Fantasy Golf Insider: 9 players to target at The Players Championship

"The best field in golf" moniker rings true for The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

The top 10 in the FedExCup standings will be present, as will the top 10 in the Official World Golf Rankings. South Africa's Charl Schwartzel is the only 2015-16 PGA Tour winner not participating this week.

The field also includes nine former winners of the event and 22 major championship winners. Twenty-four countries are represented in the 144-player competition. The strength of the field illustrates the difficult task facing 2015 winner Rickie Fowler, as he bids to become the first player since Adam Scott in 2005 to post a top-10 finish in his tournament defense.

Here's a look at the past three leaderboards (*denotes a playoff):

Per FantasyInsiders, the key stats for TPC Sawgrass are Driving Accuracy (DA), Par 3 Scoring Average (P3S), Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (SGT2G), Proximity to Hole (PH), and Bogey Avoidance (BA). These stats have been strengths of previous winners and need to be used in combination with recent form and course history when building lineups.

Top Tier, Top Dollar, Top Results

Sergio Garcia

The 2008 tournament champion has resurfaced near the top of the past two leaderboards. In addition to his victory and his recent runner-up and second runner-up finishes, Garcia has three other top-10 finishes at TPC Sawgrass. He'll continue his search to become the seventh player to win The Players more than once.

His 12 consecutive cuts made at this event and reasonable salary make him the top option for cash games. He still possesses the upside for GPPs, based on a strength in SGT2G, where he's ranked sixth on tour.

Adam Scott

Despite leading the FedExCup standings, Scott is at the low end of the top pricing tier. He hasn't been quite true to form since winning The Honda Classic and the WGC-Cadillac Championship in consecutive weeks, but he's coming off a quality T17 showing at last week's Wells Fargo Championship.

He struggles in driving accuracy, hitting just 56.35 percent of fairways, but he ranks in the top 10 in each of P3S, SGT2G and PH. He has the second-best scoring average on tour, boding well at a tournament where nine of the past 10 winners have finished at least 11 strokes under par.

Jordan Spieth

Coming off the most disappointing loss of his career, Spieth will participate for the first time since the Masters in his third career appearance at The Players. After finishing in a tie for fourth in his 2014 debut at the event, he missed the cut in 2015, making him the first Masters champion to do so in the same year since Mike Weir in 2004.

His Masters meltdown came as the conclusion of four consecutive top 20s, after a poor start to 2016. He ranks inside the top 50 on tour in P3S, SGT2G and BA. His top-ranked putting average compensates for his poor PH distance of 37 feet, nine inches.

Best Value With a Chance

Rafa Cabrera Bello

Having been absent from the PGA Tour since his 17th-place finish at the Masters, many DFS owners may be forgetting Cabrera Bello. He returned to the European Tour the week following his strong showing at Augusta National to place 16th at the Real Club Valderrama Open de Espana.

He's made all four of his PGA cuts this season, and he comes at an excellent discount.

Russell Knox

Knox has three top 10s this season while making 10 of his 14 cuts. His first career victory came at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai; he then lost in a playoff at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba the following week. He's coming off a third-place finish at the RBC Heritage.

He's a statistical favorite, ranking 18th in DA, 20th in P3S, 50th in SGT2G, 24th in PH and second in BA. He resides in Ponte Vedra Beach and should be well accustomed to the course, having finished 17th in last year's event.

David Lingmerth

Like Knox, Lingmerth has come over from Europe to call Ponte Vedra Beach his North American home. He's making his third appearance at The Players, having missed the cut in 2014 after finishing second in 2013. He sat out last year's event.

He's had one top 10 while making 12 of 15 cuts this season, and he's coming off a 17th at the Wells Fargo Championship. He's the 19th-most accurate golfer on tour, also ranking 38th in Par 3 Scoring.

If Everything Goes Right

Emiliano Grillo

Grillo has cooled in the 2016 calendar year, after he won the Frys.com Open in October as the first event of the 2015-16 season. He placed 17th at the Masters, and after taking three weeks off, posted a 61st-place finish at the Wells Fargo Championship.

He's the eighth-most accurate driver on tour, but what should be his most attractive attribute to DFS owners seeking out a bargain is his win at TPC Sawgrass in last year's Web.com Tour Championship.

Chez Reavie

Reavie was the runner-up to Grillo at 2015's Web.com event at TPC Sawgrass, and he's the statistical favorite heading into this week. He ranks 18th in DA, 20th in P3S, 20th in SGT2G, 11th in PH and 15th in BA.

He's coming off two consecutive missed cuts, making him considerably cheaper than Grillo, but he's an ideal contrarian selection for owners going the course history route in the selection process.

Matthew Fitzpatrick

The cheapest option of those who should be targeted this week, Fitzpatrick is coming off his second missed cut of the season, at the RBC Heritage. He finished seventh at the Masters in his previous event, showing no reason to fear him in strong-field events. He's the PGA's ninth-most accurate driver, hitting 70 percent of fairways.

Top Fades

Charley Hoffman

Hoffman has enjoyed an excellent run since the Masters, finishing 14th at the RBC Heritage, winning the Valero Texas Open and placing 11th at the Zurich Class of New Orleans. While his price has subsided heading into a marquee event, DFS owners shouldn't be investing in the quality finishes in significantly weaker fields.

Bubba Watson

While coming at a reasonable discount given his standard pedigree, Watson is not made for the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. He's missed the cut three times in eight tries at this event, with finishes of 37th in 2009 and 2013 representing his best outings. He hasn't played since the Masters, and should be avoided in cash-game and tournament play.

Danny Willett

Willett hasn't played on either the PGA or European Tour since winnings the Masters. He missed the cut in this event last year, his first appearance at TPC Sawgrass. He doesn't carry the lofty salary of other major champions, but owners should be willing spend up for the more elite, proven options.