The PGA Tour moves to the TPC Sawgrass this week for The Players Championship and Jon Rahm heads up a quality field.

Sawgrass is a par 72 layout and is one of those layouts that some players can just never get the hang of. At the same time it offers something to a wide range of players and is usually an open betting heat.

It has a variety of challenges and winners have varied as far as length off the tee goes. Good iron play is often a pre-requisite for success and players also need to watch out for the wind which can be a factor and there are plenty of hazards to grab any wayward shots. The ability to scramble around the fairly small greens is perhaps the most important success factor of all.

John Rahm tops the betting boards at 12/1 ahead of last year’s winner Justin Thomas priced at 14/1. Colin Morikawa is 18/1 and you can get 22/1 and better the balance. You have to scan quite far down the betting for the top South African with Louis Oosthuizen priced at 60/1.

PAST WINNERS

2021 – Justin Thomas -14

2020 – Cancelled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

2019 – Rory Mcilroy -16

2018 – Webb Simpson -18

2017 – Kim Si-woo -10

2016 – Jason Day -15

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BETTING – Click here to bet

Jon Rahm 12/1

Justin Thomas 14/1

Collin Morikawa 18/1

Rory Mcilroy 22/1

Viktor Hovland 22/1

Patrick Cantlay 22/1

Scottie Scheffler 28/1

30/1 and better the balance, prices correct at the time of posting but are subject to change.

SELECTIONS:

Collin Morikawa each way at 18/1

Morikawa made his debut here in 2021 and although his 41^st place doesn’t jump off the page he finished strongly with a 66 suggesting he was coming to terms with the course. Looking at my notes from last year he was coming off a break and a victory and this year he has had a couple of weeks off since a runner up finish. One of the best iron players around I am expecting him to go close this week.

Matthew Fitzpatrick each way at 40/1

Fitzpatrick let us down last week when we were on him at 28/1, but despite some solid play over the last 3 rounds he just started too slowly. Overall though he does have excellent form with 3 successive Top 10’s and he is also coming off a Top 10 here in 2021, his first strong showing at a course which appeared to have his number up until that point.

Fitzpatrick is knocking hard on the door and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get a victory this week.

Will Zalatoris each way at 50/1

Zalatoris had a solid debut here last year finishing just outside the Top 20. He has been playing some consistent golf and although his last 2 performances have seen him dip slightly with a Top 30 and a Top 40 finish, prior to that he had a runner-up and a 6^th place finish to his credit so it won’t take much to get his game turned around and see him at the top of leaderboards.

Brian Harman each way at 125/1

Harmon hasn’t been in the best of form of late or should I rather say he hasn’t been very consistent. He had a couple of missed cuts in his last 5 starts, but also had a Top 15 and a Top 5 finish. That suggests he is well capable of turning it on this week and what really attracts me to Harman is his form at Sawgrass where he has had 3 Top 10’s in his last 7 starts including a Top 3 finish last year. He is a man who clearly takes to the Sawgrass layout and at triple figure price is my rank outsider for the week.                                      

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