The spotlight turns to TPC Sawgrass where The Players Championship welcomes a field of 123 of the world’s best golfers.
A $25 million purse is at stake for the PGA Tour’s de factor “fifth major,” with Rory McIlroy set to defend his championship.
McIlroy sat out the final 36 holes at the Arnold Palmer Invitational over the weekend with a sore back and watched Akshay Bhatia beat Daniel Berger in a thrilling playoff — the first time this season it took more than 72 holes to find a winner.
Like at the three previous signature events, McIlroy sits behind just one name, according to the oddsmakers: Scottie Scheffler, who won consecutive Players in 2023 and 2024. How much will the injury impact McIlroy’s title defense? Is it Xander Schauffele’s time after losing a 54-hole lead to Scheffler two years ago?
Let’s see take a look at the projected favorites in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Players Championship odds (as of Monday, courtesy of DraftKings):
- Scottie Scheffler (+370)
- Rory McIlroy (+1200)
- Xander Schauffele (+2350)
- Collin Morikawa (+2400)
- Tommy Fleetwood (+2600)
- Ludvig Åberg (+2800)
- Cameron Young (3200)
- Si Woo Kim (+3700)
- Hideki Matsuyama (+3700)
- Russell Henley (+4000)
- Chris Gotterup (+4200)
- Akshay Bhatia (+4200)
Who will win the 2026 Players Championship?
There’s no question Scheffler is intimidating to fade here but if you’re looking to do so, a good option would be Russell Henley at +4000.
Other than a missed cut at the Genesis, all Henley has done this season is finish in the top 20 in every tournament in which he’s played.
You have to like the way he defended his title last weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, finishing T-6 and bogey-free on the weekend.
What are Brooks Koepka’s odds to win 2026 Players?
Glad you asked. Koepka is making his return to Ponte Vedra Beach as part of the PGA Tour’s Returning Member program. He’s coming off a strong performance at his hometown course of PGA National, where he finished T-9 at the Cognizant Classic.
Coming in rested to The Players, Koepka’s odds to win were +5900 Sunday but skyrocketed as of Monday. The five-time major winner sat in a group below Kurt Kitayama when we went to bed last night and now is positioned above Viktor Hovland:
- Brooks Koepka (+4300)
- Viktor Hovland (+4400)
- Matthew Fitzpatrick (+4500)
- Min Woo Lee (+4700)
- Jake Knapp (+4800)
- Robert MacIntyre (+4900)
- Patrick Cantlay (+4900)
- Rickie Fowler (+5000)
- Sepp Straka (+5100)
- Ben Griffin (+5400)
- Shane Lowry (+5400)
Best longshot to win at TPC Sawgrass
Longshots are anyone with higher than 45-to-1 odds to win. That short list beyond Lowry includes: Maverick McNealy, Harris English, Kurt Kitayama, Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth, Sam Burns and Daniel Berger.
Berger is playing some good golf to be +5900, but the value play if we’re taking them as one large group is Viktor Hovland at +4400 who is listed underneath Koepka now. Hovland’s a top-10 finisher here in 2022 and 2023, and ready to play spoiler.
- What went wrong in Berger's final round at Bay Hill?Daniel Berger spoke to Golf Channel's Smylie Kaufman about gaining confidence from his experience at the Arnold Palmer Invitational despite losing in a one-hole playoff to Akshay Bhatia. The Golf Central also took more positives than negatives from Berger's 73 holes in Orlando saying the road back from multiple injuries is "always bumpy."
Players Championship 2026 best bet
Hovland is another good pick in the T-20 prop market where he’s sitting at plus-money including ties, which is around the same listing price as API champ Akshay Bhatia.
Bhatia is playing too good over his last four tournaments to ignore at this +160 number, and therefore he’s our sure-fire best bet of the 2026 Players.
Scheffler and Schauffele bonus best bet
A fun play this weekend is Scottie Scheffler to top-10 parlayed with Xander Schauffele to top-20 (including ties). Together that pays out at 2:1 on DraftKings. Love that for fun.