🏌️ New Gear At The Players

Good Morning. TV ratings for the final round of last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational were down 30% compared to the final round in 2023.

That takes us back to the burning question: are casual golf fans turning away?

Fun fact: 990 golf balls have been hit into the water on the 17th hole at The Players since 2003. Four days from now and we will probably see the accomplishment of Mission 1000.

⛳ This day in history: A pair of one-time major champions were born on this day. In 1929, Bob Goalby, 1968 Masters champion, was born in Belleville, Illinois. And in 1936, 1963 Open Championship winner Bob Charles was born in Carterton, New Zealand.

ODDS AND PICKS
Our Top Picks For The Players Championship

💰 Purse: $25 million
🏌🏻 Headliners: Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele

🏆 Past Winners:

2023: Scottie Scheffler (-17)
2022: Cameron Smith (-13)
2021: Justin Thomas (-14)
2019: Rory McIlroy (-16)

Here are our top picks for The Players 2024:

• Most likely to win: Hideki Matsuyama is renowned for his exceptional iron play and precision on approach shots, both of which are crucial for success at TPC Sawgrass. Our pick for the winner!

• Key player in the top 5: Will Zalatoris is listed among the players with notable odds to win, but given his past performance at the TPC Sawgrass course, he is our pick to finish in the Top 5.

• Key player in the top 10: Xander Schauffele, with a strong all-around game and a history of consistency on the PGA Tour, is our pick in the Top 10.

• Key player in the top 20: Jason Day has a decent record at the Players Championship - average finish of 38th, and an average score of -1. Additionally, he has participated in six tournaments this season, and while he hasn't won any of them, he has secured three finishes in the top-10, which solidifies his potential of securing a top 20 finish.

• Underdog likely to emerge: Patrick Cantlay is our pick for the underdog to win, given his impressive statistics in Total Driving, Scrambling, Bogey Avoidance, and Par 4 Scoring, making him a well-rounded player suitable for the challenges at TPC Sawgrass​.

ALBATROSS
Putter Tweaks Spark Buzz Ahead of The Players

All the talk over the past week has been about Scheffler's change of putter which brought him instant success and a number of players are taking a leaf out of his book.

Tour pros are set to experiment with new gear and tweak their tactics at The Players Championship.

📌 Homa's Grip Change: After failing to finish inside the top 10 in each of his first five events of the 2024 season, Max Homa has made tweaks to his grip. He also worked on adjusting his swing based on the type of club he is using.

🚀 Glover's New Putter: Lucas Glover will use a new L.A.B. Golf DF3 broomstick putter at The Players, replacing his previous L.A.B. Mezz.1 Max broomstick. He is also switching out his driver shaft for a new Fujikura 2024 Ventus Blue 7X, which could help boost his driving stats.

🏌️ Hovland's New Swing: Viktor Hovland fired his swing coach before last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational and hired Grant Waite as his instructor.

The Norwegian's swing is a work-in-progress but we'll certainly see different patterns in his swing at TPC Sawgrass as he aims to flush his irons with consistency and precision.

⏳ Cam Young's Experiment: Cameron Young was spotted using an all-new Titleist TSR 2-wood prototype club during the practice rounds and it is likely to make its way into Young’s bag this week.

Young is looking for a certain ball speed and yardage gap from his driver which he isn't getting from his current 3-woods.

🔁 Morikawa's Putter Switch: Collin Morikawa will use a Logan Olson blade prototype putter at The Players, a putter which was previously used by the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda.

He played with a TaylorMade TP Soto for the past couple of years and it's finally time for a change.

TWEET
Worth Mentioning

EAGLE
PGA's Masterplan To Make Golf Fan-Friendly

Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and other pros recently stated that Golf needs to be made more engaging for the fans and the PGA Tour plans to follow their advice -here are the new initiatives set to be implemented by the Tour.

📽️ Dynamic Content: The PGA Tour Studios, which is set to launch in 2025, will house the circuit’s media production assets. It will bring live golf and other content to fans in a more dynamic fashion.

🕹️ Technological Investments: The Tour plans to invest in technology, data and insights programs that will allow fans to more easily track their favorite players’ performance, with the minutiae that golf junkies crave.

🖥️ TV Viewership: More dynamic visuals, innovations and player engagements will be included in telecasts and commercial advertisements to be reduced.

🏟️ TGL: This indoor simulator league tailored to a younger audience and gambling enthusiasts, will finally be rolled out in early 2025 after a year delay.

⛳️ On-site Fan Experience: With SSG now on-board, the on-site fan experience is likely to receive an upgrade - vibrant atmosphere, live contests, player interactions and much more.

LOCKER ROOM
What else is making news

FootJoy*The Players: FootJoy has released a collaboration with Jon Buscemi to drop two limited-edition shoes, a Premiere Series Field LX and Premiere Series Wilcox. They will be worn this week at TPC Sawgrass by staffers like Justin Thomas, Max Homa, Will Zalatoris, Wyndham Clark and Adam Scott.

Rory Backs Monahan: While most PGA Tour stars seem to have lost trust in Jay Monahan, Rory McIlroy believes that the "Tour is in a better spot" because of him.

Caddie Corner: The annual caddie competition at TPC Sawgrass’ 17th hole was won by Vincent Norrman’s caddie, Sean McDonagh, with a tee shot that nestled 2 feet, 1 inch from the hole.

Billy Horschel: PGA Tour star Billy Horschel thinks it’s time for LIV Golf players to be handed an “olive branch” in the form of eligibility to The Players Championship.

LPGA: Dow introduces 'Team Dow - The Next Generation' program to financially support future LPGA stars.

BIRDIE
Best Performers At The Players Championship

The Players Championship tees off today - let us take a look at the players with some of the best course history at TPC Sawgrass over the last five seasons.

🏌️ Justin Thomas: Despite not being at his best in the last two seasons, Thomas makes this list for winning the tournament in 2021.

His finishes: T-60 (2023), T-33 (2022), 1st (2021), T-35 (2019) and T-11 (2018)

🏌️ Jason Day: Day missed the cut in 2022 but has been very consistent across the other four editions.

His finishes: T-19 (2023), MC (2022), T-35 (2021), T-8 (2019) and T-5 (2018)

🏌️ Keegan Bradley: Bradley missed the cut last year but notably finished twice in the Top-10 in the last five editions of the tournament.

His finishes: MC (2023), 5th (2022), T-29 (2021), T-16 (2019) and T-7 (2018)

🏌️ Tommy Fleetwood: Fleetwood has a good record at TPC Sawgrass and has been very consistent over the years.

His finishes: T-27 (2023), T-22 (2022), MC (2021), T-5 (2019) and T-7 (2018)

🏌️ Brian Harman: World No 9 Harman has two Top-10 finishes at The Players in the last five years.

His finishes: T-44 (2023), T-63 (2022), T-3 (2021), T-8 (2019) and MC (2018)

Read the full article.

DRIVING RANGE
How To Be Accurate With Your Irons

In this video, you'll learn:

✅ How to be consistently accurate with your irons
✅ An effective drill setup in identifying where your ball starts
✅ How to hit iron shots with precision

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