Round 1 Matchup Bets for THE PLAYERS

Joe Idone's @TourPicks Round 1 Matchup Picks for the 2024 PLAYERS Championship.

Day 1 Matchups at THE PLAYERS

Good morning from TPC Sawgrass! My alarm clock went off at 5:20 a.m. this morning as I anxiously prepped to make my maiden voyage into the daunting media center at THE PLAYERS Championship on behalf of RotoBaller. After a brief search for the correct gate of entry, I found the check-in station and passed the interview with PGA Tour officials who were genuinely curious as to "what value I would provide."

There is still a genuine curiosity around content creators in the gambling space, but ultimately we are here to help grow the audience, engage the current eyeballs, and elevate the tournament experience for those interested in betting in fantasy. The concept is simple, but definitely still in a "proving ground" phase. I will not let you guys or the PGA Tour down in my quest to provide the most knowledgeable, fun, and actionable content for professional golf.

Here are the three Round 1 head-to-head matchup picks that I have played and why.

Will Zalatoris +100 vs. Collin Morikawa -120

Will Zalatoris and Collin Morikawa will tee off in the afternoon wave on Thursday and I am siding with Zalatoris in this one. I've been extremely impressed with his rapid progression back to his peak form and he is doing so with a slightly modified swing. I have noticed a slight decrease in his ball speed numbers, but in turn his accuracy and precision have been improved. That should suit him well around TPC Sawgrass.

Zalatoris has his approach dialed in at the moment, gaining nearly nine strokes with his irons over his last two tournaments. Morikawa was the first-round leader at this event last season, but his gold standard in terms of wedge play has been slipping a bit lately.

I expect we continue to see a confident Zalatoris in Round 1 and a player that is intensely committed and focused to becoming respected as one of the best players in the game.

Pick: Zalatoris +100

Hideki Matsuyama -105 vs. Max Homa -115

The year was 2020 and the world was bubbling with uncertainty and a nervous energy. Hideki Matsuyama proceeded to shoot an opening round 63 at THE PLAYERS to vault himself to the top of the leaderboard. Less than 24 hours later, the tournament was cancelled, and so was society in a sense.

I'm backing Matsuyama once again with hopes he can come out of the gates hot in today's Round 1. While he placed himself upon the golf injury report once again, I have no concerns that we get his best stuff with a $25 million purse on the line.

This is honestly more of a play against Max Homa, who has lost strokes on approach in essentially five consecutive starts, which is particularly troubling with the abundance of hazards that will eat up errant iron shots around TPC Sawgrass.

Pick: Matsuyama -105

Erik van Rooyen +100 vs. Lucas Glover -120

You can probably count on one hand the amount of players who will tee it up this week playing with more confidence than Erik van Rooyen. It's oozing out of him, and it should be. He finally broke through for his maiden victory during the fall and has been ripping through Florida with a vengeance.

I'm encouraged with his recent results, particularly his consistency with the iron play, which is the primary metric that I have honed in on this week. van Rooyen has only played once at THE PLAYERS, but managed to finish T13 in 2022 and did so despite losing nearly four strokes putting that year.

He made up for that by gaining 11 strokes on approach in 2022, and I'm betting that he continues his run of excellent form to start off the tournament this year while matched up with Lucas Glover in the head-to-head market.

Pick: van Rooyen +100

Three underdogs on the card for Thursday! Let's have a day, RotoBaller family!

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