After watching Justin Thomas absolutely dominate the first two events of the 2017 calendar year in Hawaii the PGA Tour will shift to California and The Club at PGA West in La Quinta for this week’s CareerBuilder Challenge. Justin Thomas won’t take part in this week’s action and with a number of the big names set to compete in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship the field for this week’s event appears to be wide open with Patrick Reed, Bill Haas and Phil Mickelson set to headline the tournament.
Event
Event Details: CareerBuilder Challenge
Category: PGA
Date: January 19-22
Location: The Club at PGA West, La Quinta, California
This will be the first of five tournaments that make up the traditional West Coast swing with Jason Dufner returning to defend his crown after winning last year’s CareerBuilder Challenge with a 25-under-par score. This event is a Pro-Am staged over three courses in rotation over the first three days with the final round played at the TPC Stadium Course, which will also stage the first round.
Past Five Winners
2016: Jason Dufner -25
2015: Bill Haas -22
2014: Patrick Reed -28
2013: Brian Gay -25 (Playoff)
2012: Mark Wilson -24
What To Know About The Course
All three courses are set up fairly generously so that the amateur players can more than handle their own this week so Driving Distance and Driving Accuracy aren’t as important as they are at other events. The most important statistics are Greens In Regulation and Putting with the winner requiring a strong Par 4 scoring game. Those that hit their putts should have a good chance to contend for the outright win in what could easily become another birdie-fest this year.
The Field
Dufner returns as the defending champion but is widely considered a long shot to repeat at +3300 odds to win outright this week. The 2014 CareerBuilder Challenge winner Reed is the betting favorite to win at +1500 odds followed by the 2015 winner Haas at +2000 and Mickelson at +2200 odds. Meanwhile, Zach Johnson, Emiliano Grillo and Francesco Molinari round out the top betting options according to the sportsbook odds.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Bill Haas over Phil Mickelson
Mickelson should be in the mix once again this week but he hasn’t won in three-and-a-half years and he hasn’t played since finishing eighth at the Safeway Open all the way back in October. That should lead to some rust this week so it makes sense to fade him against one of the better options on the board in Haas. The two-time CareerBuilder Challenge winner has opened this season on a high note including a 13th-place finish at the Sony Open. Haas has finished inside the top-ten in five of his last seven starts and should be able to edge out Mickelson in the head-to-head sports betting matchup this week.
Top-Five Pick: Patrick Reed
The Ryder Cup star absolutely dominated here back in 2014 when he won this tournament with a score of 28-under-par and there is every reason to think he could deliver again based on his outstanding form. Reed should have no problem hitting his putts and while there isn’t much value betting him to place in the top-five in comparison to some of the other picks available the reality is that he should be a lock to contend so you could sprinkle a little more money on this wager and be happy with the outcome.
Tee Times
No. 1 Tee
8:30 AM: Jonas Blixt, Will MacKenzie
8:40 AM: Jason Bohn, Lucas Glover
8:50 AM: Xander Schauffele, Brandon Stone
9:00 AM: Shawn Stefani, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano
9:10 AM: Scott Piercy, Chris Kirk
9:20 AM: J.T. Poston, Sebastian Munoz
9:30 AM: D.J. Trahan, Zac Blair
9:40 AM: Charles Howell III, Carl Pettersson
9:50 AM: Joel Dahmen, Henrik Norlander
10:00 AM: Kevin Na, Boo Weekley
10:10 AM: Webb Simpson, Smylie Kaufman
10:20 AM: Sean O’Hair, Kevin Streelman
10:30 AM: Bobby Wyatt, J.J. Spaun
No. 10 Tee
8:30 AM: Derek Fathauer, Blayne Barber
8:40 AM: Nick Taylor, Matt Every
8:50 AM: Ryan Brehm, Ryan Armour
9:00 AM: Mark Hubbard, Graham DeLaet
9:10 AM: Ben Crane, Scott Stallings
9:20 AM: Zack Sucher, Brian Campbell
9:30 AM: Steve Marino, Tim Wilkinson
9:40 AM: Aaron Baddeley, Ben Martin
9:50 AM: Dominic Bozzelli, Julian Etulain
10:00 AM: John Huh, D.A. Points
10:10 AM: Fabian Gomez, Danny Lee
10:20 AM: Mark Brooks, Bob Estes
10:30 AM: Richy Werenski, Chris Evans
No. 1 Tee
8:30 AM: Adam Hadwin, Colt Knost
8:40 AM: John Senden, Russell Henley
8:50 AM: Nicholas Lindheim, Kenny Pigman
9:00 AM: Tag Ridings, Spencer Levin
9:10 AM: Vaughn Taylor, Chad Campbell
9:20 AM: Steven Alker, Brandon Hagy
9:30 AM: David Hearn, Chad Collins
9:40 AM: Alex Cejka, Brian Stuard
9:50 AM: Andrew Loupe, Cameron Percy
10:00 AM: Robert Garrigus, Martin Laird
10:10 AM: Steven Bowditch, David Lingmerth
10:20 AM: Brett Stegmaier, John Peterson
10:30 AM: Rick Lamb, Miguel Angel Carballo
No. 10 Tee
8:30 AM: Cameron Tringale, Kyle Reifers
8:40 AM: Keegan Bradley, Emiliano Grillo
8:50 AM: Bryson DeChambeau, Andres Gonzales
9:00 AM: Patton Kizzire, Johnson Wagner
9:10 AM: Kevin Kisner, William McGirt
9:20 AM: Jonathan Randolph, Trey Mullinax
9:30 AM: Anirban Lahiri, Luke List
9:40 AM: Angel Cabrera, Geoff Ogilvy
9:50 AM: Max Homa, Grayson Murray
10:00 AM: Brian Harman, Bud Cauley
10:10 AM: Jhonattan Vegas, Nick Watney
10:20 AM: Chez Reavie, Francesco Molinari
10:30 AM: Whee Kim, Seamus Power
No. 1 Tee
8:30 AM: Harold Varner III, Jerry Kelly
8:40 AM: Phil Mickelson, Bill Haas
8:50 AM: Sam Saunders, Ollie Schniederjans
9:00 AM: Camilo Villegas, Ryo Ishikawa
9:10 AM: Jason Dufner, Paul Casey
9:20 AM: Wesley Bryan, Aaron Wise
9:30 AM: Hudson Swafford, Daniel Summerhays
9:40 AM: Brendan Steele, Charley Hoffman
9:50 AM: Michael Kim, Martin Flores
10:00 AM: Jon Rahm, Jamie Lovemark
10:10 AM: Zach Johnson, Patrick Reed
10:20 AM: Ricky Barnes, Soren Kjeldsen
10:30 AM: Cameron Smith, Kevin Tway
No. 10 Tee
8:30 AM: Charlie Beljan, Ken Duke
8:40 AM: Rory Sabbatini, Hunter Mahan
8:50 AM: Cheng Tsung Pan, Kelly Kraft
9:00 AM: Mark Wilson, John Cook
9:10 AM: Troy Merritt, J.J. Henry
9:20 AM: Mark Anderson, Brett Drewitt
9:30 AM: Michael Thompson, Scott Brown
9:40 AM: Peter Malnati, Brian Gay
9:50 AM: Tyrone Van Aswegen, Sung Kang
10:00 AM: Bryce Molder, Roberto Castro
10:10 AM: Stewart Cink, Ryan Palmer
10:20 AM: Jon Curran, Seung-Yul Noh
10:30 AM: Ryan Blaum, Brad Fritsch
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