Episode - Steve Bamford @Bamfordgolf, Paul Williams @GolfBetting and Barry O'Hanrahan @AGoodTalkGolf discuss their selections for this week's The. Players Championship betting preview from Betfair's golf tipster Tips · How Players championship golf betting tips Bet on Golf · Steve Rawlings Golf Previews · Golf Each-Way Tips. Golf betting from Oddschecker. Get the best golf odds pre-tournament and in-play, with expert tips and stats, plus claim bookie offers and free bets. With each-way terms of a third the odds, the first two, Clark appeals at outright, and also as outsider in the final twoball, while Viktor.
There are birdie chances littered throughout but most holes are well protected and can punish you severely if just a fraction out. It provides a fair but penalizing test, displaying an average winning score of The Dyes took a flat, uninteresting piece of land and turned it into a pristine, strategic masterpiece; making it one of the most exciting and memorable venues on the schedule.
There is movement on most fairways, which start off narrow but become a little more generous as the players make their way around the course. Water — a feature on most holes but only heavily in-play on twelve — is a constant threat, as is the plethora of bunkers. In addition, the rough was grown out to 3.
Mastering small and speedy poa trivialis overseeded greens — which are bermudagrass at the base - and their surrounds has been a key factor, with them ranking as some of the toughest to scramble around and putt on. Many of these undulating surfaces are long and narrow in shape, to make those landing spots appear smaller, and with several multi-tiered, there are some slippery downhill putts.
False fronts and run-offs are plentiful - leading to some tightly-mown chipping areas - as are hazardous pot bunkers. Whilst more of that water and thick rough means that virtually every approach shot comes with the possibility of disaster attached to it.
All three of these holes feature water prominently, starting with the yard par 5 16 th. Though reachable for most in the field, you have to get your ball in position off the tee to do so, with trees blocking out the left-hand side of the right-to-left doglegging fairway.
Water perilously hugs the right of the layup area in the fairway and the long, sloping green, which is protected by a bounty of bunkers and run-offs. Surrounded by unsympathetic fans on all sides, the hole has an amphitheatre-like atmosphere which has caused players to crumble to a watery end, especially if the wind blows and makes this exposed hole more unforgiving.
Finally, the yard par 4 18 th gives the players a nerve-jangling final hole to overcome. You must drive directly over water into a relatively narrow and right-to-left doglegging fairway. However, a bail-out to the right leaves you in no better a position, with a chip-out sideways from the trees again bringing water into play.
Two solid shots may be all that is required for victory; if only things were that simple on a closing hole that is sure to give us drama over the course of the week. Wind should be a feature but not an overly problematic one. With a regular breeze of around 10mph and gusts of 17mph on the cards. Scheffler was 4 th in approach when winning last year and led the field in greens-in-regulation; his three closest challengers ranked top 5 in approach.
Cameron Smith drove the ball poorly in but made up for it with a high-class approach display, ranking 5 th , with Paul Casey in 3 rd ranking 4 th. Thomas was 5 th in approach when winning in ; Rory was 3 rd in GIR and 6 th in approach in ; Webb Simpson ranked 6 th in GIR when winning in and Rickie Fowler was the fifth-best approach player in his victory.
Scottie Scheffler was superb around-the-greens last year, ranking 4 th and whilst Cameron Smith was also strong in this area in , he relied heavier on the putter, ranking 1 st ; Kevin Kisner in 4 th ranked 1 st ATG and 7 th in putting behind Smith. Finally, the par 5s are the key to scoring at TPC Sawgrass. Players championship golf betting tips Excluding the yard 9 th , the other three are short, with two at around the yard mark.
This strategic, tree-lined course is another characteristically Dye design with small poa trivialis overseeded greens; ranking closely to TPC Sawgrass in driving accuracy and greens-in-regulation percentages. This Valspar Championship host has similarly speedy and small greens, and features the same grasses in-play as here at Sawgrass.
Well bunkered with a decent amount of water in-play, its comparable ball-striking test — particularly in approach - makes it a great comp for this week. Though more generous off-the-tee, the course is penal if you start missing fairways with thick rough and strategic bunkering. The tree-lined Sedgefield Country Club has always been a happy hunting ground for strategically-minded players.
Colonial CC is a former host of this event. With its tightly tree-lined fairways and small, quick greens, this strategic challenge offers up a ball-striking test that is closely matched to the Stadium Course. Which has enabled the two events to develop strong form-ties. Away from the winners and there are twenty-one debutants heading to Sawgrass.
Scottie Scheffler is a strong favourite and it feels that whoever finishes a place or two in front of him this week may well have the event won. There are a couple up there who I was tempted by but none more so than the winner, Justin Thomas and he goes in as the headline selection this week.
JT began in much the same way he ended , as he has maintained his return to form. A ranking of 16 th in par 5 scoring should also see him make the most of those scoring opportunities here. He finished 24 th on debut in and followed with an excellent top 5 on return, finishing 3 rd in - his previous best result before winning in With zero missed cuts in the event and generally looking good on these greens, he always looks comfortable here.
A win in the Sony Open, along with 3 rd -place finishes in the Valspar and Travelers Championships only confirm his suitability to this challenge and he can finally stamp his return to form fully this week, with a second victory in Ponte Vedra. Homa was in electric form at the end of , recording a first win overseas in the Nedbank Challenge on the DP World Tour in his final official start of the year.
He had been solid enough at the start of , recording three top 20s in his first five starts but achieved his best finish of the year last week, finishing 8 th at Bay Hill. This portion of improvement can see him turn those close efforts in recent years to a real contending performance at Sawgrass this week. He missed the cut on his debut here in , though was far from disgraced, falling just two strokes short.
Considerable progress was made on his second attempt in , signing off with a 6-under 66 to finish 13 th and ranking 5 th in ball-striking. He again improved his finish last year, firing 8-under-par over the weekend to move from 41 st position to 6 th. He followed that with two missed cuts however and even his biggest fans might think twice about backing him at A massive threat if his head is in the right place again but having played so little competitive golf it is hard to see his whole game being sharp enough to successfully defend this week.
You have to go back to to find a winner who was making his debut but further still, the other 16 winners this century all had at least a top 17 finish at the event previously and 10 of those had a top 6 finish. This is a negative for two high profile young players both making their debut; Jon Rahm and Thomas Pieters. Of those same 10 winners, 8 of them had finished in the Top 38 at the Masters.
The worst any of those 10 winners had ranked on Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach to the Green s in the year of their win was 42nd. While you definitely have to be suited to TPC Sawgrass, every year we see former winners and high finishers miss the cut if they arrive in poor form. But I really think he has a great chance this week.
He played well at The Masters without ever really contending and he has come out and played well again since with a 5th in the team event. When Thomas is driving the ball well; Sawgrass is a great course for him. He is very accurate with his short irons and will be able to attack the appropriate portions of the small greens. Thomas currently lies at 13th in the all important strokes gained rankings: approach to the green and 16th in greens in regulation.
He sits 2nd in that but also 4th for the yard range. This basically tells us that not only is he hitting his short irons very close but he is also taking advantage with the putter. The formidable Long game of Justin Thomas will put the youngster very much in contention here.
Everything points to another big week from the Spaniard apart from the fact that he has never played here before. But Perks was a relative nobody in the game and Rahm is destined for the very top. It is easy to forget that he won around Torrey Pines on his first look in February and he contended for three days at The Masters on his debut.
Rahm ranks 9th in strokes gained: approaches, 22nd in GIR and 2nd in scrambling over the last 3 months. Given that he went off around Kevin Chappell finally got his win three weeks ago and I expect him to push on this year. He was runner-up here last year and really enjoys tough courses where his accurate tee-to-green game is a big advantage.
He has been playing very well lately and one of his Web. He already has a win this season in Houston, finished 11th at the Masters and has played a couple of times since. Ranks 14th in GIR , 9th in 3-putt avoidance outside 25 feet and loves putting on Bermuda greens so he should relish the task this week. There is a long history of repeat winners at Sawgrass and many with a longer gap between wins than Matt Kuchar would have if he were to win again this week.
Kuchar has looked back to his best again recently especially when he came 4th at the Masters last month. Kuchar sits in 11th for scrambling over the last 3 months and with a couple of events since his high finish at Augusta and a previous win at the course he looks to be a solid trends pick and a touch of value at Given what an all-round test of golf they face this week a good laying strategy would be to focus on those that are playing very poorly but are priced up on reputation or good record at Sawgrass.