With the 2021 Players Championship fast approaching, the main question everyone is asking is the same in the golf world: Do you have a TPC? Who are you choosing to win at Gragrass? With a terrific, star-studded field – and only a month to the masters – the first big event of 2021 should be the epic ahead of Thursday’s first round.
Storylines abound this week, and the last player to win on this course – Rory McLeroy back in 2019 – leads them. McLean has not won since the fall of 2019, and in recent weeks he has mourned for a game that is not too intense. He was at the center of the 2019 Players (for his win) and the 2020 version (for his leadership through the COVID-19 shutdown). Will it come again this year?
Joining McLeroy are the suddenly rising Jordan Spieth (three top five in four events) and last week’s champion (and three winners from his last 15 events) Bryson D. Cmbe. We can go on for hours about the rest of the storylines, but there are three that pop up with the players on the deck.
So what’s going to happen this week at TPC Sogras? Let’s take a look at the full set of predictions and selections of our CBS sports experts with a full slate of 2021 Players Championship hurdles. All differences by William Hill Sportsbook.
2021 Players Championship Picks Specialist, Predictions
Kyle Porter, golf writer
Winner – Patrick Cantley (22-1): If you look at the strokes you got, he has been the best player in the world in 2021. Like his Presidential Cup partner Xander Schaufel, Cantley has no holes in the game. The whole thing was canceled before it opened with 67 last year. Now I’m ready to pick him up for the occasion in about six weeks.
Sleeper – Corey Kernes Nurse (80-1): Isn’t there love here? He’s been better for the greens this year than Rory McLeroy and Brian de Chambeau and missed closely on Bay Hill last week. You can also talk to me with Sergio Garcia at 70-1 or Joaquin Niemann at 50-1, but I like Con Con Nurse more on this number.
Top 10 Lockers – John Rahm (16-1 to win): TPC There is no such thing as a top 10 locklock in Segragras, but Mercy is often in the top 10 like anyone in the world (58 out of 114 people start worldwide, 51%). In strokes he ranks seventh in the world this year and he gets the color green and comes a little under the radar (for him).
Star who certainly can’t win – Rory McLeroy: No one has ever defended successfully here, and every winner (except Tiger Woods in 2013) has been a first-time champion since 2004. Combine that with his odd one-poor f weak round, and I don’t think the game is intense enough for him to catch other straight-up players.
Top 5 in order: Patrick Cantley, Justin Thomas, Colin Morikawa, John Rahm, Hideki Matsuama
Surprising forecast: Jordan Spieth will miss the cut. This may not be a surprising prediction in general, but Spith has finished in the top five in three of his last four events and is currently one of the best Iron players in the world. However, it is usually TPC. Segragras doesn’t play well – even though it was the best golf game of his life – and in The Players he lost four of the last five cuts.
Lowest round: 64 (-8)
Winner Score: 271 (-17)
Winner’s Sunday score: 69 (-3)
Jacob Hallex, producer
Winner – Victor Howland (25-1): The winners of the players can be random and do not fit into any particular mold. It’s a difficult tournament to predict, so let’s get a little longer to win. Why not Howland? The Norwegian PGA Tour has finished in the top 5 in four of its last six starts. That includes a win in the Mykoba Classic before the holidays. The knock against Howland is its chipping. His short play has not been as bad as in the second round of the WGC Workday. I will take the 23-year-old ball striker to win his third PGA Tour.
Sleeper – Cameron Smith (50-1): He’s got the top five finish trio for the season so far. Smith burst into my eyes with a T2 finish at the Masters scheduled for November. He was in controversy before beating any hopes of a devastating 77 win on Saturday at the WGC-Workday Championships last month. Before the meltdown at Concession, he finished T4 at Genesis Invitational, getting 10 strokes of T in green for weeks. Not too shabby. If the young Aussie avoids a large number, I believe it will end up near the top of the leaderboard.
Top 10 locks – Tony Finau (25-1 win): One of these days, Finau will win his second PGA Tour. It probably won’t be this week. But more recently, if he treats it, he’s responsible for finishing within the top 10 since he did it in five of his last seven worldwide. Let’s avoid all the disappointment of another “close but no cigar” by cashing in the top 10 tickets this week instead.
S.Tar who certainly can’t win – Rory McLeroy: This almost sounds like a hoax. Rory would have been lost in the woods while Jordan helped find Spith. Last week missed a lot of people, who for the first time since McLeroi 2018 fell out of the top 10 in the ial facial world golf rankings. Rory is looking for a spark. He commented after rounding up Sunday’s API: “I want something and I can’t get it.” He may be the defending champion, but I’m not buying any McLeroy stock this week.
Top 5 in order: Victor Howland, Tony Finau, Tyrell Hatton, Dustin Johnson, Will Zaltoris
Surprising Prediction – Jordan Spieth Missed Cut: I trust Spith to miss last week’s cut, and this week I’m going to do the same again. What is the definition of madness? Jordan is “back” … but I’m still going to fade him into a course where he doesn’t have a great history. A T4 in 2014 is its only top 40 finish in the event. He hasn’t performed well here during the best years, and he looks lost in the depths. Don’t be surprised if temperament expectations and Spith miss the cut in The Players for the fifth time in his career.
Lowest round: 65 (-7)
Winner Score: 273 (-15)
Winner’s Sunday score: 69 (-3)
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Adam Silverstein, Deputy Managing Editor
Winner – Justin Thomas (20-1): Outside of a missed cut at Genesis Invitational two weeks ago, Thomas has been in the roll since the start of the season in September. He has not finished worse than 15m in any of the events he has already played with the top five. This is the time of year where Thomas torments you into believing you are a good choice to win the Masters with a win in a major event. Finding its 14th PGA Tour win and the first since last August, here’s some good value on the jetty
Sleeper – Billy Horsell (70-1): Horsel, one of the Streakest Golfers on the PGA Tour, succeeds in the lump. And while he fell out of grace after losing a cut on Bay Hill after finishing T2 in the WGC-Workday Championship last week, Horschel finished in the top four since early December. He likes to be tested by tough courses, and considering he is about 15 minutes away from TPC Sogras, he is quite familiar with this course. Great barriers for the growing golfer with some home-course advantages.
Top 10 Lockers – Tony Finau (25-1 to win): See, we all know the deal with Finau at this point. He has been in the top-five finish in his last seven events. He may win this thing, but he probably won’t live. But if I’m putting lock status on someone to finish in the top 10, there’s no better choice right now.
Star who certainly can’t win – Rory McLeroy: I hate to succeed in this category, but considering its declining game it is a clear choice. McLeroy said the clear indication he needs to find himself is that something is not working physically, mentally or both. Unlike my compatriots, if you are looking for a change of pace, I will give you a bonus here: Hideki Matsuyama.
Top 5 in order: Justin Thomas, Xander Schaufel, Patrick Cantley, Tony Finau, Billy Horsell
Surprising prediction – Ricky Fowler will come Argument: It may just be for a round or most of the day, but Fowler is doing a lot of body blows for his play by late, I think he will get a lot of external motivation to go at least once. These four rounds. Fowler is 125-1 to win the players, so don’t put anything on him, but this is a course he’s been playing familiarly with. When you count the foyer, it will probably surprise you a little.
Lowest round: 64 (-8)
Winner Score: 272 (-16)
Winner’s Sunday score: 69 (-3)
Who wins the Players Championship and what long shots will obscure the golfing world? Visit Sportsline now to see the projected leaderboard and the best bets, From all those models in which six golf majors have been nailed down and restarted to find it, is over 11,000.
