The PGA TOUR has had a great start to the wraparound 2020-21 season, and things are about to get even better as we hit a great stretch of golf with big tournaments and multiple majors coming up over the next few months. We’ve already had some exciting finishes and exceptional storylines, but the drama and intensity should pick up starting this week with an elite field on a well-known course and fans starting to be able to return to the course as well. This week’s tournament, THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC at Sawgrass, isn’t quite a major championship, but it’s definitely a significant and memorable tournament each season and should be a lot of fun.
DraftKings is ready for the action and will be offering the first Milly Maker of the 2021 PGA TOUR season. Each week this season, this post has examined two of the key factors to consider when building your DraftKings fantasy golf teams. You can find the most notable course history and current form for those teeing it up this week at TPC Sawgrass in the charts below.
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Course History
We have plenty of course history to look at this week since TPC at Sawgrass has hosted this event every season since 1982, and it usually draws all the top golfers in the world. Players who have been in the top flight for a while have lots of history here, and here’s a look at some notable results dating back to 2012:
Course History
| Player Name | Salary | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player Name | Salary | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Dustin Johnson | $11,200 | -- | WD | 59 | 69 | 28 | 12 | 17 | 5 |
| Rory McIlroy | $10,600 | CUT | 8 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 35 | CUT | 1 |
| Justin Thomas | $9,900 | -- | -- | -- | 24 | 3 | 75 | 11 | 35 |
| Webb Simpson | $9,500 | CUT | 15 | CUT | 66 | -- | 16 | 1 | 16 |
| Patrick Reed | $9,000 | -- | -- | CUT | 24 | CUT | 22 | 41 | 47 |
| Daniel Berger | $8,800 | -- | -- | -- | CUT | 9 | 65 | 57 | 67 |
| Hideki Matsuyama | $8,700 | -- | -- | 23 | 17 | 7 | 22 | CUT | 8 |
| Adam Scott | $8,100 | 15 | 19 | 38 | 38 | 12 | 6 | 11 | 12 |
| Jason Day | $8,000 | CUT | 19 | -- | CUT | 1 | 60 | 5 | 8 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | $7,800 | CUT | 19 | CUT | 69 | 28 | 2 | CUT | 56 |
| Justin Rose | $7,800 | 51 | CUT | 4 | CUT | 19 | 65 | 23 | 8 |
| Francesco Molinari | $7,600 | CUT | CUT | 6 | -- | 7 | 6 | CUT | 56 |
| Sergio Garcia | $7,500 | 56 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 54 | 30 | 70 | 22 |
| Marc Leishman | $7,500 | 45 | 8 | 23 | 24 | 64 | CUT | 63 | CUT |
| Rickie Fowler | $7,400 | 2 | CUT | 77 | 1 | CUT | 60 | CUT | 47 |
| Si Woo Kim | $7,200 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 23 | 1 | 63 | 56 |
| Matt Kuchar | $7,200 | 1 | 48 | 17 | CUT | 3 | 82 | 17 | 26 |
| Lee Westwood | $7,200 | 61 | 8 | 6 | CUT | -- | 65 | -- | -- |
| Ian Poulter | $7,100 | 25 | CUT | 65 | 30 | 57 | 2 | 11 | 56 |
| Chris Kirk | $7,000 | 51 | 55 | 13 | 13 | WD | 12 | 46 | 56 |
| Brian Harman | $6,900 | 51 | CUT | CUT | 8 | 54 | 53 | CUT | 8 |
| Zach Johnson | $6,800 | 2 | 19 | 26 | 13 | 54 | 48 | 75 | CUT |
| Jhonattan Vegas | $6,300 | 7 | -- | -- | 42 | 57 | CUT | 41 | 3 |
There are no results from 2020 on the chart above since the event was canceled after just one round was completed, as the PGA TOUR went on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hideki Matsuyama ($8,700) was in the lead at that point after shooting a course-record-tying nine-under on Thursday. Harris English ($7,500), Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($7,100) and Si Woo Kim ($7,200) were tied for second at that point at seven-under.
Kim is one of 10 past winners at THE PLAYERS Championship teeing it up this week. Rory McIlroy ($10,600) is the defending champion from his 2019 victory with Webb Simpson ($9,500), Kim, Jason Day ($8,000) and Rickie Fowler ($7,400) claiming the previous four titles. Historically, this tournament is not one that commonly produces repeat winners with only Tiger Woods winning more than one time on this track since 2001.
Winning at TPC at Sawgrass is a difficult task that requires strong play in a number of areas. The tight fairways can be hard to hit with bunkers and water along the way to collect wayward shots. The greens are small which leads to below-average GIR%’s and Scrambling percentages as well. Shots Gained: Around the Green is a key stat to consider in addition to Shots Gained: Approach. Length off the tee is always helpful, and there have been some bombers who have won here, but there are also several shorter hitters with good history here including Zach Johnson ($6,800) and Brian Harman ($6,900), who are listed in the chart above.
Like many of the Florida events in this part of the season, there has been a decidedly international flair to the leaderboard at THE PLAYERS. International veterans like Sergio Garcia ($7,500) and Adam Scott ($8,100) have extended track records of success. Garcia has made the cut in 16 straight starts at this track, including a win and a pair of runner-up finishes. Scott also won this event further back than the above chart goes, and he has made the cut in 12 straight events at TPC Sawgrass.
If you’re already stocked up on stars and stretching your salary cap thin, there are some value plays with good history here as well. Jhonattan Vegas ($6,300) is the cheapest player in the list above and finished third in the most recent complete tournament at TPC Sawgrass. He comes in with some nice momentum as well after finishing solo-second at the Puerto Rico Open two weeks ago. Chris Kirk ($7,000) is another value play with some interesting course history and solid current form, and Lee Westwood ($7,200) has a long track record of success at this event with five career top-10 finishes and 10-of-14 made cuts, although he hasn’t teed it up here since 2017.
Current Form
Part of the reason the season has been so exciting to this point has been the continued emergence of young shining stars. Two of them have hoisted the first two trophies in the Florida Swing with Collin Morikawa ($9,400) and Bryson DeChambeau ($9,700) claiming wins the past two weeks. Neither of them has much course history at TPC, but they’re each featured in this current form section which includes the first nine PGA TOUR tournaments of 2021.
Current Form
| Player Name | Salary | Sentry TOC | Sony Open | The American Express | Farmers Insurance Open | Waste Management | AT&T Pebble Beach | Genesis | WGC-Workday | Arnold Palmer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player Name | Salary | Sentry TOC | Sony Open | The American Express | Farmers Insurance Open | Waste Management | AT&T Pebble Beach | Genesis | WGC-Workday | Arnold Palmer |
| Jon Rahm | $10,900 | 7 | -- | -- | 7 | 13 | -- | 5 | 32 | -- |
| Rory McIlroy | $10,600 | -- | -- | -- | 16 | 13 | -- | CUT | 6 | 10 |
| Bryson DeChambeau | $9,700 | 7 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | CUT | 22 | 1 |
| Collin Morikawa | $9,400 | 7 | 7 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 43 | 1 | -- |
| Patrick Cantlay | $9,200 | 13 | -- | 2 | -- | -- | 3 | 15 | -- | -- |
| Tony Finau | $9,100 | 31 | -- | 4 | 2 | -- | -- | 2 | 14 | -- |
| Daniel Berger | $8,800 | 10 | 7 | -- | -- | CUT | 1 | -- | 35 | -- |
| Jordan Spieth | $8,600 | -- | -- | -- | CUT | 4 | 3 | 15 | -- | 4 |
| Paul Casey | $8,400 | -- | -- | 8 | -- | -- | 5 | -- | -- | 10 |
| Sungjae Im | $8,300 | 5 | 56 | 12 | 32 | 17 | -- | -- | 28 | 21 |
| Matthew Fitzpatrick | $8,200 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 5 | 11 | 10 |
| Cameron Smith | $7,900 | 24 | 62 | -- | CUT | -- | -- | 4 | 11 | -- |
| Jason Kokrak | $7,700 | 35 | 56 | -- | 29 | -- | -- | 32 | 9 | 8 |
| Will Zalatoris | $7,600 | -- | -- | -- | 7 | 17 | 55 | 15 | 22 | 10 |
| Max Homa | $7,600 | -- | -- | 21 | 18 | 42 | 7 | 1 | 22 | 10 |
| Lanto Griffin | $7,300 | 13 | 41 | CUT | 7 | -- | -- | 26 | 22 | 21 |
| Chris Kirk | $7,000 | -- | 2 | 16 | -- | CUT | 16 | -- | -- | 8 |
| Brendan Steele | $6,700 | -- | 4 | 21 | -- | 30 | 34 | 43 | -- | 18 |
| Richy Werenski | $6,400 | -- | CUT | 21 | 60 | 22 | -- | 57 | -- | 4 |
| Doug Ghim | $6,200 | -- | CUT | 5 | 37 | -- | 21 | CUT | -- | 36 |
Since salaries were released early for this event, the results from last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational were not figured into the pricing. DeChambeau’s victory at Bay Hill came by one stroke over Westwood with Corey Conners ($7,400) in third and Jordan Spieth ($8,600), Richy Werenski ($6,400) and Andrew Putnam ($6,300) tied for fourth. Bezuidenhout finished solo-seventh and could be a sneaky play if he can start this year like he did before the stoppage last year.
Jason Kokrak ($7,700) is the only player to finish in the top 10 of each of the first two weeks in Florida after tying for eighth with Kirk last week. Max Homa ($7,600) has also been able to carry over his success from the West Coast swing with a strong start to the Florida events and a T10 last week.
Tony Finau ($9,100) and Xander Schauffele ($10,300) have each been regulars near the tops of leaderboards this season but haven’t been able to get a win yet despite five top-10 finishes for each of them. Will Zalatoris ($7,600) has also posted five top-10 finishes, as the rookie continues to establish himself on the PGA TOUR after taking the Korn Ferry Tour by storm last season.
Taking a look at some key statistics, Bezuidenhout leads the PGA TOUR this season in SG: Around the Green, averaging 1.081 shots gained per round. Byeong Hun An ($7,000) and Kevin Na ($7,300) are also in the top 10 in that category along with Dustin Johnson ($11,200) and Patrick Cantlay ($9,200). In SG: Approach, Morikawa still holds the lead on the season with Johnson ranked third in that category. Last week, Conners led the field in SG: Approach, and An gained a field-leading 1.335 shots per round around the green.
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