2022 WM Phoenix Open odds, key statistics, best bets and PGA Tour picks

Will Viktor Hovland’s dominate run continue in the desert?

After an interesting week on the Monterey Peninsula, which included Jordan Spieth nearly falling 100 feet to his death, the PGA Tour heads to the desert for the 2022 WM Phoenix Open.

The rowdy crowds of Scottsdale, Arizona are being blessed this week with one of the best fields ever compiled for a non-major event. World No. 1 Jon Rahm is joined by the likes of Justin Thomas, the aforementioned Spieth, and defending champion Brooks Koepka.

Overall, six of the world’s top 10 players are in the field. Stacked.

Before jumping into some plays I like for the week, let’s cover some information about the course.

Golf course

TPC Scottsdale (Stadium Course)
Par 71
7,261 yards

Weather

I was going to put together my normal weather graph for the week, however, it’s the desert. Zero percent chance of rain every tournament day with nothing but sun. There ya go.

Key stats

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee: Having length and accuracy around this track is important, the guys won’t want to play from the desert all week.

Approach from 150-200: Almost 50 percent of approach shots hit at TPC Scottsdale over the last several seasons are from this range. Overall, we’ll be targeting tee-to-green studs this week and hope we run into a hot putter.

Data Golf Information

Course Fit (compares golf courses based on the degree to which different golfer attributes — such as driving distance — to predict who performs well at each course – DataGolf): 1. Annandale Golf Club, 2. Southern Hills Country Club, 3. Silverado Resort and Spa

Trending: 1. Patrick Cantlay (Last three starts: 4, 9, T-4), 2. Viktor Hovland (T-30, T-4, 1), 3. Justin Thomas (T-5, T-5, T-20)

Percent chance to win (based on course history, fit, trending, etc.): 1. Jon Rahm (10.8 percent), 2. Patrick Cantlay (7.1 percent), 3. Justin Thomas (5.7 percent)

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Betting odds

Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds a full list.

Player Odds
Jon Rahm (+750)
Justin Thomas (+1200)
Patrick Cantlay (+1500)
Hideki Matsuyama (+2000)
Jordan Spieth (+2000)
Viktor Hovland (+2000)
Xander Schauffele (+2000)
Brooks Koepka (+3000)
Daniel Berger (+3000)
Scottie Scheffler (+3000)

Betting card for the 2022 WM Phoenix Open

Last week’s results (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am)

The only bet we cashed was Christiaan Bezuidenhout for Top South African at +180. Down 3.2 units last week. Time to bounce back.

+7.54 units in 2022.

Bubba Watson – Top 20 (+175)

Bubba Watson of the United States plays his shot from the third tee during the first round of the QBE Shootout at Tiburon Golf Club on December 10, 2021, in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

Watson finished runner-up to Harold Varner III at last week’s Saudi International.

The two-time Masters champ hasn’t made an official start this season on the PGA Tour but has played well at the WMPO in recent years. He’s finished inside the top five in two of the last three seasons.

Xander Schauffele – Top 20 (+115)

Xander Schauffele hits his tee shot on the 13th hole during the third round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions golf tournament at Kapalua Resort – The Plantation Course. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

Schauffele finished T-34 at Torrey Pines a few weeks ago but is coming off a top 20 performance at the Saudi International.

He’s finished inside the top 20 at the last four installments of this event, including a runner-up effort to Brooks Koepka last season.

Scottie Scheffler – Top 20 (+135)

Scottie Scheffler hits his tee shot on the second hole during the third round of The Farmers Insurance Open on the South Course at Torrey Pines Golf Course on January 28, 2022, in La Jolla, California. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images)

I will not stop betting on Scottie until he wins. So he’s on the card again.

Scheffler’s last start was at Torrey and he tied for 20th. Last season, the Texan cashed a top 10 check at the WMPO. Come on Scottie, let’s get it done.

Other bets to consider

Andrew Putnam (Top 20, +320): He’s trending in the right direction. His last 3 starts: T-27, T-14, T-6 (Pebble). Last season, Putnam finished 7th at the WMPO after missing the cut in two consecutive appearances there.

Luke List (Top 20, +240): List is coming off a win at the Farmers Insurance Open and hasn’t finished outside the Top 22 in his last four starts. He’s finished inside the Top 30 in three of the last four Phoenix Opens.

*Full betting card will be on my Twitter sometime Wednesday, February 9th.

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WGC-Mexico Championship odds, predictions, picks and PGA Tour best bets

Here are WGC-Mexico Championship odds, predictions, picks and PGA Tour best bets for this week’s event.

Eight of the top 10 golfers in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings are in attendance for this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec near Mexico City, Mexico. Below, we’ll analyze the golf betting odds, while making our picks to win the 2020 WGC-Mexico Championship.

The key stats for the 7,345-yard, par-71 Club de Golf Chapultepec are:

  • Strokes Gained: Approach
  • Strokes Gained: Scrambling
  • Opportunities Gained
  • Bogeys Avoided
  • Proximity from 150-175 Yards
  • Par 4 Efficiency: 400-450 Yards

My model at Fantasy National looks at the most recent 24 rounds for each golfer in the field on courses shorter than 7,200 yards. It’s a more accurate depiction of Chapultepec’s length due to the elevation of nearly 1.5 miles above sea level.

WGC-Mexico Championship – Tier 1

Adam Scott meets with Rory McIlroy after the final round of the The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club. (Gary A. Vasquez – USA TODAY Sports)

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Rory McIlroy (+550)

McIlroy, the No. 1 golfer in the world, entered Sunday’s final round of last week’s Genesis Invitational as a co-leader but struggled to a T-5 finish with a final round of 2-over par 73. It was his worst finish in five worldwide events since a T-26 at the European Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

He leads this week’s stat model in Bogeys Avoided and SG: Scrambling. He was the runner-up to Dustin Johnson last year (by five strokes), and he tied for seventh in 2017.


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Adam Scott (+2000)

Scott’s win last week was his second straight victory after winning the Australian PGA Championship to conclude his 2019 season. The 2013 Masters champion has won two WGC events in his career, including the 2016 Cadillac Championship, which was the former name of this event when played in Doral, Florida. He went back-to-back that year as well, winning the WGC the week after the Honda Classic.

WGC-Mexico Championship – Tier 2

Byeong-Hun An during the third round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. (Joe Camporeale – USA TODAY Sports)

Byeong Hun An (+6600)

An has played this event two of the last three years, finishing T-48 in 2017 and T-45 last year. He enters the week ranked 40th in the world, but he hasn’t competed since a T-9 finish at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

He’s one of the best in the field at scrambling and from the key proximity distance. An has lost strokes putting at five straight measured events and just needs to be average with the flat stick.

Tyrrell Hatton (+6600)

Hatton is a strong value play with three straight top-20 finishes at this event in Mexico. He finished alone in 10th in 2017, tied for third in 2018 and tied for 19th last year. He enters the week well-rested, after last appearing at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai in late November. He won the Turkish Airlines Open in his second-to-last event for his fourth professional win.


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WGC-Mexico Championship – Longshots

Chez Reavie during the third round of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. (Butch Dill – USA TODAY Sports)

Chez Reavie (+10000)

Reavie has rebounded from a horrid stretch of three straight missed cuts to finish T-25 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and T-10 at last week’s Genesis Invitational. He doesn’t have a strong history at this event with a T-52 finish in 2018 and T-65 last year, but he enters this year’s tournament 13th in the stat model while leaning on a strong approach game.

Sebastian Munoz (+15000)

Munoz opened the Genesis Invitational 69-69 before slipping down the leaderboard over the weekend en route to a T-26 finish. The native of Colombia will make his professional debut at Chapultepec. He already has a win in the 2019-20 PGA Tour season, but only 12 members of the 72-man field have worse odds to win.

Complete odds

Player Odds
Rory McIlroy +600
Dustin Johnson +700
Jon Rahm +1000
Justin Thomas +1000
Adam Scott +1600
Webb Simpson +1600
Hideki Matsuyama +2000
Xander Schauffele +2000
Tommy Fleetwood +2200
Bryson DeChambeau +2500
Louis Oosthuizen +3300
Patrick Reed +3300
Gary Woodland +4000
Paul Casey +4000
Matt Kuchar +4000
Mark Leishman +4000
Sergio Garcia +4000
Collin Morikawa +4000
Bubba Watson +4500
Abraham Ancer +5000
Jordan Spieth +5000
Matthew Fitzpatrick +5000
Shane Lowry +5000
Sungjae Im +5000
Brandt Snedeker +6600
Byeong Hun An +6600
Cameron Smith +6600
Bernd Wiesberger +8000
Billy Horschel +8000
Branden Grace +8000
Kevin Kisner +8000
Rafa Cabrera Bello +8000
Victor Perez +8000
Corey Conners +9000
Kurt Kitayama +9000
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +10000
Danny Willett +10000
Graeme McDowell +10000
Kevin Na +10000
Matthias Schwab +10000
Robert MacIntyre +10000
Charles Howell III +12500
Francesco Molinari +12500
Jason Kokrak +12500
Lee Westwood +12500
Brendon Todd +12500
Lanto Griffin +12500
Scottie Scheffler +12500
Carlos Ortiz +15000
Jazz Janewattananond +15000
Lucas Glover +15000
Lucas Herbert +15000
Matt Wallace +15000
Michael Lorenzo-Vera +15000
Ryan Fox +15000
Sebastián Muñoz +15000
Marcus Kinhult +20000
Benjamin Hebert +25000
Justin Harding +25000
Shugo Imahira 25000
Zander Lombard +25000
Jorge Campillo +30000
Pablo Larrazabal +30000
Ryo Ishikawa +30000
Scott Hend +30000
Shaun Norris +30000
Zach Murray +30000
Tae Hee Lee +50000

Get some action on this tournament by signing up and betting at BetMGM. If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com.

Follow @EstenMcLaren and @SportsbookWire on Twitter.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

Puerto Rico Open odds, predictions, picks and PGA Tour best bets

For the Puerto Rico Open beginning Thursday, Esten McLaren lays out odds, predictions, picks and PGA Tour best bets.

With many of the world’s top golfers in Mexico for this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship, an alternate field of up-and-comers led by Viktor Hovland are participating in the 2020 Puerto Rico Open at Coco Beach Golf and Country Club. Below, we’ll analyze the golf betting odds, while making our picks to win the 2020 Puerto Rico Open.

This week’s winner will not receive an invitation to the 2020 Masters Tournament.

The key stats for the 7,506-yard, par-72 Coco Beach Golf and Country Club are:

  • Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee
  • Strokes Gained: Approach
  • Birdies or Better Gained
  • Good Drives Gained

Puerto Rico Open – Tier 1

Viktor Hovland during the final round of the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club. (Rob Kinnan – USA TODAY Sports)

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 1:15 p.m. ET.

Viktor Hovland (+1100)

At No. 25 in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings, Hovland is the top golfer in attendance. While the win won’t get him to Augusta National, it could propel him to better play, as was the case with Collin Morikawa’s victory at the 2019 Barracuda Championship. That ran as the alternate event to the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

Hovland is No. 1 in my stat model this week at Fantasy National. He missed the cut in three of his last five events against stiffer competition on the PGA and European Tours, but he tied for 38th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and is definitely the class of this field. He’ll look to follow suit of Tony Finau and his breakout win in 2016.


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Patrick Rodgers (+2200)

Rodgers tied for ninth at the star-studded Farmers Insurance Open for his best result since 2018. He followed it up with a T-16 at the Waste Management Open before missing the cut at Pebble Beach, but he rebounded for a quality T-30 showing at last week’s Genesis Invitational. He’s playing his best golf right now, and could finally break through against weaker competition.

Puerto Rico Open – Tier 2

Kiradech Aphibarnrat during the first round of The Open Championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club – Dunluce Course. (Ian Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports)

Kiradech Aphibarnrat (+5000)

Aphibarnrat will make his debut at this event following a stretch of three straight missed cuts against stronger fields. He has been struggling around the greens, but he has the length to be able to handle Coco Beach.

Roger Sloan (+8000)

Sloan tied for second in 2019 in his first appearance since a missed cut in 2015. The Canadian has missed the cut in six straight events dating back to November’s Bermuda Championship, but his co-runner-up finish last year came on the heels of two missed cuts at Pebble Beach and the Farmers. He’s typically great around the greens and strong off the tee.


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Puerto Rico Open – Longshots

Robbie Shelton during the third round of The American Express on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West. (Orlando Ramirez – USA TODAY Sports)

Robby Shelton (+10000)

Shelton skipped last year’s tournament following a missed cut in 2017 – the 2018 tournament was held as a team fundraiser event. He has struggled of late against strong fields, but he has two top 10s in the 2019-20 season: at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier and the Mayakoba Golf Classic. Those are much are more comparable to his competition this week.

Martin Trainer (+12500)

Trainer snapped a skid of five straight missed cuts with a T-47th-place finish at the Genesis Invitational last week. These odds represent far too great of value for the defending champion, despite his current form. He missed the cut of five of seven PGA Tour events in the build-up to his win last year.

Best odds

Player Odds
Viktor Hovland +1100
Alex Noren +1600
Patrick Rodgers +2200
Scott Brown +2200
Tom Lewis +2200
Cameron Davis +2500
Chesson Hadley +2500
Matthew NeSmith +2500
Maverick McNealy v2500
Emiliano Grillo +2800
Jhonattan Vegas +2800
Beau Hossler +3500
Adam Schenk +4000
Henrik Norlander +4000
Joseph Bramlett +4500
Peter Uihlein +4500
Ben Martin +5000
Daniel Chopra +5000
Kiradech Aphibarnrat +5000
Kyoung-Hoon Lee +5000

Get some action on this tournament by signing up and betting at BetMGM. If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com.

Follow @EstenMcLaren and @SportsbookWire on Twitter.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am odds, predictions, picks, PGA Tour best bets

The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am will cycle through Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course and Monterey Peninsula Country Club.

The PGA Tour shifts back to the coast for this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Dustin Johnson, ranked fifth by the Official World Golf Ranking, leads the field as he’ll tee it up on the mainland for the first time since August’s Tour Championship.

The key stats for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which will cycle through Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course and Monterey Peninsula Country Club, are:

  • Strokes Gained: Approach
  • Strokes Gained: Around the Green
  • Strokes Gained: Scrambling
  • Birdies Gained
  • Par 4 Scoring: 350-400 Yards
  • Proximity from 125-150 Yards

My model at Fantasy National looks at the most recent 24 rounds on courses shorter than 7,200 yards.

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am – Tier 1

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 8 p.m. ET.

Dustin Johnson (+650)

Johnson returns to the USA following a runner-up finish at the European Tour’s Saudi International. He’s back in form following a lengthy injury layoff and a T-7 result at the 30-man Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii to open 2020. He’s a two-time winner of this event and leads the week’s stat model. He scores particularly well on the shorter courses and ranks second in birdies gained.


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Brandt Snedeker (+2200)

Snedeker, the 2015 champ, suffered a rare missed cut at least week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open following a T-3 at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. He’s one of the best in the field at putting on the difficult Poa Annua greens, and he’ll benefit from playing the shorter venue.

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am – Tier 2

Kevin Na (+6600)

Na has played this event just one of the last three years when he finished T-20 in 2018. He missed the cut last week to fall to 28th in the OWGR, but he remains a strong value play in a weaker field. He’s an expert scrambler, and his lack of distance will be mitigated here with none of the three courses topping 7,000 yards.

Kurt Kitayama (+6600)

Kitayama, ranked 68th in the world, will play his first PGA Tour event since the WGC-HSBC Champions in early November. The European Tour regular is coming off a T-6 at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. His last professional victory was last year’s Oman Open after he won twice in 2018.

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am – Longshots

Matthew NeSmith (+12500)

NeSmith, 26, will make his debut at this event. He sat out last week’s tournament after a three-event stretch composed of a T-32 at the Sony Open, T-17 at The American Express and a T-30 at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Brian Stuard (+17500)

Stuard ranks 10th by the week’s stat model. He has been strong on approach and around the greens. He’s also fourth in the field in three-putt avoidance on Poa Annua greens. He comes into the week ranked 145th in the world following a missed cut in Phoenix, but this event routinely produces longshot champs.

Get some action on this tournament by signing up and betting at BetMGM. If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com.

Follow @EstenMcLaren and @SportsbookWire on Twitter.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.