The First Tee: The Waste Management Phoenix Open (TPC Scottsdale)

The First Tee: The Waste Management Phoenix Open (TPC Scottsdale)

What a finish at the Farmers Insurance open…a finish that took us late into Monday afternoon before Brandt Snedeker hoisted the trophy. If you had said on Friday afternoon that Snedeker would eventually be the winner, you would not have had much trouble finding action on the opposite side. Snedeker was no lock to make the cut with several holes remaining on Friday, but to his credit, he dug deep and gave himself a chance on the weekend. The biggest story coming out of the tournament was the weather, never a great indicator of scoring conditions. The Sunday morning groups had the upper hand, but it wasn't by much, as Snedeker—who started the day six shots off the lead—shot (-3) in the morning, and in doing so, became the only player to shoot under par on the final day(s). He passed nearly half the field on his way to his first victory of 2016, and Snedeker is one to watch in the coming weeks where he's had success in previous years. Stalwarts like Jason Day and Ricky Fowler missed the cut, which severely limited the star power on the weekend, but didn't take away from a drama filled final day.

The Course(s)

TPC Scottsdale plays host to the WM Phoenix Open each year, and you'd be hard pressed to find a more fun, fan-intensive experience than the one put on at this stop each year. Part of that fun is what takes place off the course (Think, a frat party and golf tournament combined into one), but that experience also translates into the on-course product at TPC Scottsdale. The most famous hole at the TPC is the Par 3-16^th hole, which was designed as hole within an amphitheater. Fans line the hole from side to side, front to back, and the roar is deafening when a good shot is hit, and equally judgmental when a pro misses the green with a short iron. Like many of his famous shots, Tiger Woods hole in one on the 16^th is played repeatedly during the tournament this week.

The TPC is a product of PGA Tour and architectural veteran, Tom Weiskopf. Weiskopf and Jay Moorish were tasked with creating a course that could host the Phoenix Open each year, and create an experience—both for golfers, and for fans—that would make the tournament stand out. The course is the only tour stop in Arizona, so both the experience and the course layout have been successful in creating a unique stop each year. The course is much of what you'd expect a top shelf Arizona course to be. Framed by mountains and desert, the TPC Scottsdale offers plenty of scoring opportunities for professionals while still creating risk/reward scenarios. It is a par 71 (36-35) that will be played at roughly 7200 yards this week. There is very little consistency to specific metrics carrying weight at the TPC, which usually dictates the need for a solid all-around game.

The Field

Highlighting the field this week are three time champion, Phil Mickelson, the world's number five player, Ricky Fowler, the current Fed Ex Cup Leader, Kevin Kisner and defending champion Brooks Koepka. Also in the field is Bubba Watson, who has shared runner-up honors in the two previous editions of the Waste Management Open.

All in total, nine of the top 25 players in the world will tee it up this week, including winners of seven of the first ten tournaments thus far in the PGA season. While there have certainly been more star studded casts in previous years, anytime you can get Mickelson, Fowler and Watson in a tournament setting like the Waste Management, you have to consider it a success.

There is a youth movement happening similar to last season, where many of the first-time holders of their tour card, are having success that usually eluded players with such minimal experience. Koepka is a great example from last year, where he came into this event with a lot of momentum, and showed why his experiences playing the European Tour translated immediately to the PGA Tour. There is a bevy of these young players having similar success this season (Pat Kizzire, Smylie Kauffman, Emil Grillo), and I will be looking to many of these players this week with the pricing continuing to be soft in the middle tiers.

Here are five Tour Pro's I am looking at this week, using PP$ on DraftKings as my main qualifier.

Rankings

• 1.)Bubba Watson: Despite the recent talk of him “not liking" the golf course (standard Bubba-speak), his two runner up finishes in the past two years tells me otherwise. He's always going to be finicky about the type of courses that fit his eye, but when you have such a big advantage of the tee (as he does at the TPC), he's got to be in talks as the favorite. His creativity around the greens is something that has served him very well at this event the past few seasons, and I don't see any reason for that to change.
• 2.)Hideki Matsuyama: The consummate ball-striker, Matsuyama has an edge on any course where all-around game is the key to success. He has no real weakness, and when you factor in his incredible ball-striking and constant birdie assaults, this course is a great fit for him. T4 and T2 in his first two looks at TPC Scottsdale is enough for me to have heavy exposure to Matsuyama this week.
• 3.)Jason Dufner: I said a few weeks back that Dufner was not far off from finding the winners circle in 2016, which turned out to be true after Dufner captured his first win in over two years. His consistency, ball striking and streakiness are all facets of his game that lend itself to success at this particular course. I'll be surprised if Dufner isn't in the hunt come Sunday afternoon. Tied for 2^nd in 2011.
• 4.)Brooks Koepka: Super talented younger who enjoyed his first career Tour win at this event in 2015. Has the sixth gear to compete with anyone in a birdiefest, which is usually what we can expect at the WM. He's played well to start the season and displayed his ability to go super low with a tournament low round of (-10) earlier this season in Hawaii. Koepka's price is high, but not inflated, so I will have heavy exposure to him this week.
• 5.)Phil Mickelson: What can you say about the three time former champ? He put on a show two years ago when he nearly carded a 59 in the opening round when he lipped out a putt on 18 that sent the super-caddy Bones to the ground in anguish. Has an eye for this course and likes to perform well in his surrogate home town. He's on the wrong side of 40, but you can never count out Phil when he's playing at TPC Scottsdale. He both feeds, and feeds off the crowd.