Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2024 PLAYERS Championship

2024 PLAYERS Championship Fantasy Sleeper Report

Talk about boys and their new toys….

Scottie Scheffler chucked a new TaylorMade putter in his bag at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and set about delivering a performance on the greens unlike anything he’s mustered in the past 12 months.

Embed from Getty Images

A tally of +1.30 on the field meant that Scheffler won the API by five shots, at least doubling the score of most in the field and confirming his absolute dominance over the rest – when a solid putting display meets his world-class ball-striking, there really is nobody that can better him.

Ironically, Scheffler’s putting return at the 2023 PLAYERS Championship was +0.03….enough to win by five shots then, too. If he putts like he did at Bay Hill last week again this week at TPC Sawgrass, they might as well hand him the trophy now.

But let’s not be too hasty. First off, Scheffler will have to overcome a stellar field – McIlroy, Cantlay, Schauffele, Hovland, Spieth, Morikawa, Zalatoris etc. And then he’ll need to tame the golf course that made Pete Dye’s name.

Casuals know TPC Sawgrass for its island green on the seventeenth hole – arguably the most famous golf hole anywhere, but there’s much more teeth to what is a pretty short Par 72.

Holes dogleg left and right, with no two consecutive holes playing in the same direction – every tee box requires a recalibration, which can prove particularly brain-scrambling for debutants.  

The fairways are fairly narrow, the rough is generally left up – and juicy if it rains, while the Bermuda greens are on the small side. Oh, and there’s lots of sand and water in play on 17 holes too.

Yes, winning scores at TPC Sawgrass have been creeping lower and lower over the years, but that’s not to say that the players can rest on their laurels – last year, only four players made it to double-digits under par, with the cutline at +3. This layout remains in Dye’s original vision….and is outstanding for it.

Such conditions may not lend themselves to a long-shot winner, but last year the likes of Aaron Rai and Chad Ramey were within touching distance of Scheffler after 54 holes, while in 2022 an incredible effort from 750/1 outsider Anirbhan Lahiri saw him lead THE PLAYERS Championship until just a handful of holes remained.

So expect the unexpected this week….maybe one of our five sleeper picks for the 2024 PLAYERS Championship can take full advantage?

[membership level=”0″]

You must be a Premium Member to view our exclusive fantasy golf picks.

Already a member?  Sign in Here.

[/membership]

[membership level=”1,2,3″]

Min Woo Lee – 50/1 – For the second week in a row on the Florida Swing, Min Woo Lee flushed his ball from tee to green.

But unlike his T2 effort at the Cognizant Classic, the Australian didn’t get full reward at Bay Hill – a cold putter condemning him to a lowly T44 turn.

But the underlying numbers were good, and if Min Woo is a ‘trust the process’ guy, he’ll know that his short game has been historically very good. Allied to popping ball-striking numbers, that’s a heady mix for a player who was sat T2 here after 54 holes last year before settling for a T6 finish.

Sahith Theegala – 50/1 – It was the complete performance from Sahith Theegala at Bay Hill last week….he just didn’t put it all together at the same time.

He ranked fourth off the tee, six around the greens and returned positive putting numbers….it was just his iron and wedge play that let him down.

And yet on Sunday he ranked seventh for that metric, so there’s absolutely nothing to worry about from a player who has the pedigree to suggest he could win majors in the near future.

What about the ‘fifth major?’

Tony Finau – 55/1 – Sometimes the odds make the bet.

Tony Finau is far better than 55/1 in any field, and it’s only a lack of activity on the Florida Swing that sees him posted at such a price – otherwise, his form is good, with four finishes of T25 or better in his last five outings.

Finau will head to TPC Sawgrass refreshed and invigorated from a break, and if he can just find an extra gear on the greens then his awesome ball-striking will enjoy full reward from a technical assignment like TPC Sawgrass.

Russell Henley – 55/1 – There’s an amazing spread of odds on Russell Henley this week – some books have him at 55/1, some opened as low as 35/1.

We think 60/1 is excellent value – hence his introduction here, and indeed anything down to 50/1 is fine about a tidy player who has the all-round game to thrive at Sawgrass.

With a formline of 19-13 here in his last two trips, the penny is dropping for Henley – and T4 at Bay Hill last week only serves to whet the appetite of what he might achieve this week.

Si-Woo Kim – 75/1 – There’s a useful lesson for golf bettors this week thanks to two Koreans at this 75/1 price point.

Si-Woo Kim and Byeong Hun An are roughly the same age and, subjectively speaking, a similar level of ability. But An is yet to break his PGA TOUR duck and Si-Woo has four wins to his name, which reveals that it is he – rather than An – that has to be the play this week.

Si-Woo won this very event in 2017, of course, and warmed up with a decent showing at Bay Hill, ranking fifth for Driving Accuracy, fifth for SG: Approach and sixth for GIR in a rock-steady ball-striking display.

Can a return to a happy hunting ground provide him with an improvement on the greens that could take him close to the winner’s circle once more?

[/membership]

Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for THE PLAYERS Championship here.

Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2023-2024)

Cover photo via Instagram