Sepp Straka
Sepp Straka is playing the best golf of his career and his performance last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational is a true testament to his career-best form. Given Straka had only made 1-of-5 cuts at Bay Hill, he wasn’t expected to make much noise at the tough track, but Straka proved the doubters wrong and finished T-5 at the Signature Event, despite opening the week with a 5-over 77. After that ugly first round, Straka went 66, 69 and 69 in his next three rounds, and his -12 score for the final three rounds was the best of the world-class field. Furthermore, Straka finished the Arnold Palmer Invitational 10th in SG APP and third in SGP.
Straka has now finished inside the top-15 in six of his eight starts this season and he leads the PGA TOUR in FedEx Cup points. Most notably, he won the American Express in January. Two of the four rounds for this tournament are played at the Pete Dye Stadium Course of La Quinta and Straka carded a season-low 8-under 64 in one of his rounds on this par 72, which is very noteworthy, because THE PLAYERS Championship host course TPC Sawgrass is also a Dye design.
Straka has made three straight cuts at TPC Sawgrass and he has flashed strong upside at the challenging venue, finishing T-9 in 2022 and T-16 last season. Now, Straka returns to TPC Sawgrass this week sitting at a career-high No. 13 in the world golf rankings, which is the highest he has ranked heading into a PLAYERS Championship by 17 spots. Like most courses designed by Dye, TPC Sawgrass is a less-than-driver venue where being in elite form with your irons is a must, and Straka fits that exact mold.
The Austrian has been brilliant with his irons this season, ranking ninth in SG APP. Plus, Straka ranks 29th in proximity to the hole on approach shots from 200+ yards, which bodes extremely well for TPC Sawgrass, as 24% of the approach shots at this venue over the last five years have come from at least 200 yards. Straka is a three-time winner on the PGA TOUR and his first win came at PGA National for the Honda Classic, which is a very similar venue to TPC Sawgrass, as PGA National is also a Florida track that requires pristine iron play.
Straka has all the tools to win at TPC Sawgrass and he is a terrific OAD pick for THE PLAYERS Championship that likely won’t be a popular choice in your pool.
Past One and Done Tournament Results
The Sony Open: Maverick McNealy (T45)
The American Express: Justin Thomas (second)
The Farmers Insurance Open: Ludvig Aberg (T42)
The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Collin Morikawa (T17)
WM Phoenix Open: Hideki Matsuyama (T25)
Genesis Invitational: Taylor Pendrith (T50)
Mexico Open at Vidanta: Patrick Rodgers: (T25)
Cognizant Classic: Shane Lowry (T11)
Arnold Palmer Invitational: Russell Henley (first)
