PGA Tour Safeway Open: Golf Odds & Prediction
Safeway Open Championship Background
Frankly, few big-name players wanted to go to West Virginia or Mississippi to play the first two weeks of the season, but California wine country is another matter entirely. Location is a big reason – a lot of Tour pros live in California as well – that this event has a much better field than the previous two this season. Five of the world’s Top 15 are scheduled to play as is Phil Mickelson. It’s being called the best field in the event’s history. Three notable sponsor exemptions teeing it up: Fred Couples, John Daly and former Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo.
The Safeway Open debuted in 2007 as the Fry’s Electronics Open and in Arizona but moved around some after that. It had opened the Tour’s wraparound season the past six years. The tournament moved to Silverado Resort & Spa’s North Course in Napa in October 2014. It’s a par 72 measuring 7,166 yards. The course record is a 61 by Chesson Hadley in 2017. The 72-hole Silverado record is a 270 in 2016 when Brendan Steele won at 18-under. He’s a two-time winner here.
Americans have won eight of 12 times. The defending champion is Kevin Tway, who beat Ryan Moore and Brandt Snedeker in a playoff for his first PGA Tour victory.
Safeway Open Championship Betting Favourites
Justin Thomas is the highest-ranked player in the world in the field at No. 6 and is the +600 favourite. He led the FedEx Cup points race entering the season-ending Tour Championship but ended up finishing third. Recently, Thomas announced he had a bit of a health scare with melanoma but apparently is OK now because it was caught early. Thomas has finished Top 10 his past two trips here.
Patrick Cantlay is +1000 with Adam Scott at +1400, Hideki Matsuyama +1600, and both Bryson DeChambeau and Sung-Jae Im at +1800. Cantlay played here last year for the first time and was 17th. Matsuyama was third in 2014. Im was fourth last year. Scott is debuting in the tournament. DeChambeau was T17 two years ago.
Canadian Golfer Odds
The last of eight PGA Tour wins for Canadian lefty Mike Weir was at the ’07 Fry’s Electronics Open. He shot a 14-under 266 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, to edge Mark Hensby by a shot.
Corey Conners is +3300 this week. He missed the cut last week as well as last year in this tournament. Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin are each +8000, David Hearn +10000, Mackenzie Hughes +15000, Roger Sloan +20000 and Michael Gligic +50000.
Safeway Open Predictions
Like Thomas for a Top 10, but the winner at +8000 is Martin Laird. He has made the cut each of the past five years with a best finish of third.