The Sunday Sweat

The Players Championship

Every Sunday, the LoopGolf team writes a newsletter for our community highlighting all the action around golf, betting and culture.

The top news this past week continued to focus on the heated debate going on between players after the TOUR announced even more changes to its designated events starting in 2024. This decision from the TOUR was not so popular with one player in particular, James Hahn who is currently ranked 305 in world rankings.

But the players most impacted by the change, those outside the top-70 in the world, had a message for everyone, we ain’t going away without a fight. After the first two rounds, the top-16 on the leaderboard at THE PLAYERS had more players ranked outside the top-70 than in the top-70.

These changes are certainly controversial as they favor the best players in the world but it also starts an era of intense competition on the PGA TOUR for those vying for a spot in the top-70, creating a lot more drama for us, the fans.

  • ⛳️ Tournament: The Players Championship

  • 📍 Location: Ponte Vedra, Florida

  • 💰 Purse: $25,000,000

  • 🎥 Watch: 1-6pm ET (NBC)

  • 🏆 Final Group: Tees off at 1:45pm ET

Aaron Rai, the double-glove and iron-covers legend, made his first career hole-in-one on Tour Saturday at the iconic par-3 17th. This was the second ace of the weekend on 17, the first coming from Hayden Buckley in round 1. Rai made some money moves Saturday posting a 7-under 65 to move himself into T-4 heading into Sunday.

Jordan Spieth was on the cutline going into his final hole (#9) on Friday. Spieth's tournament was revived when his drive heading toward the water bounced off of a fan back into the fairway. He eagled that hole, made the cut, then shot 6-under Saturday and is now T-14 heading into Sunday. After the round Spieth said he was going to find the fan he hit and give him "whatever he wants". Now the question is, what would YOU ask for from Spieth if you had the chance?

Min Woo Lee, a 24-year old from Australia, is little known on the PGA TOUR but is making a big name for himself this weekend currently in 2nd place (+600) going into todays final round. While Min Woo is relatively unknown here in the states, he is a two-time winner on the European Tour, where he defeated Matt Fitzpatrick (#12 in the world) in a playoff at the 2021 Scottish Open.

What's crazy is that Lee barely made it into THE PLAYERS this weekend. He snagged the last spot by shooting a final round 66 at the Honda Classic which moved him up 26 places, made him 50th in the world, and secured him a spot at THE PLAYERS.

While he has yet to win on the PGA TOUR, this 24 year old put on an absolute show during Saturday’s round, featuring a hole out for eagle on the first hole and a 294 yard 2-iron on 18.

Fun Fact: Min Woo Lees older sister, Minjee Lee is one of the biggest stars on the LPGA TOUR with 8 wins including two major championships. Who would you take in a head-to-head match?!

Details: Authentic street style meets signature golf performance with the second edition of the Player's shoe. FJ partnered with street-fashion designer Jon Buscemi to bring the Tour-proven Premiere Series to a new level, these kicks were worn all weekend by FJ Ambassadors at THE PLAYERS Championship.

Congratulations to CBLACKPORT2 for winning our inaugural pick'em pool last weekend cashing out $500 with a dramatic come back finish over BLM-ACE.

Our Q2 pool kicks off this weekend at the PLAYERS and we have a few participants in the mix to grab 4.5M points in week 1. Join our risk free pick'em pool here for a chance to win $500 at the conclusion of the Wells Fargo Championship.