THE PLAYERS Championship odds : 10 verified facts to decide on the best bet

THE PLAYERS Championship is the first mega event of the 2024 season in world golf. It is true that the field will not be as strong as in previous years, mainly due to the absence of several LIV players, but there is no doubt that it will still be a highest-level field.

Predicting golf is as difficult as the game itself (“a game whose object is to get a very small ball into an even smaller hole,” as Sir Winston Churchill put it). Gary Player said that after 50 years of playing golf, he had no idea how to do it, so we might as well give up the pretense of predicting who might win THE PLAYERS Championship.

But the possibility of peering into the future is too exciting, so we’ve reviewed the most telling trends from the TPC Sawgrass event to try to get a glimpse of what might happen starting this Thursday, March 14.

We did this with the help of renowned PGA Tour data analyst Ron Klose, who shared the 10 most revealing trends of past THE PLAYERS Championship winners in his X-Profile:

1. 38 of the last 39 winners played in at least one previous PLAYERS event
2. 25 of the last 25 winners made the cut in the previous start before their win
3. 15 of the last 16 winners finished 23rd or better in a previous PLAYERS event
4. 18 of the last 20 winners ranked in the top 45 of the OWGR
5. 17 of the last 19 winners ranked in the top 35 on the PGA Tour in SG: Approach in the year leading up to their win
6. 11 of the last 12 winners finished 22nd or better in the previous start before their
   win
7. 15 of the last 17 winners had an AM tee time on Thursday
8. 11 of the last 13 winners had a top 5 finish in the calendar year before their win
9. 10 of the last 12 winners ranked in the top 45 on the PGA Tour in SG: Around the Green in the year leading up to their win
10. 10 of the last 13 winners played in at least five previous PLAYERS events

THE PLAYERS Championship : From Data to Name

So where does the above data lead us? Which players are best reflected in it? Let’s see:

Players who fit all 10 trends (2)

• Rory McIlroy
• Russell Henley

Players who fit nine trends (3)

• Justin Thomas
• Jordan Spieth
• Hideki Matsuyama

Players who fit eight of the trends (8)

• Scottie Scheffler
• Chris Kirk
• Keegan Bradley
• Patrick Cantlay
• Nick Taylor
• Sungjae Im
• Tommy Fleetwood
• Xander Schauffele

There is no doubt that among these 13 names are the main favorites of the majority. However, it is important to note that Scottie Scheffler has a huge historical argument against him: in the 49 previous editions of THE PLAYERS Championship, the defending champion has never been able to successfully defend his title. Will Scheffler be able to break this jinx…?