2015 The Players Championship
Where: Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA
When: Thursday, May 7 (First tee off 9:00pm AEST)
Purse: $10,000,000
The Players Championship or the unofficial “fifth major” looks ready to live up to expectations. TPC Sawgrass (Stadium course) will play host and the winner will walk away with a cool $1.8 million.
Sawgrass has always been known as one of the most difficult golf courses in the world with danger lurking around every corner. If you’re trying to picture the course you will probably be familiar with the par 3-17th which has the island green. Golfing great Ben Crenshaw once quoted “it’s STAR WARS golf, designed by Darth Vader”
Last year Martin Kaymer went wire-to-wire after tying the course record in the opening round. He now shares the honours with Greg Norman however Norman still holds the tournament record of -24 under par set in 1994. The last Australian to win The Players championship was Adam Scott in 2004. Scott and Norman are great ball strikers and that seems to be the obvious trend through the history of this tournament.
All the heavyweights are here this weekend but it’s now the Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth show. After Spieth secured his first major and Rory coming off his 10th tour victory, it really feels like the beginning of a decade-long battle for that world number one position.
The sportsbooks are obviously feeling the same about Rory and Jordanand that’s reflected in the betting market - Rory has opened as favourite at $8.40 and Spieth is not far behind him at $8.80 but after that it’s a big jump to Justin Rose at $22. This may become quite the ‘norm’ for opening odds with the two young guns in the field and that just means the odds can get a bit juicier on some of the outsiders. Here are a few players that we think are ‘over the odds’ in 2015 Player’s Championship.
The Players Championship Betting Tips
Lee Westwood - $55 at Betfair
Billy Horschel - $75 at Betfair
& The Aussie......
Want a patriotic punt on the golf this weekend? Marc Leishman looks like huge value at Betfair (he's $100-1 at most sports books) and it's only a matter of time before he puts up a big result.
Marc Leishman - $180 at Betfair
+ Leishman 1st Round Leader - $70 at Betfair
