The PGA Tour leaves Hawaii/California for the first time this year for the WM Phoenix Open, which is always staged on Super Bowl weekend and is the biggest party on Tour.
Scottie Scheffler per usual is favoured on the golf odds.
I’ve said it before and will again: If you like your sporting events rather rowdy like a football game or soccer match, then the WM Phoenix Open is for you as it’s a completely different vibe than any other Tour event annually. That’s especially true at the par-3 16th – nicknamed “The Coliseum” and easily the rowdiest hole on the Tour.
In this writer’s opinion, the PGA Tour should allow more of this (the LIV Tour does) because it caters to younger fans, which golf badly needs. This is the last chance for golfers to qualify for next week’s Genesis Invitational Signature Event that has a limited field and $20 million (US) purse.
It’s good field this week if not as strong as last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am won by world No. 3 Rory McIlroy in his 2025 PGA Tour debut. McIlroy is cutting back his PGA Tour schedule a bit this year – he also competes in that TGL simulated thing with Tiger Woods and others – and is skipping this week. World No. 2 Xander Schauffele (injured) and No. 4 Collin Morikawa also are passing. No. 9 Viktor Hovland originally committed but opted to withdraw. Englishman Paul Waring got Hovland’s spot and makes his official PGA Tour debut.
TPC Scottsdale has been the host course of this tournament since 1987 and is a par 71 at 7,260 yards. The course record is a 60 held by a few guys, including defending champion Nick Taylor of Canada. Taylor, from Winnipeg, rallied from three down with four holes left in regulation and made an 11-foot birdie putt to beat American Charley Hoffman on the second hole of a playoff last year. They both finished 72 holes at 21-under 263. Taylor had that 60 in Round 1 with his five-shot lead matching the largest after 18 holes on the PGA Tour since 1983.
The last player to repeat here was Scheffler in 2023. Americans have won the tournament all but three times since 2008.
WM Phoenix Open Odds
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (+300) made his season debut at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am off suffering a hand injury on Christmas. He finished T9 and was T3 here last year while trying for the threepeat. Scheffler’s average score here of 67.17 since 2019 is the best of any player in the field.
Justin Thomas (+1200) was my pick to win last year, and he finished T12. Thomas had seven straight top-20 finishes at the tournament with a best of third twice but still yet to win it. Hideki Matsuyama (+1600), Sungjae Im (+2200), Sam Burns (+2500) and Tom Kim (+2800) are the only other players below +3000.
Matsuyama has a win this year in Hawaii and went back-to-back here in 2016-17, winning in a playoff each time, but has just one Top 10 since. A playoff is nothing new here as last year marked the sixth time in the past nine years there was one. Im has a best of sixth in the event. Burns has three missed cuts in six trips but also a third and sixth. Kim’s career-best here was 17th last year. He comes off a seventh at Pebble Beach.
We mentioned Nick Taylor (+5000) won here last year, and George Knudson is the only Canadian winner of the event in 1968. Taylor has a win this year already in Hawaii, also in a playoff, and was runner-up at this tournament in 2023 to Scheffler. In 2024, Corey Conners was T28, while Adam Svensson and Adam Hadwin missed the cut. Conners is +4000 this year with Mackenzie Hughes +15000, Hadwin +17500, Svensson +20000 and Ben Silverman +35000.
WM Phoenix Open Predictions
We like an American winner at -250 and the best value on Sam Burns at +2500 with his recent history at TPC Scottsdale and off to a solid start in 2025 with three Top 30s.
