The PGA Tour comes off a wild, ace-filled and 370-yard drive weekend at Bay Hill to TPC Sawgrass for 2021 The Players Championship betting. The $15,000,000 purse is the largest of the season, which is why everybody who is anybody has descended on Ponte Vedra Beach this weekend.
48 of the top 50 golfers in the world are in the field this weekend, with only the injured Brooks Koepka and Matthew Wolff missing out. Only one round of this event was held last season as that’s when sports started to shut down due to the pandemic. That makes Rory McIlroy (+1700) the defending champ after his 2019 win. Here are some of the best bets for this big weekend:
Dustin Johnson +1200
Dustin Johnson is the favorite this weekend, but with such a star-studded field his odds are still just +1200. Those odds were about half that at the Genesis Open (8th) and WGC Workday (54th) so there’s value to be had here. DJ had been pretty bad at THE PLAYERS with a 59th average finish, but he finished 5th here in 2019. Johnson likes the big money tourneys too.
Pick: Dustin Johnson to win +1200
Pick: 1st Round Top 10 +185
Xander Schauffele +2000
Xander Schauffele took the Arnold Palmer Invitational off last week, and that’s a good thing as he had some things to figure out after four rounds in the 70s at the WGC-Workday. A little break is fine, because Schauffele played in three straight tournaments, finishing 15th or better in each – including a couple 2nds.
Schauffele also finished 2nd at THE PLAYERS in 2018, but also missed the cut in 2019. He still ranks 6th in the field on the season for the top stat indicators at TPC Sawgrass and is 17th in GIR over the last month.
Pick: Top 5 Finish Xander Schauffele +375
Tony Finau +2800
It’s hard to bet on Tony Finau as the winner right now, but he lives in that top 15 range. Finau will be playing his first tournament in March this weekend, and he’s posted a 4, 2, 2, and 14 in his last four tourneys. Finau has been horrible at TPC Sawgrass with a 92nd place average finish and two missed cuts in four appearances. Young players get better though and Finau is 31 now so it’s time.
Pick: Top 10 Finish Tony Finau +240
Tommy Fleetwood +4000
Tommy Fleetwood made a run at Bay Hill last weekend before a 77 on a windy Sunday pushed him down to a 10th place finish. Fleetwood likes TPC Sawgrass though, finishing T5 last year thanks to another bad final round of 73. He’s still made all three cuts at THE PLAYERS, posting a couple top 10s and a 17th place average finish.
Pick: Fleetwood Top 10 +300
Pick: Top English Player +375 (has to beat Hatton, Fitzpatrick, and Casey among others)
Miss the Cut
Everybody is on the Jordan Spieth train right now, and he’s looked impressive at times but also really bad in others. On back to back shots at Bay Hill he aced a hole and then put a tee shot into the drink. Spieth could get off to a bad start paired with Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed, and he also has an average finish of 103rd at THE PLAYERS and has missed the cut in 4 of 6 entries.
Pick: Spieth to Miss Cut +120 (these odds should be way higher)
Other 2021 the Players Championship betting picks include Jason Kokrak for a top 20 finish for +250 as he’s got back to back top 10s. Billy Horschel at +270 to finish the top 20 is doable as well as he is from Florida, finished 2nd at the Workday, and had the weekend off after missing the cut at Bay Hill.
