Players Championship 2014: Updated Betting Lines and Tips for Golf Tournament
Long considered golf's unofficial "fifth major," The Players Championship returns to our lives this weekend.
Tiger Woods won't be at Sawgrass to defend his title, but nearly every other star on Tour will be there, making it a stacked field once again.
Let's take a look at where every player stands prior to Thursday's start.
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Odds
| Rory McIlroy | 14-1 |
| Adam Scott | 14-1 |
| Matt Kuchar | 18-1 |
| Luke Donald | 22-1 |
| Sergio Garcia | 22-1 |
| Justin Rose | 25-1 |
| Henrik Stenson | 25-1 |
| Phil Mickelson | 25-1 |
| Jordan Spieth | 30-1 |
| Lee Westwood | 30-1 |
| Jim Furyk | 33-1 |
| Zach Johnson | 33-1 |
| Bubba Watson | 35-1 |
| Keegan Bradley | 45-1 |
| Dustin Johnson | 50-1 |
| Charl Schwartzel | 55-1 |
| Jimmy Walker | 60-1 |
| Rickie Fowler | 60-1 |
| Harris English | 60-1 |
| Ian Poulter | 60-1 |
| Graham Delaet | 60-1 |
| Graeme McDowell | 60-1 |
The Favorites: Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott (15-1)
Who else?
Rory McIlroy, the most criticized good golfer while Woods remains sidelined, "disappointed" at the Masters with an eighth-place finish, thanks to a dreadful 77 on Friday, and he followed that up with another eighth at the Wells Fargo Championship last week—once again marred by a terrible round on Friday.
On the season, he now has five top 10s in seven tournaments—but no wins. As he told the Associated Press, via FOXNews.com, he's getting tired of "back-door" top-10 finishes:
"I'm in the top 10 every week and it is fine, it's whatever. But it's not wins.
It's another solid week. They're top 10s, but they're top 10s without getting in contention either. I don't want to back door and top 10 it every week. It's nice to pick up a nice paycheck but it doesn't really get the adrenaline going.
"
McIlroy is too talented to keep coming up short like this. He will stop his winless streak soon enough, and he finished eighth here last year after missing the cut in his previous three tries.
As for Adam Scott, a decade after winning at Sawgrass, he can improve to World No. 1 with another victory.
"I realize how young I really was then," he said of his win 10 years ago, via PGATour.com's Brian Wacker. "I would take a PLAYERS victory a lot less for granted now."
Scott is a near lock to be in contention in the big events. He has finished in the top eight in seven of the last 13 majors and notched two-straight top-20 finishes at Sawgrass.
Expect him to be near the top of the leaderboard once again.
The Sleeper: Rickie Fowler (60-1)
First, in your weekly reminder that pros are way too good, here's Rickie Fowler and others hitting better than you with their weak hand:
Fowler hasn't won on Tour in exactly two years, when he beat McIlroy and D.A. Points in a playoff at the Wells Fargo Championship to notch his only victory.
Still, the 25-year-old has never been short on talent (see above), and he has shown signs of putting it all together over the last month, finishing sixth at the Shell Houston Open before tying for fifth at the Masters.
Of course, he followed that up by missing the cut at TPC Louisiana and finishing 38th last week, but sleeper picks aren't meant to be perfect.
Fowler finished second at Sawgrass in 2012, and at 60-1, it's worth betting he can do it again.
The Deep Sleeper: Martin Flores (125-1)
Ranked 147th in the world, Martin Flores isn't going to command a whole lot of attention this week.
Don't let that fool you, though: The 32-year-old is playing extremely well.
In his last seven tournaments, Flores has tallied five top 20s, including a third-place finish at the Wells Fargo Championship last week.
He's solid with both his driver (46th on Tour in average driving distance) and putter (48th in strokes gained via putting), and if he continues his recent momentum, he'll make some real noise at Sawgrass.
A first career Tour win coming at the year's fifth major is probably unlikely, but this is great value.
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