Scottie Scheffler remains the outright betting favorite at The Players Championship this week, attempting to win three straight events at TPC Sawgrass. The World No. 1 golfer has yet to win in 2025 and is joined in his quest by a full field of 144 golfers, including Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Aberg, and Justin Thomas.
My Arnold Palmer Invitational DFS Primer was a mixed bag, although backing Russell Henley at $9.7K on FanDuel proved lucrative, as he went on to mount a late comeback on Sunday to win outright over Collin Morikawa. Patrick Cantlay and J.J. Spaun each carded T31 finishes, while Cam Davis shot an 80 in Round 2 to miss the cut.
I’ve got four more golfers to prioritize in DraftKings and FanDuel lineups ahead of Round 1 at TPC Sawgrass. Follow me on X at Matt_MacKay_ for more DFS PGA and weekly golf analysis.
2025 The Players Championship DraftKings and FanDuel DFS Primer
Previous Winners
- 2024 – Scottie Scheffler (-20)
- 2023 – Scottie Scheffler (-17)
- 2022 – Cameron Smith (-13)
- 2021 – Justin Thomas (-14)
- 2019 – Rory McIlroy (-16)
Relevant Betting Stats
- Strokes Gained: Approach
- Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee
- Driving Accuracy
- Scrambling
Course Overview
TPC Sawgrass is a par 72 course that has been lengthened to 7,352 yards. There are four par 3s and four par 5s, including the water-logged par 3 17th hole, featuring the iconic island in the middle of the water hazard.
Four inch rough and 13 foot Bermudagrass greens create a difficult course to navigate. There have been strategic trees planted to increase the difficulty off of some tees, and like most Florida courses, water is found in some fashion on most holes.
While the par 3s don’t run very long, accuracy is imperative to avoid a disastrous score. Two of the par 5s are under 560 yards, while there are a couple of short par 4s to increase birdie opportunities.
Finding the fairways and greens will always be a path to success at TPC Sawgrass. Golfers who can successfully read the quick green speeds will likely climb the leaderboard.
Recommended Plays: DraftKings
DraftKings maximum salary is set at $50,000
Sepp Straka: $8,600
There aren’t enough good things to say about Sepp Straka at this price. He ranks highly in numerous metrics that align with TPC Sawgrass, including second at finding greens in regulation (75%), ninth in SG: Approach, 11th in driving accuracy, and fourth in proximity.
The Austrian averages 68.5 per round and 5.2 birdies per round, both top-five marks. At $8.6K on DraftKings, Straka is a must-add value play this week.
Aaron Rai: $7,100
Aaron Rai is heating up and should not be this cheap to roster. The talented ball-striker has improved his putting and has carded 15-18 birdies in each of his last four events played.
Averaging between 73 and 122 FPPG on DraftKings, Rai’s ironplay and tee-to-green accuracy is a strong play at TPC Sawgrass. He’s sixth in driving accuracy, 30th at finding greens in regulation, and 16th on par 4s in 2025.
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Recommended Plays: FanDuel
FanDuel maximum salary is set at $60,000
Robert MacIntyre: $9,100
This is my first time recommending Robert MacIntyre in 2025. The Scottish golfer has some appeal at $9.1K on FanDuel. He’s had a T6 and T11 finish in two of the previous three events played, including last week at Bay Hill.
Ranked eighth in SG: Off-the-Tee, 21st in driving accuracy, and 13th at finding greens in regulation, the putter is the only club holding MacIntyre back from contention each week. At 12th for hole proximity, 21st in scoring average, and 11th in birdie average this year, let’s grab MacIntyre and plug him into our lineups at a decent price.
Ben Griffin: $8,700
I’ll go back to Ben Griffin again for the final prospect to prioritize at TPC Sawgrass. Griffin had one of his worst outings at Bay Hill, finishing T44. However, he did record T4 and T4 finishes at the Mexico Open and Cognizant Classic, so I expect somewhere in-between this week at The Players Championship.
Griffin ranks 39th in total strokes gained. He’s 34th in total driving, top-50 for hitting greens in regulation, and 35th in scoring average. While other golfers may have more eye-popping metrics compared to Griffin, he’s the poster-child for consistency and course management.
Griffin did miss the cut at this event in 2024 but I’m willing to bet on a better outing this time around. Let’s add Griffin at $8.7K on FanDuel.
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Matthew MacKay is a featured writer for BettingPros and FantasyPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @Matt_MacKay_.