PGA Tour 2011: The Players Championship

  
  Tournament Info:  For all his success in major championship golf, Tiger Woods has only won The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass once in his epic career and that was 10 years ago in his dominant 2001 season.  Known as the “fifth major”, The Players field is absolutely loaded and its members hold an amazing 50 major championship titles.  While Woods holds 14 of those majors, his record at Sawgrass is among the worst of any of the tournaments he has played regularly in the past ten years with his 2009 8th place finish the only top ten he has been able to muster at the event.  That being said, the rest of the field is full of talent which should make this week a ton of fun to watch in one of golf’s very best stadiums.  I saw my first live PGA event at Sawgrass more than a decade ago (it was won by world #1 David Duval… remember when he was good?) and will never forget standing behind the 17th tee watching guys try to hit the island green, one of the most iconic patches of land in sports.  The course itself is much more than just one hole.  The 17th is what most people automatically think of when they hear the word Sawgrass but there’s plenty of water and sand on the 7200 yard par 72 layout.  It is a nice combination of birdie holes and risk-reward holes that can lead to big numbers if a player hits poor shots.  Here’s a look at my top picks for this year’s version of The Players:

 1. Adam Scott (33/1) – He has the top two things I was looking for going into this week… he is playing well heading in with three top tens in his last four starts, including the near miss at the Masters, and he has also experience success at The Players.  He was the 2004 champ at Sawgrass and has a couple top tens there since, as well. 

 2. Phil Mickelson (16/1) – Another former champ at The Players, Mickelson almost always plays Sawgrass well and is coming off a Wells Fargo showing where he played well enough to win in 3 of the 4 rounds.

  3. J.B. Holmes (50/1) – Quietly having a fine year so far and is coming off a top ten finish last week at Quail Hollow which has some very similar characteristics to Sawgrass.  He has traditionally played well in the Players, including at top 15 last year.

  4. Matt Kuchar (33/1) – The usually consistent Kuchar has been the model of inconsistency with good rounds on Thursday and Saturday followed up by mediocre showings on Friday and Sunday.  However, he has been good at The Players the past two seasons and may very well be ready to break out the way he did last year about this time of year.

 5. Luke Donald (16/1) – Nobody’s been better than him this year with 6 consecutive top ten finishes dating back to February and he has always fared well at Sawgrass.  He has also never come into this week on a hot streak like the one he’s on this year.