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PGA Golf

PGA News Wire
  • Wyndham Clark (back) 'trending in the right direction'
    By Field Level Media / Wednesday, March 27, 2024

    Wyndham Clark is optimistic that he will be able to compete in the Texas Children's Houston Open after sustaining a back injury earlier this week.

    • The tournament starts Thursday at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston.

      Clark, the fourth-ranked golfer in the world and reigning U.S. Open champion, said Wednesday that he was injured while lifting weights on Monday.

      "I was in Scottsdale, I was working out," Clark said. "Body's been really healthy and I just got caught in an awkward spot doing a lift and back went. It's not something that happens regularly, but it happened and you live and you learn. I'm trending in the right direction, I'm hitting it or feeling stronger and more mobile every day."

      Clark, 30, acknowledged that his team of therapists has helped in his recovery, so much so that he was able to play in a nine-hole pro-am on Wednesday.

      "I was in pretty bad shape (Tuesday), but fortunately I have a great team that has gotten me to be able to swing and hit," Clark said. "I was only really able to chip and putt, then I did a bunch of rehab and I was able to hit balls today. So just in a short time I've improved a ton and I think I'll be ready for tomorrow."

      Clark acknowledged that he'd like to play in this tournament with The Masters approximately two weeks away. That said, he'll let his back ultimately make that decision.

      "I'm going to give it my best effort (Thursday), and hopefully I can play and compete," he said. "If not, I've got to get ready for tournaments to come after this."

      --Field Level Media

  • Scottie Scheffler chases rare achievement in Houston
    By Field Level Media / Wednesday, March 27, 2024

    Scottie Scheffler will chase PGA Tour history this weekend as he attempts to win his third consecutive start.

    • The World No. 1 enters the Texas Children's Houston Open coming off victories at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship.

      Rory McIlroy in 2014 was the last golfer to win three straight stroke-play events. Dustin Johnson won three straight tournaments in 2017 but it included a match-play event.

      "I don't really think much about that kind of stuff. I had a good rest week at home last week," Scheffler told reporters Wednesday at Houston's Memorial Park Golf Course.

      Scheffler, 27, did not compete in last week's Valspar Championship in Florida.

      "I was pretty worn out after Bay Hill and Players, so it was nice to get home and just relax," he said. "I didn't do nearly as much practice as I typically would have in the last week, so coming in shaking off a little bit of rust the last couple days. But (my) game feels like it's in a good spot, so I feel rested and ready to go this week."

      Scheffler finished T9 in the most recent Houston Open in November 2022, 10 strokes behind winner Tony Finau.

      The Texas native tied for second at the tournament in 2021, carding a course-record 62 (8 under) in the second round.

      Houston marks Scheffler's last scheduled appearance before next month's Masters Tournament (April 11-14). The PGA Tour moves to San Antonio next week for the Valero Texas Open.

      "I've done it different ways in the past," he said of his upcoming schedule. "Some years I played before Augusta. The year I won Augusta (2022) I did not play going into it. As far as this year goes, I'm scheduled to not play next week so I have a week off before the major but some of the other majors I'm playing the week before."

      --Field Level Media

  • 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open: Preview, Props, Best Bets
    By Field Level Media / Wednesday, March 27, 2024

    The PGA Tour shifts from its Florida Swing to Texas for this week's Texas Children's Houston Open, which begins Thursday at Memorial Park Golf Course.

    • World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler seeks his third consecutive victory against a solid field. Our golf experts preview the event and provide their favorite prop picks along with best bets to win this week.

      TEXAS CHILDREN'S OPEN

      Location: Houston, March 28-31

      Course: Memorial Park Golf Course (Par 70, 7,435 yards)

      Purse: $9.1M (Winner: $1.638M)

      Defending Champion: Tony Finau (2022)

      FedEx Cup Leader: Scottie Scheffler

      HOW TO FOLLOW

      TV: Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, 1-3:30 p.m. (GC), 3:30-6 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m. (GC), 2:30-6 p.m. (NBC)

      Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday, 8:15 a.m.-7 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

      X: @TXHouOpen

      PROP PICKS

      --The Field vs. Scottie Scheffler (-400 at BetMGM): There is little question that Scheffler is the best -- and hottest -- golfer on the planet. There's also a good reason why it has been seven years since anyone has won three consecutive starts on tour -- it's really hard to do. It's certainly not the strongest field of the year, but there is enough talent lurking around Memorial Park to believe Scheffler will have a difficult time making it three straight ahead of the Masters.

      --Si Woo Kim to Beat Tony Finau (-110 at DraftKings): Kim is coming off a T6 at the Players in his most recent start and has a pair of other top-15 results in his past five starts overall. Finau is the defending champion, but that came in the Fall of 2022 on a much firmer golf course. He believes his hard work off the course will translate into quality results soon, but his recent track record includes a missed cut last week after a T45 at the Players.

      --Wyndham Clark Top 10 (+130 at BetMGM): The only player better than Clark in each of his past two starts has been Scheffler, and he also won at Pebble Beach earlier this year. A career-best fourth in the world rankings, Clark is in excellent form and knows Memorial Park well from his T16 in the Fall of '22.

      2024 Prop Picks Record: 18-17-1

      BEST BETS

      --Scottie Scheffler (+275 at BetMGM) is trying to become the first player to win three consecutive events on tour since Dustin Johnson in 2017. He has a T2 and a T9 in Houston the past two seasons. He opened at +300, but those odds have shortened slightly with Scheffler third in both total bets (7.0 percent) and money (19.5 percent) backing him to win this week.

      --Wyndham Clark (+1200) has finished runner-up to Scheffler in each of his past two events. He's the second biggest liability at BetMGM, where Clark is second with 18 percent of the money supporting him to win.

      --Sahith Theegala (+1600) is a Spring, Texas resident and has consecutive top-10s entering the week. Those factors have contributed to Theegala being the book's biggest liability as he leads the field with 19.5 percent of the total money backing him since opening at +2200.

      --Will Zalatoris (+1800) makes his tournament debut while coming off consecutive top-5s in his past two starts. He's the third biggest liability at the book this week.

      --Tony Finau (+2500) won by four shots in 2022 but has a lone top-10 in eight starts this season.

      NOTES

      --The event returns to a spring date after being contested in the fall each of the past four seasons. It was not played in the 2023 calendar year.

      --This is the fourth playing at Memorial Park, which first hosted the tournament in 2020.

      --The top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking after this event will qualify for the Masters if not already exempt. The highest-ranked players in this week's field who are not yet exempt are No. 57 Tom Hoge, No. 63 Mackenzie Hughes and No. 66 Alex Noren.

      --Padraig Harrington, who won on the Champions Tour last week, is in the field on a sponsor exemption.

      --Field Level Media

  • Scuffling Tony Finau: Gym work will pay dividends 'at some point'
    By Field Level Media / Tuesday, March 26, 2024

    Tony Finau is making his sixth career PGA Tour title defense at this week's Texas Children's Houston Open, but this one has a unique flair to it.

    • Finau's title at the Memorial Park Golf Course came in the fall of 2022. The event returns to a spring date for the first time in four years, and Finau expects to find a significantly softer golf course than the one he posted a four-shot victory on.

      He also arrived in Houston coming off a missed cut at last week's Valspar Championship and has a lone top-10 through his first eight starts in 2024. Finau has dropped to No. 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking, his lowest position since August of 2018.

      "I've been working hard at my game," he said. "I'm as strong as I've ever been as far as getting in the gym and doing the work.

      "I know at some point the results will come. The work is there and the body of work is there and I just know sometimes you go through spurts where you just don't score nearly as well as when you do at other times throughout the season. But, hopefully, this week I can spark a nice run."

      Finau was coming off a missed cut when he won in Houston 16 months ago, and he hopes to rekindle that form after missing the weekend by five shots at the Valspar. Previous to that was a disappointing T45 at The Players Championship, and there isn't much time to find his form with the Masters in just two weeks.

      Finau is confident that the results will start to come with the time he has put in the gym working on his body.

      "The numbers have shown this year my speed is up. I think I'm fourth on ball speed or swing speed this year. I haven't been that high since really my first couple years on tour," he said. "It's paying off. It hasn't paid off in results yet, but again, the work is there and I know at some point -- it's how the game is, at some point you start getting results and that turns into more confidence and, hopefully, better results more often.

      "The work never ends, but I've put in a lot of work outside the golf course to make sure that my body's strong and fit. At some point I know it's going to pay some dividends."

      --Field Level Media

  • Tim Mickelson retires as brother's caddie
    By Field Level Media / Tuesday, March 26, 2024

    Tim Mickelson no longer will serve as the caddie for his famous brother, Phil Mickelson announced Tuesday.

    • Tim Mickelson has been holding the bag for his older brother since replacing Jim "Bones" Mackay. The former is retiring to spend more time with his family.

      "I've had some great accomplishments in my career and getting to share them with my brother Tim has been beyond special," Phil Mickelson wrote on social media. "I'm very lucky to have had him on the bag for me the past eight years and as my brother for life.

      "So much has changed since he was single and we started working together. He's found his life partner, Maranda, they've had their second son, and hopefully their family will continue to grow. While Tim is retiring from caddying, I'll always cherish the many great moments we've shared on the course, and I look forward to many more special moments off the course, too."

      With Tim Mickelson on the bag, his brother won three times on the PGA Tour. He recorded first-place finishes at the 2018 WGC-Mexico Championship and the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am before capturing his sixth major with a win at the 2021 PGA Championship.

      Tim Mickelson previously was a golf coach at Arizona State, where he guided a young Jon Rahm. He then served as the Spaniard's agent for a year.

      Phil Mickelson, now competing in LIV Golf, did not announce his brother's replacement. The next event in that league is LIV Golf Miami at Trump National Doral from April 5-7.

      --Field Level Media

  • Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry to team up at Zurich Classic
    By Field Level Media / Tuesday, March 26, 2024

    Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Shane Lowry of Ireland are entering next month's Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the PGA Tour's only team competition.

    • McIlroy has never played the tournament at TPC Louisiana, which has been a team event since 2017.

      While McIlroy and Lowry have been Ryder Cup teammates in the past, they only played one session together, a loss to Tony Finau and Harris English in fourball in 2021.

      The tournament is organized by the Fore!Kids Foundation, whose chief executive, Steve Worthy, made the announcement of McIlroy's participation Monday.

      "Both of these players have competed for Europe in Ryder Cup competition, so they are very accustomed to team play," Worthy said in a statement. "It's always fun to see close friends partner in our unique format, and with their experience they will be both fan and on-course favorites."

      McIlroy's best finish stateside this year was a T19 at The Players Championship. He also won the Dubai Desert Classic in January. Lowry had a T4 finish at the Cognizant Classic and placed third at the Arnold Palmer Invitational earlier this month.

      The Zurich Classic is slated for April 25-28.

      --Field Level Media

  • TGL venture to make delayed launch in January
    By Field Level Media / Tuesday, March 26, 2024

    The TGL, a virtual golf competition backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, will make its delayed launch in January 2025 in prime time.

    • The league was originally supposed to debut in January 2024 but had to be pushed back due to a roof collapse at its Florida facility in November.

      The TGL's first three matches will take place on the first three Tuesdays in January 2025 -- Jan. 1, 14 and 21 -- airing live on ESPN from the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. The remainder of the schedule will be announced later this year.

      "January is a tremendous time of year for fans looking for prime time sports and TGL's launch will complement the start of the PGA TOUR season and take advantage of ESPN's promotional machine across their coverage of the NFL and college football playoffs," TMRW Sports founder and CEO Mike McCarley said in a news release Monday.

      The indoor TGL facility covers about 250,000 square feet under an air-supported dome, which collapsed following a power outage on Nov. 14. No injuries occurred in the accident.

      Other PGA Tour stars committed to join Woods and McIlroy in TGL competition include Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa, Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa.

      Three-man teams will compete on a virtual course that includes real grass tee boxes, with seating for 1,500 fans wrapped around a field of play that is roughly the size of a football field.

      Players will hit tee shots into a 64-by-46-foot screen. Once they are inside 50 yards, players transition to live action inside the GreenZone, a 22,475-square-foot short-game complex that physically transforms between holes.

      "The GreenZone will use advanced technology to make each hole a unique challenge for the teams, including its 41-yard-wide turntable that rotates the green and three bunkers to change approach angles and using nearly 600 motorized actuators as part of Full Swing's Virtual Green technology embedded under the synthetic putting surface to morph its topography," the league said in a news release Monday.

      The TGL also announced that there will be a 40-seccond shot clock and that all players will be "mic'd up" during the competition.

      Six teams are set to compete in the TGL: Los Angeles Golf Club, Atlanta Drive Golf Club, Boston Common Golf, Jupiter Links Golf Club, TGL New York and TGL San Francisco.

      Woods will compete for Jupiter Links, while McIlroy will play for Boston Common.

      --Field Level Media

  • Kevin Streelman fires 64, grabs first-round lead at Valspar
    By Field Level Media / Thursday, March 21, 2024

    Kevin Streelman shot a 7-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Valspar Championship on Thursday in Palm Harbor, Fla.

    • Seeking his first win on the PGA Tour in nearly 10 years, Streelman sunk three birdies on Holes 10-18 to start, then added four more over his second half in a bogey-free round at Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead Course.

      Kevin Roy bested Streelman with eight birdies but stumbled on the seventh and 16th holes with a pair of bogeys, finishing one shot behind Streelman at 65.

      Peter Malnati, Canada's Adam Svensson and China's Carl Yuan are tied for third at 66. Malnati struggled out of the gate with a pair of bogeys on the front nine, then recovered with five of his seven birdies on the back nine.

      Seven players are tied for sixth at 67, while Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele are among those tied for 13th after a first-round 68.

      Jordan Spieth (69) is tied for 28th, while Brian Harman (70) is tied with several others in 48th.

      --Field Level Media

  • Two-time major winner So Yeon Ryu, 33, retiring
    By Field Level Media / Thursday, March 21, 2024

    After 13 seasons on the LPGA Tour, including a pair of major victories, South Korea's So Yeon Ryu announced Thursday she will retire from professional golf next month.

    • Ryu made her announcement in a social media post.

      "After deciding to retire, I spent much time looking back on my career," Ryu wrote in a note posted to Instagram. "So many memories came flooding back, and I felt so many emotions. But the more I thought about it, the more I was thankful for so many things.

      "I am so grateful that I could do what I loved to do, day in and day out, and even make a career out of it. I am not going to lie; I had some hard patches, but despite some of the challenges, I truly enjoyed it all."

      Ryu said her final event will be The Chevron Championship from April 18-21 at The Woodlands, Texas.

      At the 2011 U.S. Women's Open, Ryu defeated Hee Kyung Seo in a three-hole aggregate playoff to win her first major title before joining the LPGA in 2012 and being named rookie of the year. She finished in the top five at the U.S. Women's Open six times from 2011-19.

      Ryu's second major came at the 2017 ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills, Calif., by defeating Lexi Thompson in another playoff. She has six LPGA Tour wins and won 10 times on the Korean LPGA Tour.

      Ryu was ranked No. 1 in the world for 19 weeks in 2017, while winning LPGA Player of the Year honors that season.

      --Field Level Media

  • Tiger Woods officially entered into next month's Masters
    By Field Level Media / Thursday, March 21, 2024

    Tiger Woods is officially entered into the Masters Tournament field, setting himself up to compete in the April 11-14 major at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.

    • A five-time Masters winner, Woods last won what is traditionally the first major of the calendar year in 2019.

      A car crash in February of 2021 has limited Woods' participation in tournaments after sustaining major damage to his right leg while undergoing multiple surgeries.

      Since his last Masters victory, Woods finished tied for 38th in the 2020 event, did not participate in 2021, finished 47th in 2022 and withdrew last year because of plantar fasciitis after making the 36-hole cut.

      Woods, 48, has played just once this season in the Genesis Invitational at Pacific Palisades, Calif., withdrawing after six holes of the second round with the flu.

      A 15-time major champion, Woods has said he hoped to play one tour event per month going forward.

      Not scheduled to compete in this year's Masters is 2009 champion Angel Cabrera, who has missed the event in each of the past four years. Cabrera was released from prison in his native Argentina late last year.

      Cabrera's visa was temporarily denied after he was involved in "gender violence cases," according to Golfweek, including theft and intimidation charges. Cabrera served 30 months in prison for alleged assaults on two former girlfriends.

      --Field Level Media

  • Justin Thomas: Game going 'in right direction' despite missed cut
    By Field Level Media / Thursday, March 21, 2024

    Justin Thomas missed the cut at two of his past three events, but the two-time major champion remains optimistic about his game heading into the Valspar Championship this week in Palm Harbor, Fla.

    • Thomas, 30, started the season well, finishing among the top 12 in his first three events, including a tie for third at the American Express in La Quinta, Calif. Then he failed to make the cut at the Genesis Invitational, tied for 12th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and missed the cut again at the Players Championship last week.

      "My game, it's continuing ... to go in the right direction," Thomas said Tuesday ahead of the Valspar at Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead Course. "Obviously, missed cut last week was far from what I was looking for, but I'm not really looking too much into it.

      "It was just one of those weeks where I had a couple putts here and there, just really one or two bad swings each day, that took away from, I feel like, a majority of really good golf throughout the entire round. But it's also just kind of a funky place. You can get some weird bounces and breaks and lies and whatnot, and it just was one of those years. So, yeah, I had a weekend of no golf because of it."

      Thomas has struggled with the putter this year, as he sits 149th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting.

      "I think this early in the year it can be pretty skewed, I would say," Thomas said. "Also, my first two events of the season were events where Shot Link isn't even there, just due to the different golf courses. So I had my first in Palm Springs and Torrey Pines, I didn't putt great on Sunday or Saturday, whatever it was, but, so I have five pretty good rounds that were completely taken out of stats.

      "I think the majority of the time stats can be helpful, but I'm starting to realize that they can just be a little skewed here and there, especially this early in the season."

      He still can do better on the greens, Thomas acknowledged.

      "At the end of the day, I would love to and know that I need to make more putts, but I feel like I'm seeing things going the right way and just want that hole to start looking like a bucket one of these days," said Thomas, who tied for 10th at the Valspar Championship last year.

      --Field Level Media

  • 2024 Valspar Championship: Preview, Props, Best Bets
    By Field Level Media / Wednesday, March 20, 2024

    The PGA Tour concludes its annual "Florida Swing" with this week's Valspar Championship, which begins Thursday on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Fla.

    • The field features two of the top 10 players in the world rankings, and our golf experts preview the event along with their favorite prop picks and best bets to win this week.

      VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP

      Location: Palm Harbor, Fla., March 21-24

      Course: Innisbrook Resort, Copperhead Course (Par 71, 7,340 yards)

      Purse: $8.4M (Winner: $1.512M)

      Defending Champion: Taylor Moore

      FedEx Cup Leader: Scheffler

      HOW TO FOLLOW

      TV: Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (NBC)

      Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m.

      X: @ValsparChamp

      PROP PICKS

      --Matt NeSmith to Beat Webb Simpson (-110 at DraftKings): NeSmith tied for third here two years ago and is coming off a solid T26 at The Players after missing three of his previous four cuts. Simpson has plummeted to 235th in the world rankings and hasn't finished better than T30 in his past seven starts dating back to September.

      --Cameron Young to Finish Top 20 (+120 at BetMGM): Young is still seeking his first PGA Tour victory, which could come this week against a softer field. He's +500 to win the tournament, but we like the safety net and a still solid payout until Young proves he can close on Sunday. He followed three consecutive top-20s with a T36 at Bay Hill and a T54 at The Players.

      --Doug Ghim to Beat Min Woo Lee Round 1 (-110 at DraftKings): Ghim has quietly put together five consecutive top-20 finishes, highlighted by a T16 at The Players. He also finished T27 here last year and has more course knowledge than Lee, who is playing many PGA Tour stops for the first time as a tour rookie. Lee is the bigger household name, but he hasn't been in top form, posting a T54 at TPC Sawgrass and a T44 at Bay Hill after a T2 at the Cognizant Classic.

      2024 Prop Picks Record: 16-16-1

      BEST BETS

      --Xander Schauffele (+800 at BetMGM) wasn't able to close the deal on Sunday -- again -- at The Players. Can he rebound mentally to claim a win against a more modest field? He does have five top-10s in seven events this season. His is the book's biggest liability this week, as Schauffele leads the field with 19.4 percent of the money backing him to win.

      --Sam Burns (+1100) followed four consecutive top-10s with a T30 and a T45 the past two weeks. But the 2021 and 2022 Valspar champion also finished sixth at Innisbrook last year. Burns is third this week with 6.4 percent of the total bets backing him.

      --Jordan Spieth (+1400) opened the year with a third at The Sentry and added a T6 in Phoenix but has a missed cut and a DQ among his past three starts. He won the Valspar in 2015 and tied for third last year.

      --Justin Thomas (+1400) is coming off his second missed cut in three starts following a string of seven consecutive T12s or better. He's BetMGM's third biggest liability this week, having drawn 10.9 percent of the total money.

      --Brian Harman (+2000) missed out on a playoff at The Players by a single shot following a T12 at Bay Hill. He has missed the cut in five of his past six appearances at the event. Harman is the book's second biggest liability as he has been backed by the second most bets and the third most money at 9.2 percent in both markets.

      NOTES

      --World No. 7 Patrick Cantlay withdrew on Sunday, leaving No. 5 Xander Schauffele and No. 8 Brian Harman as the lone top-10 players in the field. No. 20 Tom Kim also withdrew over the weekend.

      --The closing three holes on the Copperhead Course are known as the "Snake Pit," featuring a pair of difficult par-4s sandwiching the 200-yard par-3.

      --University of Florida teammates Fred Biondi and Ricky Castillo are in the field. Biondi is coming off a T32 in Puerto Rico, while Castillo will be making his non-major PGA Tour debut.

      --European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald is among the sponsors invites, along with Ryan Palmer.

      --Vijay Singh holds the tournament scoring record of 266 set in 2004, while Matt NeSmith (Round 2, 2022) and Padraig Harrington (Round 1, 2012) share the 18-hole record of 10-under 61.

      --Field Level Media

  • Jon Rahm bringing Spain to Masters champions dinner menu
    By Field Level Media / Tuesday, March 19, 2024

    Jon Rahm plans to treat his fellow Masters champions to a taste of home -- Spain -- as he unveiled the Champions Dinner menu Tuesday.

    • The meal honoring the defending winner is set for April 9 at the Augusta National clubhouse.

      Teeing off with tapas is a great way to start, and the hits keep coming with a Basque-themed spread.

      Rahm is from the northern Spanish Basque region and offers up a selection of food -- including "Mama Rahm's classic lentil stew" -- inspired by his grandmother and restaurateur/chef Jose Andres, he told reporters.

      "(Andres) called my grandma for the recipe," he said. "If somebody doesn't like it, please just don't tell me. Don't tell anyone, actually. It means a little bit too much to me to hear it."

      Among the treats also on the menu: Basque chorizo, a Spanish omelet and Iberian ham.

      --Field Level Media

  • Taylor Moore seeks Valspar repeat after landing first win on tour
    By Field Level Media / Tuesday, March 19, 2024

    As is the case with many golfers, one PGA Tour victory changed Taylor Moore's career trajectory.

    • For Moore, that breakthrough came at the 2023 Valspar Championship, a title he'll seek to defend this week in Tampa, Fla.

      Moore was 29 years old and had played his way through PGA Tour Canada and the Korn Ferry Tour to reach the big time.

      "It just gave me some confidence, knowing that I knew I could compete out here and be in contention on Sunday, but until you actually hoist that trophy and get it done, I guess you never really know," Moore said Tuesday. "So it gave me that affirmation that I could do it out here on Sundays on the back nine when I am in contention."

      It gave him much more than that. Moore got into the majors, making the cut at the Masters and the PGA Championship. He picked up three more top-five finishes, accruing the FedEx Cup points necessary to reach the Tour Championship.

      "I think for me it was (that) I knew I was in the majors the rest of the year basically, but I knew I needed to finish well to get into everything this year," Moore said. "Obviously with how our schedule is now, too, getting into those signature events and elevated stuff was definitely a priority. Obviously a win takes care of a lot of that.

      "Yeah, getting to (the Tour Championship) for the first time as well as setting up my schedule for this year was massive. But I think once the win kind of wore off after that stretch you were talking about, I just wanted to keep getting better each and every week, and that's what me and my team talk about every week is -- how can I keep getting better and how can I evaluate where I'm at and put one foot in front of the other and just take it week by week."

      Moore hasn't missed a cut yet in seven starts this season, though he feels he has yet to put four complete rounds together. He hopes it can come together at the familiar confines of Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead Course.

      The Valspar has had repeat winners in recent years: Sam Burns (2021-22) and England's Paul Casey (2018-19).

      "It would be awesome" to repeat, Moore said. "I think, first time having to defend, too. Like, when I did win on the Canadian Tour, I didn't get an opportunity. When I won on Korn Ferry Tour my last year out there, I didn't get the opportunity to defend. So obviously having that opportunity is amazing and something that I'm going to embrace.

      "Getting my first tour win here was awesome, and getting my second here would be even better."

      --Field Level Media

  • Xander Schauffele: 'History' says golf will reunite
    By Field Level Media / Tuesday, March 19, 2024

    Xander Schauffele largely stays out of the direct media spotlight, but as the highest-ranked player in this week's Valspar Championship, it was only a matter of time before he was asked about the fractured state of professional golf.

    • The 30-year-old takes a philosophical approach to life on and off the golf course, which he used in weighing reported offers from LIV Golf that he turned down, as well as overcoming another Sunday letdown that saw him fall one shot shy of Scottie Scheffler at The Players Championship.

      Asked Tuesday where he sees professional golf in three years, Schauffele said he's "just going to lean on the side of history."

      That means bringing the stars from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf back together for more than the four majors each year.

      "My guess would be that we would all be playing together again. I think that's what fans would want, I think that's what TV would want, and golf as a whole would probably be better off that way," Schauffele told reporters on Tuesday. "Just like all sports when they have been fractured, they have always come back together."

      Schauffele wasn't at Monday's meeting in the Bahamas between PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and the player directors from the tour's policy board with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the head of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. He believes there are still many questions to be worked through before any future vision is "set in stone," but believes discussions are moving in the right direction.

      That includes the newly-formed PGA Tour Enterprises, a for-profit entity that will receive up to $3 billion in investment. That has muddied the waters in considering how further investment from PIF, which also funds LIV, might work and look like.

      "I think everyone needs to understand that we are entertainers, to an extent, and we have to be loyal to the fans and produce a good product for TV ratings and things of that nature," Schauffele said. "That's sort of -- now that we have a foot in the business department -- I think that's sort of the direction things are going.

      "I think the tour's just trying to find the right way to push forward, and it's going to be impossible to keep everybody happy, but hopefully some sort of unification at the end of the day and then with that will be TV ratings. I think you can kind of put the horse in front of the carriage at that point and then sort of just chum along, versus sort of feels like we're sort of guessing a little bit on how to get it done.

      "And it's understandable, because I don't think anyone has sort of the right answer to keep everyone happy."

      One of the key sticking points has been the notion of how players who turned down massive offers from LIV may be compensated for that decision should players who left be allowed to return to the tour. Schauffele relied on that philosophical approach instilled by his father, Stefan, in saying that compensation for his past decision isn't a factor for him personally.

      "I think that goes into the accept boat for me, if we're going to run that sort of scheme on your question here," he said. "I have to accept sort of any decision I was going to make a long time ago regarding to what you just mentioned with money and moving and them coming back and stuff of that nature.

      "I'm very content with where I sit right now and I would have chosen otherwise if I -- I don't have any regrets of what I've done or what I'm doing, so I'm sleeping just fine at night knowing where I stand."

      Acceptance was a term Schauffele also used when asked how he has coped with losing to Scheffler by a single stroke on one of golf's biggest stages. The 54-hole leader, Schauffele was outscored by six shots on Sunday by the world's No. 1-ranked player.

      A seven-time winner on the PGA Tour and an Olympic champion, Schauffele's critics still point out the lack of a major championship or a win at The Players. He now has double-digit runner-ups on tour, including at three of the four majors along with a T3 at the 2019 U.S. Open.

      Meanwhile, his most recent win in a stroke-play event came at the 2022 Travelers Championship.

      "I was just there, again, in a good spot to win a golf tournament and didn't get it done," he said. "So, I've accepted that and I have a couple nights to sleep under my belt now and feeling better than I did a couple days ago.

      "Just excited to try and win again."

      --Field Level Media

  • PGA Tour commissioner confirms PIF meeting, doesn't offer details
    By Field Level Media / Tuesday, March 19, 2024

    PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan confirmed that he and the player directors from the tour's policy board met with the head of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia on Monday in the Bahamas but offered little news about their discussion.

    • According to media reports Tuesday, Monahan notified PGA Tour players via a memo on Monday night that the meeting with the player directors -- Patrick Cantlay, Peter Malnati, Webb Simpson, Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott and Tiger Woods -- took place with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF's governor and also the chairman of the LIV Golf League.

      The PGA Tour and the PIF have been in discussions since June about an alliance with the DP World Tour and PIF that would bring along billions in cash from Saudi Arabia. The PIF is the funding arm of LIV Golf.

      "The conversation throughout was constructive and represents an important part of our due diligence process in selecting potential investors for PGA Tour Enterprises," Monahan wrote in the letter, per ESPN. "This mirrors the approach we employed earlier this year as we evaluated an investment offer from the Strategic Sports Group. During the session, Yasir had a chance to introduce himself to our player directors and talk through his vision, priorities and motivations for investing in professional golf.

      "As we continue these discussions with the PIF, we will keep you updated as much as possible, but please understand that we need to maintain our position of not conducting negotiations in public. To that end, we will provide no further comments to the media at this time."

      The deadline to finalize the deal passed on Dec. 31 but the sides agreed to an extension amid ongoing talks.

      In January, Strategic Sports Group, which is made up of owners of U.S. pro sports teams and others, announced an investment in the newly created PGA Tour Enterprises that could be worth as much as $3 billion.

      Men's professional golf has been in an upheaval since LIV Golf launched in June 2022. With significant financial resources, LIV Golf successfully recruited many of the PGA Tour's biggest names and others with guaranteed money far surpassing their annual earning power on the long-established tour. Reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm, a superstar in the sport, defected to LIV Golf in December for a contract worth more than $300 million.

      Rory McIlroy, who reportedly has spurned advances from LIV Golf, said Sunday in advance of the meeting that he welcomed having the sides sit down.

      "I think it should have happened months ago, so I am glad that it's happening," McIlroy said after his final round at The Players. "Hopefully, that progresses conversations and gets us closer to a solution."

      --Field Level Media

  • Tiger Woods leads PGA contingent meeting with PIF's Yasir Al-Rumayyan
    By Field Level Media / Monday, March 18, 2024

    Rory McIlroy sees a "really big disconnect" between LIV Golf and its financial backer, Saudi Arabia's Private Investment Fund, but remains hopeful progress can be made in the fracture between the PGA Tour and its upstart rival.

    • Any distance between the negotiating parties could be bridged in an in-person meeting scheduled for Monday between Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the PIF, and player directors of the PGA Tour's policy board, including Tiger Woods, according to player director Patrick Cantlay and McIlroy, a former player director.

      The meeting location was moved from Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., host of The Players Championship last week at TPC Sawgrass, to Nassau, Bahamas, and the Albany Resort, where Woods hosts an annual fundraising golf tournament and comes nine months after the infamous "framework agreement" between the PGA and LIV was announced.

      Expected to meet with PIF and PGA Tour officials are player directors Woods, Cantlay, Adam Scott, Peter Malnati, Webb Simpson and Jordan Spieth. Also expected are members of the Strategic Sports Group, which has committed $1.5 billion to PGA Tour Enterprises in the form of private equity.

      "I think it should have happened months ago, so I am glad that it's happening," McIlroy said Sunday after his final round at The Players. "Hopefully, that progresses conversations and gets us closer to a solution."

      Men's professional golf has been in an upheaval since LIV Golf launched in June 2022. With significant financial resources, LIV Golf successfully recruited many of the PGA Tour's biggest names and others with guaranteed money far surpassing their annual earning power on the long-established tour.

      The two sides are working on a partnership that has missed a deadline at the end of 2023. Reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm, a superstar in the sport, defected to the LIV Tour in December for a contract worth more than $300 million.

      McIlroy said that Al-Rumayyan's point of view on negotiations and the future of the sport doesn't match with LIV officials such as Greg Norman and others. McIlroy believes Al-Rumayyan "wants to do the right thing. I have spent time with Yasir and his -- the people that have represented him in LIV, I think, have done him a disservice, so, Norman and those guys," McIlroy said.

      "I see the two entities, and I think there's a big, I actually think there's a really big disconnect between PIF and LIV. I think you got PIF over here and LIV are sort of over here doing their own thing. So the closer that we can get to Yasir, PIF and, hopefully, finalize that investment, I think that will be a really good thing."

      McIlroy called it their "disruptiveness" compared to PIF's place in the world of golf.

      "They're a sovereign wealth fund," McIlroy said. "They want to park money for decades and not worry about it. They want to invest in smart and secure businesses, and the PGA Tour is definitely one of those, especially if they're looking to invest in sport in some way."

      McIlroy said there could be a place for the LIV Tour's team format as well as the standard individual golf format. Finding a workable resolution will require patience, he said.

      "People have contracts at LIV up until 2028, 2029," McIlroy said. "I don't know if they're going to see that all the way out, but I definitely see LIV playing in its current form for the next couple years anyway while everything gets figured out. I don't think this is an overnight solution, but if we can get the investment in, then at least we can start working towards a compromise where we're not going to make everyone happy, but at least make everyone understand why we're doing what we're doing."

      --Field Level Media

  • Peter Malnati doubts team model coming to PGA Tour
    By Field Level Media / Sunday, March 17, 2024

    While leadership groups of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf are expected to convene this week, with a cordial tone expected, disagreement in at least one area appears to be ahead, according to Golf Digest.

    • The team play concept that has marked LIV Golf's short tenure, is not a desired concept by the PGA Tour, at least according to one of the PGA Tour's directors

      Speaking to media Saturday, Peter Malnati expressed reservations about team play being implemented beyond what already exists.

      "I don't know what they're doing," Malnati said. "But it seems like a very forced team model, to me. When, at the end of the day, are there any fans that care which team won the tournament? I don't know what fans of LIV want or care about, but are there any fans that care about who won it?"

      Leadership groups of the two tours are expected to meet following the conclusion of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., according to the report.

      Malnati wants clarification on what additional team play would look like in a PGA Tour setting, specifically from negotiating partner Yasir Al-Rumayyan of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).

      "I mean, that seems so contrived to me," Malnati said. "I feel like we could also create some contrived team golf something, somewhere outside of the FedEx Cup season.

      "But what does he really want is a question that I want to understand better. Because I don't think it's some contrived, fake, add up random guys' scores and call them a team. I don't think that's it. I think what he means is more stuff like the Ryder Cup, I would guess, but I have no clue because I haven't talked to him."

      Golf Digest reported that team play remains one of several bargaining points in a potential deal.

      Leaked documents from last year's framework deal suggest that "PIF, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour will work together in an effort to determine how best to integrate team golf into PGA Tour and DP World Tour events going forward," but that agreement was made without PGA Tour player involvement.

      Jordan Spieth confirmed player involvement in current negotiations over the weekend. The sides are nearly three months past their original Dec. 31 deadline, but with players resistant to items like team play, having their buy-in would seem to be critical to getting a final deal done.

      "I'm not sure that I can say much more other than we're being encouraged to potentially meet with them," Spieth said. "We are being encouraged, obviously, which I think is probably a good thing that the entire board should if there's going to be any potential for a negotiation."

      The PGA Tour player board includes Malnati, Spieth, Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson and Patrick Cantlay. Woods is the director of the group.

      --Field Level Media

  • Jordan Spieth talks possible meeting with Saudi Public Investment Fund
    By Field Level Media / Saturday, March 16, 2024

    Following his missed cut at The Players Championship late Friday, Jordan Spieth addressed a potential meeting, first reported by Golfweek, with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, possibly with the head of the PIF, Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

    • The meeting would come as early as Monday at the site of The Players event in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

      The PIF is the main funding arm for the LIV Tour, which drew stars including Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm away from the PGA Tour.

      Spieth said he and the fellow player directors on the Tour's Policy Board were "strongly encouraged" to meet.

      The Golfweek sources indicated a lack of clarity as to whether Al-Rumayyan, governor of the PIF, would attend.

      "We are being encouraged to potentially meet with them at some point, yeah," said Spieth, who provided no additional details but expressed optimism.

      "I'm not sure that I can say much more other than we're being encouraged to potentially meet with them. But at the same time we probably feel like our membership should know timing and what could happen. ... We are being encouraged, obviously, which I think is probably a good thing that the entire board should if there's going to be any potential for a negotiation."

      PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said earlier this week that talking about specifics "really is not in the best interest of the PGA Tour and our membership and for PIF ... .

      "I would just stress the fact that we're engaged, we're making progress."

      The commissioner had a January meeting with Al-Rumayyan.

      "Our negotiations are accelerating," Monahan said, "as we spend time together.

      "While we have several key issues that we still need to work through, we have a shared vision to quiet the noise and unlock golf's worldwide potential."

      Monahan said discussions with the PIF would be the "best outcome."

      The player directors are Spieth, Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Peter Malnati, Webb Simpson and Patrick Cantlay.

      --Field Level Media

  • Garrick Higgo (wrist) withdraws from The Players
    By Field Level Media / Friday, March 15, 2024

    South Africa's Garrick Higgo withdrew during the second round of The Players Championship on Friday due to a wrist injury.

    • Higgo opened with a 1-over 73 at TPC Sawgrass on Thursday and was around the cut line when he double-bogeyed the par-3 14th hole, his fourth of the day after starting on the back nine.

      Higgo, 24, won his lone PGA Tour event to date at the 2021 Palmetto Championship at Congaree. He has struggled in 2024, recording a lone top-20 in seven events entering The Players while falling to 171st in the Official World Golf Ranking.

      He was in contention at the Cognizant Classic after opening with rounds of 67 and 65. After posting a 73 in the third round, he rebounded with a closing 68 to tie for 16th. It was Higgo's best result since a T16 at the Sanderson Farms Championship in October.

      Higgo is the second player to withdraw this week, following Tom Kim (illness) on Thursday.

      --Field Level Media

  • Scottie Scheffler receives neck treatment at The Players
    By Field Level Media / Friday, March 15, 2024

    Scottie Scheffler was spotted receiving treatment on his neck Friday morning during the second round of The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

    • Scheffler spoke with a rules official while walking up the par-4 12th hole on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. The defending tournament champion and World No. 1 started on the back nine and made his second birdie of the day on No. 13 before opting to sit in a chair and receive a quick neck massage off the 14th tee box.

      Scheffler's playing partners, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler teed off while he received treatment. Scheffler got back in the action and parred the hole.

      Scheffler, 27, bogeyed the par-4 15th hole before responding with a birdie on No. 16 to sit at 7-under. He carded a 5-under 67 on Thursday in his bid to become the first golfer to successfully defend his title at The Players.

      --Field Level Media

  • Tom Kim withdraws from The Players
    By Field Level Media / Thursday, March 14, 2024

    Tom Kim withdrew from The Players Championship eight holes into his opening round at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. on Thursday.

    • The PGA Tour said Kim's withdrawal was due to an unspecified illness. It came as Kim was 5-over par following a triple-bogey on the par-3 17th hole. He also had carded a pair of bogeys along with five pars after starting on the 10th hole.

      The three-time winner on tour is No. 18 in the Official World Golf Ranking. The popular 21-year-old from South Korea most recently won at the Shriners Children's Open in October to reach a career-best 11th in the world.

      Kim had made six of seven cuts in 2024 entering this week. His best result of the year was a T17 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open last month, and he's coming off a T52 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

      --Field Level Media

  • Max Homa hoping grip change pays off at The Players Championship
    By Field Level Media / Thursday, March 14, 2024

    After failing to finish inside the top 10 in each of his first five events of the 2024 season, Max Homa decided it was time to make some changes.

    • The West Coast wasn't all that kind to Homa last month, as he tied for 66th at the AT&T Pebble Beach (Calif.) Pro-Am before missing the cut at the Phoenix Open. He then finished tied for 16th at the Genesis Invitational in Pacific Palisades, Calif., prompting him to tweak his grip.

      "Got my left hand stronger. I worked a bit more on my downswing and my backswing and then did a bunch of just kind of discovery, self-discovery work mentally," Homa said Wednesday ahead of this week's Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Calif. "I learned a lot on the Sunday of (Genesis) and just tried to -- it was a really good momentum, good bit of momentum going into an offseason or a little break and then into this time of year."

      Homa returned to action nearly a month later, landing in a tie for eighth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational this past weekend at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Fla.

      Even though there was a bit of a learning curve with the new grip, Homa was pleased with how he adapted.

      "As the week went on at Bay Hill, it felt better and better, all the other moves, and then I got out there Thursday, front nine, and my grip felt weird, and so that's just tournament golf for you," Homa said. "It brought out the only thing I thought that I had kind of gotten used to. It felt really odd, and it was a bit tough to trust.

      "I thought I did a good job of trusting it and learning where it's going to bring my hands in the golf club. So, yeah, it can be tricky. I've had times where I felt like I needed to hit a thousand golf balls before it even felt normal. This one's a little different. It felt okay right away, just didn't translate to Thursday morning as nicely as I wanted it to."

      During his hiatus, Homa also worked on adjusting his swing based on the type of club he is using.

      "I've gone (in) ebbs and flows," Homa said. "I have a cut feel with -- my driver always cuts, so I have a cut feel with that, and that is slightly different with the irons, especially if I'm trying to draw it, so I have a draw feel.

      "But I think with the two weeks at home and doing a little bit of extra work last week, I kind of found ... if I have this shot, I'm going to go to this feel. I have this shot, I'm going to go to that feel and work on that on the range so I feel comfy."

      At last year's Players Championship, Homa tied for sixth, and he is looking forward to building on that performance.

      "The energy of the event is always really cool," Homa said. "Really happy to get good weather. We've had some tough ones. Two years ago it was crazy, so it was cool to look at the forecast and see there's sun because the golf course deserves it.

      "It's a massive challenge. I think pretty much anybody's golf game fits around here. You're going to have to prove a lot of great things, so I always love coming to this event."

      --Field Level Media

  • Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy hopeful PGA-LIV saga wraps soon
    By Field Level Media / Wednesday, March 13, 2024

    Justin Thomas knows every tournament can't be the equivalent of the NFL's Pro Bowl. But he couldn't help but notice the continued absence of some of the best players at the game when he hit the course at The Players Championship.

    • "Not every NFL game is a Pro Bowl, but it essentially it is, right?" Thomas asked rhetorically Wednesday. "it's all the best in their specific sport, and it's an extremely small percentage in the grand scheme of things of how many play professionally in their sport. But there's nothing better than Sundays when you can just sit on the couch and you get to watch some freak athletes go play football and hit each other all day.

      "I mean, so I don't know, but that's kind of the main thing I feel like I've -- I feel like would be, is beneficial to fans and is beneficial to us."

      Thomas said he thinks back to playing golf at Alabama and how beneficial it was to him as a younger player to have a friendly rival in Justin Spieth to push him.

      "I know Jordan and he and I fed off each other in 2017, 2018, 2016, and we kind of pushed each other a little bit. We may not have had a conversation about it, but I know internally I don't want him to beat me, and I'm pretty sure he feels the same way," Thomas said. "So I think getting all the best players in the world together more often is just going to create a more and more competitive nature and which I guess would result in a better product."

      Alienating fans became a talking point in recent weeks because of the product, but largely because little has been shared regarding the progress of a potential merger between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.

      Rory McIlroy said Wednesday he believes fans are growing weary of the prolonged discussions about golf eventually bringing the best players to marquee events.

      "I think, if I were to put my own perspective on it, I think it's because fans are fatigued of what's going on in the game, and I think we need to try to reengage the fan and reengage them in a way that the focus is on the play and not on talking about equity and all the rest of it," McIlroy said. "That's why I said, the sooner that this is resolved, I think it's going to be better for the game and better for everyone, the fans and the players."

      Thomas said resolution to the negotiations would spare players from feeding the news cycle with more LIV-PGA chatter.

      "I don't mean this disrespectfully," he said at his press conference Wednesday. "but it's like: we get asked it by y'all and y'all either write about it or it's the headlines or whatever it is, and like we know or I know coming into a press conference, I'm probably going to get asked a question about LIV, I'm probably going to get asked a question about this. It's like, but if I don't, then it doesn't happen. But I also understand that that's what's going on in our sport and that's what y'all are here for and that's what we have to talk about.

      "But it's not the same fatigue that I felt probably like six months or a year into it, when it was so new that nobody knew what was going on and all anybody could talk about in the locker room was what was going on.

      "I've just tried to kind of remove myself from most of the conversations because I just don't -- I haven't found the benefit to it. I'm just, I don't want to say hoping for the best - that sounds kind of hopeless - but just trying to remember or help look at the bigger better things going on kind of thing."

      McIlroy is losing patience, but not confidence, those bigger and better things are coming.

      "I want the train to speed up so we can get this thing over and done with," he said.

      --Field Level Media

  • 2024 The Players Championship: Preview, Props, Best Bets
    By Field Level Media / Wednesday, March 13, 2024

    The 50th edition of The Players Championship begins Thursday at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

    • Often called "the fifth major," the 144-player field is arguably the strongest of the year outside of the four majors, even minus those who left for LIV Golf. Our golf experts preview the event and provide their favorite prop picks along with best bets to win this week.

      THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

      Location: Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., March 14-17

      Course: TPC Sawgrass (Par 72, 7,275 yards)

      Purse: $25M (Winner: $4.5M)

      Defending Champion: Scheffler

      FedEx Cup Leader: Scheffler

      HOW TO FOLLOW

      TV: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, 2-7 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (NBC)

      Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-7 p.m. ET; Saturday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.

      X: @ThePlayers

      PROP PICKS

      --Brian Harman to Beat Tony Finau (+100 at DraftKings): Harman is coming off a solid T12 at Bay Hill following a string of five starts with no finishes better than a T44. T44 is exactly where he finished in The Players last year before going on to win The Open. Finau finished T19 last year and should be well rested after skipping the Arnold Palmer Invitational. We still like Harman's ball-striking around the challenging TPC Sawgrass -- especially at these odds.

      --Wyndham Clark Top 20 (+150 at BetMGM): The reigning U.S. Open champion is coming off a runner-up at Bay Hill and won at Pebble Beach earlier this year -- both against strong signature event fields. Clark still isn't getting the love from oddsmakers, but the world's No. 5-ranked player is back in top form.

      --Hole In One on Hole 17 (+250 at DraftKings): One of the most famous holes in golf, "the watery grave" always makes for some entertaining prop action. There have only been 13 aces at the 17th hole since The Players moved to TPC Sawgrass in 1982. Three of those came last year and Shane Lowry carded one in 2022. Keep an eye on that front left pin placement -- we're banking on at least one player zipping a short iron back into the cup.

      2024 Prop Picks Record: 13-16-1

      BEST BETS

      --Scottie Scheffler (+550 at BetMGM) is coming off a five-shot victory at Bay Hill and also won The Players by five shots last year. His seven PGA Tour wins since 2021-22 are the most of anyone during that span. Scheffler opened the week at +650 but has seen his odds shorten while drawing the most total winning bets (15.4 percent) and money (23.7 percent), making him the book's biggest liability this week. Scheffler has the same odds at DraftKings, where he has been backed by lopsided action at 28 and 35 percent, respectively.

      --Rory McIlroy (+1600) missed the cut last year and has an average finish of 34th over his past four appearances. However, he did win in 2019 and was in contention last week until a 76 on Sunday. The world's No. 2-ranked player opened at +1400 but has seen his odds lengthen slightly despite being second in the field with 6.9 percent of the bets and 8.0 percent of the money.

      --Justin Thomas (+2300) finished T12 at Bay Hill after going 72-73 over the weekend. The 2021 Players champion has only one finish worse than T12 in his past nine worldwide starts. Thomas is BetMGM's second-biggest liability this week, having drawn 6.8 and 7.4 percent of the action, respectively.

      --Will Zalatoris (+2500) spent time atop the leaderboard last week before settling for a T4 after going 72-72 over the weekend. With a T2 in his previous start at the Genesis, it's clear Zalatoris' game is rounding back into shape, and he's the book's third-biggest liability this week. Zalatoris has longer odds at DraftKings, where he has drawn the second most money with 6 percent at +3000.

      --Viktor Hovland (+2500) is a darkhorse as he works his way through some swing changes. The reigning FedEx Cup champion has admittedly been frustrated with a lone top-20 in four 2024 starts, and he returned home for a spell to focus on his game. However, the young Norwegian is always a threat and finished T3 last year. He's fourth in the field with 4 percent of the money backing him to win at +2200 at DraftKings.

      --Clark (+3400) is a career-best fifth in the world rankings following his runner-up last week. The defending U.S. Open champion also won at Pebble Beach last month. Clark has significantly longer +5000 odds at DraftKings, which has led to 3 percent of the total money backing him to win.

      --Shane Lowry (+3400) has finished T4 and third the past two weeks.

      --Tom Hoge (+7100) set the course record with a third-round 62 en route to finishing T3 last year.

      NOTES

      --This is the 50th playing of the event, which began in 1974, and the 42nd edition at TPC Sawgrass, which became the venue in 1982.

      --Scheffler is the first defending champion to arrive at The Players ranked No. 1 in the world since McIlroy in 2020. McIlroy won in 2019 and the event was ultimately canceled the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

      --There are 22 players in the field making their event debuts this week, including Sweden's 10th-ranked Ludvig Aberg and Nick Dunlap, who turned pro after winning the American Express in January.

      --Tiger Woods, the 2001 and 2013 champion, is not in the field.

      --Each of the past four winners of The Players entered the week ranked in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking.

      --The three hole-in-ones at the signature 17th hole last year marked the first time there were multiple aces on that hole.

      --LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman holds the tournament scoring record of 24-under 264 set in 1994.

      --Field Level Media