2023 PLAYERS Championship Picks: A +1200 Parlay We Love

2023 PLAYERS Championship Picks: A +1200 Parlay We Love

We're in store for another premiere PGA Tour event in Florida after watching Kurt Kitayama hold onto the lead for his first career win at Bay Hill last weekend. The Tour will stay in Florida and head north from Orlando to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, on the shores of Jacksonville to compete at TPC Sawgrass. THE PLAYERS Championship is an event that has never had a player win outright twice, which means Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Jason Day, Si Woo Kim, and other previous winners will have extra motivation to scale the mountain and be the first two-time champion at TPC Sawgrass.

It's a par 72 course that stretches upwards of 7,275 yards, with overseeded Bermudagrass fairways, rough, and greens that run 13 feet via Stimpmeter. It's a similar layout to Bay Hill. Still, it was built back in 1980 in the vision of legendary gold architect Pete Dye, so there are enough differences for players to adjust to ahead of Thursday's opening round. The weather should cooperate and be a bit cooler in terms of temperature, although 10-12 mph wind gusts will likely be present for the majority of the weekend. It's a course that features more narrow, doglegged fairways with plenty of elongated sand bunkers and water hazards that will punish errant shots. Ball striking is always at a premium in PGA Tour events. Still, with the ninth hole par 5 that stretches over 600 yards to the iconic 17th hole par 3 with a green jutting into a pond, TPC Sawgrass is a difficult course to conquer for new and experienced players alike.

There are a lot of different markets to bet on when it comes to the PGA Tour, but I've decided to focus on a lucrative, instantaneous payout with a few Round 1 3-Ball matchups. Let's dig into why each of these plays is worth parlaying into a juicy +1200 odds bet slip that will cash after Thursday's opening round.

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THE PLAYERS Championship Start Time, Where to Watch, and Odds

• Date: Thursday, March 9th - Sunday, March 12th, 2023
• Opening Tee Time: 6:45 a.m. ET - 12:00 p.m. ET
• Where: TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
• Where to Watch: ESPN+, Golf Channel, NBC

Click here for THE PLAYERS Championship odds

2023 PLAYERS Championship Picks: Parlay (+1200)

Viktor Hovland Round 1 3-Ball Matchup (+150)

Viktor Hovland showed up and showed out at TPC Sawgrass in 2022, logging a T9 finish after getting off to a slow start. However, in 2023, the 25-year-old Norwegian is ranked eighth in Round 1, scoring average of 68.5 per opening round, which is why he has the lowest odds in his grouping against Matt Fitzpatrick and Shane Lowry. Whether it's his driver, precise irons, or ranking sixth on the PGA Tour in Round 1 putts, Hovland has the advantage over Fitzpatrick and Lowry, who both rank outside of the top 70 in Round 1 scoring this season, so at a course where he's fared well in previous appearances, lock Hovland in as the first leg of this Round 1 3-Ball matchup parlay.

Max Homa Round 1 3-Ball Matchup (+160)

It was a bit of a disappointing outing for Max Homa at Bay Hill, as he had numerous opportunities to sink birdie putts to climb the leaderboard, but he wound up missing them and fell outside of a T10 finish. The 32-year-old native of California has already won two events outright this season, making it six career wins, but he's had a harder time getting it done outside of California. Florida courses punish with water, elongated sand bunkers, and doglegged fairways that are difficult to hit. Homa has hardly any weaknesses in his game and ranks third in Round 1 scoring average this season, scoring lower than both of the other players in his Round 1 pairing, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, who tend to start much slower. We saw Spieth get off to a red-hot start at Bay Hill, but he's a volatile player, while Homa is the definition of poise. Landing slightly more value at +160 compared to +155 for Thomas is just the icing on top of the cake. Plug Homa into your parlay as a lock to win his 3-Ball matchup on Thursday.

Jason Day Round 1 3-Ball Matchup (+100)

Jason Day is paired up with Aaron Wise and Lucas Herbert in Round 1 at TPC Sawgrass, and he's getting significantly more respect from the sportsbooks. We're still acquiring plus odds and avoiding vig at +100, even with Wise performing better in Round 1 scoring average than Day has done thus far this season. Day should have more confidence at a course that he won back in 2016. He missed the cut after a horrendous +6 Round 2 in 2022 at The PLAYERS Championship, but Day opened Round 1 with -3-under-par. Wise was in the field here last year and went -1-under-par in comparison, while he's also fresh off of a +7 opening round at Bay Hill. Herbert is outside of the top 100 in his Round 1 scoring average. He couldn't stay under par in either round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational before missing the cut, so he's entering TPC Sawgrass with nearly no momentum behind his play. I believe in Day, a previous winner, who has looked solid to start 2023. Day is going to close out our final leg of this +1200 parlay successfully.

THE PLAYERS Championship Parlay Picks

3-Leg Parlay Odds (+1200): (Bet $100 to Collect $1,300) FanDuel has the best odds; click here to bet

• Viktor Hovland Round 1 3-Ball Matchup (+150)
• Max Homa Round 1 3-Ball Matchup (+160)
• Jason Day Round 1 3-Ball Matchup (+100)