Venue: TPC Scottsdale Champions Course – Scottsdale, AZ
When: Tuesday, May 19 – Thursday, May 21
Top level PGA Tour golf may still be finding its footing in the Covid-19 world, but smaller tours and events are still up and running, with some never having stopped at all. One such tour that is making the most of its time in the spotlight is the Outlaw Tour down in Arizona and their event this week is the TPC Champions Classic in Scottsdale.
The three-round format – with a cut to the top half of the field after the second round – is taking place on the TPC Scottsdale Champions Course. This is the sister course to the venue that is used yearly when the PGA Tour makes its stop at TPC Scottsdale.
The Tour
The Outlaw Tour fields generally consist of between 50 and 80 players who are trying to make a name for themselves to make progress towards the PGA level or who have been there and are on the backside of their careers. These events are usually played midweek (always in Arizona) and players have buy their entry to the field in order to compete for the winning purse.
There are no PGA regulars in the field this week, something that has been seen in recent events. It will be interesting to see if the number of PGA guys playing on the smaller tours picks up as they get closer to their main tour restart that is slated for mid-June.
Course
The course is set out ay 7,114 yards and runs to a par 71. This is a course that doesn’t stick to a traditional set-up, with players taking on four Par 5 holes and five Par 3s. Playing those Par 5s to a four is going to be very important and will likely decide the overall winner of the event.
It is a course that can be scored on as shown by the result last year where Brett Drewitt was able to take the purse with a 16-under par round, three shots clear of his nearest rival Aaron Whalen. One factor that could play into the outcome is getting out and home with the wind at its least desert crazy, with Tuesday, in particular, looking like the wind could be blowing at 20mph or so while some of the players are on the course.
Betting Options (Outright winner)
Dylan Wu – 6.00
At 23-years-old, Wu is one of those players that still has his whole career in front of him. Playing in minor tours in 2020 as often as he can, Wu has eight finishes in the top 11 in his ten starts this year. He is the favorite to win this tournament with BetXChange and the lack of top names in the field for him to have to beat is obviously a plus.
Nick Mason – 10.00
Mason has an interesting story – like a lot of these players – and he has just never been able to break through to the big time. He has played in four Outlaw Tour events this season and he has never finished outside of the top seven in those events. He plays the par-4s better than anyone in the field and he is worth a shout here.
Matt Marshall – 50.00
Marshall is a long shot, but long shots have done well in Outlaw Tour events this season as a rule. He won an OUtlaw Tour event back in November and while this isn’t his main tour, Marshall finished T3 and T11 in his last two Outlaw Tour starts. He is a smooth player who gets the benefit of a reasonably early tee-off time on Tuesday and he seems more capable than any of the other outsiders to have a big week here.
