Johnson confident this Players Championship will be different

Victorian native Leishman, 33, says he’s feeling fresh after taking three weeks off for the first time in his USA career.

“There’s a certain level of comfort that professional golfers have nowadays, because of the likes of the FedEx Cup, but I still don’t think that we lack the drive to become the golfers we wanted to be when we were kids. When it’s there, I usually play some very, very good golf”. You would have The Players in March, the Masters in April the PGA in May, the U.S. Open in June and British Open in July. Had Tiger been in the field, it would have included every victor of the last 28 PLAYERS and major championships.

On the eve of his Players Championship title defence, Jason Day has set himself the considerable task of reeling in runaway world No.1 Dustin Johnson in 2017.

Day is under no illusion that he faces a massive challenge to become to the first Players Champion to successfully defend his title, on the notoriously hard TPC Sawgrass layout, he identified the back-9 as being crucial to his chances of getting back in the winners circle.

“But this golf course is tough”. There have been some renovations done since past year.

There was no need to tweak that hole, but there have been major changes elsewhere, with seven new greens in use and the 12th hole being totally revamped into a driveable par four of just over 300 yards. Stoll played a big part in sparing him major embarrassment when McIlroy forgot he was in the Central time zone and needed a police escort to the course. Your guess is as good as mine, but there are some players who will arrive here fancying their chances of picking up the winner’s cheque come Sunday night. Jon Rahm not only has won at Torrey Pines, he had close calls in Mexico, the Match Play and last week in North Carolina.

There’s no way he should be that much of a longshot, but that’s why you might want to throw a few bucks his way.

Johnson makes the task look like Everest. Dustin Johnson’s best finish in eight starts is last year’s tie for 28th.

Rory can still get frustrated here but with a few doubts over some of his main rivals – DJ’s poor record, Day’s modest form, Spieth’s two missed cuts here in 2015 and 2016 – the path could be clear for four-time major victor McIlroy to get his hands on the trophy.

Rory McIlroy believes that tying the knot can give his golf game a lift as he prepares for an assault on the $10.5 million Players Championship in Florida this week.

Spieth is enjoying a solid season, if not quite as spectacular as two years ago.

There are a number of intriguing players headlining this week’s field, but Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm seem to be the most risky threats to win.

Repeating at The Players seems impossible to do which is not good for Day, but someone, someday will end that trend. Just six guys have won it at least twice.

2016: Jason Day, by four shots, dominating with every club in the bag, nearly reminiscent of Woods at the height of his powers. When he was playing in the eGolf Tour, he said, his goal was to one day make it to the Web.com Tour and then play his way on to the big tour. Hadwin was most recently 72 at the Texas Open and was 39 here in 2016 after missing the cut in his 2015 debut. He has comfort at Sawgrass with a 3 place finish here previous year and a 24 place in 2015. Since then he hit some missed cuts, 40 and 50 place finishes but with an 11 place finish at the Masters, he’s back on track.

David Hearn (+41700 & +400) Mackenzie Hughes (+52600 & +550) round out the options.

He almost won the PLAYERS in 2015 but fell just short in a playoff, and I like the form he’s in this season even though he missed last week’s cut.

If there’s a playoff, it’s a three-hole aggregate played in order over the final three holes.

Garcia is the all-time leading money-winner at THE PLAYERS Championship; he has a win (2008) and two second-place finishes (2015 and 2007).

Sports Interaction has some golf group betting among its props. I like Hearn among the Canadian players. “To be there as Masters champion, it’s going to be extra special”.

Thomas is my winning pick at +3000. It seems lately like the feature player tanks but the others do well, take that for what you will when I post these.