Beach, Florida, as the best players in the world take part in The PLAYERS Championship. Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy will resume their battle for the No. 1 World Golf Ranking and it is Rahm who is a slight favorite in golf betting odds at BetRivers. The PGA Tour and LIV Tour have not worked out their differences, so defending champion Cameron Smith will not be defending his title. I am coming off a 3-2 week with the matchups at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Let’s look at The PLAYERS Championship picks.

Defending Champion: Cameron Smith

Tournament Notes: TPC Sawgrass (Stadium) is a course where the spotlight is on the island green 17^th hole. The hole gets so much attention that there is a streaming channel so people can watch every shot on the hole throughout the tournament.

The PLAYERS Championship Matchups

Scheffler, Scottie -143 vs. Cantlay, Patrick

McIlroy, Rory -120 vs. Rahm, Jon

Thomas, Justin -125 vs. Day, Jason

Morikawa, Collin -125 vs. Zalatoris, Will

Schauffele, Xander -120 vs. Finau, Tony

Homa, Max -125 vs. Hovland, Viktor

Hatton, Tyrrell -120 vs. Fitzpatrick, Matthew

Cantlay, Patrick -132 vs. Finau, Tony

Sungjae Im -129 vs. Tom Kim

Young, Cameron -125 vs. Mitchell, Keith

Bradley, Keegan -120 vs. Conners, Corey

Spieth, Jordan -125 vs. Lowry, Shane

Kuchar, Matt -120 vs. Hadwin, Adam

Kirk, Chris -120 vs. Matsuyama, Hideki

Fleetwood, Tommy -120 vs. Scott, Adam

Theegala, Sahith -125 vs. Burns, Sam

Fowler, Rickie -143 vs. Kitayama, Kurt

McCarthy, Denny -114 vs. Poston, J.T.

Wise, Aaron -120 vs. Woodland, Gary

Vegas, Jhonattan -120 vs. Taylor, Nick

Kim, Si-Woo -159 vs. Rose, Justin

Young, Cameron -143 vs. Theegala, Sahith

Stallings, Scott -132 vs. Griffin, Lanto

Bradley, Keegan -125 vs. Kirk, Chris

Smalley, Alex -125 vs. Palmer, Ryan

Clark, Wyndham -152 vs. Frittelli, Dylan

Moore, Taylor -120 vs. Riley, Davis

Piercy, Scott -132 vs. Hahn, James

Noren, Alexander -136 vs. Detry, Thomas

Rai, Aaron -152 vs. Wu, Dylan

Suh, Justin -125 vs. Bramlett, Joseph

Min Woo Lee -120 vs. Shelton, Robby

Wu, Brandon -120 vs. Willett, Danny

McCarthy, Denny -132 vs. NeSmith, Matthew

Montgomery, Taylor -136 vs. Buckley, Hayden

Bezuidenhout, Christiaan -125 vs. Ghim, Doug

Fleetwood, Tommy -136 vs. Pendrith, Taylor

Hatton, Tyrrell -132 vs. Si Woo Kim

Mitchell, Keith -167 vs. Todd, Brendon

Conners, Corey -152 vs. Taylor, Nick

Morikawa, Collin -152 vs. Fowler, Rickie

Duncan, Tyler -120 vs. Davis, Cameron

Golf Picks

McIlroy, Rory -120 vs. Rahm, Jon

McIlroy has a chance to regain the No. 1 ranking in the world with a win this week. He won this event in 2019 and there is no denying his current form, as he nearly won last week. He leads the PGA Tour in Shots Gained: Tee-to-Green. I know it is risky to go against Rahm, but he didn’t play that well last week and TPC Sawgrass is not the place to gain a quick rebound. I’ll take McIlroy in this matchup.

Fowler, Rickie -143 vs. Kitayama, Kurt

I am coming back with one of my go-to strategies with the matchups and that is going against the previous week’s winner. It worked again last week when we went against Chris Kirk and this week we’ll go against Kitayama. It doesn’t hurt our cause that Fowler is playing well and we know he does well at TPC Sawgrass, as he won this event in 2015.

Bradley, Keegan -125 vs. Kirk, Chris

Bradley seems to be the perfect fit for TPC Sawgrass, as he has made six cuts since 2016 in this event, including a couple of Top 10 finishes and a tie for 16^th. His putter has been good of late and that means he can contend. I went against Kirk last week and will do so again in this matchup.

Viktor Hovland -130 vs. Tony Finau

It seemed that Hovland didn’t play that well a week ago and yet he contended for the win. Last year in this event he led the field in Shots Gained: Tee-to-Green and in total driving. He was second in GIR. It would not surprise me at all to see him get the win this week, so I will take him in this matchup against Finau.

Mitchell, Keith -167 vs. Todd, Brendon

Mitchell hits it straight and long and that profile fits well at TPC Sawgrass. He leads the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. He has two top five finishes this year and he finished in a tie for 13^th in this event a year ago. I’ll take Mitchell in this matchup.

Check out the latest PLAYERS Championship matchups odds at BetRivers.