2020 Safeway Open Preview
Safeway Open
September 10 – September 13
Silverado Resort and Spa North | Napa, CA
Par 72 – 7,166 Yards
Defending: Cameron Champ (-17) def. Adam Hadwin (-16)
The extra strokes Dustin Johnson earned heading into the Tour Championship paid off, as he finished at -21 and held off charges from Justin Thomas (-18) and Xander Schauffele (-18) to win the Tour Championship (and an extra $15 Million bucks). Jon Rahm (-17) and Scottie Scheffler (-14) rounded out the top 5 to finish off the 2019-2020 season. The tour’s done a great job containing COVID so let’s hope for an uninterrupted season this year, starting with the Safeway Open this week and followed by the U.S. Open next week.
The tournament moved to Silverado CC in 2014 and was renamed the Safeway in 2016. Players should have no trouble going low as past winners (below) have scored between -14 and -18 under par. There are a number of elevation changes that can make distance control key on this course, especially with bunkers guarding the greens and oak/redwood trees throughout the course that can come into play on poor tee shots. There is a stream that runs throughout the course but shouldn’t come into play on too many shots.
The field won’t be as strong coming off the Tour Championship, especially as players prep for the U.S. Open at Winged Foot GC in New York next week. Favorites this week include Phil Mickelson (+2000), Si Woo Kim (+2000), Brendan Steele (+2200), Jordan Spieth (+2500) and Emiliano Grillo, Harold Varner III, Joel Dahmen, Sergio Garcia, and Shane Lowry all at +2800). Other notables in the field include: Brandt Snedeker (+4000), Keegan Bradley (+5000), Jim Furyk (+6600), and Jason Dufner (+12500).
The Course
Silverado Resort and Spa North | Napa, CA
Par 72 – 7,166 Yards
Par 3’s: 240, 212, 182, 189
Par 4’s: 436, 424, 407, 417, 360, 422, 391, 458, 412, 375
Par 5’s: 538, 557, 571, 575
Silverado will play short as a Par 72, 7200 yard course, so longer hitters may have an advantage off the tee but accurate drivers have fared well in the past as well. The most frequent shot type last year was 100-125 yards, followed by 175-200 yards, so look at proximity stats from those distances (lots of wedges this week). Strokes gained tee to green with an emphasis on strokes gained on approach will be huge and you’ll need a guy with a high birdie or better % if you want him to challenge the top of the leaderboard.
Two things stick out as far as hole composition goes this week: 400-450 yard par 4 scoring and 550-600 yard par 5 scoring. Overall, par 72 courses are going to challenge players on all hole types, so looking at par 3, 4 and 5 scoring could help weed out guys who don’t perform in one of those areas.
Of course, take a look at course history but players in the past have had mixed results at Silverado, so don’t discredit them based on a few bad showings (e.g. Brandon Steele won twice and then followed that up with a 53rd and 60th).
Past Champions
2019: Cameron Champ (-17) def. Adam Hadwin (-16)
2018: Kevin Tway (-14) def. Ryan Moore; Brandt Snedeker (Playoff)
2017: Brendan Steele (-15) def. Tony Finau (-13)
2016: Brendan Steele (-18) def. Patton Kizzire (-17)
2015: Emiliano Grillo (-15) def. Kevin Na (Playoff)
2014: Sang-Moon Bae (-15) def. Steven Bowditch (-13)