THE PLAYERS Championship will be played at TPC Sawgrass (par 72, 7,352 yards, POA trivialis greens) in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. This par 72 has hosted every PLAYERS Championship since 1982, and Rory McIlroy (-12) is the defending champion after defeating J.J. Spaun in a playoff a year ago. There will be 121 players competing this week for a season-high $25 million purse, and after the first two rounds, there will be a top-65 and ties cut.
The PGA DFS Breakdown offers data-driven analysis for each week’s slate, using the FantasyLabs Tools and metrics to highlight notable golfers.
I’ll be highlighting the best cash game/single-entry plays on the DraftKings main slate, but these players are often great options in any contest.
My analysis will frequently reference Strokes Gained, a set of proprietary metrics generated by the PGA TOUR using millions of data points to calculate how many shots, on average, it takes a player to get the ball in the hole from every distance and situation.
Strokes Gained is now available in the FantasyLabs PGA Models.
There are a variety of Strokes Gained-related metrics, but the six main categories you need to know include:
- Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (SG: Off-the-Tee)
- Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: Approach)
- Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green (SG: Around-the-Green)
- Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: Putting)
- Strokes Gained: Ball-Striking (SG: Ball-Striking), which is SG: Off-the-Tee + SG: Approach
- Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (SG: Tee-to-Green), which is SG: Ball-Striking + SG: Around-the-Green
Don’t forget to check out two key metrics in our models — Perfect% and SimLeverage. You can find an explainer on those metrics here.
The Cliffs Notes version is that you can use SimLeverage to quickly find leverage plays in tournaments, while Perfect% is great for finding the best price-considered plays for cash games.
And don’t forget to utilize our various PGA DFS tools like our Lineup Optimizer, Lineup Builder, PGA Correlation Dashboard, and our Trends tool.
The following players listed are based on DraftKings scoring and pricing.
PGA DFS Cash Game Thoughts
DraftKings $9,000 Range
Collin Morikawa ($9,800)
With Scottie Scheffler in questionable form by his standards – he has lost strokes on approach at back-to-back events – and McIlroy dealing with a back injury, passing on the two studs and focusing on players in the $9,000 range to anchor your cash game lineup is the best strategy for THE PLAYERS Championship. Morikawa’s game is firing on all cylinders right now, and he is the best option in this price range. Morikawa has finished first, T7, and fifth in his last three starts, and he has shot under par in all 12 of these rounds. Morikawa ranks fifth in SG: Approach this season, and he could card his fourth top-10 finish in a row this week. Four of the last five winners at TPC Sawgrass have finished the event in the top eight in SG: APP, and at this par 72, Morikawa has made 4 of 5 cuts, including a T13 in 2023 and a T10 last year.
Si Woo Kim ($9,300)
Excluding his withdrawal in 2022, Kim has never missed a cut at TPC Sawgrass in eight tries with three top-10 finishes, most notably with a three-shot win in 2017. The four-time PGA TOUR winner shot an 8-under 64 at this par 72 two years ago. Kim ranks 10th among this field in Strokes Gained per round at TPC Sawgrass. As you can see, Kim’s prowess for this venue is very real and in excellent form; he is a terrific spend this week. Kim has finished T13 or better in six of his last eight starts, and he ranks second in SG: Approach this season.
Now available: our PGA DFS SimLabs Lineup Generator that creates advanced DFS lineups using the power of simulation.
DraftKings $8,000 Range
Ludvig Aberg ($8,700)
Aberg has finished T8 and MC in his two starts at TPC Sawgrass, and the Swede’s game is trending up after a rough start to the season. Aberg has improved in each of his last three starts, finishing T37, T20, and T3. Aberg has gained strokes in every major category in his last two starts, and during his T3 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week, he opened with a 6-under 66 and closed with a 5-under 67. This marked Aberg’s best finish since his win at the Genesis Invitational last season, and he is a steal at this sub-$9,000 salary.
Cameron Young ($8,100)
Young has made 3 of his 4 cuts at TPC Sawgrass, but he has never finished higher than T51 at the track. That being said, Young has never headed to the course in better form than this week. The elite driver has finished T11 or better in eight of his last 11 starts. Young began this run with his breakthrough win at the Wyndham Championship in August, and he just finished T3rd at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week. Young gained strokes across the board at Bay Hill, and he is poised for his best PLAYERS Championship finish to date.
Updated on 3/10/26
DraftKings $7,000 Range
Jake Knapp ($7,600)
Knapp was a surprise withdrawal from the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week due to an apparent illness, and he burnt many DFS players doing so, myself included. However, we need to have a short memory and go right back to Knapp this week at this low salary, which is way too low for the promising 31-year-old. Knapp hasn’t finished worse than T11 in his five starts this season, and he ranks second in Total Strokes Gained, only trailing McIlroy. Knapp has shot under par in 18 of his 20 rounds in 2026, and at TPC Sawgrass, he has finished T45th and T12th.
Min Woo Lee ($7,500)
Lee has finished inside the top 15 in eight of his last 11 starts worldwide, and he has been contending recently, with a runner-up at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last month and a T6 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week. Lee gained strokes across the board at Bay Hill, and he has only failed to shoot under par once in his last 12 rounds. Lee ranks seventh in Total Strokes Gained this season, and he owns a strong resume at TPC Sawgrass, finishing T6, T54, and T20 in his three starts at the course. Lee checks both the current form and course history boxes with flying colors this week, and he is arguably the best value on the board. Lee carries +4100 odds to win THE PLAYERS Championship on DraftKings Sportsbook, which are the same odds as Matthew Fitzpatrick, who costs $8,900.
Kurt Kitayama ($7,500)
Kitayama finished T19 and T33 at the last two PLAYERS Championships – he closed this event last year with a 6-under 66 – and he has been ultra consistent over the last few months. Kitayama has only missed one cut in his last 15 starts, and he has finished inside the top 25 nine times during this span. Kitayama won the 3M Open last July, and he just finished runner-up at the Genesis Invitational last month. Kitayama has gained strokes on approach and with his putter at four consecutive tournaments, and per usual, his salary is simply too low.
Adam Scott ($7,300)
Scott has a long history of succeeding at TPC Sawgrass. The Aussie has made 18 of 23 cuts at the par 72 with 10 top-20 finishes, including a win in 2004. Plus, Scott’s current form is awesome. The veteran has made 12 straight cuts worldwide, and in his last two starts, Scott has finished fourth at the Genesis Invitational and T11 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The former Masters champion gained strokes with both his irons and his putter at these events, and he is way underpriced at only $7,300, which is the cheapest Scott has ever been for a PLAYERS Championship on DraftKings.
DraftKings $6,000 and Below Range
Ryan Fox ($6,500)
This price tag is far too low for Fox. After winning twice on the PGA TOUR last season, the 39-year-old hasn’t finished worse than T24 in his four starts on the PGA TOUR in 2026. Fox ranks 21st in Total Strokes Gained this season, and he has made 12 cuts in a row worldwide. Fox now heads to TPC Sawgrass, where he has finished T27th, MC, and T20th in his three starts. In 10 rounds at the Florida course, Fox has shot under par six times.
Interested in more PGA action? Check out the pick’ems on Underdog with our Underdog promo code.
Pictured: Collin Morikawa
Photo credit: Imagn
