Players Championship 2012: Top Contenders to Win Marquee Tournament

Even though the Players Championship isn't one of the season's four major tournaments, it still draws an elite field. This year is no exception with most of the sport's biggest names converging on TPC Sawgrass with hopes of picking up a huge victory.

Let's take a look at three of the top contenders to take home the hardware on Sunday. The Players has produced several surprising winners, so there should be no shortage of drama throughout the weekend.

Lee Westwood

It's not uncommon for Westwood to get overlooked when a field features a lot of big names, but the Englishman probably likes it that way. It takes a lot of pressure off his shoulders and allows him to focus solely on making shots.

He's had a strong season so far, finishing in the top 30 in all nine of his tournaments. In an era where golfers struggle to string together solid play from week to week, Westwood rarely finds himself out of the hunt heading into the weekend.

Even though he has four top-five finishes in six PGA Tour starts, he's still looking for his first win of the year. He came in fourth the last time he played this tournament in 2010 and he should be right back in the mix this time around.

Rory McIlroy

Every time McIlroy tees it up, he's a threat to win. Aside from a disappointing performance at the Masters, he hasn't finished outside the top five in any event this season. A second-place showing last week moved him back atop the world golf rankings.

Even though Luke Donald has played well outside of majors, he doesn't deserve to be ahead of McIlroy anymore, so the ranking swap makes sense. There isn't a player on the planet playing better golf right now than the Northern Irishman.

Fans are starting to embrace him as well. Tiger Woods has been the fan's choice for a long time, but McIlroy might be ready to give him a run for his money in that category. He should give them plenty to cheer about this week.

Tiger Woods

Anybody who claims they know what to expect from Woods in any given tournament is bonkers. He missed a cut for the eighth time in his career at the Wells Fargo Championship last week, but could just as easily bounce back to contend at the Players.

It's simply a mental battle for Woods at this point. He's completely healthy and has put in enough practice to become a threat once again. When things are going good, like they were during his win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, he looks like his old self.

Things can change in the blink of an eye, however. Once he loses control of his swing, even for a single shot, everything tends to start falling apart quickly. While it's impossible to predict which Woods will show up this week, you can't completely count him out.