The 2021-22 PGA Tour season begins at Silverado Resort and Spa for the newly-named Fortinet Championship. The event was previously known as the Safeway Open and was won by Stewart Cink last season. Below, we look at the 2021 Fortinet Championship odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions to win.
The field is led by Jon Rahm, who sits atop the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings and is fresh off a runner-up finish for the 2021 FedEx Cup. Webb Simpson, Hideki Matsuyama, Kevin Na and Will Zalatoris are also among this week’s favorites but the field thins out quickly ahead of next week’s Ryder Cup.
2021 Fortinet Championship picks – Favorite
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 3:40 p.m. ET.
Will Zalatoris (+3000)
Zalatoris was named the PGA Tour’s Rookie of the Year for the 2020-21 season Monday and will now look to secure his first PGA Tour win in his first event as a full-time member.
The 25-year-old Wake Forest grad has five top-10 finishes in 2021, including a runner-up at the Masters and T-8 at the PGA Championship, but failed to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs without a win. He makes his debut at Silverado Resort after ranking second in this field to Rahm in Strokes Gained: Approach for the 2020-21 season.
He’s also the third-best player in the field by the Golfweek rankings but shares the fourth-best odds as a slight value. Rahm’s the rightful betting favorite, but he must be faded at +400 and while looking ahead to the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits.
2021 Fortinet Championship picks – Contender
Brendan Steele (+9000)
Steele’s 28 career rounds played at Silverado Resort are tied for the most in this field, and he has averaged 1.41 total strokes gained per round. He won the Safeway Open at this venue in 2018 and didn’t miss the cut in three appearances since.
The +9000 odds represent great value on a recent winner who had two top-10 finishes against much stronger fields than this last season.
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2021 Fortinet Championship picks – Long shot
Luke List (+10000)
List has four top-10 finishes in 2021 but remains without a PGA Tour victory.
He tied for fourth at the John Deere Classic and for fifth at the Barbasol Championship in back-to-back events in mid-July but was eliminated from the FedEx Cup Playoffs with a 70th-place finish at the Northern Trust.
List has long been known for his struggles with the putter, but he’s one of the leaders from the 2020-21 season in SG: Off-the-Tee in this field. He gained 0.71 strokes per round on the greens in a T-4 finish at Silverado Resort in 2019 and can hope to recapture that magic at 100-1.
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