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WM Phoenix Open First Round Leader Odds and Prediction

By Iain MacMillan

Scottie Scheffler plays his tee shot on the 16th hole during round three at TPC Scottsdale on Feb.
Scottie Scheffler plays his tee shot on the 16th hole during round three at TPC Scottsdale on Feb. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY
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We are days away from the opening tee shot at the 2023 WM Phoenix Open.

If you want to read my full betting preview for the event, as well as my picks to win, you can find them here.

In this article, we're talking First Round Leader because not everyone wants to wait for all four rounds to complete to see if they won their bet. Either that or you just want to make the opening round a little bit more exciting.

Let's take a look at the odds to be the first round leader at the WM Phoenix Open and then I'll give you my two picks, one big name and one long shot.

If you want to bet on this week's event, be sure to sign up for an account at DraftKings Sportsbook. If you do so by clicking the link below, you'll receive $150 in bonus bets when you place your first $5 wager!

First Round Leader Odds

First Round Leader Predictions

Scottie Scheffler +1600

If you don't want to bet on Scottie Scheffler to win the event for the third-straight year with the short price of +450, I don't blame you. Instead, you can get a lot more value by just betting on him to be the leader after the first round.

Obviously, as the tournament progresses the cream tends to rise to the top, which means the top guys get much longer odds for to lead after just a single round as anything can happen day one.

Scheffler lead the PGA Tour last season in Round 1 scoring average at 67.91, which was 0.59 strokes better than the next best golfer. He's been even better in the first round in his two starts this season with a Round 1 scoring average of 67.5.

Aaron Rai +8000

I'm going to toss out Aaron Rai as a longshot bet to be the Round 1 leader. It's a small sample size, but he's played his best golf in the opening round so far this season, ranking third in Round 1 scoring average at 65.5 through the first month of the season.

With that being said, this part of his game has carried over from last season where he ranked 40th on the PGA Tour in Round 1 scoring average at 69.81.

TPC Scottsdale is a ball strikers course and it should fit his style of play well. He finished T42 at this event last year, a solid finish for his first time competing at the WM Phoenix Open.

He's worth a sprinkle at 80/1.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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