Players Championship Odds 2018: Vegas Projections for Top Players in Field

Outside of golf's major tournaments, it doesn't get any bigger than the Players Championship.

The 2018 edition at TPC Sawgrass begins on Thursday, and all of the world's top 50 golfers are set to participate.

That is an indication of just how competitive the field is in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Throw in a resurgent Tiger Woods—back at the Players for the first time since 2015 and playing alongside Phil Mickelson—and you have a tournament that, according to Jordan Spieth, is "harder to win than a major," per Mike McAllister of the PGA Tour.

World No. 4 Spieth could be one of the top contenders in Florida this week if he finds his best form.

The bookies have him among the favourites, alongside Jason Day—fresh from his win at the Wells Fargo Championship—Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy.

Here are the latest odds before the action gets under way, per OddsShark:

Rory McIlroy +1400

Jason Day +1400

Justin Thomas +1400

Jordan Spieth +1400

Dustin Johnson +1800

Rickie Fowler +1800

John Rahm +2200

Henrik Stenson +2800

Justin Rose +3000

Paul Casey +3300

Phil Mickelson +3300

Tiger Woods +3300

Every threesome that tees off on Thursday will be packed with quality.

Mickelson and Woods will have 2015 champion Rickie Fowler for company, while Spieth, Thomas and McIlroy are together in another of the headline groups.

Defending champion Si Woo Kim will be playing alongside major winners Adam Scott and Martin Kaymer, and the all-English trio of Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood is sure to entertain.

Warren Little/Getty Images

Only six players have ever won the Players Championship on multiple occasions—Jack Nicklaus won three, while Fred Couples, Steve Elkington, Hal Sutton, Davis Love III and Woods all have two.

For context, each of the four majors have at least 17 multiple winners.

The majors have all been running significantly longer than the Players, but it still serves to illustrate how difficult a tournament it is to win.

As is the fact that no player has ever won the Players Championship in consecutive years.

South Korea's Kim will attempt to break that run this year by defending his title. 

But, given the incredible strength of the field, the more likely outcome would be a first-time winner, with McIlroy, Spieth and Thomas all going for their maiden victories.