⛳ 2026 Players Championship Power Rankings & Best Bets: Top Picks for TPC Sawgrass
The atmosphere around The Players Championship is a little different this year, with two-time winners Scottie Scheffler (+480) and Rory McIlroy (+1800) facing uncertainty over their current form and fitness. This feels much more like an open competition for the 123-man field following the first three Signature Events of 2026.
My Players Championship power rankings and best bets offer plus-money prop bets for each of my top 10 golfers this week. While the rankings include Scheffler and McIlroy, they've been bumped from their usual positions at the top.
🔋 Players Championship power rankings & best bets
Here are our 2026 Players Championship power rankings, with today's best odds to win from our best golf betting sites and a bet to make for all 10 golfers:
| 📊 Ranking | 🏌️ Golfer | 🔢 Best odds to win | 💰 Bet to make |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Collin Morikawa | +1800 via DraftKings | Top 5 finish (+425) |
| 2 | Tommy Fleetwood | +2500 via bet365 | Top European (+700) |
| 3 | Scottie Scheffler | +480 via FanDuel | Top 5 finish (+140) |
| 4 | Si Woo Kim | +2250 via DraftKings | Top Asian (+250) |
| 5 | Ludvig Aberg | +2800 via DraftKings | Top 20 finish (+146) |
| 6 | Xander Schauffele | +3100 via DraftKings | Top American (+1425) |
| 7 | Matt Fitzpatrick | +4000 via DraftKings | Top 20 finish (+172) |
| 8 | Rory McIlroy | +1800 via DraftKings | Top 10 finish (+180) |
| 9 | Chris Gotterup | +5000 via bet365 | Top 20 finish (+270) |
| 10 | Viktor Hovland | +4000 via BetRivers | Top Nordic (+355) |
💰 Best bets for our Players Championship top 10
Here's the analysis for our top 10 Players Championship power rankings to help with your golf picks this week:
🥇 Collin Morikawa
Best odds to win: +1800
Best Players Championship finish: T-10 (2025)
Bet to make: Top-5 finish (+425)
Why I'm betting Collin Morikawa: Equipped with a win and back-to-back top-10 finishes in Signature Events this season, I'm trusting Morikawa's new-found putting stroke to keep rolling this week and for him to claim his first victory at a course that has long seemed to fit his precision iron play.
🤑 More Players Championship picks
Our Dustin Saracini also sees Morikawa having a strong round in his Players Championship picks. Claude's Players Championship AI predictions also backed Morikawa.
🥈 Tommy Fleetwood
Best odds to win: +2500
Best Players Championship finish: T-5 (2019
Bet to make: Top European (+700)
Why I'm betting Tommy Fleetwood: Played his worst golf in nearly a year last week, helping us get boosted odds for the No. 3 golfer in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). I'm expecting that last week was the outlier aberration in his well-rounded game.
🥉 Scottie Scheffler
Best odds to win: +480
Best Players Championship finish: Win (2023-2024)
Bet to make: Top-5 finish (+140)
Why I'm betting Scottie Scheffler: Scheffler has typically been minus-money for a top-5 finish this season. I'm jumping on the +140 odds this week, as his last two tournaments saw his only finishes outside of the top 10 since this event last year.
4️⃣ Si Woo Kim
Best odds to win: +2250
Best Players Championship finish: Win (2017)
Bet to make: Top Asian (+250)
Why I'm betting Si Woo Kim: Kim has two top-10 finishes in this event since his 2017 victory. His putter has betrayed him this season, but he's among the Tour leaders in strokes gained: approach in 2026, and his driver favors the essential accuracy over distance of late.
🗝️ Players Championship key stats
Here are the key stats I'm focusing on this week at TPC Sawgrass:
- Strokes gained: approach
- Driving accuracy (don't miss left)
- Proximity: 100-125 yards
- Sand-save percentage (88 bunkers)
- Strokes gained: around-the-green
5️⃣ Ludvig Aberg
Best odds to win: +2800
Best Players Championship finish: 8 (2024)
Bet to make: Top-20 finish (+146)
Why I'm betting Ludvig Aberg: The Swedish star has an eighth-place finish and a missed cut in two trips to TPC Sawgrass. He finally seems to have found his form after averaging 1.70 SG: approach per round en route to last week's T-3 finish in a Signature Event. He's gained strokes on the greens in three straight events.
6️⃣ Xander Schauffele
Best odds to win: +3100
Best Players Championship finish: T-2 (2024, 2018)
Bet to make: Top American (+1425)
Why I'm betting Xander Schauffele: Has gained strokes putting in four of his last five events and has been sharp on approach and around the greens. I'm much more interested in the Top American market this week with Scheffler's current struggles, and the +1425 odds are far too high for the two-time major champ.
7️⃣ Matt Fitzpatrick
Best odds to win: +4000
Best Players Championship finish: 5 (2024)
Bet to make: Top-20 finish (+172)
Why I'm betting Matt Fitzpatrick: Fitzpatrick has a spotty history at TPC Sawgrass, but he has two top-10 finishes in his last five appearances in The Players. He averaged 0.82 strokes gained: putting per round last week, and a hot week with the flat stick has fueled many victories here.
🎯 Players Championship long shots
Our LJ Blut chases a big payday this week with his Players Championship long shots and sleeper picks.
8️⃣ Rory McIlroy
Best odds to win: +1800
Best Players Championship finish: Win (2019, 2025)
Bet to make: Top-10 finish (+180)
Why I'm betting Rory McIlroy: I wrote in our Players Championship odds that I'm waiting to see +1500 outright odds for McIlroy before betting on the defending champion, and I'm jumping on the +1600 ticket. The +180 odds represent a solid hedge with the safety of a top-10 finish.
9️⃣ Chris Gotterup
Best odds to win: +5000
Best Players Championship finish: Cut (2025)
Bet to make: Top-20 finish (+270)
Why I'm betting Chris Gotterup: Gotterup debuted in The Players with a missed cut last year, but he played the best golf of his career since then, with three victories since July. He's one of the best on Tour at not missing the fairways to the left. That's the key to avoiding the bulk of the trouble at TPC Sawgrass.
🔟 Viktor Hovland
Best odds to win: +4000
Best Players Championship finish: T-3 (2023)
Bet to make: Top Nordic (+355)
Why I'm betting Viktor Hovland: The Top Nordic market is essentially a tournament head-to-head between Hovland and Aberg, with Alex Noren and Nicolai Hojgaard the next closest contenders. Last week's T-13 finish was his second-best result of the year, as he gained 1.18 strokes putting per round to complement his usually-sharp iron play.
💰️ Brooks Koepka bonus pick
Brooks Koepka is making his first appearance in The Players since 2022. His best finish at TPC Sawgrass was a T-11 in 2018.
Though Koepka didn't play either of the last two Signature Events, he's coming off his best finish since returning to the PGA Tour. I'm not against betting on him to make the cut with -164 odds from FanDuel.
💰 Players Championship picks: Who will win?
Here's a look at what our Senior Analyst, Dustin Saracini, likes for this week with his Players Championship picks:
| Player (Outright winner) | Current odds (FanDuel) | Why they can win |
|---|---|---|
| Scottie Scheffler | +440 | He leads the Tour in SG: Tee-to-Green and remains the man to beat. |
| Rory McIlroy | +1300 | The defending champion (2025) and two-time winner. Rory’s driver is a weapon. |
| Xander Schauffele | +2700 | Coming off a T7 at Riviera, Xander’s well-rounded game fits Sawgrass. |
| Collin Morikawa | +2000 | Currently on a three-event heater (Win, T7, 5th). His elite iron play is tailor-made for this course. |
🧮 Players Championship bankroll management & betting tips
Properly managing your bankroll is the most crucial aspect of sports betting, regardless of the sport or your preferred bet types. Our betting calculators can help you decide how much to commit to each wager, and we advise tracking your deposits, withdrawals, and bets.
Here is my split for my Players Championship card. I'm betting a few more outright winners - but mostly sticking near the top of the oddsboard - with Scheffler (play) and McIlroy (injury) having inflated odds to win. That value trickles down through the rest of the betting board.
| Bet type | % of tournament bankroll | Bet size | Amount ($150 tournament bankroll) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outright bets | 20% | 0.5 units | $30 |
| Long-shot outrights | 13.3% | 0.25 units | $20 |
| Prop bets | 66.6% | 1 unit | $100 |
TPC Sawgrass course info
Considered Pete Dye's most famous design, TPC Sawgrass is said not to favor a specific brand of golf. The one thing that regularly prevails: pedigree and star power. The Players Championship boasts the strongest field in golf. It took at least one step back toward that being true with Brooks Koepka in the 2026 field upon his return to the PGA Tour this season.
The intricate Bermuda greens run fast with challenging slopes often spilling toward the many water hazards, which feature on 17 of the 18 holes. Fairways demand golfers to hit specific landing areas - or risk troublesome rough or further water issues. There are also 88 bunkers covering the grounds of TPC Sawgrass.
The last 10 winning scores have ranged from -10 to -20.
| TPC Sawgrass | |
|---|---|
| Par | 72 |
| Yardage | 7,352 |
| Greens | Bermuda |
| Architect | Pete Dye |
| Bunkers | 88 |
Key stats
Here are the key stats I'll be using when betting on the 2026 Players Championship:
- Strokes gained: approach
- Strokes gained: tee-to-green
- Proximity to the pin (125-150 yards)
- Bogey avoidance
- Driving accuracy over driving distance
📊 Full-field Players Championship odds 2026
We broke down The Player Championship odds in full, with more tournament info.
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