The 2020 PGA Tour continues this weekend as we head to Phoenix, Arizona for what has been dubbed ‘The Greatest Show on Grass’, the Waste Management Open. As usual, we have a full preview and betting tips for all of the action, which gets underway early on Friday morning (AEDT).
Waste Management Open Betting Tips
It was a solid performance for BYB and followers last week at the Farmers Insurance Open. Australian Marc Leishman took the title while our top three picks for the event, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Jason Day, helped us secure three winning bets at odds of $2.35, $1.70 and $2.75.
We’ll look to continue our good form as we head to Phoenix this week for the Waste Management Open, which boasts a pretty star-studded field, including three of the top 10 ranked players in the world.
The Field
Jon Rahm comes into the tournament as hot favourite as a previous winner of the Waste Management Open and after a stellar performance at the Farmers Insurance Open. Rahm (3rd), Justin Thomas (4th) and Xander Schauffele (9th) are the three players ranked inside the top 10 who will be teeing it up this week, but they’ll be joined by a host of other top tier players.
The rest of the field will be headlined by the likes of Webb Simpson, Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar, Brandt Snedeker, Bryson DeChambeau, Gary Woodland and Hideki Matsuyama, who won back to back titles in 2016-17 and will be hunting a third crown this year.
Defending champion Rickie Fowler will be back this year and leads a star studded list of former winners which includes Matsuyama, Gary Woodland, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson.
The Course
TPC Scottsdale is a 7,261 yard, Par 71 located on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona. The course is a great all round challenge for golfers, and strong ball striking will be at a premium. There is plenty of water in play so accurate tee shots will also be important this weekend.
What makes TPC Scottsdale unique, however, isn’t anything to do with the actual course layuout, it’s the crowd. The Waste Management Open is known as the party event, and throughout the four days of play, the crowd become central parts of the action. Players will need to deal with the noise and the rowdiness of the famous stadium style Par 3 16th, which has produced some of the all-time great moments on the PGA Tour.
Prediction
Jon Rahm is arguably the most in form golfer in the world at the moment and will start as favourite for the event. He was great at the Farmers last weekend but over the course of the season so far, we’ve seen players struggle to back it up in the direct week following a big performance so we’re looking elsewhere for value at the moment.
Justin Thomas seems like a golfer who thrives under the pressure of the rowdy crowds. We have seen him be arguably USA’s best player over both the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup over the past two years, where the crowds are notoriously loud, and his form at the moment is nothing to frown over.
Thomas is one of just two players to have accumulated two wins so far this season after taking titles in both the CJ Cup and the Sentry Tournament of Champions. He was also T4 at the Safeway Open to start his season and T5 at the Hero World Challenge back in December. Not too concerned about his missed cut at the Sony Open, as it came just one week after his win at the Sentry.
JT is one of the best ball strikers in the world and has a solid record in Phoenix over the last two seasons, finishing 3rd behind Rickie Fowler and Brenden Grace last season and T17 in 2018.
