WM Phoenix Open Power Rankings & Best Bets: How to Make Money Avoiding Scottie Scheffler

The biggest party in golf returns to TPC Scottsdale as The People's Open runs from Thursday through Super Bowl Sunday, with Round 4 finishing just hours before kickoff of the Big Game. Scottie Scheffler, this week's +240 outright betting favorite, tops our WM Phoenix Open power rankings. But who slots in behind him in the field of 123? Here is my PGA Tour top 10 this week, and a bet on each golfer in the rankings.

🗑️ WM Phoenix Open power rankings & best bets

Here are our 2026 WM Phoenix Open power rankings, with the best odds from our best golf betting sites and a bet to make for all 10 golfers:

💡 How I'm betting the WM Phoenix Open

I'm diversifying my betting portfolio this week, as I recommend for any event that includes Scottie Scheffler as the No. 1 golfer in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) and outright betting favorite each week he plays. I consider Scheffler as an outright bet anytime his odds are longer than +215, based on his seven tournament wins in his last 22 events dating back to last year.

My other nine picks for the top 10 in our WM Phoenix Open power rankings are plus-money props, with the golfers ranging from favorites to long shots in the outright WM Phoenix Open odds. I have a futures bet from December on Sahith Theegala to win this week, but I'm hedging that with a bet on a top-5 finish at +1000 odds.

Key stats

I value course history, and tournament experience and success more at the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale than any other event on the PGA Tour, save for the Masters. The tournament has a one-of-a-kind atmosphere, and not all golfers are cut out for the rowdy crowd.

We've seen six of the last 10 runnings of this tournament go to a playoff, so I also expect a tight Sunday leaderboard. That puts a little added emphasis on strokes gained: putting. Here are my key stats:

• Strokes gained: approach
• Strokes gained: around-the-green
• Proximity 150-175 yards
• Driving distance
• Strokes gained: putting

💰 Best bets for our WM Phoenix Open top 10

Here's the analysis for our top 10 WM Phoenix Open power rankings to help with your golf picks this week:

🔟 Sahith Theegala

Best odds to win: +5000
Bet to make: Top 5 finish (+1000 via bet365)
Best WM Phoenix Open finish: 5th (2024)

Why I'm betting Theegala: Back-to-back top-10 finishes after a poor fall swing, with driving distance, a strong short game, and red-hot putting stroke.

9️⃣ Min Woo Lee

Best odds to win: +7000
Bet to make: Top rest of the world player (+1100 via bet365)
Best WM Phoenix Open finish: T-12 (2025)

Why I'm betting Lee: Driving distance to spare and his short game can cook around the greens after he gained some experience with last year's T-12 finish.

8️⃣ Nick Taylor

Best odds to win: +7000
Bet to make: Top 20 after Round 1 (+275 via BetRivers)
Best WM Phoenix Open finish: Win (2024)

Why I'm betting Taylor: The 2024 WM Phoenix Open champ finished T-13 in The Sony Open  with his irons dialed in, and it was his short game that shined in The American Express. He hasn't gained fewer than 0.75 strokes in his last three appearances at TPC Scottsdale.

7️⃣ Sam Burns

Best odds to win: +3300
Bet to make: Top 20 finish (+145 via bet365)
Best WM Phoenix Open finish: T-3 (2024)

Why I'm betting Burns: It's a wonder Burns hasn't won this event before with driving distance and putting being among his consistent top strengths.

6️⃣ Viktor Hovland

Best odds to win: +4000
Bet to make: Top European player (+600 via bet365)
Best WM Phoenix Open finish: T-42 (2023)

Why I'm betting Hovland: Teeing it up stateside for the first time since the Tour Championship, but will be able to rely on his sharp iron play, and benefits from being a crowd favorite wherever he goes.

5️⃣ Hideki Matsuyama

Best odds to win: +3000
Bet to make: Top 20 after Round 1 (+190 via bet365)
Best WM Phoenix Open finish: Win (2016, 2017)

Why I'm betting Matsuyama: The even-keel two-time winner at TPC Scottsdale is seemingly immune to the fanfare and shenanigans, and he comes in with his short game and ball striking complementing each other perfectly.

4️⃣ Xander Schauffele

Best odds to win: +2000
Bet to make: Top 20 finish (+100 via BetRivers)
Best WM Phoenix Open finish: T-2 (2021)

Why I'm betting Schauffele: This is as high as I could rank Schauffele off of his missed cut last week. He had plenty of driving distance at Torrey Pines, but I'm being cautious of a potential injury that took away any accuracy control off the tee.

🥉 Si Woo Kim

Best odds to win: +2500
Bet to make: Top Asian player (+240 via Caesars)
Best WM Phoenix Open finish: T-12 (2024)

Why I'm betting Kim: Nobody's been hotter or more consistent to start the 2026 PGA Tour season than Kim, who gained 2.70 strokes on approach per round last week. His putter has been cold, but he hasn't finished worse than T-23 in three straight trips to TPC Scottsdale.

🥈 Cameron Young

Best odds to win: +2500
Bet to make: Top 10 finish (+250 via BetRivers)
Best WM Phoenix Open finish: T-8 (2024)

Why I'm betting Young: Made his season debut last week and picked up where he left off with his irons finely tuned (1.01 strokes gained: approach per round). One of the longer hitters in the field with back-to-back WM Phoenix Open finishes of T-8 and T-12.

🥇 Scottie Scheffler

Best odds to win: +240
Bet to make: To win (+240 via BetMGM)
Best WM Phoenix Open finish: Win (2022, 2023)

Why I'm betting Scheffler: Dating back to last May, driving accuracy has been Scheffler's lone inconsistency. That won't be punished in the desert.

⛳ WM Phoenix Open tournament info

• Where: TPC Scottsdale (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
• When: Thursday, Feb. 5 - Sunday, Feb. 8
• Field: 123
• Favorite: Scottie Scheffler (+240 via BetMGM)
• Defending champion: Thomas Detry
• Purse: $9.6 million
• FedEx Cup points: 500