Our expert reveals his betting tips at the 2026 Waste Management Phoenix Open.
The PGA Tour season gathers momentum in February, with the ever-popular Waste Management Phoenix Open followed next week by the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The WM Phoenix Open is golf’s loudest week of the year, a raucous stop at TPC Scottsdale that feels more like a major sporting event than a regular Tour stop.
Dubbed “The Greatest Show on Grass”, the Phoenix Open is famous for its stadium par-3 16th hole, where tens of thousands of fans turn a routine tee shot into one of the most intimidating moments in professional golf. Birdies are roared, bogeys are booed, beer cups litter the green, and players either thrive on the noise or crumble under it.
It regularly attracts one of the strongest fields outside the majors and Signature Events, but who is our expert tipping for success in Phoenix?
Waste Management Phoenix Open key details
Dates: February 5–8, 2026
Venue: TPC Scottsdale (Stadium Course), Arizona
Format: 72-hole stroke play
Purse: $9.6 million
FedEx Cup points: 500
Previous winner: Thomas Detry Taylor (-24)
Waste Management Phoenix Open TV coverage
US viewers can follow the action across Golf Channel and CBS:
Thursday: Golf Channel and NBC Sports app from 3.30pm ET
Friday: Golf Channel and NBC Sports app from 3.30pm ET
Saturday: Golf Channel and NBC Sports app from 12pm ET
Sunday: Golf Channel and NBC Sports app from 12pm ET
UK viewers can watch live on Sky Sports:
Thursday: Sky Sports Golf from 2.15pm GMT
Friday: Sky Sports Golf from 2.15pm GMT
Saturday: Sky Sports Golf from 5pm GMT
Sunday: Sky Sports Golf from 5pm GMT
2026 Waste Management Phoenix Open betting tips
The Banker: Hideki Matsuyama 28/1 e/w (BetMGM 6 Places 1/5 Odds)
After backing him at a shorter price to win at Torrey Pines, I would be remiss if I did not chance Hideki again at the Phoenix Open, an event he has won twice.
Yes, Hideki won here back-to-back in 2017 and 2018, and prior to those two wins he had finished 4th on debut and 2nd in his next start. In his first four starts here, he spent more time inside the top 3 than out of it, so it’s perhaps curious that his best finish since his back-to-back wins was an 8th place four years ago.
Had his first seven starts here read 15-16-42-8-29-22-25, we would perhaps be banking on him winning here at some point in the future, but because that’s his run since going 4-2-1-1 in his first four starts, it is seen as somewhat negative.
I am just going to put it down to variance, and instead focus on the fact that he’s now finished 13th or better in his last four official PGA Tour starts, and won the Hero World Challenge in between.
Last week he opened with a 64 on the North Course to sit 3rd, but a disappointing Friday left him up against it, so the fact he climbed back into 9th on Saturday and finished 11th suggests he’s in good nick.
Matsuyama has ranked 7th and 14th in SG Approach and 3rd and 18th in SG Tee to Green in his first two starts of the year, so he’s back to his metronomic self from tee to green. We now just need to get the putter firing, which it certainly can do here.
Yes, there’s a slight hint of FOMO after backing him last week, but even had I have left him off the staking plan last week, he’d still rate as the best bet for me at the top of the market, despite concerns that Scottie Scheffler could ruin it for everyone again.
The Outsider: Pierceson Coody 66/1 e/w (BetMGM 6 Places 1/5 Odds)
I was close to backing Pierceson Coody last week and couldn’t pull the trigger due to poor course form, so the fact he finished 2nd last week shows just how well he is playing.
That is now in front of everyone, as he’s now finished 3rd in Utah toward the end of 2025, and 2nd last week, while posting three top-22 finishes in between, at what look to be less suitable golf courses.
Coody is an incredible driver of the ball, as evidenced by ranking 1st in SG Off the Tee on Tour last year. With that in mind, his biggest asset has been somewhat negated in recent starts at the Sony and the Amex, where he has still played well. Indeed he closed with a 64 at the Sony and opened with a 62 at the AMEX, and a 65 in the final round last week shows his scoring prowess during this run of form.
I am not going to let the fact he’s making his debut here put me off, as he’s clearly playing incredibly well, and while you do not need to hit it far to compete here, it certainly never hurts on the scoreable holes here.
He is a rising talent who has perhaps taken a little bit longer than people expected to get comfortable on the PGA Tour, but the three-time Korn Ferry Tour winner has gone into Sunday with a chance to win on multiple occasions at this level already, and he is seemingly working his way toward doing just that in 2026.
The Longshot: Tony Finau 125/1 e/w (BetMGM 6 Places 1/5 Odds)
Tony Finau was extensively linked with the LIV Tour last year but he rubbished those reports and put his poor form down to a lingering knee injury, which he ended up having surgery on back in October. It’s not been plain sailing in terms of form, but an 11th-place finish last week gives plenty of reason for optimism, and I like his chances at this course.
After a long time in the wilderness, Finau bounced back with a strong performance last week, ranking inside the top 10 for both SG Approach and SG Tee to Green, a huge sign that we might be able to rely on him again going forward.
In terms of his play at this course, for one, there hasn’t been much of it. He has only played here eight times over the years, and only three times has he made the weekend, so we have limited rounds of data to go by. In his last three starts, though, he has finished 2nd-MC-14, so there are signs he’s working it out in Phoenix.
In his most recent missed cut here, he bounced back from an opening 74 with a 68, and he had not been in good form coming in, finishing T40 at the American Express, missing the cut at Torrey Pinea and finishing 28th in Saudi in his three preceding starts. When he finished 14th in 2023, he had finished T9 at Torrey the week before, and when he lost in a playoff here in 2020, he had finished 5th, 14th, and 6th in his first three starts of the year. All this to say that his 11th-place finish last week may be a sign of things to come, and generally, if he’s shown something coming into the week, he’s managed to put something together here in recent years.
Finau has the talent to be in the 33/1 range here and if his effort last week is a sign that he’s back healthy and in form, then we have got him at a huge price this week. If he goes back to struggling, there’s not much lost at 100/1+. Given his effort last week, I would still be comfortable down to the 80/1 mark.
The Bonus Bet: Haotong Li 75/1 e/w (Bet365 8 Places 1/5 Odds)
Haotong Li is by far and away faring the best of the recent DP World Tour graduates, kicking off his 2026 PGA Tour season with 55th, 8th, and 11th-place finishes. When 55th at the Sony, he opened with a 66 and closed with a pair of 69s to settle into life on Tour, and his 8th and 11th place finishes these past two weeks were signs he’s here to stay.
We know Li is talented enough to compete regularly at this level, he’s shown that on multiple occasions in majors, and as a two-time winner in the desert on the DP World Tour, and a regular contender outside of those wins, I can see him liking this test.
A victor over Rory McIlroy in the Dubai Desert Classic, an event the Masters champion has won four times, Li has got the better of the best of the world once before, and he’s also finished runner-up to Dustin Johnson in another desert event in Saudi. A win in Qatar, an 8th in the AMEX, and a multiple contender in other desert events, including when 3rd at the Ras Al Khaimah, Li may well be at his best where the fairway is clearly defined.
The Chinese superstar has now ranked 5th and 8th in the SG Approach the past two starts and 2nd and 7th in SG Tee to Green, so while that is limited data across a couple of rounds, it is a good sign he’s ready to contend again.
Li played with Scheffler in the final round of the Open last year, and while the American obviously got the better of him, that would have been a great experience for Li, who has also led a PGA Championship at halfway, and shot the round of the day on Sunday in another Open Championship.
He’s not one to back down from a challenge and I like his odds here this week, as he continues to find his feet in America.