Players Championship 2023 Bets: For Degenerate Gamblers and Golf Junkies

“If a lot of people gripped a knife and fork the way they do a golf club, they’d starve to death.”

― Sam Snead

Doin Lines - The Players Championship

Just like last week, this weeks field is STACKED. 43 of the top 50 golfers will be competing at TPC Sawgrass, one of the more treacherous tracks in golf.

What You Need To Know

• There has never been a repeat winner at TPC Sawgrass. That will remain true this year as Cam Smith won it last, and he's suspended indefinitely. Although, he says he might just show up.

• Winner gets 600 FedExCup points, $4.5 million, PGA TOUR membership through 2028, and major exemptions.

• The Par 5 9th Hole should play at around 600yds this year

• The Par 3 17th hole is iconic for its island green, turning folks into mental midgets.

• PGA Tour Headquarters is basically right behind the course, you could hit CEO Jay Monahan with a rock.

• CEO of LIV Golf, Greg Norman, has the course record.

How Many Attempts Would It Take You?

Seriously, feel free to reply directly to this email and tell us how many shots you'd take to reach the famous Island green. For reference, here's a bunch of amateurs attempting it:

~100,000 golf balls are retrieved from the 17th at TPC Sawgrass every year

Now, we gamble.

Here are the lines for outright winner, top 5, and top 10. We are going DEEP on this one.

You can see all the lines over at DK Sportsbook.

In general, people put way too much emphasis on course history when betting golf, but occasionally there are tracks where we can get some actual insight and according to DataGolf.com, TPC Sawgrass is the 6th most predictive course in terms of historical performance impacting future performance.

Here are guys in the field that stand out in that category:

Adam Scott (Outright +9000)

• +1.92 SG over his last 67 rounds at TPC Sawgrass

  • 2022: MC

  • 2021: T48

  • 2019: T1

  • 22018: T11

  • 2017: T6

Matt Kuchar (Outright +10000)

• +1.54 SG over his last 52 rounds at TPC Sawgrass

  • 2022: MC

  • 2021: MC

  • 2019: T26

  • 2018: T17

  • 2017: 82

The old guys (it feels insane to call two dudes in their early 40's "old", but here we are) have had a rough go of it in their last couple of tries, but there is something there. I'll be passing on Kuchar, but Adam Scott has my attention.

The Full Card:

• Collin Morikawa (Outright +2200)

  • This course is built for ball-strikers and he might just be the best in the world.

• Viktor Hovland (Outright +2800)

  • His short game is about as good as mine, but that doesn't matter much when you pipe everything off the tee and throw darts from the fairway.

• Keegan Bradley (Outright +5000)

  • He is playing some of the best golf go his life recently gaining strokes in both Approach and Off-The-Tee in 9 of his last 10 tournaments.

• Adam Scott (Outright +9000)

  • See everything I said above

• Tom Kim (Top 10 +360)

  • I just love this guy

• Corey Connors (Top 10 +500)

  • Elite ball-striker who looked great at the API until he had some trouble on the weekend and finished iwith a “disappointing” T21.

• Chris Kirk (Top 10 +650)

  • Guy is on a tear lately plus we went to the same high school and I have one of his old drivers in my bag so that has to count for something

Golf Fact To Make You Seem Smart

I know I’m not alone when I say that the single most clichéd joke on the course is the one where you accidentally tap your ball off the tee while setting up, and your buddy goes “That’s a stroke!”

Wow! Haha! You sir, are a comedian!

Well, pro golfer, Zach Johnson, is well known for this golf faux pas.

When Z. Johnson is on the tee box, it’s best to wear a helmet. Especially after last years Players Championship, when he did this:

If you want to check out the wonderful Rules of Golf, Rule 6.2b says it’s not a stroke. Re-tee and play on. Oh wait, what about on the green? Same thing. Rule 13.1d. Simple as that. And weirdly enough there is no rule that says you *must* tell any corny ass joke about it!

Featured Groups for The Players

Oooooh lord! These featured groups for Thursday / Friday are the perfect way to set us up for a great weekend.

Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, and Max Homa: Thursday, 12:56pm, Hole 1

Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy: Thursday, 7:56am, Hole 10

Golf is Hard

Lou Stagner with a gem this morning on expectations vs reality for a 5 handicap.

Golf Shots Heard Round the World

• It's only 29 days until The Masters starts.

• The Purse at the players championship is HEFTY

• Accepting Reality - via The Fried Egg

• Breaking News From Awful TMZ says Tigers Ex is Suing

• Phil Mickelson Claims Tour Turned Down $1 Billy

For The Group Chat

Today, we've got two for ya.

Every year, the previous Masters Champion gets to host a dinner. This year, it will be an awkward mix of LIV Golfers and PGA Tour players, hosted by Scottie Scheffler. In accordance with the internet remaining undefeated, someone edited the invite.

And of course, a meme from the genius running our social media accounts:

Golf Thing We'd Buy If We Weren't Broke

This is, without question, the most famous "victory" putter ever produced by Scotty Cameron. Back in 1997, Tiger Woods famously won the Masters Tournament using a Scotty Cameron Newport putter. Tiger not only vaulted himself to worldwide fame by winning the 1997 Masters, he also did the same for Scotty Cameron putters.

$13,956.00 via Golden Age Auctions

That's all folks! See you for some Players Championship gambling updates.