2025 The Players Championship Golf Odds & Picks: Head-to-Head Matchups
The Players Championship returns to a modified TPC Sawgrass course for the next stop on the PGA Tour circuit. Scottie Scheffler will look to defend his title and attempt a three-peat, which would also be the World No. 1 golfer’s first outright win in 2025. Despite not being designated as a Signature Event, nearly all of the PGA Tour’s top golfers will compete in this expanded field for a $4.5 million first-place payout.
My Arnold Palmer Invitational Head-to-Head Matchups finished 0-2. The tournament groups once again were fruitless. Fortunately, Round 1 matchup lines have already been released on DraftKings Sportsbook, so we’ll dive into those markets to recoup some of our losses from Bay Hill.
I’ve got two head-to-head matchups to tail on Thursday during Round 1 at The Players Championship. Follow me on X at Matt_MacKay_ for more PGA free bets and weekly analysis throughout the 2025 PGA Tour season.
2025 The Players Championship Odds & Picks
Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
18 Hole Matchups – Round 1 – Sungjae Im vs Corey Conners
It hasn’t been a strong start for Sungjae Im in 2025. The South Korean golfer fluctuates between birdies and bogeys at a high-clip, lacking stability and profiling as a volatile player to back on most golf courses. Im’s biggest problem is his approach game, which is critical to succeed at TPC Sawgrass.
Corey Conners is one of the PGA Tour’s best ball-strikers. He’s being valued as a slight underdog against Im, which is a line we need to exploit. Im is 167th SG: Approach and 98th in total driving, while playing well with his short game around and on the greens. Conners is having an uncharacteristically bad start with his approach game, ranked 103rd, but he’s 39th in driving accuracy, 45th at finding greens in regulation, and 14th in proximity.
Im is 148th at finding greens in regulation and is likely going to have a lot of difficult lies in the four-inch rough at TPC Sawgrass. He’s a better scrambler and putter than Conners, but he’s always flirting with a blow-up hole due to his errant approach shots.
Conners is 55th in Round 1 scoring average. Im is 131st in this metric. Let’s bet a unit on Conners to score lower than Im at -110 odds during Round 1 at TPC Sawgrass.
Pick: Corey Conners (-110)
Round 3-Balls – Round 1 – Detry v Straka v Taylor
Let’s pivot to the 3-Ball market and invest in Sepp Straka to win his group in Round 1. The Austrian golfer has been of the PGA Tour’s best golfers in 2025. We’re landing decent value on Straka as a 3-ball favorite at +135 odds, competing against Thomas Detry and Nick Taylor.
Straka ranks 67th in Round 1 scoring average. More importantly, he’s 11th in bogey avoidance, ninth in SG: Approach, 11th in driving accuracy, and second at finding greens in regulation at a scorching 75 percent rate. Straka is fourth in proximity, 20th in putting average, seventh in par 4 scoring, and fifth in total scoring average.
Detry, Taylor, and Straka all have an outright win in 2025. However, Straka is easily the most reliable and consistent golfer in this pairing. His game aligns well with the hazards at TPC Sawgrass, relying on accuracy over power to position himself for birdie opportunities.
Let’s bet one more unit on Straka to win his Round 1 3-ball matchup as the favorite over Thomas Detry and Nick Taylor at +135 odds.
Pick: Sepp Straka (+135)
Matthew MacKay is a featured writer for BettingPros and FantasyPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @Matt_MacKay_.