The 2024 Players Championship will provide golf fans with several star-studded groupings through the first two days of action. Scottie Scheffler, the defending champion and the No. 1 ranked player in the world, will play alongside Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler when play gets underway on Thursday, March 14, from TPC Sawgrass. The 2024 Players Championship tee times feature this trio going off at 1:40 p.m. ET on Thursday. Elsewhere in The Players Championship 2024 field, Rory McIlroy will be paired with Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland, the defending FedEx Cup champion.
According to the latest 2024 Players Championship odds, Scheffler is the 11-2 favorite. He's followed by McIlroy (12-1), Thomas (22-1), Hovland (22-1) and Xander Schauffele (22-1) on the PGA odds board. Will Scheffler defend his title at TPC Sawgrass, or should you look elsewhere for value? Before locking in your 2024 Players Championship picks, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine's proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been red-hot since the PGA Tour resumed in June 2020. In fact, the model is up more than $9,600 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.
McClure's model predicted Scottie Scheffler (+600) would finish on top of the leaderboard at the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational. McClure also included Hideki Matsuyama in his best bets to win the 2024 Genesis Invitational. That bet hit at +9000, and for the entire tournament, McClure's best bets returned nearly $1,000.
The model also predicted Jon Rahm would be victorious at the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions and The American Express. At the 2023 Masters, the model was all over Rahm's second career major victory heading into the weekend. Rahm was two strokes off the lead heading into the third round, but the model still projected him as the winner. It was the second straight Masters win for the model, which also nailed Scheffler winning in 2022.
In addition, McClure's best bets included Nick Taylor (70-1) winning the 2023 RBC Canadian Open, Jason Day (17-1) winning outright at the 2023 AT&T Byron Nelson, and Rickie Fowler (14-1) finishing on top of the leaderboard at the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic. This same model has also nailed a whopping 10 majors entering the weekend. Anyone who has followed it has seen massive returns.
Now that The Players Championship 2024 field is set, SportsLine simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard.
Top 2024 Players Championship predictions
One major surprise the model is calling for at The Players Championship 2024: McIlroy, a 24-time PGA Tour champion and one of the top favorites, struggles this week and doesn't even crack the top five. McIlroy won this event in 2019, but he's been extremely inconsistent at TPC Sawgrass in recent years. In fact, McIlroy has missed the cut in two of his last three starts at The Players Championship. The 34-year-old has also failed to crack the top 20 in each of his four starts on the PGA Tour this season.
McIlroy remains one of the best drivers on tour, but he's been inconsistent with every other aspect of his game in 2024. He'll enter this week's event ranked 152nd in strokes gained: approach to green (-0.522), 124th in greens in regulation percentage (67.41%) and 138th in putting average (1.791). He also ranks 135th in scoring average (70.27), which doesn't bode well for his chances to finish on top of the leaderboard at TPC Sawgrass.
Another surprise: Shane Lowry, a 40-1 longshot, makes a strong run at the title. He has a much better chance to win it all than his odds imply, so he's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday.
Lowry is one of the best iron players on the PGA Tour. In fact, the 36-year-old currently ranks fifth in strokes gained: approach to green (0.799). He's also been extremely consistent in other aspects of his game. The Irishman will enter this week's event ranked eighth in driving accuracy (70.09%), 10th in strokes gained: total (1.268) and 15th in putting average (1.710). Those impressive stats have helped Lowry finish T-4 or better in each of his last two starts on the PGA Tour, making him a strong value pick for your 2024 Players Championship bets this week. See who else to pick here.
How to make 2024 Players Championship picks
The model is also targeting four other golfers with odds of 25-1 or longer to make a strong run at the title. Anyone who backs these longshots could hit it big. You can only see the model's picks here.
Who will win the 2024 Players Championship, and which longshots will stun the golfing world? Check out The Players Championship 2024 odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected Players Championship leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed 10 golf majors, including last year's Masters and Open Championship.
2024 Players Championship odds, field
See the full Players Championship picks, best bets, and predictions here.
Scottie Scheffler +550
Rory McIlroy +1200
Justin Thomas +2200
Xander Schauffele +2200
Viktor Hovland +2200
Patrick Cantlay +2500
Will Zalatoris +2500
Hideki Matsuyama +2800
Max Homa +3300
Ludvig Åberg +3300
Wyndham Clark +3300
Sam Burns +3300
Collin Morikawa +3500
Jordan Spieth +3500
Shane Lowry +4000
Tommy Fleetwood +4500
Jason Day +4500
Sahith Theegala +5000
Cameron Young +5000
Min Woo Lee +5500
Sungjae Im +6000
Si Woo Kim +6000
Corey Conners +6000
Russell Henley +6000
Tony Finau +6000
Brian Harman +6500
Harris English +6500
Matt Fitzpatrick +7000
Tom Kim +7500
Byeong Hun An +7500
Adam Scott +8000
Tom Hoge +8000
J.T. Poston +9000
Keith Mitchell +9000
Keegan Bradley +10000
Cam Davis +10000
Eric Cole +11000
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +11000
Jake Knapp +12000
Justin Rose +12000
Nicolai Højgaard +12000
Erik van Rooyen +12000
Billy Horschel +12000
Adam Hadwin +12000
Rickie Fowler +12000
Alex Noren +12000
Matthieu Pavon +15000
Chris Kirk +15000
Denny McCarthy +15000
Beau Hossler +15000
Emiliano Grillo +15000
Stephan Jaeger +15000
Brendon Todd +15000
Aaron Rai +15000
Sepp Straka +15000
