7 predictions for The Players Championship

The biggest event on the PGA Tour schedule (so far) is here. Though The Players Championship isn't considered a major, it boasts an exceptionally strong field. All of the game's best players (with the exception of Tiger Woods) will take on TPC Sawgrass for a massive $2.7-million first-place prize.

TPC Sawgrass is one of the most unforgiving and unpredictable courses on the calendar, and it's one reason why this event tends to produce fantastic drama. Water hazards at nearly every turn - including the iconic island green at No. 17 - can quickly turn the smallest misses into large numbers, derailing players' rounds and potentially sending some big names home early.

With that said, here are seven predictions likely to come to fruition at the 2020 Players Championship:

Rory's top-five streak ends

Rory McIlroy is, without question, the best golfer in the world at the moment. He's riding seven straight top-five worldwide finishes, a run that includes a WGC victory. But players attempting to defend at TPC Sawgrass often disappoint.

It's incredibly difficult to pull off a title defense, and McIlroy has never managed to do so on the PGA Tour. To make matters worse, no player has ever won back-to-back Players Championships. Since 2007, only one golfer (Webb Simpson) has even finished inside the top 20 during a title defense. Though McIlroy is fully capable of bucking the trend, history suggests his result will be much worse than a top-five.

DJ trunk-slams

The Dustin Johnson who once dominated golf hasn't made an appearance for over a year. He won't re-emerge this week at The Players.

TPC Sawgrass has never been particularly kind to Johnson, who got his first top-10 finish at last year's event. He's finished outside the top 50 in three of his nine attempts since 2010, and those results came when he was actually playing good golf.

Johnson is coming off one of the worst putting performances of his career at the WGC-Mexico Championship, where he also lost strokes on approach. If he carries that form into this week, he'll almost certainly be slamming his trunk Friday and heading home before the weekend.

Koepka figures it out

Brooks Koepka looks lost on the golf course, a rarity for the uber-confident four-time major winner. He was vocal about his poor performances at both the Honda Classic and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, dubbing his current form "shit."

The positive takeaway from all of this is that Koepka sounds extremely focused - he admitted to actually practicing until dark last week - and motivated. He also gained 4.1 strokes on the field in Round 4 at Bay Hill, a sign he may have figured something out. The Players isn't counted among the four majors, but a hungry Koepka would surely love to take home that $2.7-million winner's check, and he'll be in the running for it come Sunday.

Mickelson finishes in bottom 10

Predicting a simple missed cut from Phil Mickelson is almost too easy; the 2007 Players champion has failed to make the weekend in six of his last seven trips to TPC Sawgrass. But there's zero chance Mickelson even comes close to making the cut. In fact, he'll be in the tournament's bottom 10.

Do you know what doesn't play well at TPC Sawgrass? "Bombs," as Mickelson likes to call them, especially inaccurate ones. Lefty is so arrant off the tee that he should probably put an extra dozen golf balls in his bag. He's going to need them.

Reed plays the villain

Love him or hate him, golf is more interesting when Patrick Reed is in contention. Rarely are fans presented with a legitimate opportunity to cheer for or against a player, but Captain America offers that chance with a late Sunday tee time.

Reed has played exceptionally well over the last half-year or so, earning two wins and seven top-10 finishes. Though he's never had a top-20 result at The Players, he's arguably playing better than ever and should feel comfortable during his seventh appearance at the event.

Playoff required

The last Players Championship that required extra holes was in 2015 when Rickie Fowler emerged victorious. Dating back to 2008, only two others needed a playoff. But 2020 has thus far been the year of the playoff, with three tournaments already decided in additional holes and a number of others barely wrapping up in four rounds.

This tournament is due for extras, and who doesn't want the drama of a playoff?

Cantlay wins

Patrick Cantlay is poised to collect the most prestigious victory of his career so far. The world No. 6 only has a surprising two PGA Tour titles on his resume, but he'll surely start racking up marquee wins in the near future.

Cantlay hasn't played a lot this year after undergoing surgery to repair a deviated septum, and that could prove beneficial given the grueling schedules some of his peers are playing. In three Tour starts in 2020, his worst finish was a T17 at the Genesis Invitational, where his ball-striking was lights out.

There's no reason to believe Cantlay won't be in contention Sunday. He's been knocking at the door in golf's biggest events for a couple of years, and this is the week he breaks through.