PGA Tour Picks: Safeway Open

By Tom LaMarre

Two weeks into the new PGA Tour season and the winners—Joaquin Niemann of Chile and Sebastian Munoz of Colombia—continued a trend by claiming their first victories on the circuit.

It will be interesting to see of the young guns play as well against the strongest field of the first three tournaments in the Safeway Open, which begins Thursday on the North Course at Silverado Resort and Spa https://www.silveradoresort.com/napa-valley-golf in Napa, Calif.

Leading the field are Justin Thomas, No. 6 in the World Golf Rankings, No. 7 Patrick Cantlay and No. 9 Francesco Molinari.

In the first two weeks, Bryson DeChambeau was the only player in the top 10 to play, right at No. 10 when he missed the cut in the season-opening A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier. Now No. 11, DeChambeau also is playing this week.

“When the PGA Tour moved the schedule up this past year, we were hopeful that the result would be more top players playing the Safeway Open presented by Chevron,” said President Jeff Sanders of Lagardere Sports Golf Events, the company producing the Safeway Open.

“We are excited to now offer our fans the opportunity to see top PGA Tour talent along with one of the very best fan experiences on the PGA Tour.”

In addition, other big names at Silverado will be Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, Fred Couples, John Daly, Jim Furyk, Jimmy Walker, Hideki Matsuyama, Brandt Snedeker, Pat Perez, Jason Dufner, Mark Leishman and defending champion Kevin Tway.

The 49-year-old Mickelson, who has 44 PGA Tour victories, believes he has something of an advantage at Silverado.

“I think a lot of guys struggle with the poa annua greens, which is a grass that I grew up playing so I’m very comfortable on the greens,” said Lefty, the San Diego native who has won 14 times in California.

“When you grow up and spend most of your time back east in Florida on the bermuda, this is a very awkward surface to putt on. The color looks different, it’s hard to sometimes read. But when you’re used to it, I don’t know of much better surfaces than these right here.”

Among the top younger players are Munoz, Abraham Ancer, Sungjae Im, Robby Shelton, C.T. Pan, Cameron Champ, Collin Morikawa, Fabian Gomez, Lanto Griffin, Max Homa and James Hahn.

Morikawa, who claimed his first PGA title in the Barracuda Championship in July, Homa and Hahn all played college golf not far away at the University of California.

In addition, superstar guard Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors and former All-Pro quarterback Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys will play in the Safeway pro-am, so there will be even more star power at Silverado this year.

BEST BETS

1. Justin Thomas, United States – The sixth-ranked Thomas is no stranger to Silverado, having tied for third there in 2016 and tied for eighth in 2017 before skipping the event last year. He comes off a season in which he claimed a 10th PGA Tour title in the BMW Championship, one of seven top-10 results, and he was third in the FedEx Cup standings.
2. Patrick Cantlay, United States – The former UCLA star showed he was comfortable in his first start at Silverado by tying 17th last year, stumbling only with a third-round 73. Cantlay earned his second PGA Tour victory last season in the Memorial Tournament and finished 21st in the FedEx Cup standings by posting nine finishes in the top 10.
3. Francesco Molinari, Italy – After slumping late last season to finish 40th in the FedEx Cup standings and miss the Tour Championship, Molinari makes his Safeway Open debut. Early in the year, he claimed his second PGA Tour victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, was third in the WGC-Dell Match Play and tied for fifth in the Masters.
4. Bryson DeChambeau, United States – Another player who cooled off later last season after his fifth PGA Tour title in the Shriners, DeChaumbeau didn’t play all that badly two weeks ago while missing the cut at the Greenbrier at 68-70. With five top-10 finishes last season, he finished 18th in the FedEx Cup standings. Tied for 17th at Silverado last year.
5. Adam Scott, Australia – Although the last of his 13 PGA Tour victories came in the 2016 WGC-Cadillac Championship, Scott played very well last season with nine finishes in the top 10, including two seconds, to wind up sixth in the FedEx Cup standings. Playing for the first time at Silverado after posting three straight top-10s in the playoffs.
6. Hideki Matsuyama, Japan – Seems to be regaining the form that took him to five PGA Tour victories through 2017, recording seven top-10 finishes last season including a tie for ninth in the Tour Championship to wind up ninth in the FedEx Cup standings. Matsuyama tied for third at Silverado in 2015 and tied for 17th the following year.
7. Sungjae Im, South Korea – The 2018-19 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year again came close to his first victory on the circuit last week, closing with a 66 but lost to Sebastian Munoz with a bogey on the first playoff hole. Also tied for 19th at the Greenbrier after posting seven top-10s and 16 top-25s last season, including a tie for fourth at Silverado.
8. Phil Mickelson, United States – Lefty tied for 17th at Silverado last season after tying for third and tying for seventh the previous two years. Mickelson claimed his 44th PGA Tour victory and 14th in his native California last season at Pebble Beach. Had only one other top-10 finish and missed the Tour Championship at 47th in FedEx Cup standings.
9. Marc Leishman. Australia – A back injury forced Leishman to withdraw from A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier two weeks ago, but he is back after treatment to play at Silverado, where he tied for 46th in 2105. He claimed his fourth PGA Tour victory last season in the CIMB Classic and with seven top-10s was 24th in the FedEx Cup standings.
10. Sebastian Munoz, Colombia – Became the latest first-time winner on the PGA Tour last week by making a birdie on the final hole of regulation and a par on the first playoff hole to capture the Sanderson Farms Championship. That came a week after he tied for seventh at the Greenbrier. Munoz has claimed three other victories as a professional.

OTHER PLAYERS TO WATCH – Byeong Hun An, South Korea; Brendan Steele, United States; Corey Conners, Canada; Brandt Snedeker, United States; Kevin Na, United States; C.T. Pan, Taiwan.

SLEEPERS

1. Robby Shelton, United States – Has started fast on PGA Tour with a T-7 at Greenbrier and T-28 at Sanderson Farms, despite opening 73, after two Korn Ferry wins last season.
2. Lanto Griffin, United States – Two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner last year started this season by finishing 13th at the Greenbrier and tying for ninth in the Sanderson Farms.
3. Bronson Burgoon, United States – Another two-time winner on lower tours, Burgoon had T-19 at Greenbrier, T-6 at Sanderson Farms. Posted T-17 at Silverado two years ago.
4. Fabian Gomez, Mexico – Hasn’t done much since PGA Tour wins in 2015 and 2016, but had T-13 in the Wyndham recently and a T-14 last week in the Sanderson Farms.
5. Dylan Frittelli, South Africa – Playing the way he did in surprise victory last year in John Deere, Frittelli had T-6 in Sanderson Farms. Finished T-25 at Silverado a year ago.

For first-round tee times visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html