Up next for the Florida swing is THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass (par 72, 7,352 yards, Bermuda/POA greens) in Ponte Vedra Beach. This famous course has hosted every PLAYERS Championship since 1982 and Scottie Scheffler is the two-time defending champion of this tournament. The PLAYERS Championship is viewed as the fifth major of the season by many golf fans with this event featuring a world-class field and the largest purse of the season at a whopping $25 million. This is a field of 144 golfers and there will be a standard top-65 and ties cut following the first two rounds.
TPC Sawgrass was designed by Pete Dye and is challenging venue that features narrow fairways, thick rough, tiny greens, 92 bunkers and water in play on all but one hole. The putting surfaces at this venue are the smallest of any PGA TOUR course so far this season and TPC Sawgrass has seen the second-most water balls of all PGA TOUR tracks since 2003. Like most Dye designs, TPC Sawgrass is a less-than-driver course where being long isn’t necessary and being accurate is crucial. As expected, elite play with irons is a necessity at this track, with each of the last five winners at TPC Sawgrass ranking top-six in SG APP. Plus, given these greens are very small, being an efficient short game player at this par 72 is important. For back-to-back years, The PLAYERS Championship winner has finished the event top-six in SG ARG. Just like with Bay Hill last week, capitalizing on the four par fives of TPC Sawgrass is a must at this difficult venue, as they are by far the best scoring opportunities this course presents. Of the last five winners at TPC Sawgrass, three finished the tournament top-seven in par five efficiency.
Below, I have featured four of my favorite DraftKings bargain plays for The PLAYERS Championship, all of which are priced under $7.5K.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here:
PGA TOUR $500K Drive the Green [$100K to 1st]
Nick Taylor ($7,300): Taylor is in the midst of an excellent season. The Canadian has yet to miss a cut in seven starts and he has produced four top-25 finishes, including a win at the Sony Open in January. Taylor has moved by 43 spots in the world golf rankings this season and the key to his success has been his incredible ball striking. Taylor ranks fourth in SG APP this season, which is tremendous news with TPC Sawgrass up next.
Taylor has made five of seven cuts at this par 72, including two top-30 finishes. He is a no-brainer at this low salary.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($7,100): As an elite short game player, Bezuidenhout is a great match for TPC Sawgrass. The South African ranks third in SGP and 23rd in SG ARG this season, and he has never missed a cut in three starts at TPC Sawgrass. In fact, Bezuidenhout has finished T13th at the difficult track the last two years and his 22.3 career average finish at TPC Sawgrass is impressively the best among the players in this week’s field who have teed it up at the track more than once. Bezuidenhout has shot under in nine of his 12 rounds at TPC Sawgrass, which is an outstanding feat at this challenging venue.
Bezuidenhout’s current form is also strong. The veteran has only missed one cut in seven starts this season and is fresh off a T19 finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week. At only $7,100, Bezuidenhout is one of the best values on the board this week.
J.J. Spaun ($6,700): While Spaun’s T64 at last year’s PLAYERS Championship was his first made cut in four attempts at TPC Sawgrass, the veteran returns to the Florida venue playing the best golf of his career and is far too cheap for that career-best form. Spaun’s awesome season continued with a T31 finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week in which he finished third among the stacked field at the Signature Event in SG APP.
Spaun is now seven for seven in made cuts this season and all these finishes have come inside the top-35. Furthermore, he ranks ninth on the PGA TOUR in SG APP and has gained strokes on approach at a whopping 23 straight events. Spaun should have a career-best showing at TPC Sawgrass this week and he is a stellar target at this cheap price tag, which is the first time in 21 starts that Spaun has priced under $7K on DraftKings.
Alex Smalley ($5,400): DraftKings has lowered their bare minimum salary to $5K for The PLAYERS Championship and Smalley is one of the best targets in the $5K range. The veteran has been terrific this season, making five of six cuts with all five of these finishes being results of T21 or better. This season, Smalley has shot under par in 18 of his 22 rounds and he ranks top-11 in SGT2G, SG OTT and SG ARG. Overall, Smalley ranks fourth on the PGA TOUR in total strokes gained this season, but he is only the 102nd-most expensive golfer on DraftKings this week.
The one knock against Smalley is that he has only competed at TPC Sawgrass twice, but he did make the cut in his first attempt at the par 72 with a T65 two years ago, which is a decent debut at this tricky venue. Returning to TPC Sawgrass in sensational form this week, Smalley should have best PLAYERS finish to date and he is a steal at this low $5,400 salary.
