Rory McIlroy puts his driver away for The Players Championship at Sawgrass

“The first year I played here I nearly won it and so I just kind of assumed that it would come easy to me”.

That’s where I’m going to be focusing on over the next two days here.

1/2 pt win Adam Hadwin 110/1: its coming up to two years since he won, but he loves this course. “I tend to putt from around the greens a bunch but you really have to be careful because it can make you look silly in a heartbeat”. His best shot to win came in the Masters when he closed with a 64 and finished third. “So yeah, I think it is about time I step up and give myself a chance on Sunday”. “Even just sit out on the balcony and look out and sort of get away from it a little bit”.

“I think if I can do that, keep driving it the way I have been, tighten up the irons, then I honestly feel like I can win every week, but I know that’s tough to do”.

McIlroy has his own star group with Spieth and Justin Thomas, three players in their 20s who have combined for eight majors. I know what to do, know what the conditions are and know where the misses should be.

“And then on top of that, when you guys all saw how I was chipping so poorly, my nerve and my back was not doing very good, and I was flinching a lot, and he offered numerous times to help me out with technique and just talk about it and philosophy”. The problem with that approach to TPC Sawgrass is that you might hit it farther, but you might play yourself out of position for your next shot.

“I started learning how to hit the ball flat with all my clubs”. Johnson has entered 12 events this season and he has made the cut in each outing, including a fifth-place showing at the Valero Texas Open.

As well as winning four major titles, the World Number 8 has claimed two World Golf Championship events and four FedEx Cup play-off tournaments, with his victory in the 2016 Tour Championship giving him the overall title and 10million United States dollars bonus.

That type of ball striking has produced 1st-ranked GIR% and Driving Accuracy for the Swede, meaning his 6th ranked Tee-to-Green game is in top-form heading into this week. “That’s what I’m looking forward to here”.

The 37-year-old has three European Tour titles to his name, with last year’s Trophee Hassan II win following two victories in Scotland in 2010.

But tournament director Nathan Grube says the Travelers has embraced the date, attracting golfers with amenities such as free transportation from the U.S. Open. And that was the last time he played on the weekend at Sawgrass.

The cheques are fat – $1.98mn for the win and $1.19mn to the runnerup make this one of the richest tournaments in golf.

As many know, Spieth beat Daniel Berger on the first playoff hole when his blast from a greenside bunker on No. 18 found the bottom of the cup for an unlikely birdie.