What can we expect from The Players Championship 2018?

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As the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass prepares to host one of the strongest fields of the golfing year, we look at five things to focus on at The Players Championship.

Chances of a British or Irish winner?

There has been a strong British and Irish presence at Sawgrass since Sandy Lyle’s victory in 1987, but that remains the only home success in The Players Championship.

Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie, Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald, Martin Laird and Ian Poulter have all earned runner-up places, but the huge amount of international success in golf’s “fifth major” has not extended to the UK and Ireland over the last 31 years.

This year, there are a dozen hopefuls bidding to emulate Lyle’s landmark victory, with Rory McIlroy headlining the challenge along with Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose and a resurgent Poulter.

Sandy Lyle remains the only British player to win the Players Championship, having claimed play-off victory in 1987

The rewards are not only lucrative ($1.89m to the winner), a strong week over the Stadium Course will do wonders for Ryder Cup qualification, although there are a number of high-quality continental Europeans in the field with similar aspirations.

Why the lack of US success?

The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is a very typical US course, immaculately presented and manicured, vast expanses of water and perfect greens. So it’s somewhat bizarre that, in the last 13 editions of The Players Championship, only four have been won by American players.

The truly-international field each year is reflected in the Roll of Honour, with players from Europe (except Britain and Ireland – see above), Australia, Canada, South Africa and South Korea all hoisting the crystal trophy on Sunday evening.

With 49 non-Americans in the glittering field this week, the chances of that trend continuing are substantial, especially when you consider there were only three US players in the top 10 last year.

And, no offence to Kyle Stanley, Lucas Glover and Brendan Steele, but they would not have featured highly on many pre-tournament betting slips in 2017.

Case for defence?

Si Woo Kim cruised to an impressive three-shot win over Ian Poulter and Louis Oosthuizen 12 months ago, but history suggests the South Korean will struggle to defend his title this week.

In 44 previous Players Championships, how many defending champions have gone back-to-back? None!

In fact, only one holder has even managed to finish in the top five, and that was Nick Price – back in 1994.

And, just half a dozen players have won multiple times at TPC Sawgrass, with Jack Nicklaus (who else?!) the sole three-time winner – landing his hat-trick 40 years ago.

Tough scoring?

Since The Players Championship was moved to May from March back in 2007, the winning score has been double-digits under par each year apart from Sergio Garcia’s 2008 victory – when he beat Paul Goydos in a play-off after both finished tied on five under.

Tim Clark’s win on 16 under in 2010 is the best of the bunch over the last 11 years, but consistent low scoring is always tough to maintain at TPC Sawgrass.

Not a single player in 44 years has managed to go bogey-free over 72 holes, and the halfway cut has been under par just twice – in 2010 and 2016.

The Players Championship is truly the ultimate test of temperament.

Who has the advantage?

Jason Day – huge hitter – Players champion. Fred Funk – short but accurate – Players champion.

One of the great attractions of the PGA Tour’s flagship event is that the Stadium Course is a genuine leveller. It does not matter if you average 330 yards or 270 yards with the driver, there is a vast range of playing styles that can win here.

Many of the modern-day power players struggle to cope with the prospect of not being able to whip the cover off the driver at every par-four and par-five.

Sawgrass is all about precision, with course management at a premium, and patience is very much a virtue if you want to contend here. It’s one of a select few tournaments worldwide where you can genuinely say that every player in the field has a legitimate chance to win.