The annual celebration is on on the Waste Management Phoenix Open, the fifteenth cease on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup season schedule.
The occasion begins Thursday at TPC Scottsdale, and our golf consultants present a event preview together with their favourite prop picks and finest bets to win this week.
WM PHOENIXOPEN
Location: Scottsdale, Ariz., Feb. 9-12
Courses: TPC Scottsdale – Stadium Course (Par 71, 7,261 yards)
Purse: $20 Million (Winner: $3.6M)
Defending Champion: Scottie Scheffler
FedEx Cup chief: Jon Rahm
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 3:30-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, 1-3 p.m. (GC); 3-6:30 p.m. (CBS); Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (GC); 3-6 p.m. (CBS)
Streaming on ESPN: Thursday-Friday: 9:15 a.m.-7:30 p.m. ET; Saturday, 12-6:30 p.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m-6 p.m.
Twitter: @WMPhoenixOpen
PROP PICKS
–Rory McIlroy to Shoot 66 or Lower Round 1 (110 at BetMGM): McIlroy is oozing confidence, and the No. 1-ranked participant stated he seems like the perfect participant on the earth along with his recreation in the perfect throughout form it has ever been. He has solely performed the Phoenix Open as soon as, posting one sub-67 spherical in ending T13 two years in the past, and there have been solely 11 opening rounds of 66 or higher final 12 months. McIlroy has two opening rounds of 66 in his previous three begins – each leading to wins.
–Tom Hoge to Beat Jordan Spieth (105 at DraftKings): This is a event matchup, and Spieth (-130) has been unable to place 4 stable rounds collectively of late. After a stable T13 to open the 12 months on Maui, Spieth was tied for the lead following the primary spherical of the Sony Open, solely to overlook the reduce with a 75 in Round 2. He was once more in competition on the halfway level at Pebble Beach, however needed to scramble to make the 54-hole reduce on the quantity resulting from a third-round 75 and closed with a 73. Hoge failed to interrupt 70 final week however nonetheless beat Spieth by three pictures.
–Taylor Montgomery to Win Round 1 3-Ball (140 at PointsBet): Keith Mitchell is 150 and coming off a T4 at Pebble Beach. He additionally completed T10 right here final 12 months, however is coming off an extended, weather-delayed occasion that completed Monday. Sam Ryder (250) is a streaky participant who has sandwiched a pair of top-10s round three missed cuts in his previous 5 begins. Meanwhile, Montgomery has eight top-10s via 10 begins of his rookie season, and has averaged an opening-round 65 in his first three begins of 2023.
2023 Prop Picks Record: 6-6-1
BEST BETS
–Jon Rahm (750 at BetMGM) starred at close by Arizona State and has 4 wins amongst eight consecutive top-10s worldwide. He opened the week at 800 and has seen his odds shorten barely whereas being backed by 7.0 p.c of the cash.
–Rory McIlroy (800) is making his first PGA Tour begin of 2023. He is coming off a victory in Dubai and has gained three of his previous seven worldwide begins. However, McIlroy has drawn modest motion with solely 5.2 p.c of the full bets and 5.0 p.c of the cash this week.
–Scottie Scheffler (1200) and Xander Schauffele (1600) are tied for the second-lowest scoring marking amongst any participant with at the very least 10 rounds because the occasion moved to TPC Scottsdale in 1987. Scheffler is the defending champion, whereas Schauffele has completed T2 and T3 the previous two years. It stands to motive that Schauffele is the sportsbook’s second greatest legal responsibility as he leads the sphere with 7.2 p.c of the full bets and 11.9 p.c of the cash, though Scheffler has drawn solely 4.3 and three.4 p.c, respectively.
–Collin Morikawa (1800) returns to the occasion for the primary time since 2000 as BetMGM’s greatest legal responsibility with 7.0 p.c of the tickets and 10.7 p.c of the cash backing him, behind solely Schauffele.
–Justin Thomas (2000) has three top-10s prior to now 4 WM Phoenix Opens. He is third at BetMGM with 6.6 and eight.7 p.c of the motion, respectively.
–Patrick Cantlay (2000) misplaced in a playoff to Scheffler in his occasion debut final 12 months, however has been a modest draw with 2.5 p.c of the bets and simply 1.7 p.c of the cash backing him.
–Max Homa (2200), one in all a number of Scottsdale residents within the subject, gained his most up-to-date begin on the Farmers Insurance Open.
–Hideki Matsuyama (2800) has a pair of wins amongst 5 profession top-10s at TPC Scottsdale. He is the newest participant to repeat a title on the Phoenix Open and is coming off a T9 at Torrey Pines.
–Tom Kim (2800) is the third greatest legal responsibility this week. The rising 19-year-old star has drawn 7.3 p.c of the full cash this week.
NOTES
–The $3.6 million winner’s share matches final 12 months’s Players Championship for the biggest in PGA Tour historical past.
–The 134-player subject options 22 of the highest 25 gamers within the Official World Golf Ranking.
–The 6 p.m. scheduled finish to the printed is ready to accommodate the Super Bowl in close by Glendale, with the occasion swapping with final week’s ATT Pebble Beach Pro-Am to maintain its conventional Super Bowl Sunday spot.
–McIlroy gained his lone begin of the autumn swing on the 2022 CJ Cup, following his victory on the Tour Championship. He’s looking for to turn into the primary participant to win three consecutive begins on tour since Dustin Johnson in 2016-17.
–Rickie Fowler’s most up-to-date win got here on the 2019 WM Phoenix Open, and he has three different top-fives in six earlier begins.
–Montgomery, who’s No. 8 within the FedEx Cup standings, is within the subject on a sponsors exemption, as is fellow rookie Davis Thompson (No. 22).
–TPC Scottsdale was opened in 1986 and designed by Jay Morrish and Tom Weiskopf. The latter handed away final August.
–Field Level Media