2021 Players Championship: Preview and Predictions

The 2021 golf season gets underway in earnest this weekend, with the Players Championship at the iconic Sawgrass course in Florida.

Bryson DeChambeau dominates the headlines again going into another high-profile tournament, and after his win at Bay Hill last week, he will attract a lot of picks on Superbru.

But Sawgrass tends to reward those that hit fairways and greens without necessarily bombing it 400 yards, and so I'm swerving Bryson this week, and you can see my picks below.

Our fantasy golf games are a lot of fun - quick and simple to play, and it will make every shot important! The Players Championship is just the first of a number of golf tournaments we'll be running this year:



Here's how things work.

Bands

Our golf game is designed to reflect how people watch golf - everyone has a few favourite players that they follow, and pay particular attention to during the coverage. We ask you to pick four golfers for each day, and their score will determine your score.

But you can't just pick the top four golfers in the world, where would the fun be if everyone had the same players? We have divided the field into four groups, which reflect their likelihood of winning the tournament - Band 1 contains the favourites, whilst Band 4 has players with an outside chance.

You will need to pick one player from each band, and for every stroke they score under par, you will receive 1 point. You'll also lose a point for every stroke over par...



For example, you pick Jordan Spieth and he shoots -8 on Day 1. That's 8 points for you, well played. But you have also picked Sergio Garcia who keeps finding the water and shoots a round of +3 (-3 points for you), Phil Mickelson who picks up a 2-stroke penalty and finishes on +2 (-2 points for you), and Charel Schwartzel who scores Even par (0 points). That would give you a total of 8 - 3 - 3 + 0 = 2 points.

The Players Championship 2021

In terms of the overall winner, I like the look of Dustin Johnson, John Rahm and Viktor Hovland, but they are all in Band 1 of course, so we need to cast our net wider for our Superbru picks.

You can join our Players Championship game now by clicking the + icon in the top right corner of our app's home page and selecting 'Join a tournament'.

Here are my players for Round 1:

Viktor Hovland: Hovland did not feature at Bay Hill, but prior to that he was in great form and has the game to perform at Sawgrass. He's not a well-known name either, so there's a chance to steal a march on my pool rivals.

Hideki Matsuyama: Matsuyama shot 63 in the first round of the Players last year before the tournament was cancelled, and whilst Tony Finau is usually a good bet for a top 10 finish, none of the others in Band 2 are particularly tempting for me.

Tommy Fleetwood: Fleetwood has been in good form, and has finished in the top 10 in his last two starts at the Players Championship, and I think course form can go a long way here.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout: Bezuidenhout was another with a low score in the only round of the Players last season, and he'll be a popular pick on Superbru.

At the end of each day's golf, it's a good idea to head back to Superbru and see how you've scored in comparison to others in your pool! After all, how you're getting on against your mates will help to determine who you select for Day 2.

Best of luck to all!