The Waste Management Phoenix Open has earned a reputation as the “fifth major” on the golf calendar.
TPC Scottsdale is not only a unique and challenging course, but the WMPO field is always one of the deepest of the season thanks to its calendar and wallet position.
What makes this year’s Phoenix Open even more intriguing is that it has five consecutive triple-digit winners heading into the start of the 2024 PGA Tour season.
TPC Scottsdale hasn’t exactly been a happy hunting ground for longshots of late, but considering how the year has started, nothing is out of the question.
Scottie Scheffler is clearly the pre-tournament consensus +450 favorite. The world No. 1 has won the last two Waste Management Phoenix Opens, posting a total of 35 under par in both of those wins.
Justin Thomas (+1000) has shown signs of improvement this year, making him the second favorite behind Max Homa (+1600), Sam Barnes (+1800) and Jordan Spieth (+1800) .
Ahn Byung-hoon experienced an odds crater from +5000 at opening to +2500. The Korean player has found great form recently and bettors are taking note.
It’s usually the big names who take down Waste Management, but before the party starts in Scottsdale, we try to find some value in decent numbers.
Waste Management Phoenix Open
Hideki Matsuyama (+5000, BetMGM)
There’s nothing remarkable about Hideki Matsuyama heading into the start of the 2024 PGA Tour season, but it’s really hard to pass on him when his price drifts into this range.
Matsuyama finished 71st at the weather-shortened Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but he finished 13th at the Farmers Insurance Open the previous week and 30th at the Sony Open two weeks earlier.
So none of these results jump off the page, but they’re not discouraging, and they failed to garner attention ahead of a tournament that Matsuyama has won twice (2016, 2017).
Denny McCarthy (+9000, FanDuel)
Not too long ago, bettors were lining up to bet on Denny McCarthy, and for good reason.
The smooth-putting American got off to a hot start in the 2022-2023 season, finishing inside the top 25 in half of the 30 tournaments he played.
McCarthy also had eight top-10 finishes and one runner-up finish at the Memorial, a non-major tournament with an elite field.
McCarthy’s putter has always made him interesting, and now that the hype has died down, I’m happy to stand by him.
