Players Championship 2012: 6 Favorites Who Will Chase Golf's Largest Purse

There are still a few weeks remaining before the PGA Tour makes its annual stop at the Players Championship, but the buzz surrounding this year's event is already intense.

The Players Championship. It's like a fifth major. It has all the elements of a great golf tournament—a very strong field; the iconic course with the signature "Island Green" at No. 17; large, enthusiastic galleries—not to mention a whopping $1.7 million paycheck to the winner.

This is a big event.

The best golfers in the world will compete for the sport's largest purse when the Players Championship returns to the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass May 7-13.

Tiger Woods. Rory McIlroy. Phil Mickelson. They'll be there.

Masters champion Bubba Watson is in the field. So is his playoff counterpart and runner-up at Augusta a couple weeks ago, Louis Oosthuizen.

And Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Hunter Mahan and defending champ K.J. Choi.

The list of the best players in the game goes on and on at "The Players."

Here is an early tournament preview of six favorites who will compete for the $9.5 million in prize money.

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods is going to be a favorite at every golf tournament he enters. But, I'm not sure whether to consider him a serious contender at the Players Championship or not.

There are times when his golf swing—and his entire game—are in near-perfect order, like at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month. He won that tournament, of course. But there are other times, like at Augusta a couple weeks ago, where he was out of sync and frustrated in finishing a professional career worst T40 at the Masters.

Is he back? Isn't he back?

Let me answer that question this way: Yes, he's back. He's playing golf, isn't he? Then he's back.

What I'm unsure about is whether Tiger will ever be the same as he once was. Sometimes he gives me reason to believe it's possible, but more often than not, I have my doubts. It doesn't mean he won't win golf tournaments and yes, major championships again. It just means he likely won't dominate the way he once did.

Playing well and maybe even winning at TPC Sawgrass would be just the sort of "mini-major" Tiger needs to boost his confidence heading into the U.S. Open in June.

Tiger had to withdraw from the Players Championship last year because of an injury. If you couple that disappointment with his poor play at the Masters, I expect him to have plenty of motivation for success.

Rory McIlroy

Everyone knows Rory McIlroy has been anointed as the next big thing in golf. He's the chosen one, the prodigy, the future of golf.

I'll say this. It's true. He has a great golf swing and unlimited potential. He's also currently the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world according to the Official World Golf Ranking.

So where am I going with all this?

Rory McIlroy skipped the Players Championship last year, but he has the ability to win every time he steps on the golf course so I don't expect the week at TPC Sawgrass to be any different.

Outside of his head-scratching T40 finish at the Masters, his 2012 season has been outstanding. He won the Honda Classic. He finished second at both the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. He finished third at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. And he finished fifth at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

If that's not enough for you, his performance stats are also very impressive, as one would imagine given his list of top five's this year. He's got a slew of top-ten PGA Tour numbers including a No. 1 ranking in scoring average.

I don't expect an Augusta replay at the Players Championship. If Rory finishes any worse than in the top five here, I would be very surprised.

Hunter Mahan

Hunter Mahan has been threatening to become something special since he joined the PGA Tour in 2004.

His first of five Tour victories came in 2007, and he has since played on the United States Ryder Cup and President's Cup teams.

Mahan has been gradually building himself into an elite player over the past nine years, but he is really getting the job done in 2012.

Mahan has two victories this season. He's the FedExCup regular season points leader. And he has moved all the way up to the No. 5 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Mahan's two victories so far this season came at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and the Shell Houston Open. He also has a T6 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open to his credit. Heck, outside of a slip-up at the Arnold Palmer, he has carded top-25 finishes in every tournament he's played in so far this year, including a T12 at the Masters.

What's not to like about Mahan's chances this week? He finished T6 here last year, just four shots behind eventual winner K.J. Choi, and I expect to see him in contention once again.

Phil Mickelson

If it hadn't been for two costly triple bogeys during his four rounds at the Masters, including one on the front nine on Sunday, Phil Mickelson likely would've walked away from Augusta with his fourth green jacket.

Likely.

I targeted Lefty as the favorite after three rounds because of his experience in an arena where knowledge is as important as the talent it takes to get to the destination. Some might say it's even more important. But victory was not to be for the World Golf Hall of Famer.

Mickelson has had an all-or-nothing 2012 season thus far. When he's been good, he's been very good—like at Pebble Beach where he won with a closing round 64. And the following week when he rode that momentum to a second-place playoff finish at the Northern Trust Open.

He was also T3 at the aforementioned Masters and T4 at the Houston Open.

But that's the all.

The nothing is nothing better than a T24 at the Arnold Palmer. He even missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open thanks to an opening round 77.

Mickelson won the Players Championship back in 2007. It was the last time an American won the event. And he played consistently at TPC Sawgrass last year. Rounds of 71-71-69-72 earned him just a T33 result, though.

Like Tiger Woods, I'm not sure which Phil Mickelson will show up this week.

Bubba Watson

Since his win at the 2012 Masters Tournament, Bubba Watson has become something of a household name these days. But, the media frenzy and the hype surrounding Bubba and his unique style of play should be quelled by the time he arrives at TPC Sawgrass, right?

I don't think so.

In fact, Bubba's first major championship victory at Augusta only raises the expectations on his game, especially in a setting like this, at one of the PGA Tour season's most anticipated tournaments.

Bubba has the ability to go low here. He proved that last year. OK, he finished T45 in 2011, but he managed two outstanding rounds of 66 on Friday and 68 on Sunday. The rest of his tournament was forgettable—matching 76s.

But that's Bubba Watson for you. When he plays consistently well for four rounds—when he puts all the pieces of his game together, as he is certainly capable—there is no question he is one of the best players in the world.

Bubba is on a bit of a roll. Aside from his impressive Masters victory, he has nothing but top-five finishes since the beginning of March and he will be looking to keep his momentum going at golf's greatest stadium.

Louis Oosthuizen

Louis Oosthuizen is playing some impressive golf these days.

After losing a second hole playoff heartbreaker to Bubba Watson at the Masters, Oosthuizen immediately traveled half way around the world and not only played well at the Malaysian Open, he won the tournament by three shots. It was his second victory this year.

Along with his historical Augusta albatross, it's been an eventful few weeks for the South African.

Oosthuizen, now the No. 12 ranked player in the world, made a name for himself with a runaway victory at the British Open at St. Andrews a couple years ago, but because of a nagging ankle injury suffered during a hunting trip, he all but disappeared since then.

Well, he's back. And now that he's healthy and playing great golf again, Oosthuizen is a threat to cash in at the Players Championship. He missed the cut here last year, but that was a different player than we are seeing now.