While it’s not a major championship, the 2026 Players Championship is one of the premier tournaments on the schedule. It takes place this week at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, featuring a full field that includes the game’s top players – including 2-time champion and favorite Scottie Scheffler. The first round from Sawgrass begins Thursday morning.
Below, we look at Players Championship odds from BetMGM Sportsbook’s odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
Scheffler has the shortest odds of anyone at +450, entering the week as the No. 1 player in the world and as a back-to-back winner at Sawgrass in 2023-24. Defending champion Rory McIlroy, who withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational Saturday with a back injury, has the second-shortest odds at +1400. Collin Morikawa (+1800), Xander Schauffele (+2200) and Ludvig Aberg (+2500) are among the other favorites at Sawgrass.
The Players is one of the most volatile events on Tour because of how challenging Sawgrass can be, especially when the wind picks up, which creates some difficult conditions. The Stadium Course is 7,352 yards long and is a par 72, featuring water hazards on most holes – though some don’t always come into play. It forces players to shape the ball from left to right and vice versa, positioning themselves properly off the tee so that they have proper angles into greens.
McIlroy’s winning score was 12-under last year, keeping the trend of the winner being between 10-under and 20-under each year since 2010.
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Players Championship – Expert picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 6:06 p.m. ET.
Collin Morikawa (+1800)
I was admittedly out on Morikawa early in the year after seeing him struggle badly with his irons, but he’s clearly back now. He’s sixth among players in the field in strokes gained the last 3 months and has a win, a T-7 and a solo fifth on his resume in his last 3 starts. Plus, he’s finished 13th, 45th and 10th in his last 3 appearances at the Players. With his iron play, he’s a real threat to win this week.
Si Woo Kim (+2500)
Kim has already won at Sawgrass in the past, taking home the golden trophy in 2017. He’s also finished top-10 twice since then, including a sixth-place showing in 2024. No player has gained more strokes from tee to green in the last 3 months than Kim, evidence of how well he’s hitting the ball. Unfortunately, he’s lowing a half-stroke on the greens, which has limited his upside.
Rory McIlroy (+1400)
We don’t know if McIlroy will be fully healthy this week after shockingly withdrawing from the API on Saturday due to a back injury, but he’s primed to play well again at the Players if he is good to go. The defending champion is fourth in the field in SG: tee-to-green in the last 3 months and is gaining strokes in every department. Pairing his recent form with his course experience makes him a good pick this week – provided he’s healthy.
Players Championship picks – Contenders
Sepp Straka (+4500)
Back to Straka we go after another promising showing at the API. He tumbled to 13th after a final-round 76 to fall out of contention, but he was near the top of the leaderboard from Saturday into Sunday. He has 3 top-20s in his last 4 starts, including a T-2 at Pebble Beach. He’s a signature event afficionado, and it’s worth going back to him at Sawgrass after he finished ninth in 2022, 16th in 2024 and 14th last year.
Akshay Bhatia (+4000)
Bhatia missed the cut in 2024, which was his tournament debut, but rebounded with a third-place finish last year. He’s playing the best golf of his career right now, winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational Sunday after coming in third, sixth and 16th in his previous 3 starts. His drive can get a bit wayward at times, as it’s the only place he’s losing strokes right now, but his putter has been red hot and his approach game is great, too.
Sahith Theegala (+6600)
Theegala once again looks like the player he was a couple of years ago when he was contending often. He roared back to finish sixth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational following a T-22 at Riviera, his fourth top-22 finish in his last 5 starts. His best finish at Sawgrass was in 2024 when he came in ninth.
Players Championship picks – Long shots
Aaron Rai (+9000)
It’s been a fairly slow start to the year for Rai, but he’s showing signs of life after a T-28 at the Genesis and T-23 at Bay Hill last week. His track record at Sawgrass is quite good, finishing 19th, 35th and 14th in 3 career starts, all in the last 3 years.
Ricky Castillo (+10000)
Castillo is making his second start at the Players this week after missing the cut last year. He just won the Puerto Rico Open Sunday after notching a solo fifth at the Cognizant Classic, continuing to trend in the right direction. Additionally, he’s fourth among players in this week’s field in SG: tee-to-green in the last month.
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
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