#211 Waste Management Phoenix Open

#211 Waste Management Phoenix Open 

TPC Scottsdale AZ Feb 6-9, 2025 Par 71

Purse $9.2M

HISTORY

A unique tournament that has a party atmosphere especially the #16 Stadium hole.  The 2nd week in a row a very good field, though last weeks winner and #2 Shane Lowry are not here. Nick Taylor won a playoff last year when Charlie Hoffman blew a 3 stroke lead with 4 to play.   

FAVORITES

1 Scottie Scheffler 3/1 Played well last week but this week should be even better..

2 Justin Thomas 11/1 Has played well but last week had an average final 3 RDs.

3 Hideki Matsuyama 16/1 Won Sentry but has been up and down since.

4 SJ Im 20/1 Finished 4th at Farmers, may be ready to win.

5 Sam Burns 28/1 Was in top 15 last and got better on every RD, finished 3rd.

6 Corey Conners 35/1 Played well at Sentry but I don’t see him doing much here.

7 Tom Kim 35/1 Finished 7th last week but 8 bogies on final 2 RDs, without bogies may win.

8 BH An 40/1 Too inconsistent to win.

9 S Theegala 45/1 Was tied for lead with Nick Taylor after 3 last year but faded to finish 5th.

10 Sepp Streka 45/1 Could have won last week if not for Rory’s play a good bet with the odds.  

MY WINNER

I thought Scheffler would be rusty, but played very well last week, especially an incredible shot form the beach in RD3.  He won in 2022 & 2023 and would have won last year but for poor putting which he corrected in March to win the Arnold Palmer.  He then wins 6 more, The Players, Masters, RDC Heritage, Memorial, Travelers and finally The Tour Championship which brought his on course earnings to $62M.

I can’t see anyone else winning!!! 

MY LONG-SHOTS

1 Billy Horschel 90/1 A real longshot but he stated that he likes the fan cheers, who knows.

2 Jordan Spieth 55/1 Did not have a great tournament last week but a strong final RD.

3 Lucas Glover 100/1 Great putting allowed him to stay in contention last week until the end.

4 Charlie Hoffman 100/1 Led the American Express 2 weeks ago after 2 RDs and finished 5th. 

SPECIAL INFORMATION

The 16th, 163 yard par 3 Stadium hole is the most unique in professional golf.  It is a party hole where the traditional silence is completely ignored.  Some players relish it some hate it.  However it is a creative and interesting concept which works for this tournament.  It is a format that LIV seems to feel is an acceptable alternative to the more refined manner in which PGA tournaments are conducted.  One of the reasons that the LIV format has not worked in attracting a large audience dispute several world class players.  I feel the 1 hole per year in 1 tournament per year is enough.