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TPC Sawgrass welcomes the world’s best golfers for the 2020 Players Championship. The 144-man field is annually the strongest of the PGA Tour season, and Tiger Woods is one of just four golfers from the top 50 of the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings not in attendance this week. Here, we look at the top 30 fantasy golf options for The Players Championship.
TPC Sawgrass measures 7,189 yards and plays to a par of 72. Each of the last 11 winners finished 10-under par or better.
The Players Championship: Fantasy Golf Top 30
Here are my top-30 fantasy golf rankings for the 2020 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
30. Viktor Hovland
The Puerto Rico Open winner has struggled since what was expected to be an ice-breaking victory in the alternate event. He missed the cut at the difficult Honda Classic and tied for 42nd last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
29. Ian Poulter
Poulter ranks fifth in this field with 58 career rounds played at TPC Sawgrass, according to Data Golf. He has gained an average of 1.33 strokes per round in that time. He was a co-runner-up in 2017 but finished just T-56 last year.
28. Tyrrell Hatton
Hatton picked up his first career PGA Tour win last week while surviving difficult conditions at Bay Hill Club & Lodge, but he missed the cut at Sawgrass each of the last two years.
27. Shane Lowry
The reigning Open champion missed the cut here three of the past five years but will enter as a major champ for the first time. He’s among the best in the field in Strokes Gained: Around the Green.
26. Marc Leishman
The winner of the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open popped back up on the leaderboard last week and finished as the lone runner-up to Hatton. His putter is the only thing that can hold him back, and when it’s been on, he’s been a top finisher.
25. Scottie Scheffler
The PGA Tour rookie debuts at TPC Sawgrass ranked No. 27 in the Golfweek rankings. He tied for 15th last week amid a horrible putting performance while his tee-to-green and approach games were nearly perfect.
24. Abraham Ancer
Ancer’s top finish of 2020 thus far was a runner-up result at The American Express, but he also tied for sixth in a strong field at the European Tour’s Saudi International. He ranks near the top of the field in Proximity from 125-150 Yards, a key distance for second shots at TPC Sawgrass.
23. Collin Morikawa
Morikawa had a disappointing weekend at Bay Hill, but he still finished inside the top 10 for the first time in a full-field event in 2020. He’s now up to 21 consecutively made cuts for the longest active streak on the PGA Tour.
22. Matt Kuchar
Kuch, the 2020 Players champ more recently tied for third in 2016. He hasn’t finished higher than T-17 in the three years since, but he has 50 career rounds played here to rank among the most experienced in the field.
21. Henrik Stenson
Stenson missed the cut last year and in 2016, but he has finishes of T-17 in 2015, T-16 in 2017 and T-23 in 2018. He ranks second in my stat model at Fantasy National in Greens in Regulation Gained over the last 36 rounds played by everyone in the field on courses shorter than 7,200 yards.
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20. Justin Rose
Rose missed the cut at Bay Hill and PGA National in each of his last two events to slip to No. 28 in the Golfweek rankings. He struggled with the flat stick last week and would have at least made it to the weekend with an average putting performance.
19. Tony Finau
Finau missed the cut back-to-back in 2016 and 2017, but he has responded with a T-57 finish in 2018 and a T-22 result in 2019. He missed the cut last week at Bay Hill, but he hasn’t missed the cut in back-to-back weeks since missing three straight from last year’s Memorial Tournament through the Travelers Championship.
18. Gary Woodland
Woodland has strung together consecutive strong results. He tied for 12th at the WGC-Mexico Championship before a T-8 result at the Honda Classic. The US Open winner tied for 30th here last year.
17. Jason Day
Day would be higher in these rankings if not for the back injury which forced his withdrawal at Bay Hill last week. The Aussie won in 2016 and has a T-8 and T-5 finish the last two years. He remains among the best in any field in SG: Around the Green.
16. Sungjae Im
Yet another recent first-time winner in this year’s field, Im missed the cut in his TPC Sawgrass debut last year. His best putting performances have come on Bermuda greens over his career, and he has been extremely strong off the tee the last two weeks.
15. Rickie Fowler
Fowler bounced back from a missed cut at PGA National to finish T-18 last week. He won here in 2015, but he missed the cut two of the last four years.
14. Brooks Koepka
Betting Koepka right now means banking solely on pedigree, which is never a bad idea. His best finish in the last five years was a T-11 in 2018, and he finished just T-56 last year. He hasn’t finished inside the top 10 in any global event since the Tour Championship, but he is Brooks Koepka.
13. Xander Schauffele
Schauffele debuted with a T-2 in 2018 but missed the cut last year. He has made the cut in four of five events to open 2020, but he has a top finish of just T-14 in Mexico.
12. Paul Casey
Casey is one of the top statistical fits by my stat model, but the veteran Englishman has struggled at TPC Sawgrass over his career. He has gained just 0.39 strokes per round across 29 rounds, and he missed the cut last year.
11. Patrick Cantlay
Cantlay returns from an injury absence to play for the first time since a T-17 result at the Genesis Invitational. He missed the cut last year following T-22 and T-23 finishes in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
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10. Patrick Reed
Reed has had a pedestrian run at TPC Sawgrass. While he has made the cut four of the last five years, his top finish was a T-22 in 2017. He’s the most recent winner of a WGC event in a comparable strength of field.
9. Bryson DeChambeau
DeChambeau has strung together three straight top-five finishes in 2020. He’s played here each of the last two years with a T-37 in 2018 and a T-20 last year.
8. Webb Simpson
The 2018 champ has 15 top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour since, including his 2020 win at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
7. Adam Scott
Scott won here in 2004. He already claimed victory at the Genesis Invitational to start his 2020 campaign, after closing out his 2019 season with a win in the Australian PGA Championship.
6. Hideki Matsuyama
Matsuyama does well in the stadium setting of TPC Sawgrass and TPC Scottsdale. He has a T-7 and T-8 finish in the last four years.
5. Tommy Fleetwood
Fleetwood has gained more strokes per round at TPC Sawgrass than anyone else in the field with at least 10 rounds played at 2.34 strokes per round. He tied for fifth last year after a T-7 in 2018 and needs his breakthrough win.
4. Jon Rahm
Rahm tied for 12th last year for his best result in three trips to TPC Sawgrass. He took the last two weeks off for rest following a T-3 in Mexico and T-17 at the Genesis Invitational.
3. Dustin Johnson
Johnson picked up his best result in The Players Championship last year with a T-5. He has been largely unimpressive early in 2020, but he remains an elite scorer on these shorter courses.
2. Justin Thomas
Since finishing T-3 in 2016, Thomas has finished T-75, T-11 and T-35 the last three years. His putter has been shaky early in the year, though he’s a contender anytime it doesn’t cost him strokes.
1. Rory McIlroy
The defending champ has seven straight top-five results in global events and five straight fifth-place finishes on the PGA Tour. His putter cost him again last week; however, he gained 0.7 strokes on these greens last year and he only needs to be average with the flat stick.
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