Many fans consider the Players Championship golf’s “fifth major” and a look at the 2025 Players Championship field justifies that claim yet again. Multi-major winners like Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas will tee off from TPC Sawgrass in Florida on Thursday, March 13, and they are sure to be popular 2025 Players Championship bets. Scheffler is the +360 favorite (risk $100 to win $360) in the latest 2025 Players Championship odds. Russell Henley, last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational winner, is a 45-1 longshot coming off his fifth PGA Tour victory. However, he’s missed the cut in four of his last six starts at the Players Championship.
SportsLine’s proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, is up nearly $9,000 on its best bets since June 2020. This same model has also nailed a whopping 13 majors entering the weekend, including the 2024 Masters.
Now that the 2025 Players Championship field is locked in, SportsLine simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and revealed its longshot picks:
Hideki Matsuyama (30-1 at DraftKings)
The 33-year-old opened the 2025 PGA Tour season with a victory at The Sentry. He continued his strong start while making the cut in each of his seven tournaments with three top-20 finishes. Matsuyama ranks third in the FedEx Cup standings early into the 2025 PGA Tour season. Matsuyama has 11 career PGA Tour victories, along with eight international wins, and won two PGA Tour events last year. He is sixth on the PGA Tour in total strokes gained this season.
Matsuyama is coming off back-to-back top 10 results at the Players Championship, finishing T-6 last year after placing fifth the year before. He’s finished eighth or better in four of his last seven Players Championships at TPC Sawgrass, so he should feel confident heading into the weekend. DraftKings Sportsbook has Matsuyama priced at 30-1 odds:
Patrick Cantlay (35-1)
Cantlay has two top-five finishes over his first five events of the 2025 PGA Tour season with his ability to capitalize on Par 4s boosting his results early into the season. The 32-year-old is second on the PGA Tour in Par 4 average (3.85) with his second-best birdie average aiding that. Cantlay is 10th in scoring average (68.63) while ranking 12th in total strokes gained.
Cantlay has just one top-20 result over seven career Players Championship events, but the eight-time PGA Tour winner and 2021 Tour Champion has been a proven winner throughout his career. His struggles at TPC Sawgrass have dropped his price to where the model sees strong value in him being included in 2025 Players Championship bets.
Shane Lowry (40-1)
The 37-year-old Irishman has made the cut in four straight Players Championships with three top-20 finishes. Lowry finished seventh at last weekend’s Arnold Palmer Invitational after finishing T-11 at the Cognizant Classic the week before, so his game is trending in the right direction. Lowry has just one round over 70 during his last two tournaments and that success can carry over to the 2025 Players Championship.
Lowry is 10th in the FedEx Cup standings behind his hot start while ranking 11th in total strokes gained. Lowry won’t be a popular play in many 2025 Players Championship bets, but the model believes his odds indicate a golfer being overlooked given his recent stretch.
More Players Championship 2025 picks
You’ve seen the latest longshots from the model. Now, see the Players Championship leaderboard, including forecasted finishes for Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, and more. Visit SportsLine to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that’s nailed 13 golf majors, including the last three Masters and three majors in 2024.
2025 Players Championship odds, field, golfers
Get full 2025 Players Championship picks, best bets and predictions here.
Scottie Scheffler +360
Rory McIlroy +800
Collin Morikawa +1600
Xander Schauffele +1600
Ludvig Aberg +2000
Justin Thomas +2000
Hideki Matsuyama +3000
Patrick Cantlay +3500
Tommy Fleetwood +3500
Shane Lowry +4000
Russell Henley +4500
Sungjae Im +5500
Sepp Straka +5500
Keegan Bradley +5500
Sam Burns +6000
Wyndham Clark +6000
Corey Conners +6500
Jason Day +6500
Maverick McNealy +6500
Tony Finau +7000
Viktor Hovland +7000
Si Woo Kim +7000
Daniel Berger +7000
Min Woo Lee +7500
Robert MacIntyre +7500
Jordan Spieth +8000
Tom Kim +8000
Will Zalatoris +8000
Brian Harman +9000
Taylor Pendrith +9000
Adam Scott +9000
J.T. Poston +10000
Sahith Theegala +10000
Denny Mccarthy +10000
Aaron Rai +10000
Kurt Kitayama +11000
Davis Thompson +11000
Doug Ghim +11000
Rickie Fowler +11000
J.J. Spaun +11000
Michael Kim +11000
Matt Fitzpatrick +11000
Akshay Bhatia +11000
Ben Griffin +11000
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +11000
Keith Mitchell +11000
Rasmus Hojgaard +12000
Max Greyserman +12000
Thomas Detry +12000
Byeong Hun An +12000
Samuel Stevens +15000
Stephan Jaeger +15000
Cameron Young +15000
Justin Rose +15000
Joe Highsmith +15000
Alex Smalley +15000
Seamus Power +15000
Billy Horschel +15000
Where to bet on PGA Tour tournaments
Here are some of the sportsbooks to bet on the Players Championship, along with the various PGA Tour sportsbook promos they currently offer.
Read the full article here
