Rain Set To Soak Golfers At THE PLAYERS Championship

The 2022 PLAYERS Championship is going to be a wet one. And not just the ball finding water across the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. Rain and thunderstorms are in the forecast Thursday through Saturday, and those that make the cut and play the weekend will also face greater than 20 MPH winds Saturday. As if the Pete Dye design at TPC Sawgrass didn’t present enough of a challenge, the top golfers will also be forced to play through rain and wet conditions on a course that has proven to present several diverse challenges to the world’s best players.

I’ve chipped-in coverage for THE PLAYERS Championship on a number of platforms and media outlets this week, including Forbes where I provided added insight on players, odds, sportsbook betting data and additional information you can bet on.

Also check out some of my regional state coverage for PlayUSA with leading golfers, odds, history at Sawgrass and stats of significance. Georgia and Texas golfers are well represented at the 2022 PLAYERS Championship with recent two-time winner Scottie Scheffler and fellow Dallas resident and Texas Longhorn Jordan Spieth fairly popular picks this week as well.

THE PLAYERS Championship Odds 2022

https://twitter.com/CircaSports/status/1501637458315804672

Golfers who finished top-15 in at least one of the last two PLAYERS Championship events in 2021 or 2019

• Abraham Anger
• Daniel Berger
• Paul Casey
• Corey Connors
• Joel Dahman
• Jason Day
• Matt Fitzpatrick
• Tommy Fleetwood
• Sergio Garcia
• Talor Gooch
• Brian Harman
• Dustin Johnson
• Si Woo Kim
• Jason Kokrak
• Shane Lowry
• Hideki Matsuyama
• Rory Mcilroy
• Jon Rahm
• Justin Rose
• Adam Scott
• Brandt Snedeker
• Justin Thomas
• Jhonatan Vegas
• Lee Westwood

Recall the 2020 PLAYERS Championship was canceled after Round 1 (COVID) with Hideki Matsuyama leading after shooting a sizzling 9-under par 63.

 

Course and Tournament Information

• Course: TPC Sawgrass. Stadium Course by Pete Dye
• Location: Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
• Date: Mar. 10-13
• Par: 72 / Yardage 7,256
• Fairways / Rough: Bermudagrass
• Greens: Bermudagrass
• TV / Online: Golf Channel, NBC (Sat and Sun), PGA Tour Live
• Twitter: @THEPLAYERSChamp

Now at @TheAthletic – the comprehensive @THEPLAYERSChamp preview. Every number to know as play gets started at TPC Sawgrass —https://t.co/6nctSSHiUq

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) March 9, 2022

Sportsbook Golf Betting Data

The most popular bets and golfers drawing the most money to win at both BetMGM and FanDuel Sportsbook are:

Koepka, Morikawa, Rahm, Cantlay, McIlroy and Hovland.

Last year, we nailed a tournament match-up winner on Justin Thomas, and also had a $22 win bet on Thomas at 22/1 odds to win THE PLAYERS Championship. We’ll included him again as a ‘Fairway Favorite’, although at lower odds. Thomas has averaged more birdies-or-better (5.26) per round at TPC Sawgrass since 2016 than any other golfer. He’s also ranked No. 2 in Tee-to-Green stats over that same period, and Ball Striking and precision iron play is key while avoiding hazards and minimizing mistakes.

We had some site trouble last week and were sidelined during the Arnold Palmer Invitational. No plays, so we enter THE PLAYERS Championship 6-1 on our tournament match-ups this year. That follows a winning 2021 which included a 17-5 start midway through the PGA Tour season.

THE PLAYERS Championship Picks

Fairway’s Favorites: Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Sungjae Im, Corey Connors
Fairway’s Longshots: Si Woo Kim, Abraham Ancer, Paul Casey, Alex Noren

Tournament Match-ups: Abraham Ancer (-126) over Max Homa and Russell Henley (-154) over Webb Simpson (FanDuel).

Round 1 Match-up: Tony Finau (+105) over Webb Simpson (Caesars), and same match-up also available 72 holes.

See my article in Forbes for more details, stats and analysis on match-ups, which can be bet at FanDuel Sportsbook. Homa and Henley may have a slightly better draw with rain and weather conditions.

Following THE PLAYERS Championship, the PGA Tour heads to Innisbrook Resort for the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, FL, where Sam Burns secured his first PGA Tour win and we cashed in at 100/1 odds.