The 2023 edition of The Player’s Championship is here, and boy, are we in store for some great golf this week. Like last year’s tournament, The Players Championship will be a record-setting event in terms of the size of the winner's share. The PGA Tour kicks off its fifth “elevated” event of the year which means this week will see the largest tournament purse in PGA Tour history. This week’s total payout will be a staggering $25 million with a whopping $4.26 million awarded to the winner. The new “elevated” PGA Tour events include 17 tournaments with a larger purse. The qualification for these elevated events is locked at the Top 70 in the world. No special exemptions, no sponsor exemptions, and no Monday qualifying. Could the prestige keep the fledgling LIV Tour from pulling away more talent from the PGA Tour?

Aside from that, the best three players in the world right now—Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, and Jon Rahm—all have a crack at displacing the others as the top golfer in the Official World Golf rankings! Yesterday’s conclusion of the Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Invitational saw Kurt Kitayama hold off all three of those top golfers to secure his first PGA Tour victory, so we’ll have to see how this weekend goes.

The PGA Tour players call this event the Fifth Major because of the field, the purse, and the prestige that goes along with beating one of the best fields in golf. Slide this in right behind the Master’s, the U.S. Open, the Open Championship, and the PGA Championship as one of the most important golf events of the year!

The Course

This will be the 49th edition of the Players Championship and the 41st year the event has been held at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Verde, Florida. TPC Sawgrass also plays host to the PGA Tour’s official business headquarters. The course was opened in 1980 and is a Pete Dye design. True to Pete Dye’s course architecture, TPC Sawgrass is a mix of long Bermuda rough, railroad timbers throughout the course, and of course, lots of water! The course will play at 7275 yards for this week's tournament, a par 72, and a new tee built over the summer of 2022 could see the par-5 ninth hole play over 600 yards!

Of course, the par-3 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass is the Island Green—the most famous hole at this golf course. Last year's tournament saw some pretty nasty weather and blustery conditions on Saturday, with a record number of golfers seeing their ball reach the water hazard on this hole.

However, the weather forecast for this week looks calmer than last year’s calamity. But Friday and Saturday, they are calling for sustained winds near 20mph so we could see some carnage again this year!

The Field

This “elevated” event will see 49 of the top 50 players in the world compete for the chance to lift the Tiffany & Co. designed Players Championship trophy. Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, and current World No. 1 Jon Rahm can all take over (or defend) their title as best golfer on the planet with a win this week.

Last year's champion Cam Smith won’t be defending his title this year. After winning the Players and the Open Championship, Cam defected to the LIV Tour this past fall and lost his eligibility as a PGA Tour member. The Players Championship has never seen a past champion defend their title in back-to-back years in its nearly 50-year history, and that trend will continue this year as well!

Favorites

The bets-makers in Vegas have, of course, pegged the three potential World No. 1’s as the favorites heading into this week’s tournament. After that, there is a pretty significant jump in odds to World No. 4 Patrick Cantlay. Jon Rahm has already won three times this year, while Scottie Scheffler defended his title at the Waste Management Phoenix Open back in February. Rory McIlroy won The CJ Cup in South Carolina back in October, but has yet to lay claim to one of the PGA Tour’s new elevated events since the format started at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Janurary.

Here is a look at who Vegas is picking as the best odds this week.

(Note: +800 represents what you would win if you placed a bet of $100 on that golfer. I.e. bet $100 to win $800).

• Jon Rahm (World Ranking 1) +800
• Rory McIlroy (World Ranking 3) +850
• Scottie Scheffler (World Ranking 2) +1000
• Patrick Cantlay (World Ranking 4) +1800
• Justin Thomas (World Ranking 9) +1800
• Max Homa (World Ranking 7) +2000
• Xander Schauffele (World Ranking 6) +2200
• Collin Morikawa (World Ranking 10) +2800
• Tony Finau (World Ranking 13) +2800

Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy are the only two out of the top ten in the world that have won this event in the past. I expect this to be a battle between the three favorites on Sunday with the tournament coming down to the last few holes. I think Scottie Scheffler will emerge on the 72nd hole and make a birdie to beat Rahm McIlroy and Homa by one shot—reascending to number one as a result!

How to Watch

TV Coverage

• Thursday: Golf Channel from 12pm - 6pm ET
• Friday: Golf Channel from 12pm - 6pm ET
• Saturday: NBC from1pm - 6pm ET
• Sunday: NBC from 1pm - 6pm ET

Streaming Coverage

(All Streaming feeds can be found on PGATour.com or ESPN+)

Thursday: PGA Tour LIVE / ESPN+ from 6:45am - 6pm

• Stream 1: Main feed from 6:45am - noon & featured group from noon - 6pm
• Stream 2: Marquee group from 7:45am - noon & featured group from noon - 6pm
• Stream 3: Featured groups from 7:30am - noon & featured hole from noon - 6pm
• Stream 4: Featured holes from 7:15am - noon & featured hole from noon - 6pm

Friday: PGA Tour LIVE / ESPN+ from 6:45am - 6pm

• Stream 1: Main feed from 6:45am - noon & featured group from noon - 6pm
• Stream 2: Marquee group from 7:45am - noon & featured group from noon - 6pm
• Stream 3: Featured groups from 7:30am - noon & featured hole from noon - 6pm
• Stream 4: Featured holes from 7:15am - noon & featured hole from noon - 6pm

Saturday: PGA Tour LIVE / ESPN+ from 7:45am - 6pm

• Stream 1: Main feed from 7:45am - 1pm & featured group from 1pm - 6pm
• Stream 2: Marquee group from 8:45am - 1pm & featured group from 1pm - 6pm
• Stream 3: Featured groups from 8:30am - 1pm & featured hole from 1pm - 6pm
• Stream 4: Featured holes from 7:15am - 1pm & featured hole from 1pm - 6pm

Sunday: PGA Tour LIVE / ESPN+ from 7:45am - 6pm

• Stream 1: Main feed from 7:45am - 1pm & featured group from 1pm - 6pm
• Stream 2: Marquee group from 8:45am - 1pm & featured group from 1pm - 6pm
• Stream 3: Featured groups from 8:30am - 1pm & featured hole from 1pm - 6pm
• Stream 4: Featured holes from 7:15am - 1pm & featured hole from 1pm - 6pm

A Look Ahead

Watch out for my recap of the Player’s Championship next week where I will tell you about the exciting conclusion of the biggest purse in PGA Tour history. We will also see how many balls ended up in the water on 17! As always, if you ever need any help or have any questions about the gear that you are using and what the guys’ on TV are using this week at Ponte Verda, feel free to message me or any of our other great Golf Experts here on Curated!