2023 THE PLAYERS Championship Odds, Picks & Field for PGA Tournament (Longshot Lowry a Threat)

THE PLAYERS Championship Start Time, Date, Course & Prize Money

Start Date: Thursday, March 9, 2023
Golf Course: TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
Course Stats: 7,275 yards, Par 72
Purse: $25 million, $4.5 million to winner
Defending Champion: Cameron Smith (not playing)

THE PLAYERS Championship Tee Times

THE PLAYERS Championship tee times and pairings will be available ahead of each round. Tee times are typically posted the day before the event, which is Wednesday, March 8 in this case.

THE PLAYERS Championship Odds & Favorites

Odds to win THE PLAYERS Championship are from FanDuel Sportsbook.

• +850: Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy
• +1000: Scottie Scheffler
• +1900: Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa, Justin Thomas
• +2500: Xander Schauffele
• +2700: Viktor Hovland
• +2800: Tony Finau, Collin Morikawa
• +3200: Will Zalatoris, Jordan Spieth
• +3400: Tyrrell Hatton
• +3600: Cameron Young, Jason Day
• +3700: Sungjae Im
• +4100: Matt Fitzpatrick, Joohyung (Tom) Kim
• +4800: Shane Lowry
• +5000: Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler
• +5500: Keith Mitchell
• +6500: Corey Connors
• +7000: Si Woo Kim, Sam Burns, Sahith Theegala
• +7500: Chris Kirk
• +8500: Tommy Fleetwood, Hideki Matsuyama
• +9000: Kurt Kitayama
• +10000: Justin Rose, Adam Scott, Tom Hoge, Francesco Molinari, Harris English

THE PLAYERS Championship Field

A total of 43 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking are set to play TPC Sawgrass this week. The 144-player field features representation from 20 countries as well as 49 of the top 50 players in the current FedEx Cup Playoffs and Eligibility Points.

Defending champion Cameron Smith is missing from this year's event, having joined the LIV Golf League. But the two champions before him will generate more betting interest -- Rory McIlroy (2019) and Justin Thomas (2021).

THE PLAYERS Championship Picks & Predictions

Rory McIlroy came up one shot short last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational but still cashed in for bettors' top-5 and top-10 finish wagers. McIlroy will be heavily bet again this week as one of the favorites along with 2021 champion Justin Thomas, who has top Around the Green stats.

We could put 35-year-old Irishman Shane Lowry on our Dark Horse picks page, but let's add the strong iron player right here. Lowry has proven he can handle the demands of Pete Dye designs, finishing T-8 here in 2021 and T-13 last year in bad, rainy weather.

Lowry fits the profile as one of the top players in the field, combining Strokes Gained: Approach and Around the Green stats along with Good Drives Gained and comp course history. His strength in Greens in Regulation gained is a testament to his ball striking and approach play. He's also top-11 in both GIR Gained and Scrambling at TPC Sawgrass. In February, Lowry finished T-5 in the Honda Classic and T-14 in the Genesis.

Take a long look at those top finishing positions this week as Lowry is a capable win contender at longer odds.

Pick: Shane Lowry to Win (+4800) or Finish Top-10/20

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.