The 2020 PGA Tour season continues this week as we head to the Silverado Resort & Spa in Napa for the annual Safeway Open! Some of the biggest names in golf will be making their season debuts this week and we have a full preview and betting tips for the event below.
Safeway Open Betting Tips
IT was a great event in Mississippi for the Sanderson Farms Championship on the weekend, which saw rookie Sebastian Munoz pick up his maiden PGA Tour victory in a playoff over Korean Im Sung-jae.
While it’s only a $6,000,000 purse for this week’s Safeway Open, one of the lowest of the 2020 PGA Tour season, some of the top names in golf will be making their season debuts in Napa.
Field
The field as it stands for the Safeway Open is easily the strongest we’ve had so far in this young PGA Tour season. Three of the top 10 ranked players in the world will be suiting up in Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay and Francesco Molinari. Thomas and Cantlay in particular, are on the back of fantastic finishes to the 2019 season and will be looking to carry strong momentum into the New Year.
Alongside the highly ranked players are a host of other big names, including major winners in Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and Jimmy Walker. The rest of the field will be headlined by Hideki Matsuyama, Bryson DeChambeau and Marc Leishman.
One of the highlights of the field is no doubt former NFL star Tony Romo, who will make his fourth PGA Tour start after earning a sponsor’s exemption into the field.
Course
The Silverado Resort & Spa in Napa opened in 1955 and was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. The course was redesigned in 2011 and suffered damage in 2017 due to wildfires around the area, but has been repaired ahead of the Safeway Open.
Silverado North Course is a standard par 72 with 36 on the way out and 36 on the way back. Strong tee-to-green players reign supreme at Silverado after both Brandon Steele and Kevin Tway topped the field in their wins over the previous two seasons.
Predictions
Brandon Steele enters the tournament having won in both 2017 and 2018 but will be up against a tougher field this year round with the likes of Thomas, Cantlay and Molinari. While it’s only a $6,000,000 purse, the top guys here will see this as a great opportunity to earn some valuable FedEx Cup points early in the season before the rest of the top ranked players make their debuts.
Love the look of Justin Thomas this weekend as a safe bet. The World No.5 finished the 2019 PGA Tour season in a flurry with a T11 at the Open Championship and a T12 at the WGC-FedEx before some great results in the FedEx Cup playoffs. He finished T12 in the Northern Trust before winning the BMW Championship and completing the trio of playoff events with a T3 at the Tour Championship.
After an injury plagued 2019 season, the major winner will be hoping to get back to his best this season, and he has no doubt been one of the best players on the tour in tee-to-green stats over the last few years.
Top 5 $2.00
Justin Thomas to win
$7.50
If you’re hunting a bit more value this week, we like the look of American Nate Lashley. The 36-year-old got his 2020 season off to a hot start with a T3 finish at the Greenbrier a few weeks ago. He was great towards the back half of the 2019 season with a win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic as well as a T20 at his first ever WGC event in July.
