The PGA Players Championship: Best Bets, Odds, and Predictions
The PGA Players Championship starts this Thursday, March 10th, and ends this Sunday, March 13th. The Players Championship is one of the first “big” tournaments of the year, so you can expect a bevy of stars to be competing for the coveted $20 million purse.
Last year's winner, Justin Thomas, is looking to become the first-ever repeat champion but will have to stave off a number of superstars if he wants his name in the history books.
Vegas loves Thomas’ chances at a repeat, grouping him along with John Rahm and Collin Morikawa as the favorites to win this year's tournament (at +1000). In order to take home the trophy (and the cash) these men will have to fend off a leaderboard of 50+ other golfers–so it’s a lot easier said than done.
So that’s why I’ll break down some of the best bets for this weekend's Players Championship, with the odds provided by BetMGM and DraftKings sportsbook. If you want to sign up for BetMGM Sportsbook, you can use the promo code ODDSSEEKER upon registration to get up to $1000 in risk-free bets! If BetMGM is not available in your area, you can click here to see which sportsbooks are available in your state.
Be sure to check back with Oddsseeker for up-to-date updates on this weekend’s odds!
Tournament Winner
Calling a tournament winner is always hard, but if you can do it, you can win some serious cash. With even the outright favorites coming in at over +1000, you can be in the market for a big win–all you have to do is pick the one (out of the 100) golfer(s) who you think is going to have the best four days. Easy, right?
Well if you need some help weeding your way through the field, let me offer you a hand.
Viktor Hovland (+1800)
Not many people have been playing better golf than Hovland has in the last few months. Hovland has played in five tournaments since January 16th, and has placed top-5 in all of them. He would’ve even won the Arnold Palmer Invitational last weekend if it wasn’t for a fourth round +2 that pushed him out of the running.
He is one of the best drivers and approach players on the planet, but always seem’s his shakiest around the greens. If he’s able to dial in his putts, he’ll definitely be amongst the top-5 finishers in this weekend’s tournament.
Hideki Matsuyama (+2800)
Masuyama has been one of the best players on tour so far this season, and I expect him to come out this weekend and have a huge performance. He is coming off of a great final round last weekend at Bay Hill (where he shot 2-under 70) and could definitely use some of that momentum in this weekend’s tournament.
In Matsuyama’s last five players' appearances, he’s missed the cut twice–but he’s also finished top-10 twice. So I definitely don’t mind taking this chance, especially when his odds are as high as +2800 (which is still within the top-10 players).
Adam Scott (+5000)
What Scott may be lacking in relevance as of late, he makes up for with experience. He’s got two top-5 performances on the season already, and has a storied past at the Players Championship–even winning it all the way back in 2004.
In addition to his win in ‘04, he has six top-20 finishes, with a run of T12-T6-T11-T12 from 2016-2019. Scott’s work on the greens has been phenomenal this season as well, so if he can lock down his drive and approach play, I think he can make a serious push for the championship.
Top 5 Finish
Rory McIlroy (+400)
It’s a bit chalk, but I’ll take chalk at +400 any day of the week. McIlroy remains one of the best golfers on the planet, and is always a threat for the top-5 whenever he steps foot on the links.
He had a tough final round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (posting a +4, which sent his score to +1 on the tournament) but I expect a rebound on one of golf’s biggest stages.
McIlroy missed the cut entirely last year, but we only have to go back to 2019 to see his Players Championship victory. I think we’ll get some of the older Rory this weekend, and he’ll prove why he is still one of the biggest names in the sport.
Viktor Hovland (+450)
If you couldn’t tell, I love Hovland this weekend. A lot of what I would put here, I already spelled out in the paragraph above so–do with that information as you may.
Daniel Berger (+800)
Berger is coming off a bit of an all-time collapse, after dropping a 54-hole lead at the Honda Classic and finishing in 4th at the end of the day. However, Berger has shown some strong resiliency in recent years, with many of his best results coming in bunches–so he could be slated for a big weekend here at TPC Sawgrass.
Top 10 Finish
Scottie Scheffler (+225)
Scheffler’s got five top-10 finishes on the year and is currently the FedEx Cup points leader (with over 300 points more than Matsuyama). He’s coming off his second victory of the season at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and I expect some of his momentum to carry over into the Players Championship.
In his last 10 outings (between 2021 and 2022) he’s finished top-10 six times, and has never finished a tournament worse than -3.
Will Zalatoris (+450)
Zalatoris has been one of my favorite golfers to watch so far this season, even after his abysmal final round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. His play onto and around the green has been great this year–ranking first in shots gained on green approaches and 3rd in shots gained overall from tee to green.
He’s finished top-10 twice so far this season, even mixing in a second-place finish at the Farmers Insurance Open back in January.
Joaquin Niemann (+450)
It was just last month at the Genisis Open, where Niemann’s ball looked like it had a magnet in it. He played some of the best golf you could ever hope for, and probably would’ve had much better odds if it wasn’t for a missed cut at the Honda Classic.
The fact remains, he’s got three top-10 finishes on the year and has been playing the best golf of his career–so I expect the trend to continue.
