Weather forecast for Thursday: Thunderstorms are in the forecast from 7am onwards so that could obviously play havoc with the scheduled tee-times. If there are no breaks, both temperatures (70-75 degrees) and wind speeds (8-10mph) are fairly level throughout the golfing day. Overall, there's no great reason to favour one side of the draw over the other.
Look to Lowry
We last saw Shane Lowry walking off the 18th green at the Honda Classic wondering how he hadn't ended up with the trophy.
The Irishman closed with three 67s in tough conditions but got reeled in by an inspired Sepp Straka and finished runner-up.
But he's clearly in great nick and I'll back him to carry his momentum to Sawgrass.
Last year Lowry was third after 18 holes while a first-round 65 in 2016 put him second at the close of day one.
After eighth place last year - his best Players Championship finish - the March date might suit him more than May and a bit of grotty weather in the forecast will be water off a duck's back.
I'll take him to start fast from his 08:24 tee-time.
Home in on Harman
Brian Harman has thrived at Sawgrass since the switch to March, finishing third last year and eighth in 2019.
His first-round positions were even better. The left-hander opened with a 67 to sit second after the opening lap last year and a 66 put him third on the R1 leaderboard in 2019.
He's played some decent stuff this year too, taking third at The American Express and 14th two starts ago in Phoenix.
Also second following the first day of both the US Masters and the Open Championship last year, Harman has an eye-catching record on the first day of big events.
Teeing off in the first group out from No.10 at 06:45, take him to pop up on the Thursday leaderboard again here.
He looks a fair price at 80/1.
Kirk one of our three captains
Chris Kirk was briefly tied for the lead on the back nine of last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational, eventually finishing fifth.
And that came on the back of a top 10 at the Honda Classic so he's been one of the main figures on the Florida Swing so far.
While those two tough weeks could catch up with him eventually - perhaps when the weather turns bad over the final 36 holes - they may act only as a positive force for the early stages here.
Kirk has made eight of his last nine cuts at Sawgrass and owns a trio of top 15s at the course.
He carded a 65 here in round two last year and his first-round positions in the last two weeks were second and 11th after laps of 65 and 69 respectively.
Kirk, who tees off at 11:50 local time, is 80/1.