Sports
Players Championship 2020 Predictions: Top Golfers to Watch at Sawgrass
Gerald Herbert/Associated PressThe majestic TPC Sawgrass will once again play host to The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, with Round 1 set to begin on Thursday.The Players is regarded as one of the most famous and lucrative non-major championship events on the PGA Tour. The tournament was formerly held in May, but it…
Gerald Herbert/Associated Press
The majestic TPC Sawgrass will once again play host to The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, with Round 1 set to begin on Thursday.
The Players is regarded as one of the most famous and lucrative non-major championship events on the PGA Tour. The tournament was formerly held in May, but it was moved to March this past year as part of a reshuffling of the Tour's schedule.
Irish superstar Rory McIlroy (-16) captured last year's title by one shot over American stalwart Jim Furyk while also holding off Englishman Eddie Pepperell and Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas, who each earned a share of the low round on that Sunday.
McIlroy enters this week playing excellent golf. He has finished no worse than fifth in each of his first seven starts to the 2020 season, including a win at the WGC-HSBC Champions event back in November.
One notable absentee this week will be 2019 Masters champion Tiger Woods, who announced he will not play because his back is not ready for competitive action.
Woods' season got off to a good start with a win at the Zozo Championship last fall as well as a successful captaincy of Team USA at the President's Cup, but the defending Masters champion will be cautious as Augusta draws nearer.
Who are some of the others expected to contend at Sawgrass this week? Here are the top golfers to watch.
Webb Simpson
Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press
Simpson won The Players in 2018 by four shots thanks in part to a six-under 66 on Thursday and an even more impressive 63 on Friday. A four-under 68 on Saturday gave Simpson plenty of cushion as he struggled in the final round.
The 2012 U.S. Open champion has an excellent track record and, perhaps more importantly, is playing tremendous golf early in the year. Simpson won the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February and also has a pair of top-three finishes at the RSM Classic and Sony Open in Hawaii.
Simpson is hardly the longest player off the tee, but he's sixth in strokes gained and second in scoring average, per the Tour website. He also ranks seventh in greens in regulation.
The steady play and track record of success at Sawgrass should make Simpson a contender once again.
Sungjae Im
Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press
The 21-year-old from the Republic of Korea is already making quite the name for himself.
Im is the leader in the FedEx Cup standings thanks in part to a win at the Honda Classic as well as a third top-three finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill last week. He is playing some of his best golf at just the right time, which usually bodes well for a course as demanding and precise as Sawgrass.
Like Simpson, Im is not the longest player off the tee. But he is a commanding ball striker who can shape the golf ball in both directions, and he makes a lot of birdies. Im ranks first in total birdies and 10th in birdie average.
Moreover, Im is still in the honeymoon phase of being relatively unknown among fans of the Tour. That might help him get off to a hot start on Thursday. In which case, watch out.
Patrick Reed
Fernando Llano/Associated Press
Reed is one of the most polarizing players on Tour.
The man who has become known as “Captain America” for his play in international competitions has also had numerous dust-ups with fellow players and media personnel, and he was recently criticized after receiving a two-shot penalty at the Hero World Challenge in December.
However, there is no disputing Reed is one of the most competitive golfers in any field. He boasts a win at the WGC-Mexico Championship and multiple top-ten finishes this year, and he is also one of the best putters in the sport.
Reed ranks third in strokes gained putting, second in one-putt percentage, second in birdie conversion and first in putting average.
Love him or hate him, Reed is usually at or near the top of the leaderboard in marquee events. Expect more of the same this week.
Winner Prediction: Rory McIlroy
John Raoux/Associated Press
Nobody has ever won back-to-back Players titles since the inception of the championship back in 1974. There is reason to believe McIlroy could accomplish that feat.
McIlroy has been in contention in every single event this year. He is one of the best ball strikers in golf and has a prodigious driving ability.
The 30-year-old ranks second in driving distance and second in strokes gained tee-to-green. He is also automatic when he has 100-125 yards into greens, with an average distance of 12'2″ from the flag (first on Tour). Oh, and he also ranks first in scrambling, for good measure.
Realistically, this might come down to how McIlroy is feeling with the putter. If he is hitting a decent number of fairways, he will always have the chance to compete because of his distance and ball flight in attacking various pins.
If McIlroy putts it well with the flat stick, expect him to repeat as champion at The Players.
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