The Players Championship 2018: Preview, predictions and picks

The next 5

Here’s a look at the rest of the top 10 of the world rankings.

6. Rickie Fowler

Rickie Fowler is going to be a popular this week and he’s certainly going to have plenty of eyes on him, especially the first two days when he’s in that monster group with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Seriously, how freaking cool would that be? Fowler has had an up-and down 2018 thus far. He’s missed a couple of cuts but has also turned in some solid performances, including that solo second at The Masters. An obvious advantage for him this week is that he’s won The Players before and did so in dramatic fashion, shooting 6-under in the last six holes on Sunday to get into a playoff. He then stuck his tee shot to about five feet on the famed 17th in said playoff and dropped the birdie to win it. He hasn’t fared well in the two years since with a missed cut and a tie for 60th but if he can get through the pressure (and the big gallery) of playing with Tiger and Phil, he could be a factor on Sunday.

7. Jason Day

Joining Jon Rahm on that short list of players coming into the week is Jason Day, who moved from 14th to 7th in the world rankings with his victory at Quail Hollow this past Sunday. The win at the Wells Fargo was his second on the PGA Tour this year — he won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in January — and he’s getting back to the form that once made him the number one player in the world. He’s one of four favorites at the top of the betting odds this week and it certainly helps that he won The Players Championship just two years ago, going wire-to-wire with rounds of 63-66-73-71 to win by four strokes. It’s hard to win in consecutive weeks but the way Day is playing right now, it’s certainly possible.

8. Rory McIlroy

One of those four favorites is world No. 8 and four-time major champion Rory McIlroy, who’s been playing some fantastic golf recently. After running away with the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill with birdie after birdie after birdie in the final round, McIlroy continued his good play at Augusta but just couldn’t quite close out the career Grand Slam. He finished tied for 16th this past weekend at Quail Hollow and has the game to win at Sawgrass if he can stay within himself. He posted three consecutive top-10 finishes here from 2013-2015 and finished tied for 12th in 2016. He dropped back to a tie for 35th a year ago but has been playing too well to finish that low this time around.

9. Hideki Matsuyama

World No. 9 Hideki Matsuyama needs that breakout win. He’s won some World Golf Championships but most people thought he’d have something bigger by now. He started his 2018 strongly with a T-4 at the Tournament of Champions and finished tied for 12th at Torrey Pines but he’s only cracked the top 20 once since January. Granted, that was a solo 19th at The Masters. He tied for seventh at The Players two years ago and has finished in the top 25 in each of his four appearances at Sawgrass so the potential is certainly right there for him to make a run this week.

10. Patrick Reed

Patrick Reed is on quite the hot streak right now. He won his first major championship with a commanding performance at The Masters and has posted five consecutive top-10 finishes. He finished tied for second with Tiger at the Valspar (nobody was beating Paul Casey that day), tied for seventh at Bay Hill (nobody was beating Rory that day), tied for ninth at the Match Play, won at Augusta and shot 67-69 this past weekend to take solo eighth at Quail Hollow, a finish that moved him back into the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time since last February. He’s a solid choice this week.