Looking for 2018 The Players Championship picks, either for betting or fantasy golf games like DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo, Golf Channel or the PGA Tour?
We have your 2018 The Players Championship rankings and expert picks, as we do each week of the PGA Tour season.
The Players is here! It may not be a major, but it's a damn good tournament at a course confounding to most of the field -- even the ones who have played there a decade or more.
Sawgrass demands great approach play and steady, patient putting. If you answer Pete Dye's demands with your approach play, putting gets dramatically easier. If your approach play wavers, you'll face a difficult two-putt for par or an even more-trying up-and-down to avoid a dropped shot. Worse fates lurk everywhere, so the leaderboard and tempo of the tournament can change in a hurry.
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2018 The Players Championship rankings: Top 10 picks
1. Rory McIlroy -- Despite driving being his best skill, Rory seems to always finish well here. He just does. And the tricky greens mitigate his bad putting.
2. Patrick Reed -- Patrick Reed is playing the best golf on the planet right now. He's not the best player in the world, but he's playing the best golf.
3. Justin Thomas -- JT has faltered now in multiple starts where he was SO close to obtaining the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking. It's officially a concern. But his talent is unbelievably good.
4. Jason Day -- Day's won twice in seven PGA Tour starts in calendar 2018. That's a great clup. Like Tiger in 2008. But Day hasn't really done really well with approach play. It's atrocious this year, which is a concern.
5. Dustin Johnson -- DJ should be an absolute stud here. Even taking away his amazing driving numbers, his approach play and putting have been top 30 this year on Tour.
6. Bryson DeChambeau -- Bryson's time is coming. It just is. He's played great golf of late, and he's got a penchant for Dye tracks. His putting isn't great, and on Dye's courses, it doesn't really have to be.
7. Paul Casey -- Casey is an absolute approach-play stud. I'm honestly not sure how he hasn't won this yet (OK, putting).
8. Jordan Spieth -- Spieth should -- SHOULD -- love this place. He almost won here in 2014. However, since that lost chance against Martin Kaymer, he hasn't made the cut. But he SHOULD do well.
9. Jon Rahm -- Rahm has been awesome in his last two individual starts, but Sawgrass just does not line up with his game, which is largely predicated on his great tee shots and upper-tier putting.
10. Henrik Stenson -- Stenson is a tour leader on the approach, he's won here and he's been in the top six in his last two individual starts.
My primary DraftKings lineup
- Paul Casey - $8,900
- Henrik Stenson - $8,800
- Patrick Reed - $8,700
- Bryson DeChambeau - $8,300
- Cameron Smith - $7,600
- Chesson Hadley - $7,400
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