By Tom LaMarre
The heart of the PGA Tour season is upon us, starting with The Players Championship this week at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and the Masters is less than a month away.
Those biggies are important to all the players, but this year, no more than top-ranked Rory McIlroy.
Beginning Thursday, McIlroy will try to become the first golfer to go back-to-back in The Players, but that’s nothing compared to what he will face at Augusta National—where he again will try to join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to complete the Career Grand Slam.
McIlroy’s game is just about where he wants it to be with seven consecutive finishes in the top five, including a victory in the WGC-HSBC Champions, but he’s a little frustrated that he has been unable to finish off those other tournaments when he was in contention.
“There’s a lot of similarities between the start of this year and the start of last year,” McIlroy said on Sunday after fading to a tie for fifth in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. “A lot of chances not converting, but knowing that the game’s pretty much there. So just keep knocking on the door and go up to Ponte Vedra and work on a few things. And, yeah, get back at it again.
“I’m doing what I expect myself to do every week, which is giving myself a chance. I give myself a chance most weeks and the more weeks than not, it’s not going to happen. That’s just the way golf is. I mean, I think my win percentage on tour is like 10 percent and I think that’s pretty high for anyone not being Tiger Woods.
“ … Nobody has successfully defended (at The Players) and to be the first would be cool; to replicate what I did last year would be wonderful.”
McIlroy won’t have to worry about Woods this week because the two-time Players champion is not playing because of back stiffness, but the rest of the best golfers in the world will tee it up in what many people consider “The Fifth Major.”
Among those given the best chance to keep McIlroy from repeating include Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Webb Simpson, Adam Scott, Patrick Reed, Sungjae Im, Patrick Cantlay and Tommy Fleetwood.
Brooks Koepka, Dustin Thomas, Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler have not had their best stuff lately, but are capable of turning things around at any time.
But right now, Rory is the one.
BEST BETS
- Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland – This is where the defending FedEx Cup champion really got rolling last season, winning The Players by one stroke over Jim Furyk for the first of his three victories. McIlroy has finished in the top five in each of his last seven tournaments and has placed in the top 10 on three other occasions at TPC Sawgrass.
- Justin Thomas, United States – After losing his lead in the FedEx Cup standings, fourth-ranked Thomas will be looking to jump right back on top during a season in which he has won twice and recorded four finishes in the top five, plus a tie for sixth in the WGC-Mexico in his last start. His best finish in the Players was a tie for third in 2016.
- Jon Rahm, Spain – Having risen to No. 2 in the world rankings, Rahm has his eye on the top spot after a win in Dubai late last year and four top 10s since, including a tie for third in the WGC-Mexico in his last start. Took the 54-hole lead in The Players last year with a 64, before struggling to an ugly 76 to tie for 12th, his best result in three tries.
- Webb Simpson, United States – The 2018 Players champ by four strokes, Simpson tied for 16th in his title defense and makes an 11th appearance at TPC Sawgrass, where he has four top-20 results. His win in Phoenix last month, the sixth of his PGA Tour career, is one four top-10s this season, including second in the RSM, third in the Sony.
- Sungjae Im, South Korea – One week after claiming his first PGA Tour victory in the Honda Classic, Im was in the hunt before finishing third at Bay Hill for his fifth top-10 and took the FedEx Cup lead. He shot a respectable 73-71 – 144, even par, but missed the cut by one shot last year as a rookie in his first appearance in the Players Championship.
- Tommy Fleetwood, England – Missed the cut last week at Bay Hill, but recorded four finishes in the top 25 before that this season, including solo third in the Honda Classic to open the Florida Swing. Fleetwood, who has won six times as a pro, is making his third start in The Players, having tied for fifth last year after tying for seventh the year before.
- Adam Scott, Australia – The 2004 Players champion, winning by one shot over Padraig Harrington, is making his 19th straight appearance at TPC Sawgrass, and has 10 finishes in the top 20 including four in a row. Scott claimed his 14th PGA Tour victory in the Genesis Invitational in February after winning the Australian PGA in December.
- Bryson DeChambeau, United States – Comes into The Players Championship after finishing fourth in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, his third straight result in the top five. Also finished second in the WGC-Mexico and tied for fifth in the Genesis Invitational. DeChambeau tied for 37th in Players debut two years ago and tied for 20th last season.
- Marc Leishman, Australia – Finished second to Tyrrell Hatton in the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week after winning the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this season at Torrey Pines and placing third in the Safeway Open at Silverado. Leishman has placed in the top 25 three times in 10 starts in The Players, including a tie for eighth in 2013.
- Patrick Reed, United States – Ranked eighth in the world and sixth in the FedEx Cup standings with six finishes in the top 25 including a victory in the WGC-Mexico this season, Reed must figure things out at TPC Sawgrass. His best results in six starts at the Players Championship were a tie for 22nd three years ago and a tie for 24th in 2015.
OTHER PLAYERS TO WATCH: Brooks Koepka, United States; Dustin Johnson, United States; Hideki Matsuyama, Japan; Rickie Fowler, United States; Tyrrell Hatton, England; Xander Schauffele, United States; Sergio Garcia, Spain; Phil Mickelson, United States; Patrick Cantlay, United States; Justin Rose, England.
SLEEPERS
- Scottie Scheffler, United States –Two-time winner on Korn Ferry Tour finished T-15 at Bay Hill and has four top-10s, seven top-25s on the PGA Tour in his rookie season.
- Sung Kang, South Korea – Surprise winner of 2019 AT&T Byron Nelson finished T-2 in the Genesis and T-9 in API, giving him five top-25 finishes on PGA Tour this season.
- Tom Hoge, United States – Finished T-15 in difficult conditions last week at Bay Hill and has three finishes in the top-10 and six in the top-25 on the PGA Tour this season.
- Wyndham Clark, United States – Tied for 11th in the Honda Classic to open the Florida Swing, his third straight top-20 result and fourth on the PGA Tour this season.
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout, South Africa – Has won five times as a pro and made a splash on PGA Tour this year with three top-20s, including a T-18 last week at Bay Hill.
For first-round tee times, visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html
