Last week, the golfers were in Hawaii enjoying the sun when Fabian Gomez took home the 2016 Sony Open. Now the golfers return to the mainland. The next stop on the PGA Tour is the CareerBuilder Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation from The Club at PGA West in La Quinta, California. While the new name might be long winded, the field of 156 will understand perfectly well that it will need to go low in order to win this weekend.
Event Details
Event: 2016 CareerBuilder Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation
Category: PGA
Date: January 21-January 24
Location: The Club at PGA West, La Quinta, California
This event will have this interesting name through 2021 so it’s best to get used to it. In addition, the 57th edition should also be fairly interesting with the PGA West’s Palmer Private and Nicklaus Private bumped from the rotation, and the PGA West’s TPC Stadium Course and Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course set to join holdover La Quinta Country Club for the 72-hole competition. This event will be immediately followed up by the Phoenix Open, which is also played at a TPC Stadium Course, but in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Last Five Winners
2015 – Bill Haas -22
2014 – Patrick Reed -28
2013 – Brian Gay -25 (Playoff)
2012 – Mark Wilson -24
2011 – Jhonattan Vegas -27 (Playoff)
What to Know About the Course
All three courses for this event are stock par 72s, which means each has a full slate of par 3s and 5s. The longest is the Nicklaus Tournament Course but it’s still just 7,159 yards. The La Quinta CC should still be the hardest course of the co-hosts, but it still didn’t score higher than an average 70.678 in 2012. The trickiest part of the tournament could very well be the unfamiliarity of the two new courses. The weather should be perfect once again this week, so don’t expect any type of elements to come into play even though there are adverse conditions across the country.
The Field
The CareerBuilder Challenge can be difficult to break down based on the different types of winners at various points. Also you have to take into account the two new courses, so it could be more difficult than ever. The best way to break down the field of 156 is based on overall merit, but it should be much easier on the rest of the players with Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy not participating. Both are over in the event in Abu Dhabi on the European Tour, so that’s going to create some opportunity to find some value in this field.
A lot of eyes will be on Patrick Reed, who has registered six straight Top 10 results. He also set a course record with a -28 score back in 2014 when he easily won the tournament. Another golfer that many others will look at is Bill Haas, who has two wins and two other Top 10 wins in his last six appearances at the Palm Springs event. Also, keep an eye on Ryan Palmer, who should be in contention come Sunday’s final round. He has a combined score of 68-under over his last three appearances here (last three years). That’s quite impressive as it boils down to a final score of just over -22 per year.
A Good Matchup to Bet
Grahaem DeLaet vs. Luke Donald
DeLaet is coming off a strong finish at the Sony Open in which he tied for seventh with Kevin Kisner and Jamie Lovemark after shooting a 14-under and it will be very interesting to see how he follows up that performance this week. Donald has the potential for a strong performance but he has been far too inconsistent to trust him heading in to this week and so it makes sense to roll with DeLaet in what should be a favorable match-up.
Top Five Prediction
Patrick Reed +185
Reed won here two years ago and, as mentioned, he has posted six-straight top-10 finishes heading into this tournament, so he’s got plenty of momentum. He’s the favorite and should be in a good position to make a run for another victory this weekend. The 2014 champion also owns the tournament record after shooting a 28-under 260 and he proved that he is still in fine form after registering a solo second at Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Reed might not win the tournament outright, but he should be the best bet to at least finish in the top-five this weekend. If he can pull it off, you still get a nice payout of nearly two-to-one.
Top 10 Odds To Win Career Builders Challenge
Patrick Reed +905
Matt Kuchar +1550
Zach Johnson +1650
Ryan Palmer +2550
Bill Haas +2550
Phil Mickelson +2850
Robert Streb +3050
Kevin Na +3050
Charles Howell +3550
Jason Bohn +3550
| PLAYER | TIME | HOLE |
| Robert Allenby | 11:30a | 10 |
| Zac Blair | 11:30a | 10 |
| Kevin Chappell | 11:30a | 1 |
| Derek Ernst | 11:30a | 10 |
| John Huh | 11:30a | 10 |
| Anirban Lahiri | 11:30a | 1 |
| William McGirt | 11:30a | 1 |
| Jeff Overton | 11:30a | 1 |
| Rod Pampling | 11:30a | 10 |
| Carl Pettersson | 11:30a | 10 |
| Kyle Reifers | 11:30a | 1 |
| Hudson Swafford | 11:30a | 1 |
| Alex Cejka | 11:40a | 1 |
| Stewart Cink | 11:40a | 10 |
| Bill Haas | 11:40a | 1 |
| Billy Horschel | 11:40a | 10 |
| Justin Leonard | 11:40a | 10 |
| George McNeill | 11:40a | 10 |
| Seung-yul Noh | 11:40a | 1 |
| Patrick Reed | 11:40a | 1 |
| Robert Streb | 11:40a | 1 |
| Kevin Streelman | 11:40a | 10 |
| Brendon Todd | 11:40a | 1 |
| Jhonattan Vegas | 11:40a | 10 |
| Thomas Aiken | 11:50a | 10 |
| Abraham Ancer | 11:50a | 1 |
| Miguel Angel Carballo | 11:50a | 1 |
| Tom Hoge | 11:50a | 10 |
| Si Woo Kim | 11:50a | 10 |
| Kelly Kraft | 11:50a | 10 |
| Andrew Landry | 11:50a | 1 |
| Luke List | 11:50a | 10 |
| Jamie Lovemark | 11:50a | 1 |
| Henrik Norlander | 11:50a | 1 |
| Sam Saunders | 11:50a | 1 |
| Dawie Van Der Walt | 11:50a | 10 |
| Chad Campbell | 12:00p | 10 |
| Tony Finau | 12:00p | 1 |
| Lucas Glover | 12:00p | 10 |
| Adam Hadwin | 12:00p | 1 |
| Marc Leishman | 12:00p | 1 |
| Francesco Molinari | 12:00p | 10 |
| Greg Owen | 12:00p | 10 |
| Scott Pinckney | 12:00p | 1 |
| Darron Stiles | 12:00p | 10 |
| Chris Stroud | 12:00p | 1 |
| Steve Wheatcroft | 12:00p | 1 |
| Will Wilcox | 12:00p | 10 |
| Jason Bohn | 12:10p | 10 |
| Angel Cabrera | 12:10p | 10 |
| Tim Clark | 12:10p | 1 |
| Chesson Hadley | 12:10p | 10 |
| Charley Hoffman | 12:10p | 1 |
| Matt Jones | 12:10p | 1 |
| Smylie Kaufman | 12:10p | 1 |
| Martin Laird | 12:10p | 10 |
| Phil Mickelson | 12:10p | 1 |
| Rory Sabbatini | 12:10p | 10 |
| John Senden | 12:10p | 1 |
| Mark Wilson | 12:10p | 10 |
| Tyler Aldridge | 12:20p | 1 |
| Mark Brooks | 12:20p | 10 |
| Mark Hubbard | 12:20p | 10 |
| Sung Kang | 12:20p | 1 |
| Michael Kim | 12:20p | 10 |
| Patton Kizzire | 12:20p | 1 |
| Rob Oppenheim | 12:20p | 10 |
| Martin Piller | 12:20p | 1 |
| Brett Quigley | 12:20p | 10 |
| Xander Schauffele | 12:20p | 10 |
| Ollie Schniederjans | 12:20p | 1 |
| Tyrone Van Aswegen | 12:20p | 1 |
| Ricky Barnes | 12:30p | 10 |
| Jonas Blixt | 12:30p | 1 |
| Robert Garrigus | 12:30p | 1 |
| Jason Gore | 12:30p | 1 |
| Jason Kokrak | 12:30p | 10 |
| Spencer Levin | 12:30p | 10 |
| Carlos Ortiz | 12:30p | 1 |
| Dicky Pride | 12:30p | 1 |
| Chez Reavie | 12:30p | 10 |
| Shawn Stefani | 12:30p | 10 |
| Michael Thompson | 12:30p | 10 |
| Cameron Tringale | 12:30p | 1 |
| Ben Crane | 12:40p | 10 |
| Brian Harman | 12:40p | 10 |
| Charles Howell III | 12:40p | 10 |
| Matt Kuchar | 12:40p | 1 |
| Ben Martin | 12:40p | 1 |
| Kevin Na | 12:40p | 10 |
| Sean O’Hair | 12:40p | 10 |
| Geoff Ogilvy | 12:40p | 1 |
| Steve Stricker | 12:40p | 1 |
| Nick Taylor | 12:40p | 1 |
| Bo Van Pelt | 12:40p | 10 |
| Nick Watney | 12:40p | 1 |
| Blake Adams | 12:50p | 10 |
| Blayne Barber | 12:50p | 1 |
| Shane Bertsch | 12:50p | 10 |
| Roberto Castro | 12:50p | 10 |
| Jon Curran | 12:50p | 10 |
| Brian Davis | 12:50p | 10 |
| Luke Guthrie | 12:50p | 1 |
| Jim Herman | 12:50p | 1 |
| Whee Kim | 12:50p | 1 |
| Scott Langley | 12:50p | 1 |
| D.H. Lee | 12:50p | 1 |
| Tim Wilkinson | 12:50p | 10 |
| Chad Collins | 1:00p | 10 |
| Erik Compton | 1:00p | 1 |
| Graham DeLaet | 1:00p | 10 |
| Jerry Kelly | 1:00p | 1 |
| Jarrod Lyle | 1:00p | 1 |
| Will MacKenzie | 1:00p | 1 |
| Bryce Molder | 1:00p | 1 |
| D.A. Points | 1:00p | 10 |
| Kyle Stanley | 1:00p | 1 |
| Daniel Summerhays | 1:00p | 10 |
| D.J. Trahan | 1:00p | 10 |
| Boo Weekley | 1:00p | 10 |
| Stuart Appleby | 1:10p | 1 |
| Luke Donald | 1:10p | 1 |
| Jason Dufner | 1:10p | 10 |
| Brian Gay | 1:10p | 10 |
| Russell Henley | 1:10p | 1 |
| Zach Johnson | 1:10p | 1 |
| David Lingmerth | 1:10p | 10 |
| Peter Malnati | 1:10p | 10 |
| Troy Merritt | 1:10p | 10 |
| Webb Simpson | 1:10p | 10 |
| Scott Stallings | 1:10p | 1 |
| Camilo Villegas | 1:10p | 1 |
| Aaron Baddeley | 1:20p | 10 |
| Charlie Beljan | 1:20p | 10 |
| Scott Brown | 1:20p | 10 |
| Andres Gonzales | 1:20p | 1 |
| David Hearn | 1:20p | 10 |
| Fredrik Jacobson | 1:20p | 1 |
| Colt Knost | 1:20p | 1 |
| Ryan Palmer | 1:20p | 1 |
| Pat Perez | 1:20p | 1 |
| Brendan Steele | 1:20p | 1 |
| Johnson Wagner | 1:20p | 10 |
| Brendon de Jonge | 1:20p | 10 |
| Bronson Burgoon | 1:30p | 10 |
| Bud Cauley | 1:30p | 10 |
| Derek Fathauer | 1:30p | 10 |
| Rhein Gibson | 1:30p | 1 |
| Hiroshi Iwata | 1:30p | 1 |
| Lucas Lee | 1:30p | 10 |
| Andrew Loupe | 1:30p | 1 |
| Wes Roach | 1:30p | 1 |
| Chad Sorensen | 1:30p | 10 |
| Brett Stegmaier | 1:30p | 10 |
| Hunter Stewart | 1:30p | 1 |
| Harold Varner III | 1:30p | 1 |
