The Safeway Open Tees Up The PGA Tour’s 50-Event Super Season

The PGA Tour turns the page and begins anew Thursday in wine country as the Safeway Open presented by Chevron
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uncorks the 2020-2021 season. The race for the FedEx
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Cup resets as Phil Mickelson, Si Woo Kim, and Brendan Steele get set to tackle the narrow tree lined fairways and poa annua greens of the North Course at Silverado Resort and Spa. Measuring 7,166 yards, it’s on the short side for tour stops with the longest par 4 clocking in at 459 yards. With non-punitive rough, the advantage belongs to golfers who can launch monster shots off the tee and then spin their wedge shots close to the pin. Of course, experience with the idiosyncrasies of poa (which has a tendency to get bumpy by the late afternoon) will also come into play.

This will be the first of a 50-event “super season” chock full of make-up dates for postponed events. Six major championships will be contested starting with the U.S. Open at Winged Foot next week.  The missed Masters Tournament gets its make-up date in November and then the quest for the green jacket is back again in its usual time slot in April and the U.S Open makes its return engagement in June. There’s also the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics with the men’s competition teeing off at Kasumigaseki Country Club July 30-August 2^nd. Meanwhile the Ryder Cup gets underway at Whistling Straits at the end of September. There’s more:  The Bermuda Championship and the Corales Punta Cana Resort & Club Championship have been upgraded to full 500-point FedEx Cup events.

When rostering a DFS squad for a weak field tourney like the Safeway Open, it’s tempting to pick headliners as their edge feels amplified. A metric that should make you wary of that tack: you can count the four favorites’ combined top 10s since the June restart on one hand. Phil Mickelson, still basking in the afterglow of his win in his PGA Tour Champions debut a couple weeks back, is the marquee name in the mix.  But aside from Jim Furyk and K.J. Choi, the rest of the competition here isn’t eligible for an AARP membership quite yet.

Consistent cut-makers that appear a little further down the odds board who also have the skillset to torch this course are as appealing as the favorites.   Jordan Spieth’s game, three years removed from his last tour title, may seem to be in a Rip Van Winkle class hibernation  but he did quietly accrue a trio of Top 10 finishes last season while making 15 of 18 cuts. Remember, you got to be in it before you can win it. There have also been flashes of the Spieth of yore in recent play and a fresh new calendar could provide the incentive to get back in gear. Mark Hubbard is another picture of consistency. The San Jose State University alum made 19 of 24 cuts last season including three top 10s and has evolved into a much stronger player than the man who finished T13 here on his last go around.

Chez Reavie is another name who could make a run up the leaderboard, especially if his wedge game gets hot. The two-time tour winner has made seven of his last eight cuts including a T6 result at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

Odds to Win (via golfodds.com)

Phil Mickelson 20/1

Si Woo Kim 20/1

Brendan Steele 25/1

Shane Lowry 25/1

Sergio Garcia 30/1

Jordan Spieth 30/1

Erik van Rooyen 30/1

Emiliano Grillo 30/1

Doc Redman 30/1

Joel Dahmen 30/1

Chez Reavie 30/1

Harold Varner III 35/1

Brandt Snedeker 40/1

Cameron Davis 40/1

Kevin Streelman 40/1

Keegan Bradley 50/1

Sam Burns 50/1

Bud Cauley 50/1

Luke List 50/1

Mark Hubbard 50/1