Safeway Open tips, rankings and key insights

Safeway Open top 10 vs field rankings
(est. fair odds to 100%)

1. Justin Thomas 10/1 Free £20 matched bet
2. Patrick Cantlay 12/1 Free £20 matched bet
3. Hideki Matsuyama 14/1
4. Sungjae Im 20/1
5. Byeong Hun an 20/1
6. Bryson De Chambeau 22/1
7. Collin Morikawa 25/1
8. Brandt Snedeker 25/1
9. Kevin Na 28/1
10. Ryan Moore 28/1


Safeway Open - offer for new customers: Free £20 matched golf bet at Betfair (click link)

Course: Silverado Resort (North), par 72 7,166 yards

Key features: Old school, treelined, parkland track. Dense, "muggy" air. Narrow tricky greens. Aesthetically similar to Augusta (Lush green, with white sands) - according to course redesigner and resort owner Johnny Miller

Premium on: Strokes gained tee to green, distance control, strokes gained approach (or proximity)

He said: "The air is like mud in this part of the States so the course plays longer than it looks" - Miller

Course specialists: Brendan Steele who has back to back wins @ 90.00 here Ryan Moore

Safeway Open tips

Betfair sportsbook are paying 1/5 8 places EW on the Safeway Open and Dunhill Links (click link)

Sungjae Im 22/1 ew is the obvious play here and he's a decent price because of the bigger names returning. Players like Justin Thomas and Bryson will be rusty though and may be worth taking on. Sungjae's form of 2 - 19 - 15, having lost in playoff last week, is the form man in the field. He finished 33rd in SG: tee to greens last season. He will win soon, very possibly at Silverado.

Byeong Hun An 28/1 ew was 6th in strokes gained tee to green last week on a course requiring similar attributes. He finished 7th in the same stat last season. Showing progressive 47-3 form, An's tee to green game should stand him in good stead around Silverado where I expect the leaderboard to have a similar look.

This week's Draftkings fantasy golf tournaments are up: $8 entry, 250k guaranteed contest - with 50k for first, and the 44$ 100k, 20k to 1st guaranteed (click link)

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Winning Golf Betting Tips:


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Ross McGowan 400/80 to 1 (place), Tony Finau 50/1, Cam Champ 125/1, Cam Davis 125/1, Matt Jones 80/1 and FRL, Max Homa 60/1, Dean Burmester 55/1, Sam Burns 80/1, KH Lee 200/1, Sergio Garcia 70/1 (FRL), Thorbjorn Olesen 45/1 (FRL), Stewart Cink 150/1, Lucas Herbert 175/1 and 60/1

Golf Player Profiles



Please note that player attribute ratings are derived from the official PGA Tour and European Tour golf stats, and updated with a rolling average each golf betting year for precision.


Bryan Nicholson is the pioneer of the progressive form and course fit ratings for golf betting, with the associated progressive form model and course fit profiling model. Bryan is the author of the increasingly popular annual course fit profiling manual and #1 golf betting book Angles & Edges and runs the Sharp Sports Bettors Blog.

What is expected Strokes Gained Course Fit ?

Bryan also pioneered the concept of Expected Strokes Gained Course Fit (xSGF) in golf betting. xSGF can be predicted using my model below. For prospective golf betting tips it projects ahead of time how many shots a player is expected to pick up per round on average on a particular golf course. It's weighed against a neutral golf course of the same rating. For example: Sam Horsfield at Celtic Manor vs TPC Southwind. This number will also portray ability level in terms of strokes gained total. Click "find out more" under the course fit golf betting model for info.

Golf Betting Tips Model

Note: all the most accurate up to date player and course data to input into this interactive golf betting model is in the NicsPicks Course Fit Manual 2022


My course fit profiling model for golf betting tips uses highly evolved golf nuance and betting intuition, precise parameters and inputs based on Bayesian analysis, plus years of empirical evidence through observing, betting and documenting golf and stats... find out more

What is Progressive Form in Golf Betting?

Progressive form in golf betting differs from current form in that players are showing a trend in the right direction in their recent scoring. Trending form has a high predictive value in golf betting and can also catch players under the radar at an inflated price vs their true betting odds. For example - a player shows form of T40 - 24 - 24, but last week he was in the leading PGA Tour group on Sunday with Tiger Woods and had a bad round due to nerves. His finishing position may not fully capture his actual form... See more with our calculators and betting tools

Progressive Form Golf Betting Model



To check the latest player finishing positions for golf betting tips see the official world golf rankings and search/click a golfer. Input these numbers into the interactive golf model above, following the guide.

Best for Golf Betting

  • PGA Tour Official (stats)

  • European Tour (DP World)

  • OWGR.com (rankings and form)

  • Nicspicks Golf Betting Tips


Golf Betting Tips Strategy

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  2. Tips: How to win betting on golf online
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  6. Golf majors: The Masters 2022 preview and picks - Open Championship - US PGA Championship - US Open. Tiger Woods.