One of The PGA TOUR season’s biggest events, THE PLAYERS Championship, kicks off on Thursday with a loaded field and a whopping $15 million purse. Just about all of the biggest names in golf will be competing in this one, with Dustin Johnson leading the way as the favorite at +1200. Last week’s winner Bryson Dechambeau is one of three golfers at +1600, with Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm tied for the second-shortest odds, as well.
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Event Info
- 154 Players
- $15 million prize
- Course: TPC Sawgrass - THE PLAYERS Stadium Course - Sea Island, Georgia (Par 70)
- Defending Champion: Rory McIlroy
Outright Winner
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Johnson is both the odds on favorite and the public betting favorite this week, as he’s getting the most traction both in terms of bets and handle. It’s a bit surprising considering his recent form, as DJ has appeared in just three events in 2021 with 54th, eighth and 11th place finishes. Johnson did end 2020 at the top of his game, however, coming in sixth at the U.S. Open and winning the Masters, so it wouldn’t exactly be a surprise to see him return to his dominant self. The rest of the popular bets mostly include other unsurprising names, but sitting third is an unusual selection in Jordan Spieth. Spieth has turned up his game of late with three top fives and a top 20 finish over the past month, and his 30-1 line seems to be appealing to a lot of DraftKings bettors.
First Round Leader
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First Round Leader betting is actually headlined by a few different names, with bettors looking to some second and third-tier golfers with longer odds to be in the lead at the end of round one. Xander Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama are getting the largest share of the handle here, with Matsuyama being an especially interesting choice considering how his tournaments have gone lately. Matsuyama has made cuts more often than not this season, but he’s done so despite the first round being his worst round of the week on several occasions. It appears as though DraftKings bettors are valuing his overall skill as a player to a greater extent than these recent trends.
Top 10
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Top 10 betting is another evenly spread out market, with Bryson at the top along with Spieth and Collin Morikawa. Morikawa is one of the most popular golfers across the board for THE PLAYERS Championship, even with relatively short odds at +2000. Morikawa’s recent form is among the best in the field, though, as he won his most recent appearance at the WGC-Workday Championship. Morikawa has also earned two Top 10’s in his three other appearances this season, and he’s clearly playing as well as anyone on tour.
Top 20
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The Top 20 market may jump out as highly unusual at first, with almost all of the betting action coming in on Bryson Dechambeau. While Bryson is coming off of a win last week and is generally a very popular bet for all finishing position markets, the main driver for this one in particular is the DraftKings Sportsbook promotion for a Top 20 finish — boosted to +150. That promotion can be found here: Bryson Top 20 Boost.
Matchups
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