We’re just going to have to use our imagination this week. The Waste Management Open is one of the PGA Tour’s favorite stops and serves as a great Super Bowl appetizer for the Phoenix/Scottsdale area. Affectionately known as The People’s Open and The Greenest and Greatest Show on Grass, TPC Scottsdale used to hold over 100,000 spectators for this tournament. If you want to feel that same energy, we’ll just have to use our imaginations a little bit as the players tee off on the famed 16th hole.
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Waste Management H2H Matchup
From Andy Lang: I am looking to back Rickie Fowler over Brooks Koepka this week in Scottsdale. Koepka missed the cut in each of his last two tournaments. It appears that his knee is still giving him some issues, as he currently ranks No. 201 in driving accuracy and No. 192 in greens in regulation. Koepka hasn’t played here in three years, while Fowler won here two years ago and has a stellar record at this tournament, including four top-11 finishes in his last five tournaments here.
From Nick Borrman: I am also going against Brooks Koepka, but I am doing so with Bubba Watson (-120). Koepka put a new set of irons in play over the holiday break and it is clearly not working. Well, not yet anyway. New equipment takes a little while to get adjusted to and while it’s easy to blame that, Koepka made the switch because he has been struggling for quite some time now. Last season, he missed five cuts and had just two top-10’s in 13 starts. Of course he did win this event in 2015, but that was a long time ago.
Bubba has both current form and great course history going for him this week. He did miss the cut last week at the Farmers, but also had two top-10’s in his other four starts this year and ranks in the top-10 in strokes gained off the tee, approach and tee-to-green. Plus, he absolutely loves this track. In 14 starts here, he has missed the cut just twice with nine top-25’s, including six top-10’s. He hasn’t won yet but has two runner-ups and finished T3 here last year and T4 the year before that.
Waste Management Open Outright Winner
From Nick Borrman: For an outright play this week I’m going to jump on young Will Zalatoris. I cashed a +600 top-10 ticket on him last week and it’s only a matter of time before he gets his first PGA Tour win, which I firmly believe will be sooner rather than later and I’d like to get a good number on him when he does before it goes away.
Zalatoris ranks No. 5 on Tour in total strokes gained this year, No. 4 in tee-to-green, No. 5 in approach, No. 9 in driving distance and No. 7 in scoring average. Like I said, it’s only a matter of time.
Another guy I like who is just not getting enough respect is Ryan Palmer. He has three top-5 finishes in his last four starts. Unlike Zalatoris, he is a regular here at this event and has that experience with him and has finished as high as T2 here before.
Both guys can be had at 50-to-1 to win this week and 5-to-1 for a top-10 finish.
For daily fantasy players, Zalatoris is available for $9,000 while Palmer can be had for $9,200 and both are going to be in my lineups this week.
⛳The golf world heads to Scottsdale this week for one of the Tour’s favorite annual stops: The Waste Management Open. Affectionately known as #thepeoplesopen, this is always a fun tournament and @BorrMan00 offers his thoughts on a couple contenders.
➡️https://t.co/tV7WY0ghYfpic.twitter.com/EfRKEWp8dO
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