THE PLAYERS Best Longshot Picks for 2026 – Get a +8200 Bet to Win

• The Players tees off on Thursday, March 12th from TPC Sawgrass
• This event has only been won my Major Champions since moving to March
• See The Players best longshot picks for 2026 below

The biggest purse of the PGA Tour season will be awarded this week as the best players head to TPC Sawgrass for The Players Championship. This tournament has been dominated by Major Champions since the event was moved to March, but even before it was routinely won by the game’s elite.

That makes our job hunting longshots this week very simple. Identify former Major Champs who are being undervalued in the market, and who are exceptional ball strikers. Accuracy off the tee and precision iron play is a prerequisite here, and I’ve identified a few players who have the ceiling to be in the final round mix.

Keep reading for The Players best longshot picks for 2026, plus my reasoning behind each selection.

The Players Best Longshot Picks

I’m starting The Players best longshots betting card with former US Open Champion Matthew Fitzpatrick at +4100. I’m also targeting 2019 Open Champion Shane Lowry at +6400, and 2013 US Open winner Justin Rose +8200.

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The Players Longshot Pick #1: Matthew Fitzpatrick to Win

• Matthew Fitzpatrick to Win (+4100 at DraftKings)

Fitzpatrick was the most popular outright selection last week at Bay Hill, and I’m not going to let a lousy 4 rounds at Arnie’s place dissuade me from going back to him. Fitzpatrick ranks 14th in the field in strokes gained approach over the last two months, and 27th in strokes gained off the tee.

The Englishman has two top-20’s and a top-10 in four starts this year, but those results would look a heck of a lot better if he could get the flatstick going. So far in 2026, Fitzpatrick has lost strokes putting in every event, but that’s a far cry from the norm. 

Over the course of his PGA Tour career, he gains an average of 0.42 strokes with his putter per round which suggests regression is coming. I’m betting it happens this week, at a course that perfectly suits his game.

The Players Longshot Pick #2: Shane Lowry to Win

• Shane Lowry to Win (+6400 at bet365)

Onto Lowry now, who plays his best golf on US soil in Florida. He gains nearly 2 strokes on the field per round in Florida, and should have won at PGA National two weeks ago, if not for two errant tee shots down the stretch.

That course profiles similar to Sawgrass, with trouble looming everywhere. Typically that’s not an issue for the Irishman, who ranks sixth in the field in strokes gained approach over the last year and 23rd in ball striking. He’s finished top-20 at The Players five times in the last 10 years, highlighted by an 8th place result back in 2021.

The Players Longshot Pick #3: Justin Rose to Win

• Justin Rose to Win (+8200 at DraftKings)

Last but not least, is Rose. He’s won twice in the last seventh months, both at big boy events, and has three top-10’s and a top-5 in his Players history.

Justin Rose Strokes Gained Ranks – Last 8 Months

Rose ranks fourth in the field in strokes gained approach over the last eight months, and 24th in ball striking. He boasts an elite short game and can get as white-hot as anyone with the putter, and when that happens he racks up birdies at an insane rate.

He’s got the skill set to contend, but the biggest selling feature is the price. 35 players boast shorter odds to win than Rose, many of whom have never been in contention at a top tier event or tasted victory at the PGA Tour level.