The 2017-2018 PGA TOUR season kicks off this week in beautiful Napa Valley in Northern California.
The Safeway Open hosted at the North Course at the rustic Silverado Resort and Spa. The resort was originally established around a landmark mansion built in 1870 by General John F. Miller. One of the oldest golf clubs in Northern California.
Both courses on site were designed by iconic designer Robert Trent Jones Jr. in the mid-60s while the North Course underwent a redesign in 2011 by Johnny Miller.
This will be the fourth year in a row that the Safeway Open has kicked off the start of the PGA TOUR season at Silverado Resort and Spa.
New Faces on TOUR
For a rundown of the 50 Web.com Tour graduates, check out Josh Culp’s Web Rankings article. We will be seeing these golfers quite a bit during the wraparound schedule, particularly in the Stateside events.
The Course
Silverado Resort and Spa’s North Course
7,166 yards - Par 72 - Bentgrass/Poa Annua Greens
The North course offers up multiple challenges with sparsely tree-lined fairways with plenty of bunkers abound. The course offers different looks throughout the round with short, uphill par 3s and short par 4s that make for good chances to score while gentle sloping greens and groves of Redwood serve as a reminder to stay in the fairways.
On some holes, many players will be trading in their drivers for shorter, more accurate clubs to help them find the fairway.
The North Course has multiple par 5s including a double-dogleg par 5 that is a tough test of accuracy and distance.
I think players who have a foot in both the accuracy and distance department will be successful this week.
The field of 144 golfers is on the lighter side of strength as many of the top players in the world are resting after a grueling finish to the FedExCup Playoffs that was won by Justin Thomas.
Weather
The weather for the Northern California region of the country looks like there won’t be any sort of issues as the temps will be mild with early morning temps forecasted to be in the low 50’s for each morning and the daytime temps averaging 85 degrees across the four days.
Past Winners at Silverado Resort and Spa
2016 Brendan Steele
2015 Emiliano Grillo
2014 Sangmoon Bae
Course-Specific Stats
The following are course related stats that are specific to the Silverado North Course for players who have played at least four rounds and courtesy of FantasyNational.com.
That is a smaller sample than we generally use, but this course has only been used three times. The maximum number of rounds is 12. Keep that in mind, when you consider how heavily (or lightly) you want to weigh course history this week...
Strokes Gained Total
Kevin Na
Brendan Steele
Sangmoon Bae
Patton Kizzire
Emiliano Grillo
Martin Laird
Phil Mickelson
Derek Fathauer
Tony Finau
Cody Gribble
Par 5 Scoring
Tony Finau
Smylie Kaufman
Sangmoon Bae
Luke List
Kevin Na
Brendan Steele
Derek Fathauer
Andrew Loupe
Mackenzie Hughes
Harold Varner III
Birdies-or-Better Gained
Andrew Loupe
Brendan Steele
Mackenzie Hughes
Smylie Kaufman
Kevin Na
Sangmoon Bae
Patton Kizzire
Michael Kim
Martin Laird
Ben Crane
Fairways Gained
Lucas Glover
Colt Knost
Graham DeLaet
Kevin Na
Zac Blair
Chez Reavie
Webb Simpson
Brendan Steele
John Huh
Chad Campbell
Greens in Regulation Gained
Kevin Na
Webb Simpson
Lucas Glover
Jon Curran
Bobby Wyatt
Bud Cauley
Vaughn Taylor
Harold Varner III
Graham DeLaet
Brendan Steele
Strokes Gained Putting
Hunter Mahan
Patton Kizzire
Mackenzie Hughes
Brendan Steele
Peter Malnati
Martin Laird
Cody Gribble
Ryan Moore
Chesson Hadley
Derek Fathauer
~
Opening Acts
Chez Reavie
Reavie is one of the few, wily old veterans on TOUR these days with the new blood filtering out the old veterans. Reavie has experience on his side this week with two top-25 finishes on the North course in three starts at Silverado. He has three top 25s in his last 5 events, as well, matching the course history with solid form. Trending in the right direction, Reavie is now averaging 3.6 strokes gained over the past five events where has been masterful with the putter.
Ryan Moore
He is looking to better last year’s finish at Silverado Resort where he finished in the top ten. Moore boasts a recent form of three top 25 finishes in his last five starts with a WD thrown in the mix. Should be well rested after failing to qualifier for the TOUR Championship or Presidents Cup. In his past 5 events, Moore has struggled on the greens but has still managed to average 3.6 strokes gained total in those starts.
Brandon Hagy
Hagy is one of the players that I think will get his first PGA TOUR win this year and make it to the FedExCup finale at the end of this season. Hagy is ranked third on the PGA TOUR in driving distance and should be around on the weekend. Hagy has gained 1.7 strokes in his past five events and should be able to use his length off the tee to his advantage.
Lucas Glover
Glover has never been known for his driving distance but certainly has the accuracy off the tee in his favor. One of the straighter but shorter hitters on tour, Glover comes in this week with three MC to his name plus a T17 at this course. Glover has made the cut in his past 7 events and has 4 top 30 finishes in that time. I think he will be worth the punt this week and could be a sneaky play depending on his price. Averaging 3.2 strokes gained over five events, Glover’s strength lies off the tee and on approach so I think this course is a nice fit for him.
Ryan Armour
Armour secured his TOUR card on Monday. In 20 starts last season he led the way in driving accuracy on the PGA TOUR which should really help him this week at the North Course at Silverado. Armour saved his best for last with a T4 at the 2017 Wyndham so he should have a bit of confidence in his corner. I think Armour should be able to use his accuracy to help him navigate the course and maybe some noise come Sunday. Armour has averaged 2.7 strokes gained on the field in his last five PGA TOUR events in addition to a runner-up and T25 during the Web.com Tour Finals.
Scott Brown
Scott Brown is a good golfer that seems to have trouble putting four days of solid golf together. That hasn’t been the case at Silverado, posting a pair of top-15 finishes in three tries. Having not played the past few weeks, Brown should be well rested this week. He’s gained strokes putting in his last seven starts, so it will be interesting to see if that putting form carries over to these poa annua surfaces.
Bud Cauley
Bud Cauley is relatively young gun looking to make some major strides through all the confidence and experience he gained this year on the PGA TOUR. Boasting recent form that only saw a single MC in his past five events. If he can get his putter going he should be fine as he has averaged 3.3 strokes gained tee-to-green over his last 10 PGA TOUR starts.
Headliners
Tony Finau
Finau is one of just two players (Webb Simpson) who are attending the Safeway Open that also competed in the TOUR Championship where he finished T7. Finau hits the ball long but can struggle with the putter at times. He is in good form and been playing a lot of golf. He is coming off back-to-back top 10s to end the season. Finau has made all three cuts at Silverado including a top-15 finish. Establishing himself as a big name on TOUR, so he’ll have to get used to playing the role of favorite, instead of underdog.
Zach Johnson
With 12 career wins under his belt, Zach Johnson is making his first appearance at the Safeway Open this week. He has been playing much better golf recently, making the cut in three of his past four events grabbing a top 20 along the way. In a weaker field, Johnson should be able to find his way around the North Course and make it to the weekend. Johnson has averaged 2.9 strokes over his last five events and has gained most of those strokes with his wand (averaging 3.7 strokes gained putting in his last 5 starts). If he can find the greens, he should be able to finish on the first page of the leaderboard this weekend.
Keegan Bradley
Bradley has only played this course once before finishing T22 but has made his last five cuts and has been one of the better ball strikers in recent months. Accuracy and length should go along way this week. The wildcard will be his putter, as usual, losing strokes to the field in the putting department in seven of his last eight starts.
Webb Simpson
Along with Tony Finau, Simpson is the only player to have had competed in the TOUR Championship in the past weeks while many players have been off and resting. Simpson has missed the cut twice at this course so it will be interesting to see if he can continue his form at a course he hasn’t found success. The problem has been his putter as he’s lost 9.4 strokes putting in two appearances at Silverado. Simpson has been playing well and his past five outings have seen him average 4.2 strokes gained on the field while excelling on the greens. I like Simpson to buck his course history and finish in the top ten this week.
Phil Mickelson
Mickelson strolls into Northern California after a positive weekend at the Presidents Cup in Jersey City, NJ this past week that saw him anchor the U.S. Team to a much-needed victory as a team. Lefty has a T8 finish in his only outing at this course and has gained only 1.1 strokes averaged over his past five events. He ended the Playoffs on a high note, though, posting back-to-back top 20s on his way out.
Kevin Na
Kevin Na seems to really like the North Course at Silverado Resort and Spa as he has posted two top-10 finishes in two tries. Na is playing better recently, as well, with two top 10s in his last four starts to end the season. A great mix of course history and current form.
Brendan Steele
The defending champ is looking to back up last year with another impressive finish to help kick off the 2017-18 season with some early FedExCup points. Steele has two top-25 finishes to go along with his win at Silverado so there is definitely something about this course that suits his eye
Jamie Lovemark
Lovemark comes into the week on the heels of a superb run to end the 2016-17 season. He earned a paycheck in all but two events dating back to the Honda Classic in February. Lovemark has six top-25 finishes in that time and will be looking to pick up another this week while playing in his home state. Lovemark lost strokes putting in each of his last three starts, so if he struggles this week it will likely be on the greens.
My Top 15 for the Safeway Open
1. Kevin Na
2. Webb Simpson
3. Lucas Glover
4. Zach Johnson
5. Brendan Steele
6. Jamie Lovemark
7. Keegan Bradley
8. Scott Brown
9. Brandon Hagy
10. Michael Kim
11. Bill Haas
12. Chez Reavie
13. Bud Cauley
14. Phil Mickelson
15. Tony Finau
