The 2026 PGA Tour has had some big-time events already this season with Signature events at Pebble Beach, the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles, and, of course, last week at Arnold Palmer’s event at Bay Hill.
Each of those PGA Tour events brought its own challenges with strong fields and tough courses.
Now, the Tour takes it up an even higher level with The Players Championship at the famous TPC Sawgrass. Some call it the "fifth major," and others call it the truest test of golf.
Let's break down our PGA Tour picks this week for the 2026 Players Championship for PrizePicks Team Picks, where you can earn money if you're right by picking golfers to win, finish top 5, top 10, and more.
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2026 The Players Championship Picks, Predictions for PGA This Week
Between the Pete Dye design at TPC Sawgrass, water on 17 of 18 holes, and the need to not only be accurate, but creative, with your tee-to-green game, the "A" game is needed to win The Players Championship on this course.
Recent form has defined success over the last five years at The Players.
Per CBS Sports’ Jason Sobel, of the 26 players to finish in the top five over the last five years, seven already had owned a victory that year, 13 had a top-five finish that year, 21 had at least a top-10 finish, and 25 of the 26 had a top-15 finish in the two months before the event.
Major champions have also had a lot of recent success at TPC Sawgrass, especially since the event was moved back to March in 2019.
- 2025 Rory McIlroy (5 major wins)
- 2024 Scottie Scheffler (4)
- 2023 Scottie Scheffler (4)
- 2022 Cam Smith (1)
- 2021 Justin Thomas (2)
- 2019 Rory McIlroy (5)
Will a golfer who has done well at TPC Sawgrass before take down the field this weekend?
Here are the top 10 favorites to win the 2026 Players Championship, via PrizePicks Team Picks, including their payouts if they win the tournament.
- Scottie Scheffler - 5.55x Payout
- Collin Morikawa - 12.5x
- Rory McIlroy - 14.28x
- Ludvig Aberg - 16.66
- Tommy Fleetwood - 16.66x
- Si Woo Kim - 22.22x
- Russell Henley - 22.22x
- Xander Schauffele - 22.22x
- Matt Fitzpatrick - 22.22x
- Hideki Matsuyama - 22.22x
PGA Tour futures payouts are live as of publishing, but are subject to change.
2026 The Players Championship Payouts for Golfers
The 2026 Players Championship has the largest purse to date, at $25M, $5M more than the Signature Events. Here are the top-10 payouts for the weekend event:
- 1st place - $4.5M
- 2nd - $2.725M
- 3rd - $1.725M
- 4th - $1.225M
- 5th - $1.025K
- 6th - $906K
- 7th - $843.75K
- 8th - $781.25K
- 9th - $731.25K
- 10th - $681.25K
PGA TOUR Picks This Week: Players Championship Picks on Winner, Top 10 Finish
Here are four golfers to consider for your 2026 Players Championship picks on PrizePicks Team Picks. Also listed are payouts for each golfer to win, place top five, and top 10.
Collin Morikawa
Collin Morikawa Players Championship Winner Payout: Yes 12.5x ($100 pays out $1,250)
Top 5 Payout: Yes 4.54x | No 1.2x
Top 10 Payout: Yes 2.77x | No 1.44x
- Collin Morikawa is a two-time Major winner and has a win on his card earlier this year, taking home the title at Pebble Beach.
- He didn’t just sit on that win, earning a seventh-place finish at the Genesis and a fifth-place finish last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
- With those recent top 10 finishes, there may not be a player in better form than Morikawa entering this big event.
- The American is fifth in shots gained on approach, third in tee-to-green, and eighth in shots gained overall.
- The putter is what has prevented Morikawa from entering Scottie Scheffler territory, where he ranks 105th overall.
- However, Morikawa finished the last two events in the top-25 in shots gained putting, a week after winning at Pebble, barely cracking the top 50.
- Morikawa finished 10th at TPC Sawgress last year and tied for 13th in 2023.
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Si Woo Kim
Si Woo Kim Players Championship Winner Payout: Yes 16.66x
Top 5 Payout: Yes 4.54x | No 1.2x
Top 10 Payout: Yes 2.85x | No 1.42x
- Si Woo Kim hasn't won a major, but his 2026 form is very similar to Morikawa's, minus the Pebble win.
- In seven events, he has five finishes in the top 13, including a runner-up at Farmers Insurance and third place at Phoenix.
- On the metrics front, Kim is second on approach, second tee-to-green, 20th off-the-tee, and 12th overall in shots gained.
- His one flaw? Very much like Morikawa, it’s the putting (151st). That has not stopped him from being on the leaderboard each week, but it has prevented him from winning outright.
- He fits the mold of what to look for this week with strong iron play and recent great form. He also plays well at this course, winning the event in 2017, with two additional top tens in the last five years.
Hideki Matsuyama
Hideki Matsuyama Players Championship Winner Payout: Yes 22.22x
Top 5 Payout: Yes 7.69x | No 1.04x
Top 10 Payout: Yes 4x | No 1.25x
- Hideki Matsuyama is what’s known as a “horse for the course” at TPC Sawgrass, with seven career top tens, including fifth and sixth in two of the last three years.
- Outside of a poor weekend last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Matsuayama has been in solid form, with four top-15 finishes to start the season, including a playoff loss at Phoenix.
- He's 24th on approach, 21st tee-to-green, and 15th in shots gained total.
- A differentiator for the 2021 Masters winner, compared to others, is his scrambling, which leads the Tour. TPC Sawgrass is known for forcing golfers to be creative around the greens, and that's Matsuyama 101.
Sepp Straka
Sepp Straka Players Championship Winner Payout: Yes 33.33x
Top 5 Payout: Yes 9.09x | No 1.04x
Top 10 Payout: Yes 4.76x | No 1.08x
- Sepp Straka consistently shows up and plays well at the biggest events. He tied for 13th last week, even with a final round 76, finished runner-up at Pebble Beach, and had one bad round at the Genesis.
- Last year, Straka won the Truist Championship and American Express, both Signature events.
- He also has great metrics to back it up, being 15th in shots gained on approach and 17th tee-to-green.
- Like Morikawa, Straka's kryptonite has been putting (118th on Tour), which you can overcome at TPC Sawgrass with even a lukewarm flatstick.
- The Austrian has a tie for ninth, 16th, and 14th at Sawgrass in three of his last four appearances.
Make PGA Tour Picks on PrizePicks
The PGA Tour’s Florida swing continues with the Tour’s marquee event, The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., with a $25 million purse.
Can Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy overcome recent issues? Or can Collin Morikawa add a Players Championship title to his impressive resume?
You can make your 2026 Players Championship picks on PrizePicks and PrizePicks Team Picks to earn real money. Just pick golfers, predict More or Less on their projected stats, and cash in if you’re correct.
With Team Picks, make predictions on winners, top 10 finishes, and more, now available in 35 states.
Keep dialed in on Playbook for more PGA Tour picks, predictions, and analysis for every tournament.
