Safeway Open Preview | Course, Field, What to Watch For

After a very weird 2019-2020 season, the PGA TOUR is right back at it this week for the start of the 2020-2021 calendar. Tomorrow is the start of the Safeway Open, an annual smaller event on TOUR, but some big names are still in the field. Jordan Spieth, looking for his first win since the 2017 Open, Phil Mickelson fresh off a PGA TOUR Champions title, among others. Let’s get into a course preview.

Course Preview 

The Safeway Open has been held at Silverado North for the last several years, and has been a fantastic addition to the TOUR stops. Silverado will play as a Par 72, just under 7,200 yards.  There has been an illuminated orange glow in the sky due to the wildfires in the area.

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The course opened in 1955, but was redesigned just 11 years later in 1966 by Robert Trent Jones Jr. The greens are poa annua, which will affect some of the players in the field. Locals in the area will be very comfortable around this golf course. The fairways are tree-lined, making driving accuracy very important this week. With 4 Par 5’s, at a shorter course, making birdies at Silverado will be important. 

Field

Phil Mickelson enters the week as the favorite in the field. His game is in a great spot, which was made apparent by his wire-to-wire victory on the Champions TOUR just a few weeks ago. He is very familiar with this area of the country, and has played at this course many times. He will look to keep in good form, as next week is the US Open, the only major Phil has never won. 

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Jordan Spieth needs a win. He’s stayed on the map, but for the wrong reasons. He has made the game too complicated, thinking too much about his swing, and that has proved to be detrimental. He hasn’t won since mid-2017, but this week he is looking to change that. He wasn’t in the playoffs for long, so hopefully he got his game in a better spot over the last few weeks. 

Brenden Steele returns to a course where he has performed well in the past. He is the 2016 and 2017 champion, and has had Top 25 finishes in the two years since. He has shown glimpses of really good golf over the last month or so, so he will rely on that as he looks to add a 3rd Safeway Open title to his trophy case. 

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Last year’s winner Cameron Champ is back in the field this week. His victory here last year was an emotional one. His grandfather was battling cancer just a short drive away in Sacramento, CA. They facetimed on the green after his win, but he would pass away just a month later. Hopefully Champ can have another special week in Napa. 

What to Watch For

Due to the schedule changes, this week is all about getting ready for the US Open. Of course, it would be nice to add a win to your resume, but most guys in the field are using this tournament to get ready for next week. We will see if the cross-country flight will hurt anybody, as they have to go from Napa, CA to NY. 

Featured Groups 

Brandt Snedeker, Jordan Spieth, Jim Furyk

Thursday: 12:30 p.m., No. 1; Friday: 7:30 a.m., No. 10

Keegan Bradley, Pat Perez, Kevin Streelman

12:40 p.m., No. 1; Friday: 7:40 a.m., No. 10

Shane Lowry, Phil Mickelson, Brendan Steele

12:30 p.m., No. 1; Thursday: 7:30 a.m., No. 10

Kevin Tway, Sergio Garcia, Emiliano Grillo

12:40 p.m., No. 1; Thursday: 7:40 a.m., No. 10

My Pick to Win 

Brendan Steele is coming off 3 straight Top 10’s, and loves this golf course. I’m taking him.