Jon Rahm, the No. 1 golfer in the world entering the week, has some company atop the odds board entering the 2022 Players Championship. Chief among them is Justin Thomas, last year's Player Championship winner, though Collin Morikawa is right alongside both men among the top three on the board as the best field of the year readies for play.
It's unusual to see a PGA Tour field in which no golfer enters as a single-digit favorite to win the tournament as Rahm has been in most of the recent events he's played. This speaks to a few things. The first is that this will probably go down as the best field of 2022. The second is that TPC Sawgrass is extremely difficult to predict. The third? Rahm's short game has not been good of late.
That last point provides some value. Last week, Rahm finished in the top 10 in the field at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in both strokes gained approach and strokes gained off the tee, but he's dropped a bit off his normal odds because he's finished outside the top 10 in two straight events. If he replicates his ball-striking from Bay Hill, he's going to either win The Players or come extraordinarily close. I'm not worried about three straight events of both negative strokes gained around the greens and negative strokes gained putting when I'm getting (by far) the best ball-striker in the world in 2022 at a genuine ball-striker's course at 14-1 odds.
Here's a look at everyone else at 50-1 or shorter, according to Caesars Sportsbook. Check out our Players Championship expert picks and predictions covering golfers in numerous categories.
- Jon Rahm: 11-1
- Justin Thomas: 16-1
- Collin Morikawa: 16-1
- Viktor Hovland: 20-1
- Rory McIlroy: 20-1
- Patrick Cantlay: 20-1
- Scottie Scheffler: 25-1
- Xander Schauffele: 28-1
- Hideki Matsuyama: 30-1
- Cameron Smith: 30-1
- Daniel Berger: 30-1
- Dustin Johnson: 33-1
- Brooks Koepka: 35-1
- Shane Lowry: 35-1
- Matt Fitzpatrick: 35-1
- Jordan Spieth: 40-1
- Sungjae Im: 40-1
- Sam Burns: 40-1
- Will Zalatoris: 40-1
- Billy Horschel: 40-1
- Joaquin Niemann: 45-1
- Tyrrell Hatton: 45-1
- Louis Oosthuizen: 50-1
- Corey Conners: 50-1
- Adam Scott: 50-1
- Talor Gooch: 50-1
Koepka at 35-1 is fascinating. He's played well here before and was tremendous in Phoenix. He knows this is almost a major championship. I'm not in love with Koepka overall this week, but at 35-1 -- coming in with a little momentum and knowing that he'll see his odds are right there with the Shane Lowrys and Matt Fitzpatricks of the world and that it will annoy him -- I'm way in.
I also like Scheffler at 25-1 (who's hotter?), Zalatoris at 40-1 (second-best ball-striker this year behind Rahm), Lowry (playing great, and conditions could be bad), Berger (same) and Scott, who is quietly having himself a nice little year (three top 10s in five total starts worldwide). The Players is so often the toughest tournament to pick, but cast a wide enough net, and you'll hit on somebody. Thankfully, these odds allow you to do just that this week at the biggest tournament of 2022 to date.
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