The Players Championship preview: Max can bring the trophy Homa

Following on from an eventful Arnold Palmer Invitational, the PGA Tour rolls onto another showpiece event in The Players Championship.

TPC Sawgrass is one of the most iconic golfing venues in the world and as such, The Players is always a great spectacle and one of the key events in the buildup to The Masters.

Those who can hold it all together on the gruelling final stretch that is the 16th, 17th and 18th holes will surely go well, and we’re hoping our two selections can get the job done.

Find our two picks for The Players below.

Max Homa 25/1

Max Homa has started the 2024 season steadily enough, missing just one cut and finishing inside the top 16 in four of his six outings so far. His best performance to date came last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational where he finished T8.

Homa is incredibly tidy around the greens where he has ranked 28th for strokes gained on the Tour so far. Elsewhere his approach play from 75-125 yards has been notably strong, ranking inside the top 20 for those closer approach shots. Approach play could be key here on a course that is simple enough off the tee and Homa could look to set himself apart in this area.

His putting has also been very impressive so far, particularly last time out when he ranked third in the field for strokes gained with the flatstick, something which could be a huge asset to him at TPC Sawgrass.

The American has performed well on his last two appearances at The Players, finishing 13th in 2022 and improving on to 6th last year when shooting an impressive 8-under-par. At 25/1 he is a player who clearly enjoys this course and will expect, at least, to finish in the top 8 places available with William Hill.

Charley Hoffman 300/1

We’re back with Charley Hoffman for the second time this season and he is once again a huge price, with the American teeing off as one of the rank outsiders in the betting at 300/1.

Hoffman has a wealth of PGA Tour experience with four wins under his belt, but more importantly he has been round TPC Sawgrass more times than you can count on both hands. Despite missing six cuts in his time here, he has performed well enough at times and achieved a 17th placed finish as recently as 2022.

He has taken a couple of weeks off since an underwhelming performance at the Mexico Open, where he missed the cut. Before then, Hoffman had performed impressively, finishing runner up at a massive price at the Phoenix Open, just missing out in a playoff to Nick Taylor.

Hoffman is one of the stronger putters on the Tour and has a fairly consistent game in all facets, something which could be key to remaining steady around a course that can be frustrating at times.

His birdie or better percentage stands out as the 13th best on the Tour and could be crucial to climbing the leaderboard in what is a relatively low-scoring event in which the winner has been double-digits under par every year since 2009.

At 300/1 Hoffman himself may not be expecting to lift the trophy come Sunday evening, but he will certainly be hopeful and know he has every chance of finishing in the 8 places available with William Hill.