Who to back at the Players Championship
Players Championship betting: Keel’s top tip
The man I believe is the one to beat this week is a player that has missed his last three cuts at TPC Sawgrass and goes off at 16/1.
Crazy, right? Well, there’s a bit more to it than just that.
Indeed, my biggest fancy this week is Jordan Spieth, a player whose course record around here leaves a lot to be desired.
Look a little deeper though and you’ll see that this golf course is setup perfectly for the three-time major champion. You don’t finish 4th on debut at the so called ‘Fifth Major’ if you don’t like the golf course, and that’s exactly what Spieth did in 2014 when Martin Kaymer triumphed.
It’s difficult to dress up three straight missed cuts for one of the best players in the game over the last four years, but Spieth has maintained that Sawgrass is right in his wheelhouse.
Speaking in 2015, he said that TPC Sawgrass is one of his favourite golf courses in the world. And just last year he held the same opinion: “I love this course and I think it fits my game well.”
That paints a better picture, and when you see Spieth’s recent form, he ranks as a must-bet for me.
The last time he was on a golf course – aside from the team event in New Orleans, which I’ll happily put a line through – was when he admitted that he could have very nearly shot a 59 to win the Masters.
The most promising aspect of that incredible performance for Spieth fans was his return to form with the putter – the club that has bafflingly let him down so far this season, to the point that he currently ranks 187th in strokes gained: putting for the year. To put that into context, there are only 25 players that have performed worse on the greens since the beginning of the wrap-around season.
The confidence is back with the flatstick, and the rest of the PGA Tour should be worried. There’s no better big-time player than Spieth.
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Tom Irwin
Tom is a lifetime golfer, now over 30 years playing the game. 2023 marks 10 years in golf publishing and he is still holding down a + handicap at Alwoodley in Leeds. He has played over 600 golf courses, and has been a member of at least four including his first love Louth, in Lincolnshire. Tom likes unbranded clothing, natural fibres, and pencil bags. Seacroft in Lincolnshire is where it starts and ends.
