Scottsdale, AZ

It’s a strong field this week at TPC Scottsdale with 15 of the top-20 ranked players teeing it up on Thursday. The shortest odds (according to bet365.com) are Jon Rahm at 7.5/1, Justin Thomas at 12/1, Patrick Cantlay 16/1, Hideki Matsuyama, and Viktor Hovland both at 18/1.

Who should win? – Justin Thomas

JT has had two third-place finishes over the past three years and has been playing well early this season. He is due for a win and it could come this week.

Who could win? – Hideki Matsuyama, Viktor Hovland, Jordan Spieth (22/1)

Matsuyama won this event in 2017 and his record over his last five events has been: T59, 1, T13, 1, T30, so it’s possible this trend could continue. Hovland has three wins in his past five events. Some have been in smaller field and Euro Tour events and he has only played here once (MC), but he is still someone who is almost guaranteed to be in the hunt on Sunday. Jordan Spieth is still working on his full swing but nearly won last week at Pebble Beach with his always strong short game. He is someone who usually goes on a run when he is playing well.

Longer shots to consider? – Webb Simpson (45/1), Andrew Putnam (125/1)

Simpson has had a win and a runner-up finish in this tournament over the past five years. He has had some injury issues but always seems to play well here. Putnam was right there last week and has had some good results on this course – at these odds, it’s worth throwing down a few bucks.

Who will win? – Jordan Spieth

This was a coin-toss between Spieth and Hovland but when Spieth is on, he’s on and he should continue his good play this week. Hovland has only played this event once and missed the cut but aside from mediocre chipping, he’s so damn good that I predict a shoot-out between him and Spieth this weekend.