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Blink, and you’ll miss it. Honestly, it feels just like yesterday that Cam Smith was getting up and down for bogey to secure a win at TPC Sawgrass in 2022. Now, the 2023 championship has arrived. 

It’s been a busy week for yours truly. On Tuesday we highlighted some longshots that could make hay this week and, earlier on Wednesday, I dove into the 10 players I’ve picked to win this year’s tournament at Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. 

But the time for longshots and outrights is over, now we’re on to Best Bets. 

Here are my five favourite prop bets for the 2023 Players Championship. 

Rory McIlroy - Top 10 +105

Since missing the cut at the Valero Texas Open last year, Rory McIlroy has played 20 worldwide events. 

He’s won three times, has finished inside the Top 5 12 times and has finished outside the Top 10 on only four occasions. 

It’s been a truly remarkable run of golf for one of the best players ever to tee it up in this sport. 

And now he returns to TPC Sawgrass looking to add his second Players Championship to his resume. 

One of the most impressive things about McIlroy over this stretch has been his ability to rise to the occasion. 

When the rival LIV Golf circuit was making headlines the week of the Canadian Open, McIlroy channelled his energy into a victory, passing Greg Norman on the list of PGA Tour wins. 

And then, in the midst of all the chaos, McIlroy nearly won the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrew’s, the biggest stage he will ever play on. 

The 33-year-old from Northern Ireland has proven time and time again that no stage is too grand for him, with everything going on in the world of golf, so I expect one of the game’s greats to have his best stuff this week. 

Jason Day ­- Top Australian +125 

I was moments away from placing a bet on Jason Day to finish inside the Top 20 at +135 odds before I came across this market. 

Since 2019, Day is averaging 1.43 SG: Tee to Green per round at Sawgrass, placing him inside the Top 15 in that category. 

The 35-year-old Australian enters this week playing some of the best golf we’ve seen from him in recent years. 

He has five straight Top 20s entering this week and his putter has been a big factor. 

Day has gained with the putter in eight of his last nine Tour events, and has done the same in seven of his last eight visits to Sawgrass. 

Day’s brilliance with the putter has been seen from him before, but the last time he gained in eight of nine Tour events with the putter was all the way back in 2019 – the same year he finished tied for eighth here.

The other Australians in this field don’t inspire me all that much. 

While the odds suggest Adam Scott (+380) will be Day’s biggest challenger, recent form suggests to me Lucas Herbert (+650) or Min Woo Lee (+650) could give Day a hard time in this market. 

However, Day’s recent play and course history had me running to the counter to play him at +125 to beat out six other guys, as opposed to playing him to finish inside the Top 20 of a loaded field. 

Max Homa - Top 20 +110 

Not long ago Max Homa was the Twitter Guy on the PGA Tour. 

It seemed he was more known for roasting golfers’ swings than he was for his play on the course. 

And then out of nowhere, this stone-cold killer appeared and Homa’s rise to stardom went from the Twitterverse to winning the Genesis Invitational. 

Very quickly becoming one of the game’s top players, the 32-year-old Homa enters this week playing some of the best golf of his career. 

The American, ranked No. 7 in the world, has finished inside the Top 20 in seven of his nine events this year. 

He ranks 12th in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, 15th in SG: Approach to the Green, and 5th in SG: Putting. 

He is also second in Par 3 scoring and fifth in Par 4 scoring. 

Homa is a big threat to win this event, and getting him at plus money to crack the top 20 is something I couldn’t say no to. 

Tom Kim - Top 30 +130 

Tom Kim is him. 

Already a two-time PGA Tour winner at the age of 20, Kim’s game should translate well to TPC Sawgrass. 

Kim enters this week failing to crack the Top 30 in his last three starts, but all of those results came at courses where distance off the tee is much more important than it is at Sawgrass. 

Kim ranks fourth on Tour in driving accuracy this season, with Russell Henley and Collin Morikawa being the only two players in the field more accurate than him off the tee this year.

However, according to RickRunGood.com, Kim sits 87th in Driving Distance and 169th in Club Head Speed. 

With distance much less of a prerequisite this week, I’m comfortable rolling with Kim and his stellar approach game. 

The Korean is second on Tour this season in approaches from 125-150 yards and ranks fifth in approaches from 150-175 yards. 

All in all, he sits 16th in SG: Approach the Green. 

TPC Sawgrass and the Players Championship is a massive stage for the world of golf, and the last time we saw Kim on a stage like this he was hitting 220-yard approach shots to 10 feet and draining the putt for points at the Presidents Cup. 

Kim is a star – his game translates so well for this tournament – and he’s going to win it one year. 

I like him to get in the mix this weekend and love him to finish inside the top 30. 

Wyndham Clark - Top 40 +200 

Here are the Top 5 players in the field this week in Weighted Strokes Gained: Approach (Over their most 16 rounds.) 

1.      Jon Rahm 

2.      Max Homa 

3.      Scottie Scheffler 

4.      Wyndham Clark 

5.      Tony Finau 

That’s some pretty elite company for Mr. Clark. 

I was blown away after digging into his player profile on RickRunGood.com to see that not only is the 29-year-old Clark in good form over his most recent 16 rounds, but the American has finished inside the Top 40 in eight of his last nine events. 

A stretch of golf that includes three-straight Top 40 finishes (T34, T33, T10) at the three most recent elevated events. 

At a golf course where approach play is as important as it is at TPC Sawgrass, I love Clark to keep this run of impressive golf going and crack the Top 40 for the first time in his Players Championship career.