Can you believe the 2021-2022 PGA season is about to get underway? The Safeway Open is now the Fortinet Championship – new name – same great venue in Napa, California at the Silverado Country Club’s North Course. The opening round of the new PGA season means some big names are looking to grab valuable FedEx points early before the Ryder Cup and Christmas break.

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Jon Rahm comes in at +400 and is cemented as the favorite with Web Simpson next in line at +1400. Last year it was Stewart Cink pulling out the win over Harry Higgs by two strokes. It was Cink’s first win since he captured the Open Championship in 2009. The year prior, the event winner was Cameron Champ.

This tournament is not a soft opening to the season. There are 500 FedEx points on the line this week to get the points race running before the Ryders Cup. Hence the strong field. However, there are plenty of value players down the line who could win this week. Here are the favorites through +2200 to win the Fortinet Championship outright according to Intertops.

Jon Rahm +400

Webb Simpson +1400

Hideki Matsuyama +2000

Kevin Na +2000

Will Zalatoris +2200

Expert PGA Betting Guide

2021 Fortinet Championship Preview

Where: Napa, California

Course: Silverado Country Club, North Course

Format: Stroke Play

Par: 72

Length: 7,123

When: September 16-19 2021

Purse: $7 Million.

TV Coverage: Golf Channel

There are 500 FedEx points on the line this week at an event that has had only one playoff finish in the last five times it was held at this course. Cink went 267/-21 overall for the win last year at Silverado.

The Silverado Country Club, North Course is a mature venue with its last overhaul coming almost a decade ago. Think long off the tee and narrow! Set in the Napa vineyard area the course makes use of the rolling fairways – many of which are protected with trees.

The course was designed by Robert Trent Jones and tweaked by Johnny Miller about a decade ago. That means the greens can be tough depending on pin locations due to some false front and raised areas. Water comes into play on only a few holes. Bunkers are well placed and will force players to choose, maybe doublethink, club choices on approach shots.

The weather should not be a factor with no rain in the forecast and temperatures staying below 80 degrees through Sunday. There may be some wind and players with early tee times will be taking to the course with lows in the mid-50s.

Types of PGA Bets

2021 Fortinet Championship Picks

Jon Rahm +400

Jon Rahm is the lone favorite to win outright this week as he’s probably the strongest golfer in the field. Rahm finished out the season with a win at the U.S. Open and then by finishing every event he played in from then out T9 or better. That includes a 2nd place finish at the Tour Championship. Rahm can hit it straight and for distance so tight fairways should not give him too many problems.

Will Zalatoris +2200

Will Zalatoris enters the season as an official PGA Tour member. His 2nd place finish at the Masters cemented him as being a young player to watch. He scored an 8th place finish at the PGA Championship as well as the FedEx St Jude Invitational. He could sometimes play a little erratic, but now he has the meat of a full schedule behind him and he’ll have second looks and many courses.

Cameron Champ +4000

Cameron Champ won this event in 2019 making him the most recent defending Fortinet Champion since Cink is absent from the field. Champ powered to a nice win a few weeks ago at the 3M Open following a T11 at the John Deere. If Champ plays as he did at the 3M Open then he could start the season off with a win.

Others: Phil Mickelson (+6600) may not hit the ball as far as he used to but his wedge shots are still spot on! That’s a huge plus this weekend. Brendan Steele (+8000) won this tournament back-to-back in 2016 and 2017. Don’t count him out this week at Silverado.

PGA Majors Betting Strategies

2021 Fortinet Championship Betting Lines

Jon Rahm +400

Webb Simpson +1400

Hideki Matsuyama +2000

Kevin Na +2000

Will Zalatoris +2200

Cameron Tringale +3300

Harold Varner III +3300

Sebastian Munoz +3300

Marc Leishman +4000

Si-Woo Kim +4000

Cameron Champ +4000

Charley Hoffman +4000

Emiliano Grillo +5000

Maverick McNealy +5000

Max Homa +5000

Brendon Todd +6000

Phil Mickelson +6600

Chez Reavie +6600

Brandt Snedeker +6600

Stephan Jaeger +6600

Chad Ramey +6600

Mito Pereira +6600

Charles Howell III +6600

Adam Hadwin +6600

Roger Sloan +6600

Talor Gooch +6600

Taylor Moore +6600

Doug Ghim +6600

Aaron Rai +8000

Pat Perez +8000

Harry Higgs +8000

Brendan Steele +8000

Ryan Moore +8000

Joseph Bramlett +8000

Lucas Herbert +8000

C T Pan +8000

Sahith Theegala +8000

Brian Stuard +8000

Hudson Swafford +10000

Patrick Rodgers +10000

Kiradech Aphibarnrat +10000

Taylor Pendrith +10000

Nick Taylor +10000

Patton Kizzire +10000

Troy Merritt +10000

Dylan Frittelli +10000

Tom Hoge +10000

Sepp Straka +10000

Adam Svensson +10000

Adam Schenk +10000

Hank Lebioda +10000

Lanto Griffin +10000

Peter Uihlein +12500

John Huh +12500

Alex Smalley +12500

Doc Redman +12500

JT Poston +12500

Matt Kuchar +12500

Luke List +12500

Scott Piercy +12500

Ryan Armour +12500

Russell Knox +12500

Greyson Sigg +12500

Joshua Creel +15000

Danny Willett +15000

Bo Hoag +15000

David Lipsky +15000

Chesson Hadley +15000

Hayden Buckley +15000

Vincent Whaley +15000

Kevin Yu +15000

Cameron Percy +15000

Jason Dufner +15000

Michael Thompson +15000

Kevin Tway +15000

Andrew Putnam +15000

Sam Ryder +15000

Kyle Stanley +15000

James Hahn +15000

Mark Hubbard +15000

Scott Stallings +15000

Denny McCarthy +15000

Brice Garnett +20000

Danny Lee +20000

Bronson Burgoon +20000

Ben Kohles +20000

Cameron Young +20000

Brandon Wu +20000

Andrew Novak +20000

Lee Hodges +20000

Dylan Wu +20000

Jim Herman +20000

Kevin Chappell +20000

Adam Long +20000

Brandon Hagy +20000

Trey Mullinax +20000

Nick Hardy +20000

Kramer Hickok +20000

Kurt Kitayama +20000

Dawie Van Der Walt +20000

David Skinns +20000

J.B. Holmes +20000

Justin Lower +25000

Jamie Lovemark +25000

Andrew Landry +25000

Beau Hossler +25000

Michael Gligic +25000

Austin Cook +25000

Tyler Duncan +25000

Seth Reeves +25000

Davis Riley +25000

Max McGreevy +25000

JJ Spaun +25000

Callum Tarren +25000

Aaron Baddeley +25000

Bo Van Pelt +25000

Matthew Nesmith +25000

Tyler McCumber +25000

Wyndham Clark +25000

Sung Kang +25000

Sean O'Hair +25000

Vaughn Taylor +25000

Nick Watney +30000

Jared Wolfe +30000

Austin Smotherman +30000

John Augenstein +30000

Ben Martin +30000

Peter Malnati +30000

Paul Barjon +30000

Bill Haas +30000

Nate Lashley +30000

David Hearn +35000

Brett Drewitt +35000

Scott Gutschewski +40000

Seung-Yul Noh +40000

Kelly Kraft +40000

Curtis Thompson +40000

Turk Pettit +40000

Trevor Werbylo +40000

Scott Brown +40000

Ted Potter +40000

Chase Seiffert +40000

D J Trahan +50000

Jonas Blixt +50000

William McGirt +50000

Quade Cummins +50000

Chris Stroud +50000

Jim Knous +50000

Jonathan Byrd +50000

Michael Duncan +50000

Kevin Stadler +75000

Martin Trainer +75000

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