AT&T Byron Nelson: PGA Golf Odds And Predictions
The AT&T Byron Nelson starts the Dallas Area Swing portion of the PGA Tour schedule as next week’s Fort Worth Invitational is in, well, Fort Worth. A lot of Tour pros live in Texas (and Florida – no state income taxes in either). Then we have the Memorial Tournament, where most big-name guys should play, the St. Jude Classic, where many won’t, and then the U.S. Open at tough Shinnecock Hills in New York state.
Trinity Forest Golf Club hosts the Byron Nelson. It’s a par 71 measuring 7,380 yards that used to be a landfill. It’s the first time this new course is hosting the Nelson so that makes for difficult handicapping. It had been in nearby Irving the previous 30 years. It has been tough for this tournament to draw a strong field since Nelson died in 2006 because it’s the week after the big-money Players Championship. This year, only five of the world’s Top 25 are expected to tee it up. Tiger Woods also is not playing.
The defending champion is former FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel. He beat Jason Day on the first hole of a playoff after both finished 72 holes at 12 under. Horschel entered last year in a major slump and without a win since the 2014 Tour Championship, which gave him the FedEx Cup title. Day missed a four-foot par putt on that playoff hole. Horschel is +2000 on the Sports Interaction golf odds to repeat. No one has done so at this tournament since Tom Watson won three in a row from 1978-80.
AT&T Byron Nelson Odds Favourites
Dallas native and former University of Texas star Jordan Spieth is easily the highest-ranked player in the field and also the heavy +450 favourite. That’s a pretty low number, like Tiger in his prime low. Spieth has yet to even finish in the Top 10 at this event; his best result was a rather memorable T16 when Spieth was just 16. That’s pretty much when the world knew how good he would be. Spieth missed the cut last year. Again, though, this is a new course.
Matt Kuchar and Sergio Garcia are both +1400, with Adam Scott, Jimmy Walker and Hideki Matsuyama joining Horschel at +2000. Sergio is one of five players to win this tournament twice, in 2004 & ’16. He is not having a good season, however. Kuchar comes off a 17th-place finish at the Players. Matsuyama has been hampered by injury and missed the cut last week. Walker is a Texan who lost the 2015 Byron Nelson in a four-man playoff.
Canadian Player Odds
No Canadian player has won this tournament; Mike Weir was a runner-up to Brendon Todd by two shots in 2014. David Hearn is +12500 to win, Corey Conners +15000, Nick Taylor +25000 and Ben Silverman +30000. Hearn is trending up, with a 10th-place finish last time out at the Zurich Classic team event and a 16th at the Valero Texas Open. He was T9 at the 2017 Nelson.
AT&T Byron Nelson Golf Predictions
Walker is our winning choice. He usually plays very well in Texas (T4 at Valero) and comes off a T2 last week at the Players.