THE PLAYERS Championship: Golf One and Done Picks Strategy (2026)

We run through odds, popularity, stats, and future value to find the best THE PLAYERS Championship One and Done Picks and sleepers this week.

by Jason Lisk - Mar 9, 2026

Scottie Scheffler will try to turn things around at THE PLAYERS Championship. (Photo: Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire)

THE PLAYERS Championship may not be an official major, but it has one of the season’s largest purses for One and Done pools.

We just had another week with a low-owned golfer winning a Signature Event (Akshay Bhatia at the Arnold Palmer Invitational), and so far this year, very few have picked a winner at any of the top purse events. That means the first time we get a semi-popular golfer as the winner, it will drastically change the pools. That is especially true if that event is THE PLAYERS Championship.

We’ll break down the top One and Done picks this week, who’s likely to be popular, and how you should approach this key event.

THE PLAYERS Championship One and Done Picks: Purse Info

THE PLAYERS Championship has a total prize purse of $25,000,000, with $4,500,000 going to the first-place winner.

This makes it the top event in most One and Done pools, unless your pool uses THE TOUR Championship in August and doesn’t adjust the purse amount.

With no semi-popular winner so far in any big-money event, and top positions in most pools hovering near $5 million so far, it is another good week to consider a top option to see if you can hit a big win.

If you want to see where this tournament’s purse ranks in your specific PGA One and Done pool, you can set up your pool entry in our Golf One and Done Picks product.

THE PLAYERS Championship Overview for One and Done Pools

This analysis is a complement to the data in our product, which provides customized weekly pick grades that account for factors like:

• The total number of picks you need to make this season
• The specific tournaments included in your pool
• The golfers you’ve already used so far

Here are a few notable highlights for the 2026 THE PLAYERS Championship field:

• 123 golfers in the field, with a cut. The Top 65 and ties will advance to the weekend.
• Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have won the last three PLAYERS Championships. McIlroy’s win last year was his second at TPC Sawgrass (2019), breaking a two-year win streak for Scheffler.
• Akshay Bhatia, last week’s winner, was third here last year. Expect Bhatia to have some popularity coming off his recent form and finish a year ago.
• Collin Morikawa, Min Woo Lee, and Adam Scott join Bhatia in recent form. Several golfers have been rolling lately, including two Australians, Min Woo Lee (6th, 12th, and 2nd in the last three) and Adam Scott (11th and 4th in the last month).
• McIlroy and Jake Knapp’s status? McIlroy and Knapp are both in the field, but both had to withdraw last week, with Knapp withdrawing right before the tournament started, and McIlroy pulled out before Saturday’s round, citing a back issue stemming from his range session.

THE PLAYERS Championship One and Done Picks Video

Jason Lisk and Stephen Andress break down the THE PLAYERS Championship options for One and Done, along with longshots, sleepers, and conviction plays for this event:

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THE PLAYERS Championship One and Done Picks Advice

Below, we’ll break down the top THE PLAYERS Championship One and Done picks by looking at tournament odds, future value rankings, pick popularity, and the strategy behind when to use each golfer.

Top 10 in Win Odds

Here are the top 10 (and ties) in win odds for THE PLAYERS Championship as of Tuesday afternoon, March 10: