Golf tips, free bets and latest odds for the WM Phoenix Open 2025
THIS week’s Phoenix Open loves to boast that it is the “best supported tournament” in all of golf – and it is hard to argue, even though Rory McIlroy is not supporting it this week.
McIlroy is putting his feet up after making a nonsense of his previous form at Pebble Beach by charging to a two shot victory there last week.
But world No 1 Scottie Scheffler will be back at TPC Scottsdale, one of his favourite courses. And the monster crowds of up to 200,000 – many of them crowding into the beer-filled stands around the par three 16th – will be there to cheer him on.
Scheffler has sandwiched back-to-back victories here in 2022 and 2023 with fifth and third place finishes.
So it is no wonder he is as short as 3-1 for a third win, especially after returning from surgery on his badly cut hand with a top ten finish at Pebble. But let’s be brave, and try to take him on!
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Phoenix Open Golf tips
One of the players who could give Scheffler most to do is his closest friend in the game – and his preferred Ryder Cup and President’s Cup partner – Sam Burns.
Burns does not possess Scottie’s stellar record at Scottsdale – just a thought, did they name the course after him? – but the demon putter has shown some good form here.
He followed a share of sixth in 2023 ago by tying for third with Scheffler last year. Burns is widely available at 22-1, and that is not to be sniffed at.
McIlroy’s win last week showed muscle memory can be over-rated. But I still think course form is valuable in Phoenix. So defending champion Nick Taylor deserves consideration, especially at a tempting 55-1.
Taylor’s victory followed a runner-up finish to Scheffler 12 months earlier. And the Canadian is already a winner this year, following a play-off victory in Hawaii.
Korean golfer Sungjae Im has posted a couple of top tens here, and it looked like he would be winning soon when he followed third place at The Sentry with a share of fourth at the Farmers.
I would prefer something a bit longer than the 22-1 generally available. But even at that price, he is still one to consider.
Among the outsiders, Jake Knapp hasn’t quite managed to reproduce the form he showed this time last year. But he is the sort who could easily bounce back, and he is worth a small interest at 125-1
That also applies to Lanto Griffin. He showed his best form for ages to finish T9 at the Farmers last time out. You will see worse 300-1 shots.
Qatar Masters Golf tips
With the LIV season getting underway next door in Saudi Arabia, the Qatar Masters has been stripped of much of the firepower DP World Tour’s desert events retained when McIlroy and company headed Stateside.
Laurie Canter is around 12-1 to repeat last week’s win in Bahrain. But that was only his second Tour success, so it is asking a lot for him to claim victory No 3 so quickly.
Fellow Englishman Jordan Smith also looks a cut above most of these. But 20-1 looks a bit skinny too.
A third Englishman, Joe Dean, has played well in the past two weeks, and a 45-1 quote is a bit more like it – and so is the 80-1 about Richard Mansell, who made the top ten here last year.
Frenchman Ugo Coussaud has not kicked on the way you would have expected after he finished seventh at Wentworth and sixth in Abu Dhabi at the end of last year. But at 60-1, he is worth another chance in this company.
If you must have a bet on a bunched market for the opening LIV event – instead of giving it a couple of events to warm up – 25-1 shot David Puig looks a decent each way proposition again, after finishing third and fourth on his last two starters.
And Harold Varner is a previous winner in Saudi. So he looks over-priced at 150-1.
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