PGA Fantasy Golf: The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass Preview

This week we are in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida for The Players Championship. The tournament will be played at TPC Sawgrass, with the winner taking home $1,710,000 and 600 FedEx Cup points. K.J. Choi is the defending champion.

If you couldn't tell by the amount of money the winner will take home, this is a big tournament. This is not the week to hold back, and you are going to want to use the best golfers that you can. Previous success here as well as sustained solid play are going to be what we look for this week. As usual, if two players are fairly equal in your eyes, go with the better putter.

Yahoo! Weekly Lineup Game

Group A

Luke Donald (Starting)—Donald is among the top-ranked golfers in the world for a reason. He's an outstanding all-around player, and he's already won this season. He's coming off of a third-place finish in his last appearance. He ranks 13th on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy, fourth in strokes gained-putting and first in scrambling.

Matt Kuchar (Bench)—It's not that Kuchar has played bad golf, he just hasn't been as brilliant as he was in stretches last season. He remains very accurate, ranking 18th on Tour in driving accuracy and 23rd in greens in regulation, not to mention a tidy 12th in scrambling. I'm not expecting to go to my bench this weekend, but Kuchar offers some nice potential here should Donald falter.

Also worth using: Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Adam Scott and Phil Mickelson 

Group B

Rory McIlroy (Starting)—McIlroy plays a limited Tour schedule, and he's coming off a T2 finish last week. He's been one of the best players in the world for at least a year, and I see no reason not to use him here.

Lee Westwood (Starting)—Like McIlroy, Westwood plays a limited Tour schedule. He's been very solid this season and very much so lately, finishing T3 and T5 in his last two appearances. In an event like this, I'm not conserving Westwood.

Justin Rose (Bench)—Rose has played excellently this season and has been on a roll recently, with his last four finishes coming in at T15 or better. Not to mention he's already won a big event this season, the WGC-Cadillac Championship back in March. He ranks third on Tour in greens in regulation and 16th in scrambling.

Hunter Mahan (Bench)—Mahan has already won twice on Tour this season, so there's no reason to think that he can't win a third time. Mahan is among the most accurate golfers on Tour, ranking eighth in driving accuracy and fifth in greens in regulation.

Also worth using: Ernie Els, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler 

Group C

Louis Oosthuizen (Starting)—When in doubt, go with the player with the most difficult name to spell. Especially if this player has finished third and second, with the second-place finish being at Augusta in his last appearance. Oosthuizen is also an accurate golfer, ranking 23rd on Tour in driving accuracy and 11th in greens in regulation.

Jason Dufner (Bench)—Dufner is coming off of a victory in his last appearance at the Zurich Classic. His four previous appearances were all T24 or better. He ranks 12th on Tour in driving accuracy and 30th in greens in regulation. While I doubt he will win in back-to-back appearances, he remains a solid bench option for Group C this week.

Also worth using: Graeme McDowell 

Picks for The Golf Channel Fantasy Challenge

GROUP 1: Rory McIlroy

GROUP 2: Jim Furyk

GROUP 3: Cameron Tringale

GROUP 4: Brian Gay

Who to choose in your Weekly Survivor/Eliminator/Earnings League?

Go with your biggest guns this week. I've used McIlroy, Westwood, Mahan and Luke Donald already, so they're out.

Out of my remaining options, I would choose from Justin Rose, Steve Stricker, Phil Mickelson and Matt Kuchar.

I don't feel great about using Stricker or Mickelson here, so they're out. That leaves Rose and Kuchar. Rose has been the better golfer this season, so done and done—I'm rolling with Justin Rose this week.

Already Used: Bryce Molder, Steve Marino, Bill Haas, D.A. Points, Martin Laird, Hunter Mahan, K.J. Choi, Rory McIlroy, Jarrod Lyle, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Charl Schwartzel, John Senden, Bubba Watson, Graeme McDowell, Luke Donald, Bo Van Pelt, Fredrik Jacobson, Charles Howell III and Jim Furyk.

NOTE: Pay attention to your league rules/format. For instance, I am in an Earnings League that has two seasons. One is from the beginning of the year until the U.S. Open, and the other is everything after the Open until the end of the season. In such a format, there are only six events left in Season 1, so if this applies to you, now is the time to use your best golfers.

Good luck to all this week. If you have any comments or questions, please use the comments feature or reach out to me on Twitter.

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