All you have to do is look at the odds to understand why this may be the most anticipated Players Championship in recent years. The Nos. 1 and 2 players in the Official World Golf Rankings, who have won the last two big events over the past month and are being hyped as rivals for the next two decades, are co-favorites at 7/1.
2015 Players Championship odds: Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth co-favorites at TPC Sawgrass
Woooooo the top two players in the world are grouped together at The Players and listed as co-favorites to take the game’s fifth major.
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Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth both tried to downplay the notion of some budding rivalry on Wednesday, but the hype will be turned up to 100 on Thursday morning when they share the tee box. The past 12 months or so have crescendoed to this moment when both are in form and at the top of the rankings, starting what could be a fantastic back-and-forth summer this week at the game’s “fifth major.” After Spieth won the Masters, cutting off McIlroy’s attempt at the career clam, the Ulsterman responded by taking the WGC Match Play last week. That’s obviously not the same caliber event as the Masters, but it did feature almost all of the top 64 players in the world and a WGC title is about as big a non-major win as you can get. The Tour stepped up and did the right thing by pairing them together.
Spieth, McIlroy, and Jason Day, another young gun under 30 and among the favorites, will tee off No. 10 at 8:39 a.m. ET. Day is 25/1 and a super talent, but these first two rounds will be all about Spieth and McIlroy.
Aside from those top two, the anticipation is also amplified at this Players because Tiger Woods makes his return after a year away injured. Although it’s technically not a title defense, this is his triumphant return to TPC Sawgrass, where he won his second Players in 2013. That’s maybe his most impressive and complete victory since his last major win in 2008. This isn’t a course that has treated him favorably like those other annual stops on his schedule at Torrey Pines, Firestone, Doral, and Bay Hill. He’s had to WD here twice and posted many middling results in between those two wins. There’s also the problem of his long game still looking shaky. That Sunday round at the Masters was ugly, and from all accounts, his form in the practice rounds this week did not look great from tee-to-green.
Still, only eight players have lower odds to win than Woods at 28/1 -- so that’s one way you can spend your money. Here are odds to win for the full field (via Bovada):
| Player | Odds |
| Jordan Spieth | 7/1 |
| Rory McIlroy | 7/1 |
| Henrik Stenson | 16/1 |
| Justin Rose | 18/1 |
| Jim Furyk | 20/1 |
| Dustin Johnson | 25/1 |
| Jason Day | 25/1 |
| Tiger Woods | 28/1 |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 30/1 |
| Jimmy Walker | 30/1 |
| Sergio Garcia | 33/1 |
| Adam Scott | 40/1 |
| Bubba Watson | 40/1 |
| Lee Westwood | 40/1 |
| Matt Kuchar | 40/1 |
| Paul Casey | 40/1 |
| Phil Mickelson | 40/1 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 50/1 |
| Rickie Fowler | 50/1 |
| Zach Johnson | 50/1 |
| Billy Horschel | 55/1 |
| Hunter Mahan | 55/1 |
| Patrick Reed | 55/1 |
| Brooks Koepka | 66/1 |
| JB Holmes | 66/1 |
| Ian Poulter | 70/1 |
| Kevin Na | 70/1 |
| Martin Kaymer | 70/1 |
| Sean O'Hair | 70/1 |
| Gary Woodland | 75/1 |
| Luke Donald | 75/1 |
| Brandt Snedeker | 80/1 |
| Charl Schwartzel | 80/1 |
| Daniel Berger | 80/1 |
| Harris English | 80/1 |
| Keegan Bradley | 80/1 |
| Ryan Moore | 80/1 |
| Ryan Palmer | 80/1 |
| Russell Henley | 90/1 |
| Bill Haas | 100/1 |
| Branden Grace | 100/1 |
| Brendon Todd | 100/1 |
| Cameron Tringale | 100/1 |
| Charley Hoffman | 100/1 |
| Danny Willett | 100/1 |
| Graeme McDowell | 100/1 |
| Jason Kokrak | 100/1 |
| Marc Leishman | 100/1 |
| Morgan Hoffman | 100/1 |
| Webb Simpson | 100/1 |
| Bernd Wiesberger | 125/1 |
| Brendon De Jonge | 125/1 |
| Chris Kirk | 125/1 |
| Graham Delaet | 125/1 |
| Justin Thomas | 125/1 |
| Kevin Streelman | 125/1 |
| Matt Jones | 125/1 |
| Russell Knox | 125/1 |
| Steve Stricker | 125/1 |
| Ben Martin | 150/1 |
| Boo Weekley | 150/1 |
| Brendan Steele | 150/1 |
| Daniel Summerhays | 150/1 |
| David Hearn | 150/1 |
| Jamie Donaldson | 150/1 |
| Jason Dufner | 150/1 |
| John Senden | 150/1 |
| Kevin Kisner | 150/1 |
| Nick Watney | 150/1 |
| Sangmoon Bae | 150/1 |
| Shane Lowry | 150/1 |
| Shawn Stefani | 150/1 |
| Matt Every | 175/1 |
| Pat Perez | 175/1 |
| Scott Piercy | 175/1 |
| Alex Cejka | 200/1 |
| Ben Crane | 200/1 |
| Charles Howell III | 200/1 |
| Chesson Hadley | 200/1 |
| Chris Stroud | 200/1 |
| Erik Compton | 200/1 |
| Ernie Els | 200/1 |
| George Mcneill | 200/1 |
| Jerry Kelly | 200/1 |
| Jonas Blixt | 200/1 |
| Joost Luiten | 200/1 |
| K.J. Choi | 200/1 |
| Padraig Harrington | 200/1 |
| Troy Merritt | 200/1 |
| Aaron Baddeley | 250/1 |
| Angel Cabrera | 250/1 |
| Anirban Lahiri | 250/1 |
| Bo Van Pelt | 250/1 |
| Carl Pettersson | 250/1 |
| Danny Lee | 250/1 |
| Fredrik Jacobson | 250/1 |
| Geoff Ogilvy | 250/1 |
| Jason Bohn | 250/1 |
| John Huh | 250/1 |
| Kevin Chappell | 250/1 |
| Retief Goosen | 250/1 |
| Robert Streb | 250/1 |
| Seung-yul Noh | 250/1 |
| William Mcgirt | 250/1 |
| Brian Davis | 300/1 |
| Brian Stuard | 300/1 |
| Bryce Molder | 300/1 |
| Camilo Villegas | 300/1 |
| David Toms | 300/1 |
| Jeff Overton | 300/1 |
| Jhonattan Vegas | 300/1 |
| Luke Guthrie | 300/1 |
| Michael Putnam | 300/1 |
| Rory Sabbatini | 300/1 |
| Ryo Ishikawa | 300/1 |
| Scott Brown | 300/1 |
| Scott Stallings | 300/1 |
| Spencer Levin | 300/1 |
| Stephen Gallacher | 300/1 |
| Steven Bowditch | 300/1 |
| Stewart Cink | 300/1 |
| Thongchai Jaidee | 300/1 |
| Vijay Singh | 300/1 |
| Will Mackenzie | 300/1 |
| Michael Thompson | 350/1 |
| Brian Harman | 400/1 |
| Brice Garnett | 400/1 |
| James Hahn | 400/1 |
| Nick Taylor | 400/1 |
| Robert Garrigus | 400/1 |
| Adam Hadwin | 500/1 |
| Andres Romero | 500/1 |
| Andrew Svoboda | 500/1 |
| Bernhard Langer | 500/1 |
| Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano | 500/1 |
| Martin Flores | 500/1 |
| Ricky Barnes | 500/1 |
| Robert Allenby | 500/1 |
| Scott Langley | 500/1 |
| Billy Hurley III | 750/1 |
| Darren Clarke | 750/1 |
| Derek Fathauer | 750/1 |
| Justin Leonard | 750/1 |
| Tim Wilkinson | 750/1 |
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