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2023 The Players Championship Betting Preview, Predictions & Top Pick

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Another iteration of THE PLAYERS Championship will take place at TPC Sawgrass, which expects to feature one of the year’s strongest fields.

While he continues to make his way back from injury, Tiger Woods decided not to compete in this event, but I fully expect to see him again in a few weeks in Augusta. With some of the best players in the world currently at their very best, others are working hard to regain their form in preparation for the first Major tournament of the year, exactly one month away.

There are many high-wattage names on the list of previous winners of this event, such as Cam Smith last year, Justin Thomas (2021) and Rory McIlroy (2019). Going back further, there is a mixture of unexpected winners, such as Webb Simpson (2018) and Si-Woo Kim (2017).

Let’s look at this year’s competitors and determine who has the best shot at winning.

2023 THE PLAYERS Championship

(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)

Previous Winners of THE PLAYERS Championship

    • 2022: Cam Smith
    • 2021: Justin Thomas
    • 2019: Rory McIlroy

Course Preview: TPC Sawgrass

TPC Sawgrass is more of an approach golf course that is generally in perfect shape, so length off the tee is helpful, but it is not necessary at this course because of its layout. If you get to the right location on the greens, you will always be looking at a very makeable birdie putt. The greens are built in subsets, which is quite similar to how Augusta National’s greens are laid out.

Relevant Betting Stats

    • SG: Approach
    • Driving Accuracy
    • SG: Putting

Outright Betting Pick: Justin Thomas (+1900) 

While no one has ever been able to completely command this tournament throughout its history, you will have difficulty finding anyone in the field with a better record than Thomas. In seven attempts, Thomas has never failed to make the cut at this event, and he won it in 2021.

Even though he only has two top-10 finishes in this competition, the fact that he competes year after year speaks of his love for this track. Not only does he appear to be in fantastic form coming into this week, but he has just had a successful performance last week at the Arnold Palmer, finishing T21 despite a Sunday +2.

I like for JT to find success here.

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