The Players Championship Betting Tips: 5 Selections From TPC Sawgrass
The Players Championship competes with the Cheltenham Festival this week when Scottie Scheffler is the 5/1 favourite of the runners and riders to win the unofficial fifth major for a third successive year.
Rory McIlroy also won at TPC Sawgrass in 2019 and is the 9/1 second favourite with the best betting sites, with Collin Morikawa, runner-up at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, next in line at 16/1.
Gambling.com has analysed the career performances of both McIlroy and Scheffler at Sawgrass which is well worth a read before play gets under way on Thursday.
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The Panel had a brilliant four days at Bay Hill where Russell Henley eagled the 16th in the final round which helped secure a 35/1 winner, although some of you may have taken the 40/1 that was available.
Corey Conners tied for second as a first-round leader at 45/1 and easily finished inside the top 20 (2/1) with third place, so it really has been a great start to the Florida Swing.
Hopefully, The Panel can keep their run going with The Players Championship betting tips for this week which once again avoid the market leaders.
The Players Championship Tips: Straka To Shine At Sawgrass
The great feature of TPC Sawgrass is that the fairly short par-72 Stadium Course does not favour one particular skill-set, so those who are not long off the tee still have a great chance of winning as Webb Simpson proved seven years ago.
Keeping it on the fairway and hitting the small greens will always be an advantage, as will a razor-sharp short game to rescue any wayward approach shots.
One player who stands out this week is Sepp Straka, whose price already seems to be shortening with every word typed in this article.
The Austrian looked dead and buried after an opening-round 77 at Bay Hill left him tied for 52nd, but he was sensational from Friday to Sunday, responding with a 66 to make the cut before a pair of 69s ensured a share of fifth spot.
Straka has already been inside the winner’s circle in the early stages of the season, securing The American Express for a third PGA Tour title and his form elsewhere has been exceptionally good.
Aside from his victory at PGA West, the world number 13 has had two other top 10s and been inside the top 30 in all eight tournaments apart from a missed cut at the relocated Genesis Invitational.
Straka has finished ninth and 16th in two of his last three visits to Sawgrass, and he stands just outside the top 10 in the Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green metrics in 2025, so he looks in great shape for this week.
The world number 13 was 60/1 when The Panel first started writing the column, but his price has been whittled down to 40/1, although the first of The Players Championship betting tips is to take the 35/1 and the seven places available with golf betting sites.
The Players Championship Prediction 1: Sepp Straka (Each-Way) - 35/1 With LiveScore Bet (Seven Places)
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The Players Championship Betting Tips:
- Sepp Straka (Each-Way) - 35/1 With LiveScore Bet (Seven Places)
- Hideki Matsuyama (Each-Way) - 25/1 With William Hill (Eight Places)
- Si Woo Kim (Each-Way) - 60/1 With Betfred (Eight Places)
- Aaron Rai (Each-Way) - 50/1 With Bet365 (Eight Places)
- Wyndham Clark First-Round Leader (Each-Way) - 66/1 With Bet365 (Five Places)
Prices correct at 11.15am on March 12
The Players Championship Odds: Horses For Courses Point To Matsuyama
At a slightly shorter price of 25/1, it’s worth keeping Hideki Matsuyama onside this week.
Like Straka, the 33-year-old Japanese is already a winner in 2025, capturing the season-opening Sentry for an 11th PGA Tour title.
The 2021 US Masters champion has posted top 10s in four of his previous seven appearances at Sawgrass, including fifth in 2023 and sixth 12 months ago, so it seems only a matter of time before he gets his hands on another big trophy.
Despite finishing T22 at Bay Hill last week, only Scheffler was better than Matsuyama from tee to green over the four days during which a cold putter meant he struggled to challenge the leaderboard.
Although Cameron Smith won here in 2022 with the best putting stats, being hot on the greens does not guarantee success as Scheffler (twice), Justin Thomas and McIlroy highlighted in recent years.
Matsuyama also showed last week he has a deft touch around the greens which will certainly help his cause, although encouragingly his approach stats are actually very good.
It all adds up to Matsuyama producing another excellent performance at this Pete Dye-designed track and with previous winners here generally being in form at the start of the season, the world number six seems to tick all the boxes.
The Players Championship Prediction 2: Hideki Matsuyama (Each-Way) - 25/1 With William Hill (Eight Places)
The Players Championship Preview: Ex-Champion Kim Looks A Solid Pick
Si Woo Kim became the youngest golfer to win The Players Championship at the age of 21 in 2017, two years before the tournament was moved permanently from May to March, but it doesn’t seem to matter too much which month the South Korean plays at Sawgrass judging by recent results.
Although he withdrew close to completing his second round in 2022 when he was probably going to miss the cut anyway, Kim has twice finished inside the top 10 over the last four years and he was 27th two years ago.
Despite his annual struggles on the greens, Kim scraped inside the positive numbers for putting at Bay Hill, and four successive top 25s since finishing 12th at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am suggest Kim is moving in the right direction.
Last year, Kim described The Players Championship as one of his “favourite tournaments” and “the greatest event hosted by the tour”, so it’s one dear to his heart and one he would love to win again.
Kim won the last of his four PGA Tour trophies just over two years ago, but he looks an interesting option at 60/1 with betting apps to join the likes of Scheffler and Tiger Woods in becoming a two-time winner at the Stadium Course.
The Players Championship Prediction 3: Si Woo Kim (Each-Way) - 60/1 With Betfred (Eight Places)
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The Players Championship Predictions: Rai Of Hope
McIlroy and Sandy Lyle are the only two British players to have won The Players Championship, but could Aaron Rai become the first Englishman to succeed at this iconic venue.
Rai has finished T19 and T35 in his two visits to Ponte Vedra Beach and his form in the USA has been a model of consistency as usual.
The 30-year-old from Wolverhampton was 11th at Bay Hill, having moved into the world’s top 25 with fourth place at the Mexico Open.
It was only seven months ago that Rai won his maiden PGA Tour title at the Wyndham Championship and he seems to be knocking on the door for another.
Rai was strong from tee to green last week and would have been challenging the leaders if his putter had been hotter.
A cold putter may not be the end of the world this week, so The Panel are happy to take the 50/1 and eight places offered by Bet365 as one of their fourth selection.
The Players Championship Prediction 4: Aaron Rai (Each-Way) - 50/1 With Bet365 (Eight Places)
Price correct at 11.15am on March 12
Players Championship Betting Tips: Clark Can Burst Out Of Blocks
Although most of this week’s selections dropped in price during the writing of this article and others were left out because the value had gone (Corey Conners was 66/1 on Monday morning), Wyndham Clark has actually lengthened for first-round leader from 60/1 to 66/1.
The Panel have had winning selections on the first-round market in the last two weeks, so did not want to miss out on a hat-trick bid.
Clark actually shared the lead at Sawgrass 12 months ago with an opening-round 65 and he has topped the leaderboard on a Thursday in two of his last three tournaments (Scottsdale and Bay Hill) and in between he was fourth at Torrey Pines!
It’s strange that his price has gone up instead of down over the last two days, but The Panel aren’t complaining and make him the last of their Players Championship predictions.
The Players Championship Prediction 5: Wyndham Clark First-Round Leader (Each-Way) - 66/1 With Bet365 (Five Places)
Price correct at 11.15am on March 12
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