Crane to finally claim deserved victory in Players Championship
Published:Ben Crane has constantly been close to winning the Players Championship in recent years and he can finally hole the winning putt at TPC Sawgrass this year.
Much of the talk will revolve around Tiger Woods playing in his first event since the Masters and the Players Championship being the tournament where he pulled out six holes into the final round last year with a neck injury.
Woods’ record at TPC Sawgrass is impressive as he has never missed the cut in 13 starts, but 14/1 is short enough for a player who has been troubled by injuries to his knee and Achilles of late.
However, Crane’s recent record is superior to that of Woods, as he has finished inside the top six in each of the last three years in the Players Championship.
Crane has continually finished one place better in this sequence, culminating in a share of fourth spot last year and looks good each-way value at 33/1 in the Players Championship odds to perform well again.
Course experience is said to be particularly necessary at TPC Sawgrass, particularly knowing where the best spots are to attack flags, alongside miss greens and fairways.
Crane has built up this valuable experience and also ranks well in the PGA Tour statistics this season in terms of hitting greens in regulation and scrambling, which are also more at a premium at TPC Sawgrass than other courses.
With Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy not taking part, European hopes are likely to rest on the shoulders of the consistent Luke Donald.
Donald is preparing for his ninth start at TPC Sawgrass and has racked up six top-ten finishes in seven PGA Tour events.
It is 16/1 in the golf odds that Donald wins the Players Championship and his strong scoring and scrambling statistics mean he arrives in Florida with a fine chance of victory.
A £30 stake on Crane winning the Players Championship would return £990. New customers can sign up here for a free £30 bet.
