Can anyone stop Scottie Scheffler?
The world No. 1 is eyeing a three-peat this week at TPC Sawgrass, but several other players are in top form heading into The Players Championship, including last week’s winner at Bay Hill, Russell Henley, and the man he beat, Collin Morikawa.
Here are the top 20 players for this week in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, plus five sleepers (with odds of +15000 or more):
1. Collin Morikawa: Coming off a runner-up finish at Bay Hill. No top-10s yet at TPC Sawgrass, though he was T-13 two years ago. One of most accurate drivers on Tour.
2. Scottie Scheffler: Back-to-back defending Players champion hasn’t finished outside the top 25 this year after returning from that hand injury. The only concern is he’s coming off a poor putting performance at Bay Hill after rolling it solidly on the West Coast.
3. Sepp Straka: His T-5 at API was his sixth top-15 finish already this season. He has two top-16s in three Players starts, which isn’t a surprise considering how straight he hits it.
4. Russell Henley: The API champ is built for TPC Sawgrass, though he’s missed three of his last five cuts here. The positive is that his other two showings are top-20s. Playing some of the best golf of his career should continue this week.
5. Ludvig Åberg: Eighth in his Players debut last year. Has the skillset and credentials already to add this championship to his trophy case soon.
6. Daniel Berger: Three straight top-25s since his T-2 at WMPO, and now he heads to TPC Sawgrass, where he went T-9 and T-13 in consecutive starts before not qualifying in each of the last two years.
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7. Hideki Matsuyama: One of the best at The Players in recent years with three top-8s in his past five trips. His approach play has slipped a little since winning at Kapalua, but he’s still posted three straight top-25s entering this week. His short game continues to be a bright spot.
8. Tommy Fleetwood: He’s been T-22 or better in each of his three starts this year as his iron play has been stellar (fourth on Tour in strokes gained: approach). T-5 here in 2019 and riding a solid run of three straight top-35s.
9. Aaron Rai: Trending with T-4 in Mexico and T-11 at API. Has two top-35s to start his Players career, too, so he’s warming up to this place, which fits his precision game well.
10. Justin Thomas: His 2021 Players win has been followed by no top-30s and a missed cut last year. Some of that has coincided with broader slumps, so now that he has three top-10s in five starts entering this week, expect a bounce-back.
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NEXT 10
11. Si Woo Kim
12. Patrick Cantlay
13. Jason Day
14. Will Zalatoris
15. Rory McIlroy
16. Corey Conners
17. Sungjae Im
18. Xander Schauffele
19. Denny McCarthy
20. Shane Lowry
SLEEPERS
Jake Knapp
Joel Dahmen
Brice Garnett
Rico Hoey
Ben Kohles
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