2020 Safeway Open: PGA Tour Golf Betting Odds
The 2020-21 PGA Tour wraparound season wastes no time in starting just three days following the 2019-20 season-ending Tour Championship on Sunday, but it’s definitely a watered-down field starting Thursday at the Safeway Open from California wine country. Phil Mickelson is one of the favourites on the golf odds.
The new season will feature a whopping 50 events, the largest Tour schedule since 1975. That includes six majors with the U.S. Open and Masters still to be played this year after being postponed earlier due to the coronavirus.
All events on the “fall series” draw lesser fields because the purses are smaller and the best-name players simply would rather not play again for the most part until the New Year. However, the Safeway Open is in a really bad spot this time because the rescheduled U.S. Open is next week in New York. Thus, most everyone of note is preparing for that instead of having to fly across the USA from California on Sunday night. There isn’t a single world Top 20 player in the field this week.
This tournament began as the Fry’s Electronics Open in 2007 and changed to the Safeway Open in 2016. It’s the fifth year in a row as well that the event will be held at the Silverado Resort and Spa’s North Course in Napa, California. It’s a par 72 measuring around 7,170 yards. The 72-hole record at Silverado is an 18-under 270 by Brendan Steele in 2016. He won again the next year at 15 under.
2020 Safeway Open Betting Odds
Mickelson failed to advance past the first round of the FedExCup playoffs, so to keep his game in form the newly 50-year-old made his debut on the Champions Tour two weeks ago and won. Lefty is playing this week, too, in a surprise and is +1800 – it has been a long while since Mickelson was the favourite in a Tour event. He missed the cut last year.
Also at +1800 is Si Woo Kim. The South Korean has two career PGA Tour wins, last the 2017 Players Championship. He comes off a T39 a few weeks ago at the Northern Trust and was T49 at this tournament last year.
Shane Lowry is +2000 with Steele, the two-time champion, and Sergio Garcia both at +2200. Lowry was last seen missing the cut at the Northern Trust and hasn’t played here. While Steele has those back-to-back wins at the event, he hasn’t contended in two trips since. Sergio comes off a terrible 2019-20 season on the PGA Tour with just a single Top 10 in 12 events and hasn’t played here.
Canadian Mike Weir won the debut of this tournament in 2007 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. He finished at 14 under, one shot better than Mark Hensby.
Last year, Adam Hadwin finished runner-up to Cameron Champ by one stroke. Champ, who isn’t playing this year’s event, drained a 3-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th to reach 17 under. Hadwin had birdied his final three holes to tie Champ at 16 under. Hadwin isn’t playing this year, either.
The 2019 event was a strong one for players from Canada as Nick Taylor finished T10, and Corey Conners and Roger Sloan both T13. Michael Gligic was T49, David Hearn T52. Mackenzie Hughes missed the cut. Sloan is +10000 this week with Gligic at +25000 and Hearn +30000.
Canada’s Graham DeLaet makes his first Tour start since January. He has been dealing with a back injury that forced him out of the entire 2018-19 season. DeLaet was fifth here in 2018 and is +25000.
Safeway Open Predictions
Take Mickelson and Martin Laird for Top 10s, but the winner is Chez Reavie at +3300. He has made the cut here each of the past six years with three Top 25s.
