This year’s PLAYERS Championship will take place Thursday, March 9 through Sunday, March 12 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Cam Smith is the defending champion at this event after putting on a short game clinic to separate from Anirban Lahiri, but he will not return to defend his title, as he has since left the PGA TOUR for LIV. Below we will provide a betting guide for the 2023 contest, which will include PLAYERS Championship odds as soon as they are posted by top sportsbooks.
PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS
THE PLAYERS odds have been posted by top sportsbooks. Jon Rahm was the opening favorite at +850 while Rory McIlroy checked in at +900. View live PLAYERS Championship odds below.
TPC SAWGRASS COURSE PREVIEW
TPC Sawgrass is one of the most iconic and picturesque tournament golf courses in the United States, and an annual stop on the PGA TOUR to host THE PLAYERS Championship, which is known to be the best non-Major field in golf each year. A trademark Pete Dye design, TPC Sawgrass rewards precision off-the-tee and creativity around the greens to navigate its many quirky hazards. Inclement weather led to uncharacteristically early exits from many elite players last year, but conditions aside, Sawgrass is always full of surprises and rarely produces the outcome we expect going in.
In terms of Course History, Bryson DeChambeau, Hideki Matsuyama, Corey Conners, Justin Thomas, and Si Woo Kim highlight the list of players who have repeatedly played well here, a strong trend for elite ball strikers with strong history on short, positional golf courses.
Each of the last three winners of this event have opened at odds shorter than 30-1, however this has historically proven to be a risky event to back the favorites in. THE PLAYERS has also produced three winners at 90-1 or longer odds, which is unusual for an event with fields this strong. It’s always important to monitor the weather the week of THE PLAYERS, but bettors will be best suited to build a longer betting card with exposure to the mid-range of the odds board when betting this event.
How It Breaks Down
Looking at the hole-by-hole breakdown, there are five par 4s funneled to the 450-500 range, which is fairly standard on a challenging TOUR courses. In contrast to the Arnold Palmer Invitational which hosts the longest par-3 average on TOUR, the par 3s this week average some of the shortest lengths on TOUR.
There is a fairly balanced distribution of approach shots from 100-250 yards compared to the PGA TOUR baseline, so it’s a week I’m forgoing any specific Proximity ranges in my model in favor of blanket SG: APP. In general, the ability to gain strokes on approach and around the green is more difficult than average here. Players who excel in both categories should set up well for success.
With water hazards on 17 holes, players must keep the ball in play and avoid double-or-worse. This event has been top five in most penalty strokes taken in each of the last five years. This has made stats like Good Drives Gained and Bogey Avoidance strong indicators of success at THE PLAYERS, identifying the disciplined players who can enact a strategic game plan and position themselves away from Sawgrass’ many hazards.
The greens have seen a significant shift since the tournament moved from May to March in 2017. Due to the earlier, colder season, the Bermuda grass has needed to be over-seeded with Poa and Bentgrass, a similar mix to what we see at the Valspar, AmEx and WMPO. That contrasts with the rest of the Florida Swing, so we should monitor how typical Bermuda specialists have fared on these new greens since 2017.
TPC SAWGRASS COURSE SPECS
- Yards: 7,256
- Par: 72 (4x 3’s / 10x 4’s / 4x 5’s)
- Greens: Bermuda, over seeded with Poa and Bentgrass (Fast)
- Average Green Size: 5,500 sq. ft. (Average)
- Average Fairway Width: 30 Yards (Below-average)
- Rough: 2.5″ Bermuda over-seeded with Rye (Above-average length)
- Architect: Pete Dye
- Historic Cut Line: +1
- Comp Courses: Stadium Course, Harbour Town, TPC River Highlands, TPC Scottsdale, Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead), Sedgefield CC, Waialae CC, East Lake, Colonial CC
- Hole-by-hole Breakdown:
THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS: BETTING TRENDS & COURSE HISTORY
Each of the last three winners of this event have opened at odds shorter than 30-1, however this has historically proven to be a risky event to back the favorites in. THE PLAYERS has also produced three winners at 90-1 or longer odds, which is unusual for an event with fields this strong. It’s always important to monitor the weather the week of THE PLAYERS, but bettors will be best suited to build a longer betting card with exposure to the mid-range of the odds board when betting this event.
Here are consensus pre-tournament outright odds for the last 10 winners of THE PLAYERS Championship.
| Year | Winner | Pre-Tournament Odds | Winning Score | Field Median Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Cam Smith | +3000 | -13 | -3 |
| 2021 | Justin Thomas | +2000 | -14 | -3 |
| 2020 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2019 | Rory McIlroy | +1400 | -16 | -5 |
| 2018 | Webb Simpson | +10000 | -18 | -7 |
| 2017 | Si Woo Kim | +50000 | -10 | +3 |
| 2016 | Jason Day | +1200 | -15 | -2 |
| 2015 | Rickie Fowler | +6600 | -12 | -4 |
| 2014 | Martin Kaymer | +9000 | -13 | -3 |
| 2013 | Tiger Woods | +900 | -13 | -2 |
How to bet on The PLAYERS Championship
Here is a look at how to bet on The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass. The most straight-forward way to wager on The PLAYERS is to bet on the straight-up winner. Favorites in a golf tournament like this will typically have odds to win around +650 to +1200. Longshots will often have odds around +40000 or greater.
Some other ways to bet on golf include Top 20 finish, Top 40 finish and Round Finishing Position. There are also Round Props to bet on. An example for a recent tournament is “Player to make an Eagle in Round 1.” Top golfers like Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler had odds of +550 to make an Eagle.
You can also bet on Players to Make or Miss the Cut at The PLAYERS Championship. For instance, a top golfer like Hideki Matsuyama had -250 odds to Make the Cut at a recent tournament and had +175 odds to Miss the Cut.