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2022 Players Championship 4th Round Odds, Predictions and Preview

Michael Harrison

by Michael Harrison in Golf

Updated Mar 14, 2022 · 7:58 AM PDT

Anirban Lahiri follows through on a shot
Anirban Lahiri, of India, hits from the fairway on the sixth hole during the third round of play in The Players Championship golf tournament Sunday, March 13, 2022, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
  • Anirban Lahiri leads Harold Varner III and Tom Hoge by one shot when third round play was suspended at the Players Championship
  • Ten golfers are within three shots of the lead in a wide-open affair
  • See the updated 2022 Players Championship odds below for Monday’s final round within the story below

Mother nature has not cooperated this week at TPC Sawgrass for the Players Championship. With so many weather delays, the third round wasn’t complete on Sunday, with the lead group still staring down nine more holes in their rounds. That will result in a lengthy Monday finish, where the weather thankfully looks promising.

When play was suspended due to darkness Sunday, unheralded Anirban Lahiri held on to a one shot edge over Harold Varner III and Tom Hoge. To say Lahiri’s lead is a surprise would be a massive understatement, as he’s ranked 322nd in the world, hasn’t won on the PGA Tour and hasn’t been better than 40th in his last 15 events. He was nowhere near favored before the tournament to claim the trophy, yet he’ll fight to fend off his challengers.

The odds in the table below have been updated after the completion of the 3rd round. Lahiri is still leading but is fourth in the odds behind Burns, Casey and Cameron Smith.

Updated 2022 Players Championship Odds

Golfer Position Score Odds
Sam Burns T-2nd -8 +500
Cam Smith T-6th -7 +700
Paul Casey T-2nd -8 +700
Anirban Lahiri 1st -9 +900
Sebastian Munoz T-2nd -8 +1100
Doug Ghim T-2nd -8 +1200
Tom Hoge T-6th -7 +1200
Shane Lowry T-8th -6 +1400
Louis Oosthuizen T-8th -6 +1600
Will Zalatoris T-8th -6 +1800

Odds as of March 14th at DraftKings Sportsbook

With the field now set to repair, Burns is the +500 favorite and is a shot back of Lahiri.

Hard to Trust Lahiri

Golf is arguably the most fickle of sports – absolutely nothing in Anirban Lahiri’s game coming into this week would point to him having success at the diabolical TPC Sawgrass. He’d been struggling mightily with his game, ranking 212th in strokes gained: approaching-the-green, 165th in SG: putting and 190th in total strokes gained.

Should he get over the finish line, it without question will be the wildest winner at this prestigious championship since Craig Perks 20 years ago. He hasn’t been devoid of solid results in the past, recording a runner-up at the 2017 Memorial Tournament for his best PGA Tour finish, and has two DP World Tour titles.

Even though he’s winning, oddsmakers tend to agree that he likely won’t lift the trophy come Monday evening, with seven golfers sporting shorter odds than him. Given his inexperience in big moments and poor play coming in, it’s hard to back him even though at +1400 the odds are enticing.

2022 Players Championship Best Live Value Picks

  1. Sam Burns (+500): With so much golf left to play, and it being wide open, every golfer features intriguing odds, with no clear cut obvious pick. The betting favorite is Sam Burns, and he’s just two back. He has a title this season, along with three other top-10’s, including a T-9th at Bay Hill last week. He’s T-4th in scrambling and eighth in putting this tournament, and has ascended to a top-20 player in the world.
  2. Cameron Smith (+700): Another name of interest is Cameron Smith, who is three adrift. The tenth ranked golfer on the planet is second in putting for the week and second in birdies for the campaign, and fourth in final round scoring average.
  3. Shane Lowry (+1400): 2019 Open Champion Shane Lowry jolted the crowd Sunday with an ace on the famed par-3, 17th hole. He’s no stranger to winning big championships, which also includes the 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. In his last start, he was runner-up at the Honda Classic, and he currently is four behind.

 

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