Rory McIlroy will be looking to successfully defend his title at The Players Championship when he tees off on Thursday in the first round of this year’s edition of the tournament as a +750 betting favourite at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
McIlroy continued the consistent run that has so far marked his 2020 season by taking home a share of fifth place at last weekend’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, and he has now finished among the top 10 in 12 of 15 outings going into the 2020 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass this week.
In addition to marking his first tournament victory of 2019, McIlroy’s win at this event a year ago also represented somewhat of a breakthrough. The 30-year-old had finished no better than 12th in his previous three appearances at The Players Championship, and had missed the cut four times over his past 10. However, the world’s top-ranked golfer has shown signs of brilliance during his hot start to 2020, shooting rounds of over 70 on just three occasions prior to last weekend’s even-par performance at Bay Hill.
The man who sits closest to McIlroy in the World Golf Rankings is also his closest competitor on The Players Championship odds heading into this week’s tournament. Jon Rahm follows McIlroy as a +1200 second favourite, just ahead of Justin Thomas at +1400, while Bryson DeChambeau rounds out the favourites at +2000.
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Rahm has been idle since turning in a third-place performance at last month’s WGC-Mexico Championship, which also marked his third top-three finish of the season. The 25-year-old Spaniard also garnered second place at both the Hero World Challenge and the Farmers Insurance Open, but has work to do to improve on a career-best 12th-place finish at the 2019 Players Championship.
Thomas has also been off the course since the WGC-Mexico Championship, where he claimed a share of sixth place. The 26-year-old has six top-10 finishes to his credit this season, including victories at The CJ Cup and the Sentry Tournament of Champions, but has also battled inconsistency that resulted in him missing the cut at both the Sony Open in Hawaii and last month’s Genesis Invitational.
Conversely, DeChambeau has steadily gained momentum since finishing a distant 52nd at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, finishing in the top five in three straight outings, capped by a fourth-place performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Further down the Players Championship odds at online betting sites, Tommy Fleetwood lags at +2200 odds for the week, just ahead of Dustin Johnson at +2500 odds, while 2018 winner Webb Simpson sports +2800 tournament odds.
