Damien Kayat previews the 2022 Players Championship taking at TPC Sawgrass' Stadium Course.
2022 US PGA Tour
The Players Championship
The Stadium Course, TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Verde Beach, Florida
10th-13th March
Golf’s fifth “Major”
Scottie Scheffler is currently the hottest player on tour at present, leapfrogging the likes of Matsuyama and Hovland in the FedEx Cup rankings with victory at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Hovland climbed to number three in the world rankings with another brilliant runner-up finish at Bay Hill. The next stop in the Florida swing is yet another iconic landmark in American golf: TPC Sawgrass.
Colloquially referred to as golf’s 5th Major, this event is arguably the most competitive field in world golf. This week’s line-up includes 47 of the world’s top 50 players. Only Harris English, DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson will be absent among the golfing elite this year.
Mickelson has effectively been cancelled after some pretty boneheaded comments regarding Saudi Arabia.
Anyone’s to win
Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, the Players began life in pretty auspicious fashion, with the ‘Golden Bear’ Jack Nicklaus winning the first of his three titles in 1974.
He is still the only man to have won this event on three occasions. This is a mercurial event that has resulted in a vast array of different winners. Only six players in the event’s history have won it on multiple occasions (this will be the 49th staging of this iconic event).
The last two winners- Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy- hit the ball a considerable distance. But then you have champions of the Webb Simpson-Tim Clark ilk: surgical operators who can’t overpower a course. This is one of the most difficult events to predict, which bears testament to just how well balanced this course is.
Constructed in 1980, this Pete-Dye design was purpose-built to host this very event (it took over hosting duties in 1982). This classic Bermuda-grass layout has dog-legged holes that go both ways.
This obviously suits the players with flexibility in their iron play (it’s little wonder that Tiger Woods is a two-time champion here). It’s also critical to find these smaller-than-average TifEagle Bermuda greens.
The ten winners between 2005 and 2014 averaged 7.5 in GIR. If you don’t consistently find these greens you will need to scramble like an absolute demon. All this basically reveals is just how difficult it is to gauge success around the Stadium Course.
And it could all come unravelled on the last trio of holes, with water lurking menacingly around every corner. This is best exemplified by the iconic, island-green 17th.
Throw out the formbook
As I have indicated, form isn’t always the greatest barometer of success around TPC Sawgrass (just look at Si Woo Kim’s victory in 2017). But there are some players in scintillating form at present.
Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland seem to be in the mix every single week. Jon Rahm is fresh off a pretty poor showing at Bay Hill and he may need to be at his very best to hold onto that World Number One Ranking (Morikawa’s iron play make him a potential menace around Sawgrass).
Defending champion Justin Thomas will incredibly look to become the first-ever back-to-back Players Champion. Rory McIlroy led after the first round at Bay Hill before completely capitulating over the weekend.
But the 2019 champion knows that won’t count for anything if he can secure his 2nd victory at TPC Sawgrass. This is a veritable whodunnit that is almost impossible to call.
Past Winners
2021: Justin Thomas (-14)
2020: no event (cancelled due to Covid)
2019: Rory McIlroy (-16)
2018: Webb Simpson (-18)
2017: Si Woo Kim (-10)
2016: Jason Day (-15)
To Win Outright:
Jon Rahm 12/1 | Justin Thomas 14/1 | Collin Morikawa 14/1 | Rory McIlroy 18/1 | Viktor Hovland 20/1
Value Bets
Sungjae Im- To Win 45/1
Sungjae Im- at his best- is one of the most accurate iron players on tour. Since winning the Shriner’s Children’s Open in October he has picked up a further three top 10’s. His approach numbers weren’t great last week. But he still managed to scramble his way to a top 20 at Bay Hill. He will be looking to continue a strong tradition of success for South Koreans at Sawgrass. Both KJ Choi and Si Woo Kim have tasted success at this iconic course. Also, look for corollary form at Pete Dye courses. Im has great momentum at Sedgefield, with form figures that read 24-9-6. He also has success in Florida, winning the 2020 Honda Classic.
Billy Horschel- To Win 50/1
Billy Horschel came within a whisker of victory at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. He led the event after 54 holes and ended up finishing a stroke behind Scheffler. Last week he was 5th in strokes gained: approaching the green. This is always a great indicator of success around Sawgrass. His recent string of results have been extremely impressive, reading T2-T6-T11-T16. He looks brilliant value at 50/1 in this form.
The Man to Beat- Collin Morikawa- To Win 14/1
It’s kind of weird to say this, but I still get the impression that Morikawa is generally underrated. That despite winning two Majors and winning last year’s DP World Tour finale. I think that’s probably down to the extraordinary success that the likes of Woods and McIlroy had in the early parts of their career. But Morikawa should suit this course perfectly. He currently ranks 15th in driving accuracy and 6th in strokes gained on approach. He has finished inside the top five in all three of his US-based starts this year. He is without a doubt the best iron player in the world and I expect him to be in the mix this week.
