Paulie’s Picks: 2018 Waste Management Open

This week’s field at the Waste Management Phoenix Open is one of the strongest in the event’s history. To afford one or two of the elite players in lineups we will need some value plays under $7,500. Here are some players to consider for tournaments:

Draftkings

Cameron Smith $7,400

Coming into the season everyone was in love with Cameron Smith based on how he played late in 2017. After a few solid, yet mediocre finishes, his price has dropped and it seems like people have forgotten about him. He hasn’t finished outside the top 20 in an event since the first week of September! He is a very solid option for your option if you want to afford one of the studs.

Francesco Molinari $7,300

$7,300 is way too cheap for the 22nd player in the world. He has shown elite consistency making the cut in 39 of his last 45 events. In his lone start at this event, he finished 22nd in 2015. If he provides a similar finish this week, he will more than payoff his $7,300 salary.

Peter Uihlein $6,800

Uihlein, the 59th ranked golfer in the world, is a young talent waiting to breakthrough in the US. He proved himself to the world by playing in Europe similar to Brooks Koepka. At $6,800, he is a high upside play who could contend this week. I could see him pulling off a victory similar to how Koepka did in 2015.

One-and-Done

Hideki Matsuyama

Over the last four years, Hideki has played against 524 players in this event. He has only lost to a total of four players during those four events. Enough said.

Jon Rahm

Rahm, who played collegiately at ASU, returns to a familiar place this week. Even though Rahm struggled on the weekend at Torrey Pines, he still led the field in Strokes Gained Off the Tee. If he brings that to Scottsdale this week, he will be in contention come Sunday

Webb Simpson

If you don’t feel like using Rahm or Matsuyama this week, Webb is your next logical choice. He has recorded top 15 finishes in his last five starts at this event.

Longshots:

Retief Goosen (200-1 to win, 16-1 top 10)

Goosen has had a resurgence over the last two events finishing 12th at the Farmers Insurance Open and 20th at the BMW South Africa Open. Last week at Torrey, he led the field in Strokes Gained Approach gaining 7.5 shots! If he brings that iron game to Scottsdale he will have a lot of makeable birdie putts.

Brandon Harkins (100-1 to win, 11-1 top 10)

Harkins has finished in the top 50 in his last six starts on Tour including top 12 finishes the last two weeks. He is still an unknown to most golf fans but you will be hearing more from him as the year goes on.