The Players
Purse: €23.4 million (€4.2m to the winner)
Where: Ponte Vedra, Florida, USA
The course: TPC Sawgrass – 7,256 yards, par 72 – is a so-called “stadium course” which features a large amount of purpose-built mounding around the layout to facilitate spectator viewing. Designed by Pete Dye with input from his wife Alice in the creation of the famed 17th hole island green, the design philosophy includes deep bunkering and small greens, while Dye’s clever tracking around the former swamp encourages players to work the ball both ways off the tee.
It has traditionally made for a stern examination and past winners include both long-hitters and also those more inclined to strategically navigate a way around the course. The signature hole is the par-three 17th but it is part of a very strong closing stretch that also includes the risk-reward par-five 16th which has water down the right and in play around the green, while the par-four 18th has a crescent fairway that works its away along a lake which has water in play all the way up the left-hand side.
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The field: There is no defending champion as Cameron Smith is one of the LIV Golf players not allowed to tee up. There are 43 of the world’s top-50 in the field and 49 of the top-50 from thee FedEx Cup standings in the PGA Tour’s flagship event, which has seen an increase in purse from €18 million a year ago to €23m for this latest edition.
Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy – the one-two-three in the world rankings – headline the strong field with any one of the trio set to leave Sawgrass on Sunday evening as world number one depending on a large number of scenarios. Some 30 players are making their debuts in the championship, among them Australian Min Woo Lee who earned a late spot via the top-50 in the world rankings on last Monday’s cut-off.
First round tee times (US unless specified)
Starting on the 1st
1150 Robby Shelton, Austin Smotherman, Min Woo Lee (Aus)
1201 Kevin Streelman, Denny McCarthy, Matthew NeSmith
1212 Byeong Hun An (Kor), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa), Doug Ghim
1223 Michael Thompson, Brendon Todd, Keith Mitchell
1234 Kevin Kisner, Nick Taylor (Can), Corey Conners (Can)
1245 Trey Mullinax, Cam Davis (Aus), Tyler Duncan
1256 Adam Svensson (Can), Joel Dahmen, Robert Streb
1307 JJ Spaun, Chad Ramey, Luke List
1318 Russell Henley, MacKenzie Hughes (Can), Brian Harman
1329 Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Mark Hubbard, Matt Wallace (Eng),
1340 Nate Lashley, Troy Merritt, Kelly Kraft
1351 Aaron Baddeley (Aus), David Lingmerth (Swe), Ben Martin
1650 Kevin Tway, Russell Knox (Sco), Chesson Hadley
1701 Andrew Putnam, Maverick McNealy, Doc Redman
1712 Beau Hossler, Adam Schenk, Stephan Jaeger
1723 Lucas Herbert (Aus), Aaron Wise, Jason Day (Aus)
1734 Matt Fitzpatrick (Eng), Viktor Hovland (Nor), Shane Lowry (Irl)
1745 Kurt Kitayama, Will Zalatoris, Xander Schauffele
1756 Max Homa, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth
1807 Sam Burns, Cameron Young, Sahith Theegala
1818 Chris Kirk, Séamus Power (Irl), Keegan Bradley
1829 Sam Ryder, Davis Riley, Taylor Moore
1840 Alex Noren (Swe), Thomas Detry (Bel), Max McGreevy
1851 Joseph Bramlett, Justin Suh, Andrew Novak
Starting on the 10th
1150 Danny Willett (Eng), Brandon Wu, Davis Thompson
1201 Adam Long, Hayden Buckley, Taylor Montgomery
1212 Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Taylor Pendrith (Can), Callum Tarren (Eng)
1223 Si Woo Kim (Kor), Webb Simpson, Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)
1234 Tony Finau, Tom Kim (Kor), Patrick Cantlay
1245 Collin Morikawa, Adam Scott (Aus), Rickie Fowler
1256 Jon Rahm (Esp), Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy (NIrl)
1307 Justin Rose (Eng), Billy Horschel, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn)
1318 Nico Elchavarria (Col), Sungjae Im (Kor), Harris English
1329 Jhonattan Vegas (Ven), Peter Malnati, Ryan Fox (Nzl)
1340 Adam Hadwin (Can), Patrick Rodgers, Greyson Sigg
1351 Nick Hardy, Eric Cole, Harrison Endycott (Aus)
1650 David Lipsky, SH Kim (Kor), Tyson Alexander
1701 Kramer Hickok, Lee Hodges, Will Gordon
1712 Ben Griffin, Mattias Schwab (Aut), Justin Lower
1723 Sepp Straka (Aut), Garrick Higgo (Rsa), Stewart Cink
1734 Chez Reavie, Tom Hoge, Francesco Molinari (Ita)
1745 JT Poston, Lucas Glover, Matt Kuchar
1756 KH Lee (Kor), Martin Laird (Sco), Gary Woodland
1807 Ryan Brehm, Lanto Griffin, Scott Stallings
1818 Ryan Palmer, Patton Kizzire, Alex Smalley
1829 Dylan Frittelli (Rsa), Jerry Kelly, Wyndham Clark
1840 Scott Piercy, James Hahn, Nick Watney
1851 Aaron Rai (Eng), Dylan Wu, Erik Barnes
On TV: Live on Sky Sports Golf from 11.30am on Thursday.
Playoff holes (if required): Three hole aggregate: (16-17-18), then sudden death 17-18-16.
Quote-Unquote: “The first thing that pops to mind is the old trophy because I still have the old crystal memory, right? To me, that’s still The Players Championship trophy for some reason. I don’t know why” – a nostalgic world number one Jon Rahm on the old Waterford Crystal trophy that was previously awarded to the winner. A new trophy – including a mix of silver and gold – was unveiled in 2019.
Irish in the field: McIlroy is in the standout group with Rahm and Scheffler (off the 10th tee at 12.56pm Irish time); Shane Lowry is grouped with US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland (off the first at 5.34pm Irish time); Séamus Power, currently fifth in the FedEx Cup standings, is grouped with Chris Kirk and Keegan Bradley (off the first at 6.18pm Irish time).
Betting: No surprise that the market is dominated by the big three with McIlroy – a winner in 2019 – heading the betting at a short-priced 15-2 ahead of the 9-1s attached to Rahm and Scheffler. Shane Lowry’s early years at the venue were uninspiring with three missed cuts in his first five appearances but he seems to have developed a greater liking in recent years and is worth an each-way look at 33-1. Rickie Fowler’s form has improved significantly in the past year during which he was undergoing swing changes and, as a past winner on a favoured course, he too looks decent wach-way value at 40-1.
Magical Kenya Open
Purse: €2 million (€320,000 to the winner)
Where: Nairobi, Kenya
The course: Muthaiga Golf Club – 7,228 yards, par 71 – is known as the “Home of Golf” to its membership and was found in the early 1920s, but which has undergone a makeover in recent years under the guidance of South African course designer Peter Matkovich. It has the reputation as one of the finest golf courses in East Africa and with fastest greens in the region. the par-five seventh hole measures 616 yards, the longest on the course, and there are five par threes.
The field: A strong enough field – obviously made up of players who didn’t have access to The Players – is headed by a number of tour winners including Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, Richie Ramsay and Ewen Ferguson, Spaniards Rafa Cabrera Bello, Adrian Otaegui and Jorge Campillo, along with many young guns looking to make their mark.
Quote-Unquote: “I’m still in la-la land. Everyone is congratulating me, it’s awesome getting the shoulder claps. It was a life-changing week. But it’s now important to concentrate again. I don’t want to make the mistakes I made in the past. I want to prove I can be a multiple winner on tour again.” – Germany’s Marcel Siem, who ended an eight year drought when winning the Hero Indian Open in his last outing.
Irish in the field: Tom McKibbin, John Murphy and Gary Hurley.
Betting: Robert MacIntyre goes into the tournament as 14-1 favourite with Antoine Rozner rated a 16-1 chance. However, Julien Brun is worth a look at 28-1 while Tom McKibbin is decent in the each-way market at 66-1.
On TV: Sky Sport Golf (from 10am).
