The Players Championship 2024

Outrights

Our main fancy here is Justin Thomas (3.5pts each way, 22/1, 8 places), a previous winner here and whose recent form is simply screaming that he must be winning again sooner rather than later. Lying sixth in the field for strokes gained on approach in the last six months, he rates one of the most likely winners in the field and should arguably be a good bit closer to Scheffler in the market.

Shane Lowry (2pts each way, 33/1, 8 places) has become a little disappointing since securing his memorable Open victory at Portrush, but has been playing some lovely stuff of late. He doesn’t look the strongest of finishers on a Sunday, but stuck to the task well behind Scottie last week. Despite often being talked about as a short game master, the stats don’t back that up – he’s been gaining most of his ground on approach and this facet of his game should stand him in good stead for another big showing at Sawgrass.

Only one person in this field can top Scheffler’s approach stats in the last three months, and for that reason alone, Tom Hoge (2pts each way, 60/1, 8 places) is well worth including in our staking plan. He’s not been out of the top 30 in his last five outings and despite this impressive run of high finishes there’s still enough value in his price to make him of significant interest. A little bit of improvement around the greens would be great to see, but even without that, his iron play can carry him to another big paycheck here.

Eric Cole (1.5pts each way, 100/1, 8 places) continues to impress and appears to be one of the most likely to be the next first time winner on the Tour. A rare missed cut in the Cognizant Classic was swiftly followed by a return to his usual consistent level of form with a top 25 at Bay Hill. The premium on precision over power here should suit him nicely and although a bit more experience of Sawgrass would be ideal, this is compensated for in the available price.

Finally, we’ll give Tommy Fleetwood (2.5pts each way, 45/1, 8 places) a chance to secure his long overdue first win on the PGA Tour. It’s astonishing that he hasn’t yet managed to get over the line given the level of form he’s been showing, and his putting under pressure would have to be a concern. But his track record at Sawgrass stands up to close scrutiny and bar a missed cut last week his recent performances have been extremely solid.

It goes without saying that Scheffler is by some way the most likely winner and even prices around the 5/1 mark make a good bit of appeal. If he putts as well as he did at Bay Hill, a repeat runaway win is a distinct possibility. But while we feel there may be a little value in his price, we’re happy enough to let him win and hope that we can fill the places with at least a couple of our picks.