All eyes this week will be on Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida for The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
This Tournament draws a World Class field and is considered by most to be the 5th Major. It was established in 1974 when the inaugural winner was Jack Nicklaus. He took home a winners purse of $50,000 that year and was also successful in 1976 and 1978.
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This years Purse is US$10,00,000 with the Winner taking home US$1,710,000. It is the highest Winning Share of any Tournament on the PGA Tour including the 4 Majors.
TPC Sawgrass has been the home of The Players Championship since 1982. The Stadium course was designed by Peter Dye in 1979 then went through a redesign in 2006. It is a Par 72, 7,215 yard course with 93 sand bunkers and 24 water hazards. There are also four Par 5′s. It has the reputation of being one of the toughest courses on the Tour. The Greens are Bermuda grass and they are tough and fast.
The Par 3, 17th hole is one of the most recognized holes in World Golf. It is commonly known as the ‘Island Green’ and is the signature hole of the Stadium course. Even although it only measures 120 metres from tee to green it has caused many headaches to even the most experienced players over the years. There are many factors that come in to play. Firstly there is the visual factor of the green being surrounded by water, then you have the undulating green factor of knowing where to land your ball, and lastly there is the weather factor which makes club selection all that more difficult when there is some wind around the course. In 2007 there were 50 balls that ended up in the water, and that was in one round!
After you get over the fear of the 17th you then have to contend with the Par 4, 18th which has water all along the left side of the fairway. You need to make sure your drive off the tee is accurate other wise your ball could be in danger of landing in the drink again.
To play well here you need to hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. If you can not do this then you are in for a tough two days as you will probably miss the cut. This course has a habit of biting you hard if you get into trouble. It also helps to be a good scrambler in case you do find yourself in trouble.
All the past winners have ranked highly in greens in regulation stats as well as scrambling so look for someone that hits it straight and hits their fair share of greens. It is also worth noting that players who have played here several times in the past are more successful than those that are new to the course. Experience here counts for everything.
The Bookies Top 5 in betting this week are 14/1 Rory McIlroy, 16/1 Adam Scott, 18/1 Matt Kuchar, 22/1 Luke Donald and 22/1 Sergio Garcia. For all those Adam Scott fans out there, if he finishes 16th or higher he will be the new World No.1 ranked player.
The Past 6 Winners of The Players Championship are:- 2013 Tiger Woods, 2012 Matt Kuchar, 2011 K.J.Choi, 2010 Tim Clark, 2009 Henrik Stenson and 2008 Sergio Garcia.
So who will be the Winner in 2013?
I have two players who fit the bill and should be up there challenging on Sunday afternoon.
Henrik Stenson $26 at Sportsbet.com.au
Last year was all about Henrik. He won both the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour and the Race to Dubai on the European Tour. It was an amazing double. He became the first player to win both in the same year.
This year he has been a little quieter however you can not turn your nose up at his form. Ten starts in 2014 has seen him finish in the Top 20 on five occasions. Highlights being a 14th in The Masters and 5th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He is also coming off a 5th at the Volvo China Open so his game is in perfect shape at the moment.
This will be Stenson’s ninth start at the Players Championship where he already has a win to his name in 2009 as well as a further six Top 25 finishes. His game appears perfect for the Sawgrass course.
The World No.3 also has the stats to prove his selection this week. 23rd in driving accuracy, 49th in greens in regulation, 3rd in total driving, 2nd in Par 5 birdie or better percentage, 17th in ball striking and 4th in going for the green.
It is also worth noting that he was ranked inside the Top 10 in both putting and greens in regulation at the Volvo China Open at his last start.
At 25/1 he is an excellent each way selection.
Graham DeLaet $51 at Sportsbet.com.au
Graham has been on many peoples short lists at various times of this year as his game is pointing to him hitting the winners circle sooner rather than later.
He broke into the World Top 100 after finishing 3rd at the Travelers Championship in June last year and then made it to 35th after another 3rd place at the Deutsche Bank Championship in September. Since then he has stayed around that mark and many believe he is ready to go up another notch soon.
This will be DeLaet’s third visit to Sawgrass. He was 70th in 2012 and 26th last year. Heading into last year his form was no where near as good as it is this year. In 2014 he has had nine starts and managed three Top 10’s. They were T2nd Farmers Insurance Open, T2nd Phoenix Open and T8th Valspar Championship.
His stats have him ranked 1st in greens in regulation, 21st in scoring average, 7th in total driving, 15th in greens in regulation from other than the fairway, 35th in Par 5 birdie or better percentage and 18th in proximity to the hole.
Being a great iron player we can expect to see DeLaet continue his good season and improve on his 26th place here last year.
Good luck and good punting.