The AT&T Byron Nelson returns following a skipped year due to the pandemic with 2019 winner Sung Kang set to defend his title. To do so Kang will have to overcome a big change since the last Byron Nelson tournament.
This year the event has moved for a five-year run to TPC Craig Ranch. The new venue means a shuffle in all of the stats that could regularly be drawn from when it comes to how a player has handled a course over the years.
Now for yet another twist, Kang uses Craig Ranch as a regular practice course, and the site hosted Korn Ferry Championships twice. There are a handful of players in the field who took part in those Championships.
Kang does not top the favorites list as he comes in at +30000 which is well behind co-favorites Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm who are both at +800 entering the opening round.
DeChambeau enters the week after his gaffe at the Wells Fargo when he flew home on Friday thinking he had missed the cut. When he landed he was informed that he made the cut and had to fly back to finish the tournament with little rest.
It seemed to have worked for him as he finished T9! Here are the top-five favorites through +1600 to win the 2021 Wells Fargo Championship outright according to Intertops.
Bryson DeChambeau +800
Jon Rahm +800
Jordan Spieth +900
Daniel Berger +1400
Brooks Koepka +1600
2021 AT&T Byron Nelson Preview
Where: McKinney, Texas
Course: TPC Craig Ranch
Format: Stroke Play
Par: 71
Length: 7,438
When: May 13 – May 16, 2021
Purse: $7.9 Million.
TV Coverage: CBS/Golf
TPC Craig Ranch may cause some issues when it comes to putting due to most of the field being unfamiliar with the course. That will change throughout the event as everyone will have plenty of green time between the practice rounds and Sunday.
The course is also a bit longer than when the KFT Championships were played here due to the lengthening of a few holes but nothing that should shock anyone in the field that has played there. The biggest thing to note is that the rough (Bermuda) will be allowed to grow a bit more for the tournament.
Fairways are moderate with plenty of room on most but landing zones are well protected by bunkers which also holds for the greens which are Bentgrass and average 6,800 square feet. There are plenty of water features on the course including a wide stream.
Fan noise and roars will be heard again this week! There will be limited fans allowed in for the tournament but that number will average over 12,000 per day.
2021 AT&T Byron Nelson Predictions
Jordan Spieth +900
Jordan Speith has been quiet since his T3 at the Masters but he’s a Texas native and well versed in the style of play needed on a windy Texas golf course. He hopped back into the win column at the Valero in San Antonio and was T3 at Pebble Beach. Speith has moved to 8th in FedEx points and climbed to the 28th spot in the world rankings.
Marc Leishman +2800
Marc Leishman is coming off a team win in New Orleans at the Zurich Classic and was T5 at the Masters. Leishman has three missed cuts on the season but he also has seven top-twenty finishes including the win. At the Sony Open in Hawaii, he co-led the field in Par-4 Scoring Average and shot a 65 in the final three rounds.
Ryan Palmer +3300
Ryan Palmer has made the cut in his last 14 tournaments and finished 20th or better in nine of those events. That includes being 7th at the Zurich Open and T2 at the Farmers. He also has a 4th and T4 to his record this season. Palmer played at Texas A&M and should be able to take translate his Texas golf history to Craig Ranch.
Others I Like: This is a week where Bryson DeChambeau can get another win with his powerful shots off the tee pushing through any wind. I also am looking at Keith Mitchell (+6600) who was the leader last week until Rory made his move to the front.
2021 AT&T Byron Nelson Odds
Bryson DeChambeau +800
Jon Rahm +800
Jordan Spieth +900
Daniel Berger +1400
Brooks Koepka +1600
Hideki Matsuyama +1800
Matthew Fitzpatrick +1800
Scottie Scheffler +2000
Will Zalatoris +2500
Marc Leishman +2800
Sam Burns +3300
Ryan Palmer +3300
Si-Woo Kim +4000
Sergio Garcia +4000
Jason Day +5000
Harris English +5000
Luke List +6000
Charl Schwartzel +6000
Matt Kuchar +6600
Thomas Pieters +6600
Lee Westwood +6600
Keith Mitchell +6600
Aaron Wise +6600
Talor Gooch +6600
Alex Noren +6600
Carlos Ortiz +6600
Charles Howell III +8000
Russell Knox +8000
Peter Uihlein +8000
Cameron Champ +8000
Rickie Fowler +8000
Brandt Snedeker +8000
Doug Ghim +8000
Antoine Rozner +10000
Sebastian Munoz +10000
John Catlin +12500
Camilo Villegas +12500
James Hahn +12500
Ben Martin +12500
Ryan Moore +12500
Scott Stallings +12500
Jhonattan Vegas +12500
Pat Perez +12500
Erik Van Rooyen +12500
Tom Hoge +12500
Patton Kizzire +12500
C T Pan +12500
Scott Piercy +12500
Doc Redman +15000
Martin Laird +15000
Kyoung-Hoon Lee +15000
Wyndham Clark +15000
Sepp Straka +15000
Harry Higgs +17500
Patrick Rodgers +17500
Rory Sabbatini +17500
Tom Lewis +17500
Andrew Putnam +17500
Adam Schenk +20000
Wesley Bryan +20000
Kevin Chappell +20000
John Huh +20000
Nate Lashley +20000
Vaughn Taylor +20000
Brice Garnett +20000
Troy Merritt +20000
Brian Stuard +20000
Vincent Whaley +20000
Danny Lee +20000
Sam Ryder +25000
Pierceson Coody +25000
Anirban Lahiri +25000
Seamus Power +25000
Roger Sloan +25000
Will Gordon +25000
Satoshi Kodaira +25000
Hank Lebioda +25000
Tyler McCumber +30000
Sean O'Hair +30000
Chesson Hadley +30000
Cole Hammer +30000
Ted Potter +30000
Joseph Bramlett +30000
Rafael Cabrera Bello +30000
Roberto Castro +30000
Michael Gligic +30000
Padraig Harrington +30000
Kramer Hickok +30000
J.B. Holmes +30000
Beau Hossler +30000
Andrew Landry +30000
Wes Roach +30000
JJ Spaun +30000
Josh Teater +30000
Jimmy Walker +30000
Bronson Burgoon +30000
Tyler Duncan +30000
Bo Hoag +30000
Sung Kang +30000
Jamie Lovemark +30000
Cameron Percy +30000
Aaron Baddeley +30000
Rafael Campos +30000
Austin Cook +30000
Mark Hubbard +30000
Hudson Swafford +30000
Tim Wilkinson +30000
Kristoffer Ventura +30000
Zack Sucher +30000
Grayson Murray +50000
Bo Van Pelt +50000
Ryan Blaum +50000
Jonas Blixt +50000
Scott Brown +50000
Luke Donald +50000
David Hearn +50000
Nelson Ledesma +50000
Shawn Stefani +50000
Tyler Strafaci +50000
D J Trahan +50000
Johnson Wagner +50000
Kiradech Aphibarnrat +50000
Ryan Armour +50000
Ryan Brehm +50000
Rhein Gibson +50000
Scott Harrington +50000
Sebastian Cappelen +50000
K J Choi +50000
Bill Haas +50000
Ryan Lumsden +50000
Rob Oppenheim +50000
Kevin Tway +50000
Fabian Gomez +50000
Kelly Kraft +50000
Nick Watney +50000
Jonathan Byrd +50000
Hunter Mahan +75000
Mark Anderson +75000
Michael Gellerman +75000
Xinjun Zhang +75000
Ricky Barnes +75000
Michael Kim +100000
John Senden +100000
Kevin Stadler +100000
Ben Taylor +100000
Dominic Bozzelli +100000
Matt Every +100000
J.J. Henry +100000
Martin Trainer +100000
Chris Baker +150000
Shane Pearce +200000