It’s been impossible to imagine the Waste Management Phoenix Open getting any bigger. It’s already an annual exercise in excess that pushes the limits of live golf attendance and party atmosphere right up to the edge, occasionally spilling over but never past the point of no return. 

This year? We’ll see about this year. 

TPC Scottsdale has always been the biggest spectacle on Tour regardless of who was teeing it up. Of the 700,000-plus weekly attendees, thousands will come and go without ever having seen a golf shot. But this is now one of the Tour’s ‘elevated’ events, with a purse increase to $20 million drawing a major-quality field. That's great for golf betting and for our daily fantasy sports play.

The Phoenix area faithful always deliver the vibes, but this is suddenly one of the most highly-anticipated golf daily fantasy and betting weeks of the entire season. It’s about to get loud. 

Last Week: Another sleepy Pebble Beach Pro-Am finished a day behind schedule, with Justin Rose storming ahead for a three-shot victory over Brendon Todd and Brandon Wu. Rose was priced at $9,500 for the week and got it done on Monday morning after several weather delays pushed the action back a day. Rose isn’t in the Waste Management field this week, while Todd is priced at $7,100 and Wu is priced $6,400 on DraftKings DFS.

2023 Waste Management Phoenix Open Details

Course: Scottsdale, Arizona

TPC Scottsdale: 7,261 yards, Par 71. Greens: Bermuda

Past Winners

• 2022 – Scottie Scheffler, 268 (-16)
• 2021 – Brooks Koepka, 265 (-19)
• 2020 – Webb Simpson, 267 (-17)
• 2019 – Rickie Fowler, 267 (-17)
• 2018 – Gary Woodland, 266 (-18)
• 2017 – Hideki Matsuyama, 267 (-17)
• 2016 – Hideki Matsuyama, 270 (-14)
• 2015 – Brooks Koepka, 269 (-15)
• 2014 – Kevin Stadler, 268 (-16)
• 2013 – Phil Mickelson, 256 (-28)

2023 Waste Management Phoenix Open DFS Picks By Price

11K-9K Range Phoenix Open DFS Picks

Justin Thomas, $9,800: Pretty much every top player in the world outside of Will Zalatoris is in the field this week, so unlike last week there will be very tough choices to make on top of the board. We’re gonna start off with Thomas, who’s running cheaper than players like Max Homa and Tony Finau due to a slow start to the year. But he’s been T-13 or better in his last four starts at TPC Scottsdale, including three top-10s. He’s been struggling with the putter lately, but these greens have treated him well over the years and we expect a big bounce-back week from Thomas. 

Patrick Cantlay, $9,500: Cantlay has only been here once, but it’s not surprising after he lost out to Scottie Scheffler in a playoff to finish solo second. He seems to love desert golf and always tears it up at the Shriner’s in Nevada, where he picked up his first Tour win in 2017. He still flies under the radar most weeks despite winning six times over the last two seasons. He hits it long and straight, which is a big deal this week as things can get a little dicey off the fairway. This is a tee-to-green course and few do it better than Cantlay. We also love the consistency and stone-cold persona, which definitely helps this week more than others.

9K-8K Range Phoenix Open DFS Picks

Sahith Theegala, $8,500: Theegala made his TPC Scottsdale debut on a sponsor’s exemption last year. He held the outright lead after Rounds 2 and 3 and finished T-3, one of five top-10s in his first full season on Tour. The driving stats aren’t as sharp as we’d normally like to see on this track, but something clearly fit his eye here last year as he wasn’t playing very well in the weeks leading up. He already has four top-10s this season and is coming off a T-4 two weeks ago at Torrey Pines. Priced just below the likes of Jordan Spieth and Sam Burns, we like Theegala in this ballpark. 

Tyrrell Hatton, $8,400: Hatton hasn’t played a lot on the big Tour this season, but he’s been crushing it on the DP World Tour – he’s made 13 consecutive cuts worldwide, and he finished T-15 or better in seven of those tournaments. He was also T-15 in his only prior start at the Waste Management back in 2019. The putter has been on fire, he’s hitting it well off the tee and we think Hatton should make a serious run this weekend. 

8K-7K Range Phoenix Open DFS Picks

K.H. Lee, $7,500: They don’t call him TPC Lee for nothing, folks. Something about these setups brings out the best in the 31-year-old. He’s played this tournament three times and logged a T-2 in his second go-round in 2021, opening with three consecutive rounds of 5-under 66 before closing with a 3-under 68. He already has two top-10s this season as a fairways-and-greens machine, ranking 32^nd in driving accuracy and fifth in greens in regulation. Lee missed the cut his last time out at the American Express, but it came after back-to-back weeks playing in Hawaii. Now he’s had time to take a breather and should be at his best this week in Scottsdale. 

J.T. Poston, $7,300: We like Poston’s consistency of late – ability to handle different venues and different environments usually bodes well around here, where the intangibles are off the charts thanks to the crowd. Poston has gone T-6, T-21, T-21, T-21 in his last four starts and he’s played well at this venue traditionally, logging a T-23 last year and T-11 in 2021. He keeps it in the short stuff off the tee, makes a ton of birdies and the irons have been hot lately. He’ll definitely be hanging around if the putter cooperates. 

7K and Below Phoenix Open DFS Picks

Hayden Buckley, $6,800: Buckley has probably been dying to tee it up again given the way things went his last time out at Torrey Pines. He was coming off a solo second at the Sony Open in Hawaii and just two shots off the lead after shooting 66 in Round 1. He fell apart and shot 80 in Round 2 to miss the cut, but we expect a strong response at TPC Scottsdale. Buckley drives it beautifully and should be in good position on almost every hole. He’s also solid and consistent-if-not-spectacular throughout the rest of the bag. We’ll take a shot on Buckley this week.

Nate Lashley, $6,500: Diving deep into the bargain bin, this is a good week to take a flyer on Lashley. He hits it straight off the tee and finished T-3 at his Waste Management debut in 2020. He was also T-17 in 2021, and he wasn’t playing particularly well at recent events in those years. He definitely likes the course and can obviously handle the crowds having enjoyed success here. With crowds going ballistic for all the big names and fan-favorites, sometimes anonymous journeyman status can give players an advantage here as they quietly go about their business. 

2023 Waste Management Phoenix Open, Date & TV

When: Thursday-Sunday, Feb. 9-12

Where: TPC Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona

TV: Golf Channel, CBS