This week, the PGA TOUR has reached one of the pinnacle events of the whole season. Whether you buy into THE PLAYERS Championship as the “fifth major” or not, there’s no arguing that it’s one of the most exciting events of the year with an elite field on one of the most recognizable and well-known courses in the world. The event is held at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
The history of the event
THE PLAYERS Championship started in 1974 and was known as the Tournament Players Championship. It moved around for several years until 1976 when it arrived at Ponte Vedra Beach, and in 1982, it was held for the first time at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
The 43 winners of the event since it’s arrival truly reads like a “who’s who” of golfing greats. Tiger Woods won it twice, and Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Adam Scott have all won this event as well. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has won each of the last two years, becoming the first back-to-back winner in the history of the event.
He’ll be back in search of his own “three-peat” this season, but his putter hasn’t been quite as sharp this season. He’s still the favorite by a wide margin but doesn’t seem like a total lock this week.
Despite its acclaim and prestige, this event is not a Signature Event, meaning we get a full-field experience. The 144-player field features 48 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, according to the official event website. The cutline will be the traditional “top-65 and ties” after Round 2, so it plays very similar to a normal PGA TOUR event from a DFS perspective.
The purse for this event is huge, though. The $25 million purse awards a $4.5 million first-place prize and over a million to each of the top five. The winner also gets 750 FedExCup points, a five-year exemption to a full-time PGA TOUR card, and three-year invites to all four of the major championships.
A closer look at the course
TPC Sawgrass is probably one of the top three most well-known courses in the world. Famous for its island green on hole No. 17, the course is a tough test that always provides plenty of drama down the stretch. The prototypical Pete Dye design is full of hazards from start to finish and is one of the truest tests of golf in the regular PGA TOUR rotation.
It’s a par-72 that features iconic, recognizable holes throughout and culminates in the famous No. 17 and then another challenging finishing hole at No. 18 that has seen all kind of results over the years as players try to close out the win.
The course has been tweaked over the years and remains extremely difficult. It features narrow fairways with deep rough along with marshes and waste bunkers down the sides of the targets. With mounds, hollows, and pot bunkers strategically placed, water hazards on almost every hole, and plenty of tall trees obstructing shots, it’s tricky to even get to the green. Once on the Bermuda greens, players face another tough task since the green are usually firm and very fast.
Here’s a look at the course:
It’s truly a beautiful and iconic track that usually results in an outstanding finish. It’s the gold standard that all other courses try to be like, so sit back and enjoy what should be a great week on the PGA TOUR.
The course is designed to present risk and reward on almost every shot which leads to very volatile results. Players can post huge numbers if multiple risks don’t pay off, but there are usually players who can piece together low rounds as well. As Dye said, “The mark of a good golf course is when one player can be going for 63 while six others are struggling for 78.”
Dye’s design was built to test multiple areas of each player’s golf game, so one skillset isn’t enough to overcome this week’s challenge. Overall, Shots Gained: Approach is usually the strongest stat to chase for difficult courses like this since that allows players to avoid trouble and get birdie chances. Good Drive percentage, Bogey Avoidance, Scrambling and Strokes Gained: Around the Green are also strong stats to target this week. Course history is also important, but even top players often have volatile results since the margin for error on this track is so slim.
Backing players who are solid, steady producers who typically do well on tough layouts like the majors and Signature events is a good strategy this week. The event has had some longshots and one-and-done winners, but usually, it’s the best players in the game who are in contention on Sunday.
