Safeway Open Preview
Best Bets:
1 Pt EW (1-5) Justin Thomas (25/1 Bet Victor)
0.5 Pts EW (1-5) J J Spaun (160/1 Bet 365)
The PGA Tour gets underway this week with the Safeway Open which was formerly known as the Frys.com open. Last year Emiliano Grillo was able to secure us a win, which started our season in style. We took on Grillo as an under the radar Web.com tour graduate which again provides an interesting angle this week.
This event has gained significant attention over the last week because Tiger Woods was set to make his comeback at Silverado; however he announced on Monday that he will not be able to compete citing a vulnerable game. This isn’t really a shock and it will be interesting to see what sort of game he has when he returns to the tour later this year.
Silverado is a relatively short Par 72 layout which presents the players a significant amount of birdie opportunities. There are plenty of dogleg holes and positional play off the tee is a must. The greens here are fairly small and sloped so greens in regulation will be key as will be scrambling and putting.
We have narrowed our shortlist down to two selections this week with a market leader and a long shot being our two best bets.
1 Pt EW (1-5) Justin Thomas (25/1 Bet Victor)
Our headline pick this week goes to Justin Thomas who should be set for a big year on tour. He just missed out on Ryder Cup selection and he will be keen to cement himself as one of the top players out on tour this year. He carries good form currently and managed a tied 6th finish in the Tour Championship under a huge amount of pressure. He also enjoys the course and was able to finish in the top five last year. He should be able to take advantage of the par 5s on offer at Silverado and if he carries his form over to this one he won’t be far away.
0.5 Pts EW (1-5) J J Spaun (160/1 Bet 365)
J J Spaun had a standout college career before moving to the Canadian Tour and subsequently the Web.com tour. This year he’s secured his PGA Tour card courtesy of a win and some solid finishes on the feeder tour. Statistically he fits the criteria this week with great greens in regulation numbers. We feel he is overpriced this week and is worth a small bet to pull off a shock win.