Betting Stat Pack: Numbers to know at treacherous TPC Sawgrass
2 Min Read
Blind shots. Mounds. Bulkheads. Palm trees. Risk-reward. Mind tricks. Sand. Water. Florida weather. There's absolutely no place to hide this week.
The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass hosts 44 of the top 50 players in the world for THE PLAYERS Championship. Pete Dye’s par-72 challenge, stretching to 7,275 yards for the 2023 edition, will play host to a field of 144 competing for their share of a $25 million purse. The winner will get $4.5 million from that pool, plus 600 FedExCup points.
Let’s take a look at some of the key stats and categories that could prove vital to handicapping a winner – and will likely be areas where the eventual winner will outpace much of the field.
Key Statistics
Only players listed are competing this week
Stats from the current 2022-23 season
* - top 10 here last five seasons
| Rank | Player |
| 1 | Rory McIlroy* |
| 2 | Scottie Scheffler |
| 3 | Jon Rahm* |
| 4 | Tony Finau |
| 5 | Collin Morikawa |
| 6 | Jhonattan Vegas |
| 7 | Patrick Cantlay |
| 9 | Max Homa |
| 10 | Tyrrell Hatton |
| 11 | Cameron Young |
-click stat headline above for additional players-
Dye will ask you to move the ball both ways off the tee and into the greens. He will tempt you to cut corners and take chances. No two holes are routed in the same direction, so judging clubs/wind is always in play. So are water penalty areas on 17 of 18 holes and 88 bunkers spread in the most inconvenient of places. Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy, two of the three winners since the tournament moved back to March in 2019, led the field in this category.
| Rank | Player |
| 2 | Tom Hoge |
| 3 | Tony Finau |
| 4 | Xander Schauffele |
| 5 | Jon Rahm* |
| 6 | Max Homa |
| 8 | Rory McIlroy* |
| 9 | Collin Morikawa |
| 10 | Rickie Fowler |
| 11 | Russell Knox* |
| 12 | Scottie Scheffler |
Playing out of the middle of the fairway doesn't guarantee anything but a perfect lie this week. Annually TPC Sawgrass rates in the top 10 of toughest courses in Proximity from the fairway or otherwise. Getting it close will go a long way to keeping additional stress off the mind – and squares off the scorecard.
| Rank | Player |
| 1 | Jon Rahm* |
| 2 | Taylor Montgomery |
| 3 | Patrick Cantlay |
| 4 | Max Homa |
| 5 | Tony Finau |
| 6 | Tommy Fleetwood* |
| 7 | Justin Thomas* |
| 8 | Aaron Wise |
| 9 | Sam Burns |
| 10 | Cameron Young |
Once on the 5,500 square foot (on average) over-seeded surfaces, it's time to pay off the hard work from the tee and on approach. Getting it close here, even from the fairway, isn't easy. So the ones who find the right club (TODAY) need to take advantage. The Poa Trivialis will run true, but nothing about Pete Dye suggests easy.
| Rank | Player |
| 1 | Patrick Cantlay |
| 2 | Jon Rahm* |
| 3 | Rory McIlroy* |
| T4 | Sungjae Im |
| T4 | Adam Scott* |
| T4 | Justin Thomas* |
| 7 | Will Zalatoris |
| T8 | Collin Morikawa |
| T8 | Tony Finau |
| 10 | JT Poston |
Since the shift to March, TPC Sawgrass has remained in the middle of the pack in Par-5 scoring average. No. 9 has increased to just over 600 yards, but the other three par-5 holes don't event reach 560 yards. No. 2 tips at 532 and No. 16, at 523, more closely resembles a par-4 at the U.S. Open. Picking up confidence and knocking off a few shots across the longest holes won't hurt, and a back-nine charge almost requires capitalizing on Nos. 11 and 16.
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