The final tune-up before next week’s PGA Championship takes place at the AT&T Byron Nelson Championship, which begins Thursday at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas.
Nine of the top 20 players in the Official World Golf Ranking and 16 of the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings are in the field. Field Level Media’s golf experts provide key tournament notes, odds & best bets.
AT&T BYRON NELSON
McKinney, Texas, May 12-15
Course: TPC Craig Ranch (Par 72, 7,468 yards)
Purse: $9.1M (Winner: $1.638M)
Defending Champions: K.H. Lee
FedExCup Leader: Scottie Scheffler
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS); Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS)
PGA Tour Live: Daily feeds on ESPN+
Social Media: @ATTByronNelson (Twitter)
NOTES
–The field includes nine of the top 20 players in the world rankings and 16 of the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings.
–The tournament will be played for the second time at TPC Craig Ranch, which will play host to the event for the next four years. The course led the PGA Tour with the most birdies made last season with 2,007.
–Seung-Yul Noh is making his final start on his Major Medical Extension. He needs to finish in a two-way tie for second or better to remain in the category for the remainder of the season or solo-fifth or better to move into the 126-150 category.
–Dallas native and 12-time PGA Tour winning Justin Leonard will make his first start on tour since the 2017 Valero Texas Open. He will be able to compete on the Champions Tour when he turns 50 on June 15.
–Adam Scott is the only player to have completed the “Texas Slam” with wins at the Byron Nelson, Houston Open, Valero Texas Open and the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge.
BEST BETS
–Texas native and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (+1000 at BetMGM) has won four of his past seven starts. He is second at the sportsbook in total bets (8.2 percent) and money wagered (11.1 percent). Scheffler is being offered at +700 at DraftKings, where he leads with 9 percent of both the total bets and handle.
–Justin Thomas (+1200) will make just his second start in the event (T55 in 2015). He holds the longest active streak on tour with 19 consecutive cuts made and has six top-10s in 11 starts this season. Thomas opened at +1400 at BetMGM but his odds shortened as he is third with 7.3 percent of the handle.
–Sam Burns (+2000) finished runner-up last year and is one of five players with multiple victories this season. His lowest round on tour last year was a 62 in the second round at TPC Craig Ranch. Burns is also +2000 at DraftKings, where he is tied with Scheffler with 9 percent of the handle backing him.
–Jordan Spieth (+2200) tees it up for the first time since winning the RBC Heritage last month. He leads the tour with 15 top-10 finishes in Texas since 2013 and is BetMGM’s second-biggest liability with 7.1 percent of the total bets and 7.2 percent of the handle supporting him.
–Xander Schauffele (+2200) is making his debut at TPC Craig Ranch while coming off a victory with teammate Patrick Cantlay at the Zurich Classic.
–Will Zalatoris (+2200) finished T17 last year and has five top-10s in 13 starts this season. He is BetMGM’s biggest liability this week. Zalatoris opened at +2500 but his odds shortened by leading the sportsbook with 10.3 percent of the winning bets and 14.6 percent of the handle.
–Hideki Matsuyama (+2500) has seen his odds shift after opening at +2800. He was still at +2800 on Wednesday at DraftKings, where he had drawn 5 percent of the handle.
–Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz (+15000) has missed four of his past five cuts but calls Dallas home and has lived in Texas for the past 13 years.
–Field Level Media