Suffice to say, Jack Nicklaus won $5.7 million over his Hall Of Fame career. This week’s Players Championship has a total purse of $15 million with (drum roll please)…..$2.7 m-m-million to the winner on Sunday. Second place gets a whopping $1,635,000 and Tony Finau will be interested to know that third place is a solid $1,035,000.
You kinda get the idea that The Sheriff Of Nottingham (aka PGA Tour Commish Jay Monahan) and his hearty Band Of Henchmen, think very, very highly of their flagship event with that kind of flagship money getting wired next Monday to various accounts of PGA Tour millionaires.
It’s nice to see everyone back at the Stadium Course. It was exactly a year ago when sports went dormant thanks to that virus stuff. It took three months for the PGA Tour to return to action but return it did and give the Tour a Laurel and Hardy handshake for handling everything so well. Golf once again thrived albeit without the fans and the bozos who scream “Get In The Hole” when a guy hits his tee shot on a 55o-yard hole and the dweebs who scream “Baba-Louie” along with the clowns who bellow out “Mashed Potatoes” when a player hits a shot.
The noise came back pretty well last week at Bay Hill, most of it orderly, but yes, it was good to have some good old fashioned hollering when Jordan Spieth made that hole-in-one on Saturday at the second hole and when Bryson ripped a drive on Saturday at the sixth.
Which brings us to the Stadium Course and the unique challenge it represents. We have 48 of the world’s top 50 in the field and there are only four players who qualified for this biggie that aren’t playing — Tiger Woods, for obvious reasons; Matt Wolff, who must be ailing physically along with Zach Blair and Bud Cauley, not that anyone is really upset that Bud and Zach aren’t there. Danny Willett is out as well. He had a positive COVID test when he showed up this week after finishing T31 at Bay Hill.
What we have are a lot of huge names, including Arnold Palmer red cardigan-wearing, driver-crushing, protein shake chugging, Kyle Berkshire-admiring, rules arguing, U.S. Open winning, distance obsessed Bryson DeChambeau, who is rapidly becoming the PGA Tour’s Most Interesting Man. So without further delay (no we’re not waiting for a rules official), let’s see who might win $2,7 million on Sunday along with a five-year Tour exemption and three-year invites to The Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship and PGA Championships. Nice!
Betting Favorites:
Dustin Johnson: Well, he is the world’s No. 1 and was a top-five guy the last time they played in 2019.
Collin Morikawa: May be the Tour’s best point-A, to point-B target player. The “saw” putting grip is working nicely for him. He was off last week so should be rested following his win at The Concession two weeks ago. He’s our favorite.
Jon Rahm: Should be a solid contender. Notice the words “should be.”
Xander Schauffele: He’s overdue but has to avoid that big hook miss of his off the tee at this course.
Hideki Matsuyama: Opened with 63 a year ago Thursday but it was wiped out when everyone had to go home. He finished T8 in 2019.
Next Tier:
Viktor Hovland: This kid’s getting on a roll. A LOT of game.
Adam Scott: Ball striking is superb, putting is hit-and-miss.
Tommy Fleetwood: Nice ball striker, putts like a pig.
Daniel Berger: Gotta like his game.
Tyrrell Hatton: Poor start at Bay Hill but nice rounds on Friday and Saturday.
Third Tier:
Bryson DeChambeau: A missed drive on this course can be very costly. Not the type of course where he can hit a lot of drivers. He’s the new “must-watch” player if you’re one of the fortunate to be on site this week. Tied for 20th in 2019 but is a totally different player now.
Joaquin Niemann: Love this kid’s grit and determination.
Tony Finau: Just another reminder to Tony that third place pays $1,035,000.
Justin Thomas: J.T’s game has been totally out of sorts these days, can he keep driver in the short grass?
Rory McIlroy: Even my neighbor Lucy, who adores Rory, was totally ticked off by his two-straight water balls on the par five sixth at Bay Hill last Sunday.
Guys Who Can Win:
Pat Cantlay: Hopefully he’s over whatever he ate two weeks ago in Bradenton.
Patrick Reed: Lots of cameras out on the course, just a reminder, Patrick.
Billy Horschel: Jacksonville is Gator Country.
Webb Simpson: Should play well here, no excuses.
Sergio Garcia: Needs a good week on the greens.
Lanto Griffin: How can you not root for the golfing son of two hippies?
Jordan Spieth: If only Dr. Jordan can get rid of Mr. Hyde.
No Chance Whatsoever:
Phil Mickelson: We had to mention Lefty because after 1,425 weeks in the top 100 in the World Rankings, he’s finally fallen to No. 101. That’s nearly 28 years. He was in the top 50 for 1,353 weeks, finally made his exit from that club in November of 2019. Lefty’s game is so bad he finished outside the top 20 the last time he played and that was in a senior event. Ugh! Lefty’s been damn good for a damn long time, so we give him an Arnold Palmer “Thumbs Up” for his longevity.
And finally, before we go, what will be the over/under on how many times they show Tiger Woods highlights this week? Tiger will be like the rest of us, watching on television. Hopefully, he’s on the mend and can head home before too long. This is the fifth time in his career that Tiger has missed this one.
In the meantime — on with the show!
First/Second Round Tee Times/Groupings:
On Television: Golf Channel: Thursday, Friday, 12 noon to 6 p.m.; NBC: Saturday, Sunday 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
