour without a win this year, and he played well here last season with a T12 finish. The only thing left to say is that hopefully the illness didn't throw Knapp's routine off too much, and he can pick up right where he left off.
2. Scottie Scheffler
Yes, we're a little worried about Scottie Scheffler officially now. He gave us the decent opening round we asked for this past week; unfortunately, the 70 ended up being his best round of the week.
The irons were just terrible, as last week was his first negative strokes gained on approach week since the 2024 BMW Championship. We've got a couple of squeaky wheels in Scottie's game right now, but his nearly F-minus game is still resulting in top-25 finishes, so I can't drop him far on the list.
1. Collin Morikawa
Collin Morikawa is fully back. He's once again looking like the world-beating talent that won two major championships by 24, and he feels like the right guy to top the rankings this week. Morikawa's putting, which has been a notorious pain in his side from time to time through his career, has been a strength this season.
If the putter is a consistent weapon, Morikawa is going to win a lot this year. His irons, his accuracy, and his putting should lead to him lifting the trophy come Sunday afternoon.