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Safeway Open: Staff Picks to kick off the new season

By Christopher O'Day

NORTON, MASSACHUSETTS - AUGUST 20: Maverick McNealy of the United States plays a second shot on the 13th hole during the first round of The Northern Trust at TPC Boston on August 20, 2020 in Norton, Massachusetts. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
NORTON, MASSACHUSETTS - AUGUST 20: Maverick McNealy of the United States plays a second shot on the 13th hole during the first round of The Northern Trust at TPC Boston on August 20, 2020 in Norton, Massachusetts. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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The new PGA Tour season is underway, and we kick off with staff picks to win this year’s Safeway Open.

Hopefully, the offseason wasn’t too long for you. We sure went a long time without golf… a whole two days. We jump right back into it at the Safeway Open.

The field is fairly thin, but that should be expected. Not only is it the first tournament after the Tour Championship, but it is also the week before a major. Plenty of top-level golfers are sitting this week out in order to hone in and focus on the U.S. Open.

This means a couple of things. There is a chance for an unknown to make a mark in the golf world, and also a golden opportunity to gain some early FedEx Cup points, those that could make the difference in getting you on the right path to next year’s Tour Championship.

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Here are this week’s staff picks to win the 2020-21 Safeway Open.

Brendan Steele

Chris O’Day – It isn’t just the players in the field this week looking to take advantage of a less impressive field, it’s our group here as well. With some burnout from the end of the season, we are looking to get an edge on our fellow contributors.

I’m going with Steele. He won in not just 16, but 17 as well. He makes the cut every time he shows up here and just seems to play better at the Safeway Open than he does anywhere else on Tour. I’m gonna go ahead and take him to get the win to start off this season, and make it a trifecta of career wins here.

Joel Dahmen

Mike Randleman – In an excerpt from this week’s power rankings…

“The mustachioed man put together a stellar third season on the PGA Tour. His 2019-2020 campaign resulted in five top-10s including at the PGA Championship. He added five more top-25s in 22 events… since the restart in June, Dahmen’s made five of seven cuts and has four top-20s.”

Maverick McNealy

Bill Felber – I wish I had some enthusiasm for anybody in this field. I guess that’s what you need to expect from a season opener the week before the U.S. Open. I sifted through a lot of lukewarm candidates — Charley Hoffman, Si Woo Kim, Carlos Ortiz and three or four others — before opting to go with Maverick McNealy. He’s a local kid and I think he has a future; maybe it kicks in at Silverado.

Tim Letcher – There are some big names in the field this week (Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia, to name two) but the young McNealy will earn his first PGA Tour win.

Phil Mickelson

West Valentine – He is coming off a huge victory in his first Senior Tour event and with Winged Foot ahead I believe Lefty sees this US Open as one of his last chances to win another Major. He’s going to be confident, focused, and wanting to send a message at the Safeway Open.

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That’ll do it for this week’s picks. Best of luck to everyone playing at the Safeway Open this week!

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