Players Championship DFS picks 2026: Our expert loves this past champion
Editor's Note: This article is published in partnership with Betsperts Golf, a Golf Digest content partner.
Cliff Hawkins
The stage is set for the PGA Tour’s marquee event as the 2026 Players Championship kicks off this week at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. TPC Sawgrass is a hazard-filled, positional, Florida-style test that hosts what many consider the most competitive and thrilling tournament of the year. Two-time champion Rory McIlroy summed up what the tournament means by saying, “I wouldn’t consider my career complete if I hadn’t won a Players Championship.”
TPC Sawgrass is widely considered one of the most visually pristine and strategically brilliant golf courses in the world. The course features lush rough, striking white sand bunkers and water hazards that come into play on 16 holes. Its lightning fast, tiered greens and carefully crafted layout ensure that players face a demanding test on every hole.
Few other courses match the risk-and-reward balance found at TPC Sawgrass. The angled fairways are designed to challenge golfers to make bold decisions from the tee. Often the best angle for an approach shot requires aiming closer to trouble, rewarding players who are willing to take on more risk. Those who play too safe frequently leave themselves with more difficult approach shots into the challenging greens.
At TPC Sawgrass, almost any playing style can contend, but the course has a way of quickly exposing weaknesses. Pretenders are often weeded out early as the demanding layout tests every part of a player’s game. When the typically windy March conditions arrive, small mistakes can quickly turn into costly numbers. Power hitters like Rory McIlroy, shorter but highly accurate players such as Webb Simpson, and even unexpected longshots like Craig Perks have all managed to win here.
Success here usually belongs to golfers who are mentally tough, possess a complete all-around skill set and arrive in sharp form. The course continually pressures players to execute precise shots and make smart decisions from start to finish. It may sound like a cliché, but at TPC Sawgrass the player who performs the best across every aspect of the game over four days is usually the one lifting the trophy on Sunday. Five of the last six editions have been decided by either one shot or in a playoff, so expect suspense late Sunday afternoon.
$9,000+ range
Play: Collin Morikawa, $9,800
Orlando Ramirez
If you were to ask golf course aficionados what the perfect PGA venue would be for Morikawa, there is no doubt that many would say TPC Sawgrass. So it’s a bit surprising that last year was his only top-10 finish in his five previous starts here. Similar to last year, Morikawa enters with pristine form having won at Pebble Beach and then following it up with a seventh at the Genesis and a fifth last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Every winner here since 2018 has gained at least 1.5 strokes ball-striking per round in the four months leading up to their win. Morikawa is one of six players in this week’s field to meet that criteria at 1.53 per round.
Play: Si Woo Kim, $9,300
Kim’s seven starts this year include five top-13 finishes and an impressive 43.8 total strokes gained/ball-striking. He won here in 2018 and has consistently performed well on Pete Dye courses. As usual, everything comes down to how he performs on the greens. The encouraging sign is that since 2015 his putting at TPC Sawgrass has been almost perfectly neutral, losing just 0.01 strokes per round.
Si Woo Kim leads this upper-tier in total strokes gained ball-striking in 2026 by a huge margin.
Fade: Xander Schauffele, $9,600
Something in Schauffele’s game appears to be off this season. He built his reputation on being sharp with every club in the bag, yet aside from his T-7 at the Genesis Invitational, each of his other tournaments has featured lost strokes in one or more key Strokes Gained categories. He has also been inconsistent at TPC Sawgrass, recording three missed cuts and a 72nd place finish in seven career starts.
$8,000+ range
Play: Ludvig Aberg, $8,700
Mike Ehrmann
Still underpriced and trending upward, Aberg will likely be one of the most popular plays on the slate. He stands out even more in this salary range since many of the other players in the $8,000 tier arrive at TPC Sawgrass in poor form. After a slow start to the season, he finished T-20 at the Genesis Invitational and followed it with a T-3 last week at Bay Hill, where he gained an outstanding 8.3 strokes/ball-striking. Even more encouraging for a course like TPC Sawgrass that demands well-rounded play, he gained strokes in every category across those last two events.
Fade: Justin Thomas, $8,000
Coming off an injury, Thomas struggled mightily at Bay Hill last week in his first action of 2026, missing the cut and losing 5.8 strokes/ball-striking. TPC Sawgrass is not the course to find your game. Thomas will most likely need a couple more starts to completely knock off the rust.
$7,000+ range
Play: Adam Scott, $7,300
Mike Ehrmann
When looking at the new Approach Scoring Opportunities data I recently added to the Rabbit Hole, Adam Scott is the one name that stands out in this price range because of his elite approach play across each yardage bucket so far in 2026. This includes hitting 39 percent of his approaches inside 15 feet from the 50- to 150-yard range, which is especially relevant since about 40 percent of all approaches at TPC Sawgrass come from that distance. Scott has also shown some upside this season, highlighted by a fourth-place finish at the Genesis Invitational. At this value of a salary, his high floor and ceiling is especially valuable on a volatile course like TPC Sawgrass.
$6,000+ range
Play: Haotong Li, $6,400
Michael Pimentel/ISI Photos
As the 75th-ranked player in the world and the 16th best ball-striker in this field so far in 2026, Li presents excellent value in this range. He ranks 20th in the field in driving accuracy, sits fifth in Good Drive rate, and has started the season well with a T-8 at The American Express and a T-11 at the Farmers Insurance Open. If he can remain mentally composed and limit mistakes around the green, Li has the upside to finish inside the top 20 on Sunday.
Ron Klos (@PGASplits101 on X) is a PGA Tour data analyst for Betsperts Golf.