The best betting props for the Safeway Open

We're off to beautiful California and the wonderful Silverado Resort and Spa as the new PGA Tour season begins this week with the Safeway Open. This event has only been hosted on the North Course since 2014, so we don’t have too many statistics to play with, but there are a few pointers to take note of.

Most importantly we are looking for someone who can drive the ball well, scramble like a champ, and makes plays on the Par 5s. Three of the last four winners of this event have topped the par 5 stats while four of the last five winners have been in the top eight for driving accuracy. On the tree-lined course all six course winners here have been in the top seven for scrambling including the last two champs – Kevin Tway and Cameron Champ – who got up and down more than anyone else.

Adam Schenk Top 20 finish (+300)

Adam Schenk ticks the box for scrambling stats, ranking seventh on the PGA Tour last year for his scrambling ability, and although he's a little wayward off the tee at times he can strike the ball well. The American ranks 43rd on Tour for his Par 5 scoring average and finished 14th here in 2019.

Admittedly, that finish came wedged in between a pair of missed cuts in this tournament and Schenk failed to record a Top 10 finish in a rough 2020 season, but I’m willing to give him a chance based on his scrambling. If he can warm up the putter he has a great chance at a Top 20 finish.

Kevin Chappell Top 20 finish (+500)

While looking for Schenk in the Top 20 market, my eye was also drawn to the price of Kevin Chappell. While his statistics don’t make for pretty reading, there is an interesting piece of form that does.

The Texas Open at TPC San Antonio seems to cross over quite well with this course. Ryan Moore has three Top 10s in San Antonio and was second in this event two years ago. In 2017 Tony Finau and Kevin Tway were tied for third at TPC San Antonio before later that year Finau finished second in the Safeway Open and Tway went on to win this event in 2018. Two-time winner of the Safeway Open, Brendan Steele, is also a Texas Open winner.

With that in mind Chappell, who won the 2017 Texas Open and was on for a solid finish in the Rocket Mortgage Classic before a final-round collapse, is worth a punt.

Henrik Norlander Top Continental European (+330)

Henrik Norlander doesn’t appear near the top of scrambling stats, but he doesn’t necessarily need too when he’s so accurate off the tee. The Swede ranks eighth in driving accuracy and hopefully that pin-point vision will help him hit the tight fairways.

Norlander really caught the eye when finishing sixth in The Memorial, but missed the cut in The Northern Trust last time out. I’m happy to forgive that effort and hope he bounces back here.

Kevin Streelman to win Group D (+250)

41-year-old Streelman ranks in the Top 26 on tour for driving accuracy and in the Top 10 for his Par 5 scoring, which immediately makes him appealing here.

He had a fantastic weekend of the BMW Championship, let down by a slow start (he shot 156 over the first two days and 135 over the last two!) and he comes here with some real momentum after previously racking up a couple of Top 10s in the Travelers Championship and Workday Charity Open.

His course form is certainly mixed, having missed the cut on three occasions, but he finished 13th at the Safeway Open in 2018 and 25th in 2019 and now comes into this year’s event in some tidy form.