Fantasy Golf Tournament Preview- Safeway Open
OVERVIEW
The Safeway Open takes a new spot on the calendar this week and what a field we have! Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Bryson DeChambeau, Hideki Matsuyama and #43 in the Official World Golf Rankings – Phil Mickelson! All jokes aside, the field is decent which is more than what we usually have for this event, so we’ll take it. The North Course at Silverado Resort is a less than driver course which requires players to work the ball both ways off the tee and puts an emphasis on hitting “target areas” or landing zones. There’s a slight emphasis on hitting fairways this week, but nothing too crazy as the rough is hardly penal. Weather does play a bit of a role, but not how you may think especially considering we’re on the west coast. Instead, chilly AM temperatures may play an impact as the ball doesn’t fly as far as it does when it’s warm giving the PM rounds a bit of an edge. Of course, playing those PM rounds can be tricky as the greens are made up of poa annua grass, which seeds out as the day goes on, creating some bumpy terrain when putting for birdie or better (hopefully!). There’s some decent overlap in some players who play well here as well as at TPC Scottsdale, but the grasses and layouts are different so it’s probably more-so because the same players tend to play both tournaments.
TOURNAMENT BACKGROUND
o The Course
• Silverado Country Club – North Course
• Par 72
• 7,100 yards
• Poa greens
o Location: Napa, CA
o Corollary Courses/Performances: TPC Scottsdale, Riviera, Torrey Pines (mostly tree-lined courses)
o Past Champions:
• 2018: Kevin Tway -14 in a playoff over Ryan Moore & Brandt Snedeker
• 2017: Brendan Steele -15 over Tony Finau
• 2016: Brendan Steele -18 over Patton Kizzire
• 2015: Emiliano Grillo -15 in a playoff over Kevin Na
• 2014: Sang-Moon Bae -15 over Steven Bowditch
KEY STATS TO TARGET
o Strong Emphasis – SG: APP, Birdies or Better, Par 5 Scoring, Scrambling
o Important – P4 Scoring 400-500 yards, APP 125-150y & 200+y
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