We are now into the shoulder season the PGA Tour and it kicks off with this weeks Safeway Open. The Safeway Open is played at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa Valley, California. The course was designed by the great Robert Trent Jones, and that means this should be a nice course that relies heavily on the Approach shot. The course plays out as a Par 72 golf course that measures just under 7200 yards.
John Daly withdraws from Safeway Open. https://t.co/qOTDi5fKWY pic.twitter.com/cvkTFyYIaw
— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) October 2, 2018
This is just the 4th time that the that the Safeway Open has been played here at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa Valley, California. Previously, the tournament was played at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin. The tournament changed sponsorships back in 2016 and went from the Frys.com Open to the Safeway Open.
There really is nothing spectacular about this course and it truly plays out as one of the easiest courses on tour each year. This year should be no different. They are calling for rain on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, which will soften up the course, making it a bit easier to play on.
The greens are Poa Anua and are relatively slow. There have been times when guys are literally able to stop putts on a mark and on this course, even bad golfers will look good.
The fairways are narrow and lined with trees but for the most part, no one should really have any concerns about hitting fairways on this course. Permitting the golfers do keep their balls out of the trees, they should be perfectly fine even if they drift off the fairway a few feet.
Brendan Steele has won this tournament on back-to-back years in 2016 and 2017, and will look to become the first ever 3 time winner. Steele scored a -15 last year and a -18 the year prior. Scoring will be fairly easy this week and we should end up seeing a final score somewhere in the upper teens.
The Safeway Open will all get started on Thursday morning, October 4 and run through Sunday, October 7, 2018.
Top Bet at the Safeway Open – Brandt Snedeker 20/1
The top bet for the Safeway Open is Brandt Snedeker at 20/1. Snedeker is the second highest ranked golfer in this tournament, behind Patrick Cantlay. Snedeker recently won the Wyndham Championship and without a doubt one of the elite golfers playing this week. This tournament has a very weak field and he may be able to get out in front early and pull away from the rest of the pack.
Top Longshot at Safeway Open – Sang-moon Bae 33/1
Our longshot play of the week is Sang-moon Bae. Bae is very unique in the fact that he left the PGA Tour for 2 years to complete his obligations with the South Korean Military. Bae has now returned and won the Boise Open on the Web.com Tour to earn back his regular PGA Tour card. Bae will now have a full season under his belt and should do well here this week against a weak field.
Top Fade at Wyndham Championship – Brendan Steele
My top fade this week is Brendan Steele. Steele has won this tournament the past 2 years and winning 3 in a row would be extremely difficult for the best golfers in the world, and unfortunately, I don’t put Steele in that category. He has missed the cut in 4 out of his last 6 tournaments and in the other 2, he finished 60th and 64th place. Steele is not playing good golf right now and all thought he loves this hometown course for him, this year won’t be his year! Fade Brendan Steele!