This year’s Safeway Open has golf’s usual names: Paul Casey, Phil Mickelson, Justin Thomas, etc. But who wants the favorites to win? It’s more interesting to see underdogs come out of nowhere and steal it. In last year’s event, on-the-rise Emiliano Grillo rose to the occasion and took home the trophy. Who’ll be the new Grillo? We picked three strong dark horses. Check out our predictions below.
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2016 Safeway Open Sleeper Picks and Predictions
Where: Silverado Country Club — Napa, CA
When: October 13-16, 2016
Line: view all Safeway Open lines
TV Broadcast: Golf Channel
Jason Kokrak (+5,000)
From being the leader of JFK High School’s golf teams and its two championship runs, to his solid collegiate stint in Xavier University, to his multiple amateur titles, it is quite obvious that Jason Kokrak has done a lot in building a competitive golfing career.
The 31-year-old will be entering tomorrow’s event with great momentum. He had a very strong end to last season with a stretch that included T7, T8, and T7 finishes, and saw him land 33rd in the final FedEx Cup points standings.
Hudson Swafford (+7,000)
Hudson Swafford, a former standout of University of Georgia’s golf team, is a five-year pro who has one professional win under his name, the Stadion Classic at UGA. The tournament had a memorable finale as he completed a come-from-behind victory when he made a bunker shot for a birdie, and his opponent, Luke List, bogeyed right after.
Friday in Napa, Swafford will look to go up in the sport’s hierarchy. He finished last season 64th in the FedEx Cup rankings (4,588 FedEx Cup points back) and is currently 205th in the Official World Golf Rankings.
He’ll also bring with him his two previous good performances at Silverado, where he finished inside the top 20 on both occasions. He had a 69.37 average and was second in strokes gained.
Patrick Rodgers (+7,000)
This is the sleeper pick that people around the web (including us) have been raving about, and rightfully so. Upon starting his college golfing career at Stanford, Rodgers has shown a ton of promise. During his time with the university, he received the prestigious Ben Hogan award, tied Tiger Wood’s record of 11 amateur wins, was once rated the best amateur golfer by World Amateur Golf Ranking for 16 straight weeks.
Rodgers placed 74th in FedEx Cup (4,588 FedEx Cup points) and is 126th in the Official World Golf Rankings.
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