Fortinet Championship Predictions
Our golf betting specialists have analyzed the Fortinet Championship and offered their best advice and analysis. The PGA Tour will begin in California for the ninth time in ten years so let’s see how we can make the most of this event!
Key Stat: Hoge had a breakout campaign and captured his first PGA Tour victory by claiming the AT & T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Tip Reasoning
- Hoge has made a strong start to the year after coming second at The AmEx
- He ranked 4th in the 3M Open four events ago, and that was a very good sign because he had looked strong at the Tour Championship, where he finished 10th
- The strength of Hoge’s play is his approach to the game, which he has maintained throughout the entire year
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The Fortinet Championship has gone by numerous names since it first began in 2007. The winning scores have consistently fallen between the mid- to high teens over the 8 years that Silverado has hosted the competition.
Tom Hoge is our first pick for the first tournament of the PGA Tour season. The previous year, Hoge had a breakout campaign and captured his first PGA Tour victory by claiming the AT & T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a dominant showing.
Hoge has made a strong start to the year after coming second at The AmEx in his previous tournament. His form deteriorated in the midst of the year, save for brief flashes, like his ninth-place result at the PGA Championship, but it was quickly reclaimed at the conclusion of the 2021–2022 season. He ranked 4th in the 3M Open four events ago, and that was a very good sign because he had looked strong at the Tour Championship, where he finished 10th, on his first return to East Lake, since his victory at Pebble Beach.
The strength of Hoge’s play is his approach to the game, which he has maintained throughout the entire year, despite performance slumps. On the PGA Tour the year before, he came in at position 11. The 88th-ranked driver is consistent enough and has recently been doing well, earning strokes in three of his past four starts. Additionally, this year has seen a noticeable increase in his driving distance statistics.
He also played well on par 5s, placing 53rd in par 5 scoring, and was a top scrambler on the tour in the previous season, finishing in the top-16. In his previous five trips to Silverado, Hoge has only missed the cut once, and his best performance there was a 17th-place showing in 2019. He also has some encouraging recent form, as demonstrated by his third-place finish at the Sony Open, fifth place at the Farmers Insurance Open, and fourth place at the 3M Open, four previous outings.
Hoge’s first significant triumph came in California last year, where he has also had several of his best career performances. This week, I’m hoping he can add another strong state showing to his résumé. He appears like a potential contender if he can maintain the level of play he showed at the close of the previous season.
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Tip Reasoning
Key Stat: Shelton showed he could play well from the tee to the green during his first tour
- He ranks 24th in overall driving rankings and 12th in par-5 scoring
- In 2019, on his first attempt at this course, he finished 52nd and appeared to be particularly good with the driver and the greens
- He was third at the 3M Open, one of his best 10 PGA Tour performances in 2020
I was quite impressed by Robby Shelton when he first joined the PGA Tour in the 2019–20 season. Three times during that season, he finished in the top 10, which was quite encouraging. However, last year, he struggled a little, which forced him to give up his tour card.
With this year’s victory, the 27-year-old increased his total number of victories on the circuit to four. With the advantage of his time on the PGA Tour in 2020 and 2021, I believe he is a player to watch going forward and someone I expect to win on the PGA Tour. Shelton showed he could play well from the tee to the green during his first tour, but his putter frequently faltered. He has the ability to do well here, as evidenced by his overall driving rankings of 24th and par-5 scoring rankings of 12.
In 2019, on his first attempt at this course, he finished 52nd and appeared to be particularly good with the driver and the greens. He has previously shown hints of it. The fact that he was third at the 3M Open, one of his best 10 PGA Tour performances in 2020, and that he additionally had top 25 results at the Farmers Insurance Open and Sony Open can also be encouraging.
On the back of his winning experience that he developed on the Korn Ferry Tour this year, we think he has what it takes to be in contention. He must be taken into consideration and appears to be a very valuable alternative, despite the fact that there are superior candidates in the field.
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