Power Rankings: THE PLAYERS Championship

It’s the Big 5-0 otherwise known as the 50th edition of THE PLAYERS Championship.

We all should look as stylish and sharp as the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, which hosts the PGA TOUR’s flagship event literally in the backyard of the headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. And we all should be treated to the kind of celebration in store for the 144 who have qualified.

Oh, and the presents ain’t too shabby, either. They’re as golden as the anniversary. Those details and much more can be found beneath the ranking of those projected to contend.

No matter how deserving Scheffler is to sit No. 1, slotting him there stands flush against the face of fact, because a winner of THE PLAYERS never has successfully defended his title. For as familiar as TPC Sawgrass is to participants who have competed on it annually, to professionals who have practiced on it regularly and to even those who have learned about it in a video game, it’s as neutral a site as any on the PGA TOUR.

Since TPC Sawgrass first hosted in 1982, only five golfers have won THE PLAYERS more than once, each of whom exactly twice, and that hasn’t happened since Tiger Woods prevailed in 2013. He won his first in March of 2001. (This is the fifth consecutive edition since the tournament returned to March after a dozen years in May. The 2020 staging was canceled after one round.)

Yet, experience almost always matters. Excluding the inaugural edition, only Hal Sutton (1983) and Craig Perks (2002) won in their debut. Sutton also is among the quintet to win it twice, and that took 17 years and for his 6-iron to “be the right club today” in 2000.

No doubt that the construct of the field governs the possibilities for a first-timer to win, but while each faces his own uphill battle against those odds, he’s still emboldened by the fact that TPC Sawgrass doesn’t discriminate.

The stock par 72 once again tips at 7,275 yards. Putting surfaces are a little smaller than average at 5,500 square feet, and the ubiquity of water hazards injects a premium into course management back to the tees. This fact supports why debutants aren’t expected to win, even quick studies among them, but also why the sharpest of irons typically define the champion’s road to victory. Confidence in approaches upon arrival is a superpower.

Overseeded rough can be expected to stretch to 4 inches and TifEagle bermudagrass greens overseeded with Poa trivialis should flirt with 13 feet on the Stimpmeter. Seasonable weather in northeast Florida is expected, so TPC Sawgrass will flash its teeth. Winds won’t confuse too much as they’ll be prevailing from a primarily southerly direction. Rain and the threat of storms cannot be ruled out once the tournament extends into Friday. On the warmest of days, the high temperature might not touch even 80 degrees.

Put it all together and you have the reasons why the champion will deserve the spoils at the end of the rainbow, in this case the arc of the competition against the strongest field he’ll face on the PGA TOUR.

He will earn $4.5 million of a $25-million prize fund. He’ll also bank 750 FedExCup points, which is equivalent to the winner’s cut in every major. He’ll also be fully exempt as a PGA TOUR member via this victory through 2029 and secure exemptions into all four majors through 2026.

ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE

MONDAY: Power Rankings
TUESDAY*: Sleepers
WEDNESDAY: Golfbet Insider
FRIDAY: Medical Extensions
SUNDAY: Points and Payouts; Qualifiers; Reshuffle

* Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.