2023 Players Championship: Who Will Be No. 1 Sunday Night?
The 2023 Players Championship is set to be an exciting event, with Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, and Jon Rahm in the mix as the favorites. All three have been at the top of the Official World Golf Ranking in recent months, and the winner of the tournament will be No. 1 on Sunday night.
The tournament will be held at TPC Sawgrass, a par 72 measuring 7,245 yards and featuring Bermudagrass greens.[0] Distance is not paramount at this course, and golfers must be accurate in attacking it. Additionally, the course features a three-inch rough and medium-size Bermudagrass greens that average 5,500 square feet.[1] The 17th hole features an iconic island green, and the 18th is one of the hardest holes on the PGA Tour.
Since June of 2020, when the PGA Tour resumed, Mike McClure's own model that he built for SportsLine has been incredibly successful.[2] Since the restart, the model has been extremely successful with its best bets, generating gains of over $8,400 from tournament to tournament.[3] The model for the 2023 Players Championship is predicting a surprise result: Scottie Scheffler, a five-time PGA Tour winner and Vegas favorite, falls short and only manages to finish in the top five![2] Unexpectedly, Collin Morikawa, a longshot with odds of 28-1, made a valiant effort for the championship.[4] He is a desirable prize for anyone hoping to make a LARGE amount of money![3]
The featured groups for the tournament will be broadcast on ESPN+ from 12-6 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday, with marquee groups including Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry, Max Homa, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau, Tom Kim, Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa, Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler, Kurt Kitayama, Will Zalatoris, and Xander Schauffele.
McIlroy and Scheffler are the favorites to win the tournament with odds of +850 and 12-1, respectively. Justin Thomas is also in the mix at +2700, while Rickie Fowler and Tony Finau have odds of +4500 and +1500, respectively. Meanwhile, Max Homa and Collin Morikawa have odds of +1900 and +2800, respectively.
0. “PGA DraftKings and FanDuel DFS Primer: The PLAYERS Championship (2023)” FantasyPros, 8 Mar. 2023, https://www.fantasypros.com/2023/03/pga-draftkings-and-fanduel-dfs-primer-the-players-championship-2023/
1. “DraftKings PGA: THE PLAYERS Championship Picks and Strategy” RotoWire, 7 Mar. 2023, https://www.rotowire.com/golf/article/draftkings-pga-the-players-championship-picks-and-strategy-70352
2. “2023 Players Championship odds, picks, field: Surprising PGA predictions from golf model that nailed 8 majors” CBS Sports, 9 Mar. 2023, https://www.cbssports.com/golf/news/2023-players-championship-odds-picks-field-surprising-pga-predictions-from-golf-model-that-nailed-8-majors/
3. “2023 Players Championship odds, picks: Proven golf model reveals projected leaderboard, surprising predictions” SportsLine, 9 Mar. 2023, https://www.sportsline.com/insiders/2023-players-championship-odds-picks-proven-golf-model-reveals-projected-leaderboard-surprising-predictions
4. “2023 Players Championship props, odds, picks, field: Golf expert reveals top sleepers, best bets, head-to-head …” SportsLine, 8 Mar. 2023, https://www.sportsline.com/insiders/2023-players-championship-props-odds-picks-field-golf-expert-reveals-top-sleepers-best-bets-head-to-head-matchups-one-and-done-pick
