The Players Championship gets underway at TPC at Sawgrass on Thursday, as the best the PGA has to offer contends with the dreaded 17th hole - the notorious "Island Green."

While the magic and misery of the unique No. 17 makes The Players Championship fun for fans, the season-high prize pool makes it a must-play event for all golfers who qualify.

Making The Players Championship even more appealing to the players this season is the fact that they won't have to battle Tiger Woods for top spot on the leaderboard. Woods continues to rehab after knee surgery, and he'll continue to watch from the sidelines for at least a few more weeks.

The absence of Woods makes Phil Mickelson the top favorite on the betting odds with oddsmakers setting him at 10/1. Even with Tiger in the field last year, Mickelson won this tournament after shooting 11-under par. That was good enough for a two-stroke win over Sergio Garcia.

The Spaniard known as "El Nino" has had a terrible season so far, with his best finish coming in the WGC-Championship where he tied for 15th. If Garcia could finally get his game on track and win this week, he would pay very well as a 40/1 underdog on the PGA betting odds.

Just behind Mickelson the best odds belong to sweet-swinging Australian Adam Scott at 12/1. Scott is also a previous Players Championship winner, having hoisted the trophy in 2004.

Scott also posted his first win this season two weeks ago in the EDS Byron Nelson Championship, and he followed that up with a solid eighth-place tie in last week's Wachovia Championship.

The two favorites, Mickelson and Scott, are also paired up on the matchup odds list at . In their head-to-head matchup odds, Mickelson is the favorite at -130 while Scott checks in at +100. Both former champions also turn up in the tournament props.

The prop bet sets the total for where each golfer will finish the tournament. Mickelson's total was set at 12.5, while Scott's total is 14.5. The Over and Under odds for both golfers was set at -115.

Other interesting prop totals include Vijay Singh at 19.5, Jim Furyk at 19.5, Padraig Harrington at 19.5 and Garcia at 35.5. The Over/Under odds for each of them was set at -115.