It's an insult to the actual major golf championships to call The Players Championship the "fifth major," as the PGA Tour does, but there's no debating this is a big week in golf.
The biggest non-major event on the PGA Tour calendar gets started Thursday afternoon at TPC Sawgrass with an absolutely star-studded field making its way to the Tour's world headquarters.
Justin Thomas will try to defend his title, as players continue to ramp up for major season, which will be less than a month away when the first tee ball flies Thursday morning at Sawgrass. Scottie Scheffler, meanwhile, comes in with all the momentum in the world. He hung on to outlast a host of golfers to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational during another brutal Bay Hill weekend. Scheffler has now won two of his last three starts (with a seventh-place finish at the Genesis sandwiched in between) and has worked himself into the top five in the world.
Not only is it a huge week for Tour players, but it's also one of the most exciting weeks of the season for golf bettors and DFS players.
Here's an opening look at the betting odds for the Players from DraftKings Sportsbook.
Jon Rahm +1000
Justin Thomas +1000
Rory McIlroy +1600
Collin Morikawa +1600
Viktor Hovland +2000
Scottie Scheffler +2000
Patrick Cantlay +2000
Xander Schauffele +2500
Hideki Matsuyama +2500
Cameron Smith +3000
Adam Scott +3000
Daniel Berger +3500
Sergio Garcia +4000
Dustin Johnson +4000
Brooks Koepka +4000
Matthew Fitzpatrick +4000
One thing to keep in mind as you fill out your betting cards and lineups for the week: Weather looks like it could be an issue this weekend at Sawgrass. Early Jacksonville forecasts have an 80% chance of thunderstorms on Thursday and Friday and straight rain (50% chance) on Saturday. The wind also figures to be a factor in what could be a tricky weekend weather-wise.
