Golf betting tips: The PLAYERS round one

2pts Si Woo Kim and Sam Burns to win their three-balls at 3.99/1 (Sky Bet, William Hill)

1pt treble Kim, Burns and Victor Perez to win their three-balls at 12/1 (Sky Bet, bet365, William Hill) - PEREZ W/D

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Day one of The PLAYERS is up there with the most enjoyable of the year, with UK viewers able to mix feature group coverage with the Cheltenham Festival before settling in for the evening, when the biggest of big names tee off together.

I've no interest in betting on the McIlroy-Scheffler-Schauffele three-ball, out at 5.29pm UK time, but nor do I have a strong fancy early on. The closest I came was Corey Conners, but Lucas Glover is enough of a worry even if Patton Kizzire is easily opposed.

All three of my selections are out later and time-wise they begin with VICTOR PEREZ, who is the biggest price of the trio. (Note: Victor Perez has withdrawn, all single bets void; treble becomes a double on Kim and Burns)

The Frenchman is grouped with two short hitters in Ben Kohles and Henrik Norlander and the latter has struggled here in the past. He's hard to fancy, while Kohles will have to improve plenty on last year's debut, which began with a nightmare round of 80.

Rain-softened conditions are unlikely to help and Perez should be favourite for this, owing to the fact he was ninth on his sole Sawgrass appearance and has the best recent form-line, 18th in the Cognizant Classic last time out.

Kohles missed the cut in that event before finishing mid-pack in a weak Puerto Rico Open, so with Norlander not exactly setting the world alight, Perez is the clear pick.

Later on, the banker of the day looks to be SI WOO KIM.

The former PLAYERS champion is grouped with Harry Hall and Chris Gotterup, the latter a big-hitting debutant whose errant nature means this could be a difficult couple of days, even with those softer targets to aim at.

Gotterup failed to build on a bright start in Puerto Rico and is easily taken on, as is Hall given that he relies so much on the putter. He's lost strokes with his ball-striking in six successive events and while one round of lights-out putting could deny us, I suspect he'll find too many trouble spots for it to matter.

Hall, based in Las Vegas, has Florida form figures of 74-MC-MC-MC-67-MC on the PGA Tour and shot 77-74 on his PLAYERS debut.

Kim isn't just a former champion but a player who has made seven cuts in eight, with one withdrawal. He's played 29 rounds at Sawgrass and 28 of them have been from 64-74, and I'm not exaggerating to say he might win this with another 74.

Anything around his average of 70.5 should do and he's a strong fancy.

Finally, while I wouldn't have been in a hurry to side with a labouring SAM BURNS, the prices in his three-ball don't add up to me.

Karl Vilips' win last week sees him put in at 2/1 against two players who've contended for majors and played team golf for the USA, which feels a good point and a half on the short side and must open up an opportunity.

Yes, he was impressive, but on an altogether different course. He knows Sawgrass well and lives close by, but I doubt it's really his bag and there's also a clear risk that he finds it difficult to go again just days after his breakthrough.

He's got so much potential but expectations for this week are low, leaving us Burns and Cam Young.

The latter is in a bit of a mess at the moment, shooting 82-71 last week, and his record of MC-51-54 confirms Sawgrass is not the place to go searching for something. Unless his approach play dramatically improves, more high numbers await.

Burns' approach play also leaves plenty to be desired but he's much more comfortable around Sawgrass, where he led at halfway in 2022, again started well in 2023, and shot a third-round 65 last year.

He has to be the one at around 11/8.

Posted at 1545 GMT on 11/03/25

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