THE PLAYERS Championship is one of the most iconic events on the PGA TOUR. This is a look at the best first round leader bet to make for the event at DraftKings Sportsbook.
THE PLAYERS Championship
THE PLAYERS Championship is played at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. TPC Sawgrass is a Pete Dye-designed par 72 golf course and ranges 7,352 yards. This is the PGA TOUR’s signature event and features a full field of 144 players. There is a standard 36-hole cut with the top-65 and ties making the weekend. The greens are Bermudagrass and the course requires precision on nearly every shot. Scottie Scheffler has won back-to-back PLAYERS Championships and is looking to be the first player ever to three-peat the event. The field for the PLAYERS features 48 of the world’s top 50 golfers and while almost anyone can win on Tour in a given week, a top player almost always wins this event. The past five PLAYERS champions have all been top-10 players in the world in the week leading up to the event.
Here is a look at my picks to lead after the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship:
Hideki Matsuyama FRL (+4500)
Hideki Matsuyama has been one of the most consistent players on the PGA TOUR over the past decade. Every season, Matsuyama churns out positive results and often on the biggest stages. Of course, winning the 2021 Masters is the biggest achievement of Matsuyama’s career, but he always performed well against the Tour’s best fields. Matsuyama won two events on Tour last season, including the Genesis Invitational against a top-tier field. This season, Matsuyama already picked up a victory at The Sentry and finished in the top 25 at the Sony Open, the Waste Management and most recently at the Genesis and at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Matsuyama’s game is in great form at the moment. He ranks sixth on the PGA TOUR in strokes gained so far this season. It can be hard to avoid bunkers and tricky rough at Sawgrass but the best players can get out of those tough situations and still score well. Matsuyama is second on Tour in scrambling this season so he can do just that. That is a carryover from last season where Matsuyama also ranked second in scrambling and fourth in total strokes gained. Matsuyama is almost always great at this event, finishing inside the top 10 in three of his past four starts at THE PLAYERS, including a T-6 finish last season. Matsuyama should be able to put up a great first round score here and set the bar early.
Sepp Straka FRL (+6000)
Sepp Straka has been one of the most underrated players on the PGA TOUR over the last few years. Straka is now up to 13th in the OWGR and has been a consistent performer at big tournaments for multiple seasons. The big Austrian is off to a great start to 2025 as well, with six top-25 finishes in his first eight starts. Straka won at The American Express, finished T-7 at Pebble Beach and T-5 at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. All of those results have Sepp Straka atop the FedEx Cup standings for the 2025 season. That means you can get this season’s top performing golfer at 60/1 to lead after the first round of THE PLAYERS.
Straka has been really solid at THE PLAYERS in recent seasons. He has finished in the top 16 of two of the past three trips to TPC Sawgrass. Straka has a lot of the traits necessary to perform at this tough course. He keeps his drives in play and not only hits greens, but hits flagsticks to avoid some of the wild putts that exist at Sawgrass. So far this season, Straka ranks 11th in driving accuracy, second in greens in regulation and fourth in proximity. That is why he also ranks fifth on Tour in scoring average and third in birdie average. Straka has competed in Ryder Cups and at majors against the best fields in golf and should have no fear coming out at Sawgrass, especially with his excellent form.
