The PLAYERS Championship

[Bamford]

Always a cracking tournament this, which in recent times has suited players of real quality, who haven't won on either main Tour for a period of time.  Rickie Fowler is the perfect example, as prior to his win here 12 months ago, he hadn't won since 2012 and many of you may recall media coverage of the fact that he and Poulter were the most overrated players prior to Rickie's win here!

 

Course experience is a key for me if you are searching for the ultimate winner - course debutants Martin/Kisner/Spieth/Lingmerth have all contended in-recent years but not won - so if you are looking for a debutant bet Cabrera-Bello, An, Grillo and Fitzpatrick all hold water.

 

I'm going for the following - Garcia 28s, Stenson 33s, Horschel 66s, Kirk 90s and Lingmerth 125s.

[IanH]

Players Championship Ratings:

Players Championship
TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida			Par 72	7215 yards
Code	Player	FORM	COURSE	SKILLS	TOTAL
1	Luke Donald	37	65	17	66.22
2	Charley Hoffman	65	53	0	65.56
3	Rickie Fowler	45	38	31	63.44
4	Zach Johnson	21	81	4	59.11
5	Sergio Garcia	10	75	19	57.67
6	Henrik Stenson	28	41	33	56.78
7	Matt Kuchar	33	59	7	55.11
8	Chris Kirk	45	40	10	52.56
9	Russell Knox	18	24	46	48.67
10	Adam Scott	17	55	15	48.22
11	Rory McIlroy	32	46	8	47.56
12	Bill Haas	22	46	16	46.44
13	Marc Leishman	24	46	13	46.00
14	Justin Rose	33	31	17	44.89
15	Phil Mickelson	31	33	17	44.89
16	Patrick Reed	47	13	19	44.00
17	Martin Kaymer	9	69	0	43.33
18	JB Holmes	39	37	0	42.22
19	Russell Henley	39	26	10	41.44
20	Charles Howell	42	12	18	40.00
21	Jason Day	44	28	0	40.00
22	Hideki Matsuyama	30	26	15	39.56
23	Billy Horschel	44	26	0	38.89
24	Jimmy Walker	19	49	0	37.78
25	Branden Grace	36	10	18	35.56
26	Brandt Snedeker	27	22	15	35.44
27	Kevin Na	16	41	6	35.22
28	Bubba Watson	6	36	20	34.44
29	Gary Woodland	34	15	9	32.11
30	Daniel Berger	56	0	0	31.11
31	Kevin Chappell	40	11	5	31.00
32	Dustin Johnson	34	19	0	29.44
33	David Lingmerth	22	18	13	29.33
34	Ryan Palmer	26	24	2	29.11
35	Brendan Steele	29	11	12	28.67
36	Jordan Speith	30	17	0	26.11
37	Kevin Kisner	8	20	19	26.00
38	Patton Kizzire	41	0	4	25.22
39	Emiliano Grillo	18	0	24	23.56
40	Ryan Moore	0	33	9	23.44
41	Jim Furyk	0	41	0	22.78
42	Louis Oosthuizen	12	17	9	21.00
43	Paul Casey	25	0	12	20.78
44	Danny Lee	27	0	10	20.56
45	Rafael Cabrera Bello	28	0	0	15.56
46	Byeong-Hun An	20	0	0	11.11
47	Danny Willett	20	0	0	11.11
48	Tony Finau	19	0	0	10.56
49	Justin Thomas	5	13	0	10.00
50	Brooks Koepka	10	0	5	8.22

 

[IanH]

Preview of the Players Championship

100/1 live outsider at Sawgrass

The Players Championship was first played in 1974 and over the history of the tournament no player has won in successive years. Rickie Fowler is in great shape to go back to back at TPC at Sawgrass which has been the host course since 1982. Luke Donald has never won a major championship but has the profile to win what is known as the fifth major due to the quality of the field. The Players Championship attracts the strongest field of any event on the calendar and brings together the best players.

Read the full preview: https://www.punterslounge.com/betting-tips/golf/the-players-championship-tips-100-1-live-outsider-at-sawgrass-2016051004

 

[owenclass]

It should be a good tournament this week

[clubgowi]

PGA Tour: Players Championship

This is often referred to as the "5th major" and a very prestigeous tournament. The course at Sawgrass was built specifically to host this event and it is a true test and set up so no two consecutive holes ever play in the same direction. we have had a few shock winners and the big three, Spieth, Day and McIlroy have only posted one top 5 finish between them in 13 starts. Driving is less important here than on most courses and it is hard to put a finger on the key stat, although you could make a strong case for it being greens in regulation.

Stenson was 3rd at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March and next time out , two weeks later was 2nd at the Shell Houston Open, he has since played the Masters and the Wells Fargo Championship, neither of which play to his strengths and which we can ignore. He missed the cut last week, but had done so 4 from 6 at Quail Hollow and he has never finished inside the top 50. It gave him more at "home" in Florida and to prepare for another local event ( see above), he lives about a two hour drive from Sawgrass. Stenson won this in 2009 , also has a 3rd and 6th , a top 10 and two top 20 finishes, all coming since the course was renovated a decade ago. He has called this a "special place" and a course at which he has always felt "comfortable".

When he won here in 2009 he was coming of a 3rd place in Houston, his last big finish at Sawgrass in 2013 (5th) saw him miss the cut at the Wells Fargo and finish 2nd in Houston, so all the omens are very good. Back in his home state , on a course which he likes and which holds special memories for him , that 40th year breakthrough win seems as likely to come here as anywhere and we cannot let him go unbacked.

Henrik Stenson to win outright 26.0-29.0 general quote

Henrik Stenson to finish top 10 3.50-4.0 general quote

 

[owenclass]

Jason Day looking good