Six Australasians tackle the demands of TPC Sawgrass
Jason Day, the winner in 2016 is playing well at present – image PGA of Australia
Six Australasians, two of them previous winners of the event, will face the starter at this week’s Players Championship at the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course.
The event has been relatively good to Australasians with Jason Day, Adam Scott, Cam Smith, Greg Norman, Steve Elkington (twice) and New Zealand’s Craig Perks having won previously
Jason Day, Adam Scott, Cam Davis, Min Woo Lee, Ryan Fox and PGA Tour rookie Karl Vilips each get the chance to shine in the US$25 million event, the largest purse on the PGA Tour where the winner will earn US$4.5 million.
Day and Scott have both won the event previously. Scott claimed just his second PGA Tour title when defeating Padraig Harrington by one shot in 2004, and Day was the winner in 2016 when home by four shots over Kevin Chappell.
In 19 starts since, Scott has recorded just three top tens and in the last few years has finished well down the field while Day has recorded two top tens in seven starts since his win.
Day is certainly beginning to play well, finishing 8th last week after contending late into the final day and with his game looking increasingly good shape then his chances of contending and finishing as the leading Australian appear very good.
Scott is perhaps not in the same form he was late in 2024 but he is playing solidly. It is however hard to imagine him contending for the title.
Scott did however describe his love affair with the event and the layout.
“Yeah, this is an event I look forward to every year. It’s one of my favorite golf courses on TOUR. It’s one of the best events that we play in every year.
“The event that I tell all my friends outside of the majors obviously I think they should all come and experience it. I think it’s a great atmosphere to play in. It’s a great atmosphere for people to watch. So it’s a real buzz to be here.”
Cam Davis has played the event on four previous occasions and while has missed the cut in three of those he did finish an impressive 6th in 2023.
Davis’ game is somewhat of a roller coaster at present, having missed his last two cuts but also finishing 5th at Pebble Beach a month ago.
Min Woo Lee finished a very impressive 6th in this event when on debut in 2023 and made the cut but finished well back last year. Other than a missed cut last week in Orlando, Lee has played very well to date this year and might well feature.
Ryan Fox will play the event for the third time having finished an encouraging 27th on debut in 2023 before missing the cut last year. Fox is now into his second PGA Tour season but having missed two of three cuts this season it is hard to get excited about his chances.
Karl Vilips will play the event for the first occasion but there is little doubting the significant talent he possesses. His win last week in Puerto Rico will have him playing the event with a lot of confidence and while it is hard to see him figuring at any stage this early in his professional career there will be a lot of interest in just how he follows up such a big win a few days ago.
The likely winner is the man who has won in each of the past two years but players worth a look at longer odds are Hideki Matsuyama, Brian Harman and Sepp Straka.
