The 38th Annual Players Championship at the TPC Sawgrass begins today in Ponte Vedra Beach Florida. There are 144 PGA Tour professionals competing for $1.9 million of compensation over the next four days. The weather is scheduled to be 80 and sunny on Thursday and Friday. The weather will be more "Florida-like" on Saturday and Sunday where temperatures will be in the low 80's with a 20% chance of rain. Across the board scoring should be very low the first couple of days and then even out the last two days. With that in mind, the winner will probably be someone in the top 10 on Saturday who shoots a very low score on Sunday when the field is not scoring very well. Here are my Winners, my Not Surprised, and my reasoning.
Remember I had Bubba as a potential Masters winner last month.
Winners
Phil Mickelson-Phil won in Ponte Vedra Beach in 2007. He knows how to handle the course. He has been playing well but has not won in a couple months. This is a high profile event which means that his game should be sharp. Phil has the ability to shoot a low score under pressure on Sunday which will be required of the winner.
Luke Donald- Luke is the number one ranked player in the world(golf rankings are slow to change). This tournament has been dominated by European winners and runners up. Since 2007, 6 of the 18 winners and runners up were domiciled in Europe. Luke has not won a high level PGA Tour event. This week could be his time. When I think about Luke's chances I recall 2008 when Sergio Garcia won at Sawgrass which was his first "big time" win.
Sergio Garcia- Like Phil, Sergio has won this event. Sergio won in 2008 in a playoff against Paul Goydos. He has proven that he can win under pressure on the 17th and 18th holes. Unlike Phil, Sergio has to get a 3-4 stroke lead going into Sunday to win. I don't think he can shoot a 65, like Phil can, and win from behind. However, I do think if he has a nice lead going into Sunday that he can win.
Rory McIllroy - The Eagles et All rankings which are done by sight have Rory McIllroy ranked as the number one golfer in the World. If his approach shots improve over last week and everything else being equal he will win here going away.
I am not surprised winners
Graham Dalaet - Injured in 2011 and made $40k. The Canadian is healthy in 2012 and has made 400k so far. He placed very well a couple weeks ago. He is frequently on the first page the leaderboard on Thursday and Friday. If he can keep it going on Saturday and Sunday he will place in the top 10 with a strong chance to win.
Paul Goydos- Goydos made a name for himself here in 2008 by finishing second in a playoff to Sergio Garcia while wearing a Long Beach State hat. He did not have a sponsor. He has been a top finisher here a couple times. The course seems to suit his eye.
Tiger Woods - Tiger did not make the cut last week. Quail Hollow is the relatively poor mans Augusta National however. Not making the cut there happens to alot of people. That being said, TPC Sawgrass has not been dominated by Tiger over the years. He did win back in 2001. 2001 was pre-juice and sluts Tiger. 2012 is post-juice and sluts Tiger. Anything could happen with him this week.
Davis Love III - Mr. Love won The Players Championship in 1992 and in 2003. Davis has been playing well and his name seems to pop up in the top 20 every once in a while. He could make a run here or at the PGA Championship this year.
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