5 Sleeper Picks to watch at the Players Championship 2025 feat. Michael Kim

PGA: Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard - Final Round - Source: Imagn — Michael Kim- Source: Imagn images

The Players Championship will start just after the Creator Classic, and the tournament will take place from March 13 to 16 at the TPC Sawgrass. The Players Championship is considered one of the biggest PGA Tour events after the majors.Hence, the purse of the tournament is quite handsome, around $25 million this year.

Several top-tier golfers, including defending champion Scottie Scheffler, will compete. However, the playing field at the tournament will also miss out on known faces like Tiger Woods. While it is obvious that the renowned golfers will put up a tough fight for the prize chunk, some underdogs might surprise this year. Here's the list of five such sleeper picks for the Players Championship:

5 sleeper picks for the 2025 Players Championship

#1. Michael Kim

Michael Kim missed the cutline in last year's Players Championship after two rounds of 68 and 80. In 2023, Kim didn't play in the Players Championship. As of now in 2025, Kim played eight PGA Tour events, out of which he had three top 10 finishes including a T2 at the WM Phoenix Open with 17 under 267, a T4 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational pres. by Mastercard with 8 under 280 and a T6 at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches with 15 under 269.

#2. Daniel Berger

Daniel Berger didn't play the 2024 Players Championship but he played at the 2022 Players Championship and finished at T13 after shooting 6 under 282. Berger played seven PGA Tour tournaments in 2025 and he had three top 20 finishes including a T2 at the WM Phoenix Open with 17 under 267, a T12 at the Genesis Invitational with 5 under 283 and a T15 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational pres. by Mastercard with 3 under 285.

#3. Aaron Rai

Aaron Rai played last year's Players Championship and finished at T35 with a score of 6 under 282. This year, he played six PGA Tour tournaments until now with two top 20 finishes in those events. The top 20 finishes were at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld with T4 and the Arnold Palmer Invitational pres. by Mastercard with T11 after scoring 18 under 266 and 4 under 284, respectively.

#4. Nicolai Hojgaard

Nicolai Hojgaard missed the Players Championship cutline last year after shooting 73 and 76 in the two rounds. Hojgaard played three PGA Tour events in 2024, and he had two top 20 finishes, including a T8 at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld and a T18 at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches with scores 16 under 268 and 12 under 272, respectively.

#5. Kurt Kitayama

Kurt Kitayama finished at T19 in the 2024 Players Championship after scoring 9 under 279. Kitayama played in six tournaments in 2025, including a T37 at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He also had three missed cutlines so far this year.

Edited by Neelabhra Roy