Weekly PGA Preview: The Players Championship

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Updated on May 5, 2015 12:09PM EST

If it feels like we've been here before, it's because we have. Ever since the downfall of Tiger Woods, the golfing public and media alike have tried -- unsuccessfully -- to make the WGC match-play event entertaining, if not relevant. But even with the recent changes implemented this year, it seems that it's back to the drawing board. Yes, one of the main goals was to get a player like Rory McIlroy to the final, but not at the expense of every other top player in the world.

McIlroy is golf's biggest draw right now, but he's no Tiger. It's not his fault; no one on the PGA Tour can make the mundane a must-see event like Tiger used to. With that in mind, I've finally come to the conclusion that there's nothing outside of reducing the number of golfers in this event from 64 to 16 to make it a watchable weekend of golf.

The good news is that the powers that be seem willing to make changes. They collectively understand that this format, while entertaining when teams are involved every other year, is a tough sell to the public because, let's face it, it's not much fun watching two guys walk to their next shot and then to their next one and so on. The game of golf doesn't provide much action, but with numbers it can feel like there is a lot going on. That's not the case when only two guys are playing for 18 long holes. It's one thing to watch a playoff with the knowledge that it could end at any moment, it's another thing to hunker down for four hours knowing that these are the only two guys you'll be seeing for the rest of the day.

There are too many faults in this type of format to fix, but as long as they keep trying, one day, it might just be fun to watch this event from beginning to end again.

This week: The Players Championship - TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course - Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

Last Year: Martin Kaymer shot a final-round 66 on his way to a one-stroke victory over Jim Furyk.

Players to Consider

Jordan Spieth

Though he failed to make it past Friday's round, Spieth actually played very well last week. In fact, at the time he was eliminated, he was among the leaders in birdies made in the tournament. Spieth played very well here in his initial trip to Sawgrass, and with another year of seasoning under his belt, you can bet that he'll be ready and able to close this time around.

Rory McIlroy

You might have to get used to these two guys holding down the top two spots for the near future and that's okay be me. McIlroy enters the 2015 Players on a streak of two consecutive top-10s at this event, and he's coming off a win last week at the WGC Match-Play.

Tiger Woods

A lot of questions surrounding Tiger this week, such as the status of his hand-wrist, as well as the status of his game. He looked pretty solid a few weeks back at Augusta, but was that a fluke or a sign of things to come? If it's the latter, then we are in for a treat this week because "old Tiger" usually plays well here.

Jim Furyk

Furyk has historically been all over the map at this event, but he seems to be in top-form right now and if that translates over to the TPC Sawgrass, then he might be in the hunt Sunday. Furyk just missed out last year, losing by a single-stroke to Martin Kaymer, but that was the old Furyk, the guy who couldn't close.

Sergio Garcia

Garcia picked up what is still probably the biggest win of his PGA Tour career here in 2008. That's reason enough to give him a shot this week, but there's more: Garcia has finished in the top-10 the past two years and hasn't missed a cut at Sawgrass in over a decade.

Players to Avoid

Phil Mickelson

When we last saw Mickelson, he was in some pretty good form himself, but that was a few weeks back and who knows what's happened to his game in that time. Besides, even at his best, Mickelson hasn't played well at this event, as he has missed the cut here the past two years.

Luke Donald

As has been the case several times this year already, Donald has a solid track record at this event but he's not the same player he was five years ago. Heck, he's not the player he was a year ago. Donald has simply lost his edge and there's no reason to use him in a one-and-done format until he finds it again.

Steve Stricker

The stars were aligned for Stricker a couple weeks ago at the Zurich Classic. He was coming off a solid final round at Augusta and his record in New Orleans was pretty solid, yet he went on to miss the cut. That result seemed pretty telling on the state of Stricker's game, so I certainly don't expect much from him this week on a course where he's made the cut just over half the time.

Bubba Watson

Just as Augusta fits Watson's game perfectly, Sawgrass simply doesn't. Watson has made the cut here in just four of his seven starts and he's never cracked the top-30.

Dustin Johnson

This event just hasn't been kind to Johnson over the years. He has made the cut here in the majority of his starts, but like Bubba, he's failed to get anything done on the weekend.

One and Done Golfer

Last week: Jason Day (MC) - $49,384; Season - $1,950,345

This week: Sergio Garcia - In case you were wondering, the answer is yes, this is one of the events where it's okay to use a big gun. It's not a major, but the players are highly motivated to win here and the purse is very large. To be honest, I'm tempted to use a bigger name than Garcia this week, but he's won here so the upside is there.

Yahoo Picks

Points: 2474
Rank: 16,732

This Week:

Group A: Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia

Group B: Zach Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Jordan Spieth, Jimmy Walker

Group C: Spencer Levin, Ryan Moore

Survivor Pick

Last week: N/A (MC); Streak - 0

This week: Sergio Garcia - He hasn't missed a cut here in over a decade and his game is in pretty decent shape right now. There are plenty of big names in the field this week, but for a survivor pool, there might not be a safer pick.