Following another Presidents Cup romp for the United States over the International, team, the 2018 PGA Tour season commences with the Safeway Open. This event started in 2007, but it became the first event of the season in 2013 when the schedule was realigned to make the PGA Tour a year-around season, basically. We’ll see a number of new faces on the tour this year as 50 Web.com players earned PGA Tour cards in the finals. Phil Mickelson, whose company manages this event, will be one of the headliners in the field this week.
Details
Event: Safeway Open
Category: PGA
Date: October 5th – 8th
Location: Silverado Country Club, North Course, Napa, California
The record of -18 has been set three times, most recently in 2016 by winner Brendan Steele. The winning scores have been usually between -14 and -18, so aim for somewhere in that range.
Past Five Winners
2016: Brendan Steele -18
2015: Emiliano Grillo -15
2014: Bae Sang-moon -15
2013: Jimmy Walker -17
2012: Jonas Blixt -16
The Field
There are a slew of interesting golfers to keep in mind for betting purposes this week but we’ll hone in on three. Webb Simpson finished the previous season in great form, so you have to like him in this spot. He has done well on the greens since changing his grip and that will come in handy here. The one drawback is that he doesn’t have a great history here.
Kevin Na is also worth a look as he has done so well at this event. He does a good job of keeping the ball in play off the tee and has a strong approach game. He’ll be one of the more popular bets at this event. Na has also traditionally been very competitive in the fall, ranking among the leaders in terms of Top 20 finishes in fall tournaments in the last three years.
Keep an eye on Sang Moon Bae. He is now finished his mandatory military duty in South Korea and is back on the Tour. He has looked strong in the tune up events.
What To Know About The Course
The North Course at Silverado opened in 1955 and became the home for this event in 2014. You don’t need to find the fairway to be able to hit the greens here, but putting can be tricky, especially from inside 10 feet. It is a par-72 course that stretches out to 7,166 yards, and two of the last three holes are par-5s, so players can take risks late in their round and try to go for it in two shots.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Sam Saunders over Kevin Tway
Saunders shot a blistering 59 in the first round of the Web.com Tour Championship, and finished T-2 to earn his tour card again. Meanwhile, Tway finished T-12 at the John Deere Classic in July, but he didn’t finish higher than T-37 in his last six starts and missed the cut in one, although he did manage to make it all the way to the BMW Championship. Still, Tway is a +105 underdog against Saunders at -125 in this matchup and Saunders has to be on top of the world after coming back to the PGA Tour. Also, Saunders will have some crowd support behind him as the grandson of the late, great Arnold Palmer, and that could give him a jolt to make a run up the leaderboard.
Top-Five Pick: Tony Finau +250
Finau is another solid pick after a great season in which he racked up eight top-10 finishes, including a pair of T-7 results at the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship to wrap up the season. There has been a lot of hype surrounding Finau since he joined the PGA Tour, but it has only translated to one victory and it feels like he should win more. Take a look at him to even win the tournament as a lot of experts think this could be his breakout year; a win at the Safeway Open could be the spark that he needs as many of the world’s top players are sitting out after the Presidents Cup. As far as talent goes, Finau is the best player in the field, he just has to put it together for four rounds.
Odds To Win 2017 Safeway Open
Tony Finau +1250
Phil Mickelson +1550
Webb Simpson +1550
Bill Haas +2250
Zach Johnson +2250
Kevin Na +2550
Brendan Steele +2550
Emiliano Grillo +2850
Ryan Moore +2850
Keegan Bradley +3250
Peter Uihlein +3250
Jamie Lovemark +3250
Lucas Glover +3250
Chez Reavie +3250
Bud Cauley +3250
Martin Laird +3550
Chesson Hadley +5050
Luke List +5500
Ollie Schniederjans +5500
Jason Kokrak +6550
Grayson Murray +6550
Sam Saunders +6550
Harold Varner III +6550
Gramham DeLaet +6550
Mackenzie Hughes +6550
Bryson DeChambeau +6550
Chris Kirk +6550
Rob Oppenheim +7050
Scott Piercy +7550
Bronson Burgoon +7550
The 2017 golf season is winding down. Click here to get all of the latest golf betting lines at BetDSI including head-to-head matchups, props and odds to win each tournament!
