The best sight of a hectic weekend’s golf apart from Solheim Cup heroine Leona Maguire’s LPGA breakthrough was surely Bubba Watson racing to the 18th green in Saudi Arabia to embrace the man who had just holed a 92ft eagle putt to deprive him of a first win in almost five years.
On a tacky weekend when the talk seemed to be more about money than sporting excellence, Bubba’s gesture was a timely reminder that there’s far more to the game than multi-millionaires feathering their own gilded nests and wouldn’t it be great if he followed that up by winning this week’s Phoenix Open!
Bubba loves the raucous atmosphere at this unique tournament where half a million fans are expected over the four days. Last year, with a daily restriction to 5000 because of Covid, was deathly quiet by comparison but 20,000 will be back filling up the grandstand around the short “Coliseum” 16th again and much Bud will be necked.
Considering that was Bubba’s first competitive start since missing the cut at Northern Trust in August, second place was a stellar effort - and it is not as if he is short of previous at TPC Scottsdale, home to this $8.2m tournament for 35 years. Never a winner there but twice runner-up, in 2014-15, fourth in 2019 and third in 2020, the 43-year-old dual Masters champion clearly has plenty of good golf left in him.
Moving up from 105th to 60th on the world rankings will be some compensation for Sunday’s disappointment but desert golf is right up his alley as he demonstrated in Saudi and another big performance should be on the way.
Rahm is no Scottsdale specialist and Cantlay’s inability to make a putt at Pebble Beach on Sunday echoed a previous last-round effort so we’ll leave him out too.
Thomas’s Scottsdale record is solid (13-3-3 the last three years). True, he lacks a win since Sawgrass almost a year ago but there have been so many near-misses since and a 61 at Kapalua on the way to fifth place first time out this campaign shows what he can achieve when the flat stick heats up.
Hoge isn’t playing this week but as he also went close at the AmEx a couple of weeks earlier, he is one to note for pro-ams where patience with slow celebs is a great virtue.
The 2013 Masters champion has rearranged his schedule and his life, moving his family to Switzerland and starting his year much earlier than usual. He’s talking a good game, saying he’s “in a place where I feel I can get results” so at 60/1 the classy Aussie can land the each-way money. It’s worth noting his last victory, at Riviera two years ago, came in February. Obviously a Masters encore is the main plan but he will be after more encouragement here.
WM Phoenix Open Golf Betting Tips 2022
- 1.5pts each-way Bubba Watson at 45/1 (Bet365) 5 places
- 1.5pts each-way Hideki Matsuyama at 18/1 (William Hill) 8 places
- 1.5pts each-way Jordan Spieth at 22/1 (William Hill) 8 places
- 1pt each-way Justin Thomas at 12/1 (Betfair) 8 places
- 1pt each-way Adam Scott at 60/1 (Bet365) 5 places
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