Featured Groups roundtable: THE PLAYERS Championship
11 Min Read
Editor's note: Brooks Koepka has withdrawn from THE PLAYERS Championship due to injury.
Defending FedExCup champion and world No. 1 Dustin Johnson leads 48 of the world’s top 50 into THE PLAYERS Championship after a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic. All but two of the current FedExCup top 30 will be in action, and Rory McIlroy will be the defending champion of sorts as he won in 2019, the last time all four rounds were played.
PGA TOUR LIVE, which will be free for Thursday’s first round, will offer exclusive early-round coverage of the action at TPC Sawgrass (Stadium Course), including 'Every Shot Live.'
RELATED:Full tee times
The field has been expanded from 144 to 154 to accommodate those who finished in the top 125 of last season’s FedExCup standings. Bryson DeChambeau, coming off a stirring victory at Bay Hill, McIlroy, Johnson, Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed are among the stars in the Featured Groups. To get you ready for LIVE’s coverage, we convened our experts for a roundtable discussion on the groups released so far. Enjoy.
HOW TO FOLLOW (All times ET)
Television: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC)
Every Shot Live: Live streaming of every shot hit at THE PLAYERS Championship will get underway Thursday morning from TPC Sawgrass. Nearly 100 cameras will capture roughly 31,000 strokes taken over approximately 430 rounds played. It will be available free through PGA TOUR LIVE on NBC Sports Gold on Thursday. See schedule below.
PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 6:30 a.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Groups), 8 a.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes), 6:40 a.m.-8 p.m. (Every Shot Live). Saturday, 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Groups), 12 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes), 7:50 a.m.-8 p.m. (Every Shot Live). Sunday, 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Groups), 12 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes), 7:50 a.m.-6 p.m. (Every Shot Live)
Radio: Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).
TOUR Pulse: Get the PGA TOUR app to utilize TOUR Pulse, which provides users the ability to experience a mix of content, such as video highlights, written hole summaries and stat graphics on every player after every hole they complete.
FEATURED GROUPS
LATE THURSDAY
Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa
One of these, Morikawa, is not like the others, Johnson and DeChambeau. What role does distance play at TPC Sawgrass?
CAMERON MORFIT: It’s certainly not insignificant; Davis Love III won the tournament twice. But I’ll go out on a limb and say Morikawa, who comes in hot after winning the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession, will win this group. He’s long enough, and his iron play is just too good. Combine it with his new “saw” putting grip and he’s going to be plenty dangerous, even if he does only have one competitive round there.
BEN EVERILL: When we moved from May to March in 2019, I remember a bunch of talk about how it would benefit the bombers more than had previously been the case. While there may have been some truth to that with Rory McIlroy winning and Johnson even getting his first PLAYERS top-10 finish, I would be remiss not to point out that 48-year-old Jim Furyk was runner-up. TPC Sawgrass doesn’t benefit any specific type – it benefits whoever is on his game across the spectrum. I can certainly see Morikawa winning on this cerebral layout, but part of me thinks Johnson is ready to add another huge title to his resume.
JEFF BABINEAU: Distance plays a role on any golf course – long and straight is always a strong mix – but I think it is less of a factor at TPC Sawgrass than other venues. To its credit, THE PLAYERS is one of the most democratic tournaments on the planet, and by that, I mean there is a wide variety of styles and games in its long roster of champions. Power players and shorter-hitting grinders have won the event. For every Rory McIlroy, or Tiger Woods, or Davis Love III, there is a Fred Funk, or Matt Kuchar, or Tim Clark – competitors who won despite giving up length to the field.
ROB BOLTON: How long have we been aware that a growing percentage of the sport’s elite are much longer off the tee than average, anyway? To that end, distance off the tee is a coincidence if it happens to support a skill set at TPC Sawgrass. As Jeff alludes, long and accurate should be rewarded, but with danger multiplied for even fractional misses, downshifting is the preferred driver of course management.
Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed
Rahm looked great through 54 holes of THE PLAYERS before suffering a minor meltdown on the 11th hole of the final round in 2019, and finishing well back. Does a moment and a day like that make you more or less inclined to put a player on your fantasy team?
MORFIT: It depends on how old the player is when he has the close call. For a guy in his late 30s or 40s, there can certainly be an element of, “If he hasn’t won it by now, he never will.” But Rahm is too young for that kind of thinking. He said Tuesday that he learned some important lessons, among them that he got to the course too early that day. He’ll be on my fantasy team for sure.
EVERILL: One swallow doesn’t make a summer. Rahm isn’t the only player to have meltdowns in his career – the important thing is he’s shown the ability to close strong against quality fields as well. Pretty good chance the Spaniard makes my team… if there is room after I slot in my favorite Aussies!
BABINEAU: Jon Rahm’s closing 76 at THE PLAYERS and T12 finish two years ago would seem more an aberration than something to make you shy away from picking him. For three rounds, he played beautifully, shooting 69-68-64 as he headed to Sunday. Rahm is where he is in the World Ranking (No. 2, behind only Dustin Johnson) because he all the tools to win anywhere, at any time.
BOLTON: We are all on the same clock, but time is relative to each of us individually. This is to say that two years in Rahm’s life is a long time. He’s matured and he’s been open to talking about experiencing that process in the public eye. Down deep, that passion is what motivates him to compete, so it’s almost a shame that he’s compelled to answer to how it can be perceived, but all professional athletes learn how to compartmentalize. As for Ben’s strategy, until he eliminates his heart from the process of building his fantasy teams, the bronze medal is his only reasonable goal in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf.
LATE FRIDAY
Rory McIlroy, Webb Simpson, Sergio Garcia
McIlroy and Simpson are the only two players currently ranked in the top 20 in the world who have won the PLAYERS. Why? And do you expect that number to go up in the next five years?
MORFIT: TPC Sawgrass plays no favorites, but I think that number will move to three by the end of the week. There’s just too much talent in that top 20. Rahm, Morikawa, Koepka and Hovland seem like the most likely winners, but Berger is going to be tough, and keep an eye on No. 19 Harris English, who got off to a hot start (65) before the tournament was cancelled a year ago.
EVERILL: Like Cam says – the course allows any player who brings their best to thrive, which ensures a wide selection of talent can capture the coveted trophy. But it is strange that only two of the boys way up high have won it thus far. Over the next five years two or three of the current top 20 will change that. Like I said above – it might just be Johnson’s turn first.
BABINEAU: A strange stat, yes, but at TPC Sawgrass it’s a simple numbers game – top 20 against maybe the next 80 in the field, any of whom can win. Lots of top-20 players in this week’s field are on nice runs, so I’d push my money onto the table this week and say a top-20 player will emerge with the victory. Sort through that top 20, and there are many players (short list: Xander Schauffele, Tyrrell Hatton, Patrick Cantlay, Daniel Berger) that would seem poised to win a very big tournament very soon.
BOLTON: That stat is misleading because it uses only today’s OWGR. Still, while Rickie Fowler was 13th in the world when he won in 2015 and Jason Day was No. 1 when he prevailed in 2016, Martin Kaymer was 61st in 2014 and Si Woo Kim was 75th in 2017, so that’s enough recent evidence of the diplomatic reality of the course for the PGA TOUR’s strongest field. That’s part of why this tournament is so compelling. Expect the unexpected.
Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland
Thomas hasn’t played to his lofty standards in 2021, and Cantlay bowed out of the WGC-Workday Championship with a stomach ailment, and Hovland has played just one competitive round in THE PLAYERS, last year. Who’s most likely to bust out with a W?
MORFIT: The temptation is to say Cantlay, but I’m going with Thomas. I like what I saw from him at the WGC-Workday and Waste Management Phoenix Open, even though top-15 finishes don’t exactly grab headlines. Feels like he’s due.
EVERILL: Struck match between them all here… I’ll plump for Cantlay. If his ball-striking is on point and his putter just half cooperative there is no doubt he will be in contention. He’s shown good form in the early part of 2021 and – to be honest – its more about what the others may not have this week. Thomas is going to do something big this season… but outside influences slowed this down. I think he’s about a month out from his best stuff coming thick and fast. Hovland will almost win a PLAYERS before he actually wins a PLAYERS.
BABINEAU: There are a lot of world-class players who would love to be in the “dip” that World No. 3 Justin Thomas is in. He has eight finishes of T15 or better in 2020-21, including a T8 at the U.S. Open and solo fourth at the Masters. Hovland cooled after two good opening rounds at Bay Hill, but he still is in good form. I’m choosing Patrick Cantlay in this group. He missed a start because of sickness, not injury, so he’s fresh, and his ballstriking and level demeanor will be a real asset at THE PLAYERS.
BOLTON: JT is No. 7 in my Power Rankings, and even that’s a slight. He opens on my bench in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf. While Hovland (No. 13) hasn’t been discouraged in his tournament debuts as a professional, THE PLAYERS at TPC Sawgrass is on another plane. Let’s give him at least one spin before assigning expectations. And Cantlay (not ranked) is a curious fit. He’s projected to record his first top 20 in what is his fourth appearance, but he’s part of that body of evidence of how the course does not discriminate.
Hideki Matsuyama, Harris English, Si Woo Kim
Matsuyama was leading after a first-round 63 last year, while English and Kim were tied for second after each shooting 65. Which of the three are you most curious about in terms of how he would have followed up that great first round, and which one is in the best position coming in this year?
MORFIT: Given what English has done since then, in particular winning the recent Sentry Tournament of Champions, I’m most curious about him. I also feel like he’s the hottest player coming into this week.
EVERILL: Yeah I’ll echo Cam here. More so because English also had just the fifth albatross in PLAYERS history in the 2019 tournament also. Seems he might be trending at this venue…
BABINEAU: Kim is most intriguing to me. He is so hit or miss, it seems. A victory at American Express has been followed by a handful of very pedestrian finishes (five starts, one made cut) and his WD last week after an opening 80 at Arnie's Place. At 25, he already has won three times, but his back doesn't always cooperate. Harris would seem a great fit for TPC Sawgrass, and the front-runner in this group to be a contender at THE PLAYERS.
BOLTON: While not piping hot, Matsuyama enters with the strongest trajectory. It’s earned him slot No. 15 in the Power Rankings. Just as I won’t punish Rahm for one bad round at a terrible time two years ago (above), scores in the opening round last year also are irrelevant. They’re nothing more than snapshots.