Akshay Bhatia and 3 More Top Fantasy Golf Picks for The PLAYERS Championship
The PLAYERS Championship, hailed the "5th Major," kicks off this week in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The event is of elite standard, demanding a shot-shaping masterclass from tee to green. No random golfers generally win here, and this week, we can expect the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, and Tommy Fleetwood to be among the top names gunning for victory. Let's now analyze how to attack the PLAYERS with a fantasy golf focus.
Key Course Metrics
TPC Sawgrass is noticeably a lined course. What this means is that golfers have a fine line between safe drives in the fairway and tough shots out of the rough. Off-the-tee statistics will be of paramount importance this weekend. If golfers cannot find the fairway, they will fall behind.
Approach shots will also be ultra-important. Off the tee, golfers will be required to play it safe, laying off the driver on certain holes. Even when they find the fairway, plenty of holes will demand 150+ and even 200+ yard approach shots. Sometimes, golfers will have to adjust their ball shape from a fade to a draw, low-flighted bullet, and so on. These are ultimately what to watch for in your analysis:
- Strokes Gained: Tee to Green
- Strokes Gained: Approach
- Strokes Gained: Tee to Green
- Intangile — Shot Shaping (We will highlight these names)
Tournament History and Weather Forecast
Despite being a difficult golf course, TPC Sawgrass is scoreable. For those who are accurate this week and find the greens in regulation, birdies can be had. A mid-teen score will be very attainable. Based on the weather forecast, we project a winning score around -16 to -18. Here are the previous five winners:
- 2025: Rory McIlroy (-12)
- 2024: Scottie Scheffler (-20)
- 2023: Scottie Scheffler (-17)
- 2022: Cameron Smith (-13)
- 2021: Justin Thomas (-14)
The weather forecast is a tad dicey. Thursday (Round 1) has a threat of afternoon thunderstorms which could pause play. Any afternoon tee times could be affected; however, if thunderstorms pause play, those late times may benefit from softer conditions. Stay tuned.
Friday and Saturday predict fantastic, sunny weather. Sunday then has another risk of rain in the afternoon, but less drastic than Thursday's.
Fantasy Golf Picks
Scottie Scheffler — $14,000 (FanDuel) | $14,200 (DraftKings)
To play this price is a bit risky, but Scheffler's reward of upside is too high to fade. Scheffler has won the PLAYERS twice, and despite bad early play, he maintains the ability to finish strong week over week. Scheffler shall do very well at TPC Sawgrass, especially with accurate ball striking and shot shaping that no one else possesses.
Si Woo Kim — $11,100 (FanDuel) | $9,300 (DraftKings)
Kim is the 2017 PLAYERS Champion and one of the best off-the-tee golfers on the PGA Tour. Kim has had only one event since last May, in which he finished below average, the week of the Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. In that event, he was only -0.46 in that metric. He will have the advantage off the tee, and thus, Kim must own with his irons. That fits the winning mold as Kim has no worse than +0.71 Strokes Gained: Approach in the 2026 PGA Tour Season.
Akshay Bhatia — $10,600 (FanDuel) | $7,700 (DraftKings)
There are a few PGA Tour players who are as flexible and diverse in their creative abilities as Bhatia. He comes off a victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which is not too far off in course layout from TPC Sawgrass. Bhatia will be concerned with just-slightly-above-average Tee-to-Green metrics. However, Bhatia has no worse than +2.05 Strokes Gained: Total over his last four rounds. Bhatia also finished T-3 here a year ago. If Bhatia is on his game, he has upside to match the scoring of Scheffler. He is also very cheap.
Rickie Fowler — $9,500 (FanDuel) | $7,400 (DraftKings)
Fowler has won the PLAYERS before. This was eleven years ago, but he knows what it takes to win here. Fowler is above-average in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee in his last 10 consecutive tournaments. Fowler is also playing at his best, perhaps in years. Fowler has no worse than +1.05 Strokes Gained Total in any event since June of 2026. His Datagolf profile is perfect for TPC Sawgrass.
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.