The 2026 Players Championship begins Thursday at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, featuring top golfers like Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. A proven golf model has simulated the tournament 10,000 times and highlights prop bets on Collin Morikawa, Si Woo Kim, and Ludvig Aberg. Scheffler enters as the +480 favorite, with McIlroy at +1600.
The 2026 Players Championship, often called the unofficial fifth major, draws a strong field to TPC Sawgrass. Scottie Scheffler leads the betting odds at +480 to win, followed by Rory McIlroy at +1600. The event follows last weekend's Arnold Palmer Invitational, where Akshay Bhatia defeated Daniel Berger in a playoff, and Collin Morikawa and Ludvig Aberg both placed in the top five.
SportsLine's model, which has generated over $8,000 in profits on best bets since the PGA Tour resumed in June 2020 and correctly predicted 16 majors—including the 2025 Masters, PGA Championship, and Open Championship—offers several prop picks. It projects Morikawa to finish in the top five at +430 odds on DraftKings. The 29-year-old secured a victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on February 12, followed by a T7 at The Genesis Invitational and fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, marking three consecutive top-seven finishes. Morikawa ranks eighth in total strokes gained, seventh in total driving, ninth in driving accuracy, ninth in scoring average, and 11th in birdie average this season. He placed 10th in last year's Players Championship.
The model also favors Si Woo Kim for a top-10 finish at +340 odds. Kim, ninth in the FedEx Cup standings, has three top-10s in his first seven starts, including a T13 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He boasts two top-three results, ranking 12th in total strokes gained and second in strokes gained: approach to the green. Kim leads in proximity to the hole, holds fourth in driving accuracy, sixth in scoring average, and fifth on par-4 holes. He won the Players Championship in 2017 and has two top-10 finishes in his last five appearances there.
For group betting at DraftKings, the model selects Ludvig Aberg to top Group B, which includes Kim, Cameron Young, Russell Henley, and Hideki Matsuyama, at +335 odds. Aberg finished T3 last weekend and notched six top-10s in 20 starts during the 2025 season. The 26-year-old has two PGA Tour wins in 61 events and placed eighth in his 2024 Players debut.
