PGA best bets: Who's the favorite at Players Championship?
There were plenty of surprises at last weekend's Arnold Palmer Invitational, and they have impacted the odds for this week as The Players Championship 2023 gets set to tee off at TPC Sawgrass on Thursday.
Perhaps one of the biggest shockers over last weekend's event at Bay Hill was that world No. 1 Jon Rahm appeared to fall back to earth following an absolutely dominant start to his 2023 PGA campaign. The Spaniard finished T-39 and one over par on Sunday, and while the tough weekend didn't shake him from his post atop the official world golf ranking, it has him listed at +900 odds and not the current favorite at DraftKings for The Players Championship.
Not surprisingly, Rory McIlroy is the current favorite on the Players Championship field at +850 odds following his strong finish at the Arnold Palmer that ended with him tied for second with Harris English.
Another non-surprise: Scottie Scheffler rounds out the top-three in DK's odds with a +1000 chance of winning the Players Championship. Scheffler, who was defending his Arnold Palmer title last weekend, ended the event T-4.
There will not, however, be a defending champ at TPC Sawgrass this weekend. Cam Smith won the event last year but is not eligible to compete in 2023 since he defected to Greg Norman's LIV Golf circuit. The likes of Rahm, McIlroy and Scheffler won't compete against Smith or any of his LIV cohorts until next month when the dueling golf leagues mix at The Masters at Augusta National.
More must-reads: