Players Championship golf form guide: other candidates

OTHERS CANDIDATES

ERNIE ELS As always at Sawgrass, Els is one to oppose. Ernie is on record as saying he can't stand this course, and that mindset shows in the fact he's never made the top five in 13 attempts.   CAMILO VILLEGAS Following Villegas is becoming extremely frustrating, though I will doubtless back him again soon. On the basis of a brilliant debut third in 2006, albeit miles behind runaway winner Stephen Ames, Camilo must come into the argument.   PAUL CASEY Having finished quite well at the Heritage, we can probably assume that Paul is fully recovered from the injury that thwarted his Masters bid. He's worth considering on the basis of two previous top 15s at Sawgrass.   HENRIK STENSON The defending champ clearly loves this place, having never finished worse than 14th in four tries. He's only rarely shown anything near his best since last year's brilliant performance, although there was some improvement on his last couple of starts in Asia.   SEAN O'HAIR O'Hair went very close here in 2007, and while his recent form is only ordinary, it would be no surprise to see him bounce back at tasty odds here.   MATT KUCHAR Kuchar has drifted back out to attractive odds after a single failure at Quail Hollow, and made the shortlist. His game appears to suit Sawgrass, where he's twice made the topm20 during less rewarding spells of his career.   LUKE DONALD Apart from finishing runner-up in 2005, when he really should have won, Donald's Sawgrass record is disappointing. He certainly does have the accurate game to win here, though.   GEOFF OGILVY For all his Major-winning class, Ogilvy's recent form is uninspiring, as is a failure to make the top ten in eight attempts here.   SERGIO GARCIA Despite some terrible results, nobody would be too surprised if Garcia suddenly returned to form, when available at big odds. Sawgrass, where he won in 2008 and has made the top four on three occasions, would be as likely a stage as any.

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