The PGA TOUR heads to Phoenix this week for golf's biggest party. The WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale has become an annual spectacle and serves as the perfect appetizer for Sunday's Super Bowl.
Two-time Phoenix Open champ Scottie Scheffler headlines the field and is an overwhelming favorite at +240 to win the tournament on theScore Bet. He won The American Express two weeks ago in his first start of the year, quickly picking up where he left off.
With Scheffler in the field, betting on the outright becomes a trickier proposition. He's dominant and expected to win, but his odds are so short that it's tough to justify backing him.
Let's navigate the available markets and find five players to bet on for the party in the desert.
⛳️ Check out all of the markets available for the WM Phoenix Open on theScore Bet here
Chris Gotterup
🏌️ Bet: To win (+4000), to win w/o Scheffler (+3000)
Cat's out of the bag: I'm not backing Scheffler at +240, but I will respect his presence in the field by also backing my outright selections in the market without Scheffler. Therefore, if Gotterup comes second to Scheffler, the bet at +3000 wins.
I was on Gotterup last week, and he showed nothing to suggest I shouldn't trust him again at juicy +4000 odds. He ranked fifth in strokes gained: tee to green in three rounds at Torrey Pines South Course and second in strokes gained: off the tee. Gotterup still isn't getting enough respect in the market despite winning two starts ago.
Pierceson Coody
🏌️ Bet: To win (+5000), to win w/o Scheffler (+3500)
I was also on Coody last week at +6000, but he couldn't track down Justin Rose and finished in a respectable tie for second. He's one of three players to start the season with three straight top-20 results. Coody dominated off the tee last week, gaining 4.4 strokes with his driver. That should play well at TPC Scottsdale, which can allow bombers to capitalize on their distance.
Michael Thorbjornsen
🏌️ Bet: To win (+6000), to win w/o Scheffler (+4000)
Thorbjornsen is another bomber fitting the profile of players who can thrive on TPC Scottsdale's desert layout. He was eighth in strokes gained: tee to green last week at Torrey Pines but came T18 because he lost nearly two strokes putting. However, the putting surfaces (poa annua) in San Diego historically produce his worst putting performances, and he'll be back on Bermuda grass, his preferred surface.
Brooks Koepka
🏌️ Bet: To finish top 20 (+275)
These odds don't add up: Koepka is +3000 to win the tournament but has the same odds to finish top 20 as players like Garrick Higgo and Keith Mitchell, who are +10000 and +9000 in the outright market, respectively. Value aside, I still like Koepka's chances of cracking the top 20 at a tournament he's won twice in his career. That says a lot, since he has only four regular PGA TOUR victories.
Koepka hit the ball well in his return to the PGA TOUR, gaining over six strokes tee to green, but lost more than seven with his putter. You'd have to imagine his putter rebounds with more reps. Plus, he'll receive a hero's welcome from the rowdy crowd and will want to put on a show.
Tony Finau
🏌️ Bet: To finish top 20 (+350)
Finau fell out of form last year, recording one top-15 finish from March onward. However, he showed signs of life last week at Torrey Pines, gaining 6.2 strokes tee to green on three rounds at the South Course (there's no data available from the North Course) to finish in a tie for 11th. While Finau's results in Phoenix are spotty, he does have a runner-up showing from 2020 and came T14 last year. If he's trending toward being a top-15 player in the world again, these odds are too long for a top-20 finish.
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