Safeway Open Betting Guide (PGA)
Dustin Johnson was able to hang on to his first-place starting position at the Tour Championship and win his first-career FedEx Cup title. With the win, Johnson took home the $15 million grand prize and claimed his 23rd career PGA Tour victory. It was a fitting end to an incredible season for D.J., who closed his 2019-20 campaign with two runner-ups and two wins in his last four starts.
The PGA Tour will waste no time on getting the 2020-21 season underway, as a field of 156 golfers will tee it up for the annual Safeway Open. Silverado Country Club, in Napa, California, will once again play host to the event. This year is being referred to as a “super season,†with 50 events crammed into the schedule, including six Majors.
With the U.S. Open looming next week and the FedEx Cup Playoffs now completed, we will see one of the weakest fields at the Safeway Open. Atop the betting board sit Phil Mickelson (+2000), Si-Woo Kim (+2000), Brendan Steele (+2200), Harold Varner III (+2500), and Joel Dahmen (+2500). Steele won this event back-to-back in the years 2016 and 2017, while Cam Champ won’t be here to defend his title.
Past five winners of the Safeway Open:
- 2019 Cam Champ (-17)
- 2018 Kevin Tway (-14)
- 2017 Brendan Steele (-15)
- 2016 Brendan Steele (-18)
- 2015 Emiliano Grillo (-15)
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Course Preview
This tournament will be played at the Silverado Resort and Spa, located in Napa Valley, California. The north course is a Par-72, 7,203 yard-long track that features a mix of Bentgrass and Poa Annua greens. Though it is a relatively short course, the fairways are tree-lined, and there are plenty of doglegs. Golfers will have to plot their way around the course appropriately to give themselves the best angle into the greens. It is a very scorable course, with four Par 5s that offer up plenty of birdies and eagles.
Key Stats
- Strokes Gained: Ball-Striking
- Strokes Gained: Approach
- Par-5 scoring
- Performance on Bentgrass/Poa Annua
- Opportunities Gained
Best Bets to Win
Odds courtesy of BetMGM
Harold Varner III (+2500)
This seems like a good spot for Varner III to finally break through and win his first PGA Tour title. In a weak field with many of the world’s best on the sidelines, Varner III will see this as a glorious opportunity. Varner III has made every cut and has high finishes of T14, T15, and T17 in his last five times out at the Safeway Open. His recent form has been really solid as well, as he posted a T7 finish at the Wyndham Championship and a solid T29 at the PGA Championship last month. Over the past 24 rounds, Varner III ranks second in opportunities gained.
Cameron Davis (+4100)
All signs point to a strong week from Davis. If we look at the past few winners of this event, they are all elite ball-strikers who are long off the tee. Davis fits the build, ranking 20th in driving distance in the entire PGA. His recent form has been rock-solid, with finishes of T12, T15, and T29 in his last three events. It’s no surprise then to see Davis rank first in opportunities gained in the last 24 rounds in this field. I expect plenty of birdie chances for the Aussie, and he will look to improve upon his T17 showing here in 2019.
Best Top-10 Bets
Mark Hubbard (+600)
Hubbard is in a good position to improve upon his T13 finish at this event last year. He closed off the 2019-20 season making five straight cuts, including a T15 at the Wyndham Championship. Hubbard hits plenty of fairways and is a great putter on Bentgrass and Poa Annua. He is a sneaky good Par 5 scorer as well — he finished 28th in that department in 2019-20.
Tyler Duncan (+650)
Duncan is another solid bet to finish high in California this week. He has plenty of experience at this course, including a T5 showing at the event in 2017. Duncan finished 40th in the FedEx cup race thanks to a very solid 2019-20 campaign that saw him win the RSM Open and make 16 cuts in the process. He was the sixth most accurate driver on Tour last season and, this should come in handy at Silverado Resort and Spa.
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Nic Turner is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Nic, check out his archive and follow him @sportzbandit.