It’s on to a renewed season of professional golfing action as we get set for Thursday’s opening tee at the Frys.com Open in lovely Napa, California.
To be quite frank, this event is not really as prestigious or as star-studded compared to the other bigger tournaments on tap. But Rory McIlroy’s fresh start shortly after coming from an injury that cut his previous campaign short will surely get the feet of golf fans and bettors wet enough for another exciting season of the PGA Tour.
However, do the experts believe that the former World No. 1 will roar out loud with an impressive win when all is said and done? Let’s take a look at what some analysts have to say about the action about to take place at the Silverado Country Club.
To round out your Frys.com Open betting reads, check out our full preview and sleeper picks for the entire tournament after this.
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Experts Picks and Predictions for the 2015 Frys.com Open
CBS Sports
Expert
Pick to Win
Top 10 Finish
Kyle Porter
Brooks Koepka
Rory McIlroy
Robby Kalland
Hideki Matsuyama
Rory McIlroy
Both Kyle Porter and Robby Kalland of CBS Sports are in agreement that Rory will finish strong in California this weekend (a top 10 finish at worst), but they each ended up picking two different up-and-comers at the top spot.
[sc:Golf240banner ]Porter sided and openly admitted his admiration for World No. 24 Brooks Koepka. He mentioned that the 25-year-old was well in the hunt in this tournament last year, finishing 11 under par for an eighth-place finish.
Similarly, Kalland placed his stakes on one of his own personal favorites in Hideki Matsuyama. He further stated that the 23-year-old Japanese sensation had an even better outing in Napa last season, finishing third as opposed to Koepka’s eighth. In addition, Matsuyama is hot off a solid showing at the recently concluded Presidents Cup as part of Team International, and finished in the Top 15 (one for seventh place) in three of his last four tournaments from last season.
PGATour.com
Expert
Pick
Rob Bolton
Justin Rose
James Hickey
Brooks Koepka
Charlie Kane
Hideki Matsuyama
Mike McAllister
Daniel Berger
Jonathan Wall
Justin Thomas
The five-man panel from PGATour.com has differing opinions on who the group believes will emerge victorious this weekend. And like CBS’ Porter and Kalland, manager James Hickey and producer Charlie Kane have also bought in on Koepka and Matsuyama, respectively.
Meanwhile, the site’s main fantasy columnist in Rob Bolton went with the other non-McIlroy trendy pick in World No. 8 Justin Rose. And why wouldn’t he? Rose just finished as the runner-up of the 2015 TOUR Championship. He also had seven top 10 finishes in the last 13 events last season, with his latest win coming in April at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
As for editor Mike McAllister, he banked on the 11th-best golfer in the world in 2015 Rookie of the Year Daniel Berger to take home the trophy. The Florida native had a solid September from the previous campaign himself, finishing 12th at the Deutsche Bank Championship and the TOUR Championship, and second place at the BMW Championship.
Golf News Net
Expert
Pick 1
Pick 2
Pick 3
Pick 4
Pick 5
Golf News Net
Rory McIlroy
Hideki Matsuyama
Justin Rose
Daniel Berger
Tony Finau
The folks over at Golf News Net aren’t foolish enough to bet against +400 favorite Rory McIlroy in winning the Frys.com Open. McIlroy is easily the most decorated and well-rounded competitor entering the tournament. The only knock on the famed Irishman is that this is his first trip to Silverado. However, the GNN team pointed out that the former World No. 1 performs well in fine weather, which means that McIlroy could very well excel in the lovely climate and conditions of wine country.
The site also went on selecting most of the golfers that the other analysts covered here also banked on, but gave the fifth slot to upstart Tony Finau. GNN argued that the half-Tongan could’ve won the Rookie of the Year award over Berger if his play hadn’t dropped off in September, but solid majors finishes (14th at the US Open and 10th at the PGA Championship) have Finau as one young gun that shouldn’t be overlooked in the tournament.
With all the experts in this here article going in different directions, aren’t you enticed yet to create a betting account now and outwit some of golf’s renowned pundits with your own stellar predictions?
