WM Phoenix Open Preview: Picks, Key Stats & Players to Watch
The People’s Open is upon us and once again we have one of the best fields of the PGA season for a non signature event. World no. 1 Scottie Scheffler will be looking for his second crown here and will affect a ton of things from both the betting and daily fantasy perspectives.
TPC Scottsdale Stadium Course
Par: 71
Yardage: 7,261
Greens: Poa trivialis and Perennial Ryegrass
Key Stats
Strokes Gained: Off the Tee – emphasis on Driving Distance
Strokes Gained: Approach – proximity from 200+
Cam Young
I wrote up Young last week and will be going right back to the well this week – as you can tell this is someone that I’m likely going to be on most weeks for what I anticipate to be a big year for him. We know he has power off the tee and he should have no issues in what sets up as another driver-heavy venue. I noted last week that he’s become such a good putter over the last 12 months and while we didn’t see that at Torrey Pines last week I think he will be warmed up here on greens that these guys seem to love putting on. His tee to green numbers were elite last week, and I’m expecting a better result than what we saw from him a week ago. I would love to see him go to war with Scottie on Sunday.
Maverick McNealy
McNealy is quietly playing as well as anyone on tour to begin the season and I love looking at him here at a course he’s thrived at in the past. Historically, TPC Scottsdale is very sticky from a course history angle and Mav has placed top-10 in each of his past two starts here. He’s coming off a T10 last week as well and should be able to take advantage of some of the length he’s added off the tee coming into the season. I won’t be surprised to see him in the mix late on the weekend.
Brooks Koepka
I saw exactly what I needed from Brooks last week to be in on him here at a place we know he loves to play. Koepka has always been a fan favorite and will play to the crowd as he looks for his third victory at this tournament in his career. His stats across the board were largely fine last week – outside of the putter where he lost 2.4 strokes putting to the field. He’s never lost strokes putting at this event, however, and if he is able to put the ball in the cup I think he will find himself up the leaderboard this weekend.
Adam Schenk
Schenk is very cheap in both the betting market and DFS contests this week, and I’m willing to take a flier on him at these prices. As I noted above, course history is prevalent here and he’s placed T25 in each of his last three starts at TPC Scottsdale. His tee to green numbers look really strong in each of his starts this season as well and I think this is one of the biggest values on the board this week.