Steve Palmer's Players Championship first-round preview and free golf betting tips

Where to watch the Players Championship

Sky Sports Main Event and Golf, 11.30am Thursday

Best bets

Alex Noren to win 12.02pm threeball
4pts 5-4 bet365

Byeong Hun An to win 4.45pm threeball
3pts 6-5 BoyleSports, Hills

Aaron Rai to win 11.51am threeball
3pts 21-20 general

Patrick Cantlay to beat Viktor Hovland
3pts 20-21 BoyleSports

Keith Mitchell to win 5.07pm threeball
2pts 6-5 general

Shane Lowry top Irishman
1pt 7-4 BoyleSports

Adam Svensson to win 5.29pm threeball
1pt 6-4 general

Players Championship first-round preview

World number one and emphatic Players Championship favourite Scottie Scheffler will start his Sawgrass campaign at 5.40pm UK and Ireland time on Thursday, with Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas for company.

Scheffler, who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in fine style last week, can be fancied to boss that group, but preference on the threeballs card is for five options who will not receive as much attention.

Alex Noren, who lives in Florida, is arguably pick of the bunch at 5-4 to defeat Thomas Detry and Joseph Bramlett (12.02pm). The Swede, who finished tenth on his Players debut in 2017, is well equipped to handle tough layouts which require solid course management.

Noren was third in 2018 Honda Classic. The headstrong Detry has been producing some X-rated stuff with putter in hand, while the equally attacking Bramlett is unsuited to this assignment.

Another Florida-based player with plenty of Sawgrass experience is Byeong Hun An, who can outscore Patrick Rodgers and Matti Schmid (4.45pm). An, who finished eighth at Bay Hill on Sunday, has been hugely consistent this term and seems a potential title threat.

Aaron Rai is based near Sawgrass and can put course experience to good use in the 11.51am threeball. The precision of Rai, who finished 19th on his Players debut last year, means he should prove too steady for Michael Kim and Carl Yuan.

Keith Mitchell, the 2019 Honda champion, has a great record in Florida, including 13th place in the 2022 Players. He carded a 68 and was seventh in the 2020 Sawgrass event before it was abandoned. Mitchell has been playing well and can outscore Mark Hubbard and Dylan Wu (5.07pm), while Adam Svensson looks good value against Nick Hardy and Matt Wallace (5.29pm). Svensson, who lives in Florida, finished 13th on his Players debut last year.

Patrick Cantlay, impressive this year, looks a bargain 72-hole match outsider against Viktor Hovland, who has been working on swing changes, while Shane Lowry can upset Rory McIlroy in the top Irishman market. Lowry has finished fourth and third in the first two events on the Florida Swing, while McIlroy has been struggling badly with his irons.

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