You can read Liam Williams’ Power Rankings for the Procore Championship at bet365 News.
Course Guide: Silverado Resort and Spa was purchased in 2010 by a small group of individuals including Johnny Miller who soon set about updating both the North and South courses. Set in the rich wine growing country of the Napa Valley, the North Course had played host to the PGA Tour from 1968 to 1976 and also the Champions Tour from 1977 to 1980. Miller’s goal had always been to attract the PGA Tour back to the North Course with a view to potentially landing the U.S. Open or PGA Championship in the future. So 2011 saw Miller re-design both courses with the 1966 Trent Jones Jnr tournament course receiving a renovation that added 250 yards and saw a host of holes re-routed.
North Course, Silverado Resort and Spa, Napa, California: Designer: Trent Jones Jnr, 1966 with a Miller redesign, 2011; Course Type: Classical, Resort, Short; Par: 72; Length: 7,123 yards; Number of Holes with Water In-Play: 2; Number of Sand Bunkers: 53; Acres of Fairway: 22; Fairways: Bermudagrass with Poa Annua, and Rye; Rough: Kentucky Bluegrass and Rye, 2.5″; Greens: 5,400 sq.ft average featuring Bentgrass with Poa Annua; Stimpmeter: 11.5ft.
Course Scoring Average + PGA Tour Difficulty Rank:
- 2024: 71.24 (-0.76), Rank 18 of 51 courses
- 2023: 71.16 (-0.84), Rank 39 of 58 courses
- 2022: 71.52 (-0.48), Rank 21 of 50 courses
- 2021: 71.03 (-0.97), Rank 32 of 50 courses
- 2020: 21 (-1.79), Rank 44 of 51 courses
- 2019: 24 (-0.76), Rank 19 of 41 courses
- 2018: 10 (-0.90), Rank 29 of 49 courses
Fairway Widths (yards): Below are the fairway widths for Silverado and how they compare to recent courses that we’ve seen on Tour:
- Silverado: 250 yards from the tee: 27 yards wide; 275:26; 300:26; 325:27; 350:26.
- Caves Valley: 35-40 yards.
- TPC Southwind: 250 yards from the tee: 29 yards wide; 275:29; 300:28; 325:31; 350:25.
- Sedgefield: 250 yards from tee: 29 yards wide; 275:28; 300:26 325:23; 350:22.
- TPC Twin Cities: 250 yards from the tee: 38 yards wide; 275:38; 300:31; 325:30; 350:36.
- Hurstbourne CC: 25-30 yards at 300 yards.
- TPC Deere Run: 250 yards from tee: 41 yards wide; 275:40; 300:36 325:33; 350:30.
- Detroit Golf Club: 250 yards from tee: 34 yards wide; 275:34; 300:35 325:34; 350:33.
- TPC River Highlands: 250 yards from the tee: 38 yards wide; 275:36; 300:29; 325:29; 350:28.
- Oakmont: 18-28 yards at 300 yards
- TPC Toronto: 35-37 yards at 300 yards.
- Muirfield Village: 24-25 yards at 300 yards.
- Colonial: 25-30 yards at 300 yards.
- Quail Hollow: 28-30 yards at 300 yards.
- The Dunes Golf and Beach Club: 20 – 25 yards at 300 yards.
- Philadelphia Cricket Club: 30-32 yards at 300 yards.
- TPC Craig Ranch: 30 – 40 yards at 300 yards.
- Harbour Town: 250 yards from tee: 29 yards wide; 275:26; 300:22; 325:26; 350:22.
- Oaks Course: 250 yards from tee: 33 yards wide; 275:34; 300:29; 325:27; 350:26.
- Memorial Park: 30 – 40 yards at 300 yards.
- Copperhead: 250 yards from the tee: 24 yards wide; 275:20; 300:21; 325:23 350:19.
- TPC Sawgrass: 250 yards from the tee: 31 yards wide; 275:32; 300:30; 325:28 350:20.
- Bay Hill: 250 yards from the tee: 32 yards wide; 275:33; 300:33; 325:39 350:29.
- PGA National: 250 yards from the tee: 29 yards wide; 275:27; 300:25; 325:27 350:25.
- TPC Scottsdale: 250 yards from the tee: 33 yards wide; 275:30; 300:28; 325:27; 350:27.
- Pebble Beach: 250 yards from the tee: 33 yards wide; 275:33; 300:29; 325:30 350:26.
- Torrey Pines South: 250 yards from the tee: 26 yards wide; 275:27; 300:25; 325:24; 350:23.
- Pete Dye Stadium: 250 yards from the tee: 29 yards wide; 275:27; 300:26; 325:26; 350:24.
- Waialae: 250 yards from the tee: 34 yards wide; 275:32; 300:34; 325:37; 350:34.
- Plantation Course: 250 yards from the tee: 59 yards wide; 275:61; 300:65; 325:60; 350:62.
Course Overview: The North Course is a classical, tree-lined track that’s set up to be scoreable at the Procore Championship. It’s not overly long at around 7,120 yards, however the Par 72 features plenty of dog-legs with Napa Valley Oaks and Redwoods strategically placed to block approach shots. Miller re-routed a number of holes, lengthened the course, and re-worked the bunkering with the goal of creating an ‘Augusta-type’ feel. Fairways are on the tight side and are very difficult to hit – but the penalty is not massive despite 3″ rough. Green complexes and surrounding rough are the main defence with some fairly severe undulations, and with winning totals at -20/268, -21/267, -16/272, -19/269, -21/267, and -17/271 across the last 6 seasons, this course doesn’t offer-up too much resistance when playing well.
This event traditionally favoured free-scoring players who can putt beautifully and confidently on greens that have Poa Annua within their structure. As we know Poa Annua is not every player’s cup of tea. Previous to 2015, a winners’ list with Molder, Blixt, Walker and Bae clearly indicated that strong putters, and those with an excellent scrambling game from the rough, had an advantage in Northern California. But in more recent times, bigger-hitting ball-strikers in the shape of Max Homa (x2), Stewart Cink, Cameron Champ, Kevin Tway, Brendan Steele (x2) and Emiliano Grillo have won here at Silverado.
Set-up wise, the North Course at Silverado is a classical-style golf course – indeed Johnny Miller has a long-term goal of landing a U.S. Open or PGA Championship here. Fairly tight, tree-lined fairways can block approach shots and pin positions can be tucked into areas where accessibility is difficult. To add to the difficulty, 2017 saw 7 green complexes feature closely mown run-off areas which grab wayward approaches. The greens themselves, especially on the front side, are described as severely sloping by many, which in turn has placed Silverado in the top-half of difficulty on Tour when it comes to proximity to the pin since its arrival on the schedule. Another insightful statistic is that the course typically ranks in the top 20 hardest for Going for the Green, which makes sense when so many fairways are missed by the field.
Procore Championship Winners: 2024: Patton Kizzire (-20); 2023: Sahith Theegala (-21); 2022: Max Homa (-16); 2021: Max Homa (-19); 2020: Stewart Cink (-21); 2019: Cameron Champ (-17); 2018: Kevin Tway (-14); 2017: Brendan Steele (-15); 2016: Brendan Steele (-18); 2015: Emiliano Grillo (-15); 2014: Sang-moon Bae (-15); CordeValle Winners: 2013: Jimmy Walker (-17); 2012: Jonas Blixt (-16); 2011: Bryce Molder (-17); 2010: Rocco Mediate (-15).
- 2024: Patton Kizzire 66-65-67-70 -20/268 PM/AM Wave
- 2023: Sahith Theegala 68-64-67-68 -21/267 PM/AM Wave
- 2022: Max Homa 65-67-72-68 -16/272 PM/AM Wave
- 2021: Max Homa 67-72-65-65 -19/269 AM/PM Wave
- 2020: Stewart Cink 67-70-65-65 -21/267 PM/AM Wave
- 2019: Cameron Champ 67-68-67-69 -17/271 AM/PM Wave
- 2018: Kevin Tway 68-67-68-71 -14/274 PM/AM Wave
OWGR of Procore Championship Winners: 2024: Kizzire 257; 2023: Theegala 37; 2022: Homa 22; 2021: Homa 44; 2020: Cink 319; 2019: Champ 170; 2018: Tway 138; 2017: Steele 59.
Datagolf Ranking Procore Championship Winners: 2024: Kizzire 286; 2023: Theegala 35; 2022: Homa 16; 2021: Homa 68.
Cut Line: 2024: -3; 2023: -3; 2022: -2; 2021: -3; 2020: -5; 2019: -2; 2018: -3.
Lead Score Progression:
- 2024: Round 1 -7; Round 2 -13; Round 3 -18; Round 4 -20.
- 2023: Round 1 -9; Round 2 -12; Round 3 -17; Round 4 -21.
- 2022: Round 1 -9; Round 2 -12; Round 3 -13; Round 4 -16.
- 2021: Round 1 -7; Round 2 -12; Round 3 -14; Round 4 -19.
- 2020: Round 1 -9; Round 2 -15; Round 3 -16; Round 4 -21.
- 2019: Round 1 -7; Round 2 -12; Round 3 -14; Round 4 -17.
- 2018: Round 1 -9; Round 2 -13; Round 3 -16; Round 4 -14.
Path to Victory: Below are the end of round positions for the winners of the Procore Championship since 2014:
- 2024 – Patton Kizzire: Round 1: 2nd, Round 2: 1st, Round 3: 1st.
- 2023 – Sahith Theegala: Round 1: 13th, Round 2: 1st, Round 3: 1st.
- 2022 – Max Homa: Round 1: 2nd, Round 2: 1st, Round 3: 2nd.
- 2021 – Max Homa: Round 1: 4th, Round 2: 24th, Round 3: 3rd.
- 2020 – Stewart Cink: Round 1: 11th, Round 2: 26th, Round 3: 7th.
- 2019 – Cameron Champ: Round 1: 5th, Round 2: 3rd, Round 3: 1st.
- 2018 – Kevin Tway: Round 1: 22nd, Round 2: 5th, Round 3: 2nd.
- 2017 – Brendan Steele: Round 1: 1st, Round 2: 2nd, Round 3: 3rd.
- 2016 – Brendan Steele: Round 1: 9th, Round 2: 16th, Round 3: 6th.
- 2015 – Emiliano Grillo: Round 1: 13th, Round 2: 19th, Round 3: 4th.
- 2014 – Sang-moon Bae: Round 1: 1st, Round 2: 2nd, Round 3: 1st.
Shots From the Lead: Below are the Procore Championship winners since 2014 and where they were positioned in terms of shots from the lead during the tournament:
- 2024 – Patton Kizzire: Round 1: 1 back, Round 2: 1 ahead, Round 3: 4 ahead.
- 2023 – Sahith Theegala: Round 1: 5 back, Round 2: level, Round 3: 2 ahead.
- 2022 – Max Homa: Round 1: 2 back, Round 2: level, Round 3: 1 back.
- 2021 – Max Homa: Round 1: 2 back, Round 2: 7 back, Round 3: 2 back.
- 2020 – Stewart Cink: Round 1: 4 back, Round 2: 8 back, Round 3: 2 back.
- 2019 – Cameron Champ: Round 1: 2 back, Round 2: 3 back, Round 3: 3 ahead.
- 2018 – Kevin Tway: Round 1: 1 5 back, Round 2: 4 back, Round 3: 3 back.
- 2017 – Brendan Steele: Round 1: level, Round 2: 1 back, Round 3: 2 back.
- 2016 – Brendan Steele: Round 1: 5 back, Round 2: 9 back, Round 3: 4 back.
- 2015 – Emiliano Grillo: Round 1: 5 back, Round 2: 6 back, Round 3: 2 back.
- 2014 – Sang-moon Bae: Round 1: level, Round 2: 1 back, Round 3: 4 ahead.
Incoming Form of Procore Championship since 2014:
- Patton Kizzire: MC Wyndham/MC 3M Open/8th Barracuda/50th ISCO.
- Sahith Theegala: 15th BMW/13th St Jude/MC 3M Open/MC OC.
- Max Homa: 3rd Tour/23rd BMW/42nd St Jude/24th Rocket.
- Max Homa: 63rd BMW/47th Northern Trust/51st WGC St Jude/40th OC.
- Stewart Cink: MC Wyndham/46th 3M/62nd Memorial/17th Workday.
- Cameron Champ: 28th Sanderson/65th BMW/21st Northern Trust/MC Wyndham.
- Kevin Tway: 43rd Dell Tech/56th Northern Trust/11th Wyndham/23rd Barracuda.
- Brendan Steele: 44th BMW/56th Dell Tech/MC Northern Trust/MC PGA.
- Brendan Steele: 64th BMW/72nd Deutsche/22nd Barclays/17th Travelers.
- Emiliano Grillo: 1st web.com Final/MC Nationwide/2nd Small Business/9th Hotel Fitness.
- Sang-moon Bae: 15th ANA Open/MC Barclays/14th Wyndham/MC Canada.
- Jimmy Walker: 11th BMW/MC Deutsche/54th Barclays/MC Wyndham.
- Jonas Blixt: 3rd Shriners/20th Deutsche/44th Barclays/55th Wyndham.
- Bryce Molder: 10th Shriners/64th Barclays/56th PGA/10th Barracuda.
Tournament Stats: We’ve published some key player statistics for this week’s event that are well worth a look. Naturally they’ll help to shape a view on players who could go well this week: Current Form | Tournament Form | First Round Leader | Combined Stats.
My published predictor is available here. Top 10 of my published predictor are: 1) Scottie Scheffler; 2) Justin Thomas; 3) Sam Burns; 4) Akshay Bhatia; 5) Patrick Cantlay; 6) Harris English; 7) Collin Morikawa; 8) Cameron Young; 9) Russell Henley; 10) Taylor Montgomery.
Procore Championship Winning Prices: 2024: Kizzire 250/1; 2023: Theegala 22/1; 2022: Homa 16/1F; 2021: Homa 60/1; 2020: Cink 200/1; 2019: Champ 150/1; 2018: Tway 66/1; 2017: Steele 33/1; 2016: Steele 50/1; 2015: Grillo 50/1; 2014: Bae 150/1; 2013: Walker 30/1; 2012: Blixt 28/1; 2011: Molder 40/1; 2010: Mediate 150/1. Past 5 Renewals Average: 110/1; Overall Average: 86/1.
Historical Weather:
- 2024: Thursday: Sunny. High of 85. Wind SW 4-8 mph. Friday: Sunny. High of 85. Wind SSW 6-12 mph. Saturday: Sunny. High of 81 Wind SSW 5-10 mph. Sunday: Partly cloudy. High of 72. Wind SW 10-15 mph, with gusts to 22 mph.
- 2023: Thursday: Sunny. High of 85. Wind S 8-15 mph. Friday: Sunny. High of 82. Wind SW 6-12 mph. Saturday: Sunny. High of 80. Wind SW 8-15 mph. Sunday: High of 78. Wind SW 10-18 mph.
- 2022: Thursday: Sunny. High of 79. Wind SW 8-16 mph. Friday: Sunny. High of 79. Wind SW 8-16 mph. Saturday: Mostly sunny. High of 77. Wind SW 12-22 mph. Sunday: Cloudy and rainy. High of 63. Wind SE 10-20 mph. Due to inclement weather, the final round featured threesomes off split tees from 8 – 10:12 a.m. PT. Preferred lies were in effect for the final round.
- 2021: Thursday: Overcast morning leading to a sunny afternoon. High of 76. Wind SW 8-16 mph. Friday: Sunny. High of 75. Wind SW 8-16 mph. Saturday: Mostly cloudy. High of 67. Wind SW 12-22 mph. Sunday: Sunny. High of 77. Wind WNW 6-12 mph.
- 2020: Thursday: Due to fog, the start to round one was delayed one hour and began at 8 a.m. Cloudy, with a high of 69. Wind SSW 5-10 mph. Friday: Partly cloudy, with a high of 70. Wind SW 5-10 mph. Saturday: Hazy filtered sunshine, with a high of 85. Wind SW 4-8 mph. Sunday: Filtered sunshine, with a high of 85. Wind WSW 5-10 mph.
- 2019: Thursday: Sunny. High of 85. Wind SW 6-12 mph, with gusts to 18 mph. Friday: Partly cloudy. High of 77. Wind SW 6-12 mph. Morning tee times were delayed 10 minutes due to fog. Saturday: Partly cloudy. High of 73. Wind NW 12-18 mph, with gusts to 25 mph. Sunday: Sunny. High of 69. Wind W 6-12 mph, with gusts to 18 mph.
- 2018: Thursday: Mostly cloudy with a high of 70. Wind SW 6-12 mph. Friday: Sunny. High of 74. Wind SW 8-15 mph. Saturday: Sunny. High of 78. Wind NW 7-12 mph. Sunday: Sunny and windy, with a high of 84. Wind N 15-25 mph, with gusts to 36 mph.
- 2017: Thursday: Sunny, with a high of 84. Wind SW 5-10 mph. Friday: Sunny, with a high of 84. Wind SW 5-10 mph. Saturday: Sunny, with a high of 86. Wind SW 5-10 mph. Sunday: Sunny, with a high of 84. N wind 15-25 mph, with gusts to 30 mph.
- 2016: Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high of 69. Wind SW 5-10 mph. Friday: Cloudy, with moderate rain showers in the afternoon. High of 66. Wind SW 10-20 mph. Saturday: Mostly cloudy, with a high of 66, with heavy rain in the afternoon. Sunday: Cloudy, with a high of 66. Wind SW 8-15 mph.
- 2015: Thursday: Partly cloudy. High of 78. Wind SW at 8-14 mph. Friday: High of 79. SW wind at 5-10 mph. Saturday: Mostly cloudy. High of 77. Wind S at 10-15 mph. Sunday: Partly cloudy in the afternoon, with a high of 75. SW wind at 6-12 mph.
Weather Forecast: Latest weather forecast for Napa, California is here.
This part of California, famous for its vineyards, is notoriously dry. With little in the way of rain this month and none due in tournament week, we should again see fast fairway conditions. Tournament organisers are likely to produce receptive enough greens, which sometimes firm-up across the weekend. With little wind in the forecast and with temperatures of 22-26 degrees (75-79 Fahrenheit), I would expect the standard high-teens scoring affair.
Player Strokes Gained Rankings: These top 25 in the field rankings are based on an 8-tournament window that stretches back to the Open Championship / Barracuda Championship which includes both PGA Tour and DP World Tour events, where recorded. Player rankings are based on performance relative to the rest of the field:
- Top 25 SG Off The Tee: 1) Cameron Champ; 2) Isaiah Salinda; 3) Austin Eckroat; 4) Cameron Young; 5) Joel Dahmen; 6) Max Homa; 7) Takumi Kanaya / Scottie Scheffler; 9) Russell Henley; 10) J.J. Spaun; 11) Joseph Bramlett / Sam Burns / Rico Hoey; 14) Alex Smalley; 15) Doug Ghim; 16) Steven Fisk; 17) Jesper Svensson; 18) Ryo Hisatsune / Carson Young; 20) Justin Hastings / Maverick McNealy; 22) Harris English / David Ford / Taylor Moore / Hayden Springer.
- Top 25 SG Approach: 1) Ben Kohles / Matt Kuchar; 3) Scottie Scheffler; 4) Russell Henley / J.J. Spaun; 6) Jackson Koivun / Martin Laird / Mac Meissner; 9) Rico Hoey; 10) Mark Hubbard / Keith Mitchell; 12) Akshay Bhatia / Patrick Cantlay / Harry Higgs / David Skinns / Sami Valimaki; 17) David Lipsky / Adam Svensson; 19) Ben Griffin / Max Homa; 21) Harris English; 22) Noah Goodwin; 23) Justin Thomas; 24) Victor Perez; 25) Maverick McNealy.
- Top 25 SG Around The Green: 1) Joseph Bramlett; Taylor Montgomery; 3) Justin Hastings; 4) Adam Svensson; 5) Taylor Moore; 6) Patton Kizzire / Kris Ventura; 8) Garrick Higgo / Justin Thomas; 10) David Lipsky; 11) Max Greyserman; 12) Jackson Koivun; 13) Akshay Bhatia / Patrick Cantlay / Sam Ryder; 16) Paul Peterson; 17) Byeong Hun An / Mac Meissner / Chandler Phillips / J.J. Spaun; 21) Ben Griffin; 22) Harris English; 23) Russell Henley / Scottie Scheffler / Cameron Young.
- Top 25 SG Tee to Green: 1) Ben Kohles; 2) Scottie Scheffler; 3) Jackson Koivun; 4) David Lipsky / Mac Meissner; 6) Russell Henley / Rico Hoey; 8) J.J. Spaun; 9) Harry Higgs; 10) Akshay Bhatia / Cameron Young; 12) Patrick Cantlay; 13) Matt Kuchar; 14) Harris English; 15) Gary Woodland; 16) Noah Goodwin / Keith Mitchell / Carson Young; 19) Sam Burns; 20) Taylor Montgomery / David Skinns / Justin Thomas / Sami Valimaki; 24) Maverick McNealy; 25) Adam Svensson.
- Top 25 SG Putting: 1) Taylor Montgomery; 2) Scottie Scheffler; 3) Ben Martin; 4) Harry English; 5) Kevin Roy; 6) Joel Dahmen / Ben Griffin / Russell Henley; 9) William Mouw / Justin Thomas; 11) Cameron Young; 12) Noah Goodwin; 13) Kris Ventura; 14) Patrick Fishburn / Adam Hadwin / Jeremy Paul / Paul Peterson; 18) J.J. Spaun; 19) Mac Meissner; 20) Joseph Bramlett / Brice Garnett; 22) Hayden Springer; 23) Emiliano Grillo / Jackson Koivun; 25) Brian Campbell / Peter Malnati / Collin Morikawa.
- Top 25 SG Total: 1) Scottie Scheffler; 2) Jackson Koivun; 3) Russell Henley; 4) J.J. Spaun; 5) Harris English / Ben Griffin; 7) Nick Watney; 8) Gary Woodland / Cameron Young; 10) Jonathan Byrd / William Mouw; 12) Akshay Bhatia / Joel Dahmen; 14) Justin Thomas / Sami Valimaki; 16) Patrick Cantlay / David Lipsky; 18) Victor Perez; 19) Patrick Fishburn; 20) Ricky Castillo; 21) Sam Burns / Takumi Kanaya; 23) Taylor Moore; 24) Noah Goodwin / Maverick McNealy / Mac Meissner.
Trends & Key Factors: Analysing the Strokes Gained Stats of the Procore Championship winners here at Silverado gives us a little more insight into the requirements for this classical test:
Strokes Gained Tournament Trends:
- 2024, Patton Kizzire (-20). SG Off the Tee: 34th, SG Approach: 15th, SG Around the Green: 6th, SG Tee to Green: 4th, SG Putting: 1st.
- 2023, Sahith Theegala (-21). SG Off the Tee: 40th, SG Approach: 18th, SG Around the Green: 3rd, SG Tee to Green: 6th, SG Putting: 2nd.
- 2022, Max Homa (-16). SG Off the Tee: 9th, SG Approach: 18th, SG Around the Green: 7th, SG Tee to Green: 1st, SG Putting: 15th.
- 2021, Max Homa (-19). SG Off the Tee: 6th, SG Approach: 12th, SG Around the Green: 15th, SG Tee to Green: 2nd, SG Putting: 14th.
- 2020, Stewart Cink (-21). SG Off the Tee: 18th, SG Approach: 8th, SG Around the Green: 23rd, SG Tee to Green: 2nd, SG Putting: 13th.
- 2019, Cameron Champ (-17). SG Off the Tee: 1st, SG Approach: 13th, SG Around the Green: 19th, SG Tee to Green: 1st, SG Putting: 28th.
- 2018, Kevin Tway (-14). SG Off the Tee: 19th, SG Approach: 23rd, SG Around the Green: 7th, SG Tee to Green: 3rd, SG Putting: 18th.
- 2017, Brendan Steele (-15). SG Off the Tee: 1st, SG Approach: 3rd, SG Around the Green: 48th, SG Tee to Green: 1st, SG Putting: 29th.
- 2016, Brendan Steele (-18). SG Off the Tee: 20th, SG Approach: 8th, SG Around the Green: 38th, SG Tee to Green: 11th, SG Putting: 6th.
Strokes Gained Tournament Skill Averages:
- SG Off the Tee: 16th, SG Approach: 13th, SG Around the Green: 18th, SG Tee to Green: 3rd, SG Putting: 14th.
Across the 2021 to 2024 Procore Championship renewals, statistically from a Strokes Gained perspective the winners gained on average 2.29 strokes per round from Tee to Green (58%) and 1.63 Putting (42%). That’s an exceptionally high Putting number, the likes of which are only higher at a couple of venues namely Copperhead (Valspar Championship) and Memorial Park (Houston Open).
Tournament Trends & Key Factors: Analysing the final stats of the winners here since 2014 gives us a little more insight into the requirements for this test:
- 2024, Patton Kizzire (-20). 302 yards (42nd), 55.4% fairways (9th), 75.0% greens in regulation (16th), 83.3% scrambling (1st), 1.57 putts per GIR (2nd).
- 2023, Sahith Theegala (-21). 303 yards (21st), 44.6% fairways (46th), 73.6% greens in regulation (25th), 73.7 % scrambling (5th), 1.55 putts per GIR (1st).
- 2022, Max Homa (-16). 301 yards (34th), 57.1% fairways (7th), 70.8% greens in regulation (7th), 85.7 % scrambling (3rd), 1.69 putts per GIR (13th).
- 2021, Max Homa (-19). 311 yards (24th), 57.1% fairways (7th), 72.2% greens in regulation (19th), 60.0 % scrambling (42nd), 1.58 putts per GIR (2nd).
- 2020, Stewart Cink (-21). 316 yards (11th), 55.4% fairways (24th), 84.7% greens in regulation (1st), 90.9% scrambling (2nd), 1.74 putts per GIR (52nd).
- 2019, Cameron Champ (-17). 337 yards (1st), 53.6% fairways (21st), 73.6% greens in regulation (10th), 84.2 % scrambling (1st), 1.74 putts per GIR (38th).
- 2018, Kevin Tway (-14). 319 yards (14th), 51.8% fairways (40th), 72.2% greens in regulation (18th), 80.0 % scrambling (1st), 1.73 putts per GIR (22nd).
- 2017, Brendan Steele (-15). 328 yards (1st), 67.9% fairways (3rd), 79.2% greens in regulation (4th), 73.3 % scrambling (7th), 1.81 putts per GIR (60th).
- 2016, Brendan Steele (-18). 292 yards (23rd), 64.3% fairways (5th), 75.0% greens in regulation (21st), 72.2 % scrambling (4th), 1.65 putts per GIR (8th).
- 2015, Emiliano Grillo (-15). 300 yards (37th), 64.3% fairways (8th), 73.6% greens in regulation (16th), 73.7 % scrambling (5th), 1.74 putts per GIR (41st).
- 2014, Sang-moon Bae (-15). 299 yards (26th), 55.4% fairways (45th), 75.0% greens in regulation (6th), 77.8 % scrambling (3rd), 1.70 putts per GIR (18th).
Tournament Skill Averages:
- Driving Distance: 21st, Driving Accuracy: 20th, Greens in Regulation: 13th, Scrambling: 7th, Putting Average 23rd.
For a summary of the Strokes Gained Performances from this week’s field here at Silverado click here.
Let’s take a view from players as to how the North Course at Silverado sets up and what skill sets the course favours:
Patton Kizzire (2024): “Well, playing from the fairway is crucial, it’s crucial to play from the fairway. I was able to hit a few fairways and capitalized, and sometimes I had to get it back in position. I did a great job of just about everything today. I took some punches, but I delivered a lot, too.
Yeah, I love the shapes of the holes, some of the greens have overhanging trees, a lot of slope on the green, a lot of creativity and some decision making. Certain lines you have to make off the tees that have to be really precise. I just enjoy playing it, it’s a really cool golf course and I’ve been able to see the greens really well and roll the ball on that line.”
Sahith Theegala (2023): “Still not used to the new routing of the course, so I just – the back nine now’s definitely the very scorable nine. So starting on the back today, I think it’s kind of nice, you kind of ease into the round versus starting on 1, a couple hard holes right out the gate.
I got really fortunate, I got a couple really nice breaks, specifically on 4 and 6. I had really nice lies in the rough, or nice lie in the rough on 4, able to hit that on the green. I had like a perfect little alley through the trees on 6 and knocked that close. Definitely a bonus when those drives probably should result in some sort of tough par look, but I had two good birdie looks there.”
Max Homa (2022): “I drove the ball unbelievable last year if I remember right. This year my mid irons have been really good, but it’s not too far off. My game honestly from last year all the way to now, from this event last year to now feels very similar, which is great. It’s just a testament to my coach, Mark Blackburn. It feels like I’m doing the same stuff, I’m just getting a little better at it, so it feels quite similar. I get on these greens and I feel like I read them really well. Joe reads them great, so anytime I brought him 2 in for a read I just feel like we have a good eye for the greens. So nothing feels too different, but I’m happy that, last year I felt like I was struggling a little bit around like 150 to 200 and this week it feels much better so some of these par 3s I feel a lot more confident on. Yeah, it’s not too dissimilar.
“Yeah, the North Course fits my eye. I think I know what to do when I’m out of position, I think that’s quite important. And yeah, when I am in position, it fits me. I hit a lot of wedges, been hitting the wedges really well, so when you get a lot of wedges from these fairways I feel like I can attack the pins, and when I’ve been out of position I just feel like I know where to leave the golf ball. I don’t know, I guess I just see the golf course pretty well.”
Max Homa (2021): “I love coming back to California. I seem to play well in California. I love this event, I love this golf course.
My eagle on 16. Yeah, I made the worst swing I’ve made in like a year and a half on the hole prior and fortunately came back and hit a really good drive, had a really good number. I can’t remember what it was, but it was a perfect 7-wood if I just drew it a little. That hole’s interesting, if you just keep it anywhere inside the bunker and right of the pin, it will bounce up onto the green. Went just past. Haven’t made a long putt in a while, so it’s nice to see one go in. Yeah, it was just one of those holes, hit three good shots and good to be 2 under on one hole.
This place is all based you know, yesterday you saw the pins were gnarly and nobody would make a lot of birdies. Today they were definitely more favourable, but you need to be in the fairway or at least on the right angle, but if you hit good shots, you’ll get it close. Yesterday you couldn’t really get the ball too close to the hole, so just depends what they do with the golf course with the pins tomorrow.”
Stewart Cink (2020): “Well, I think the ground has dried out a lot, so the ball’s going farther in the air, but it’s also going farther when it lands, especially off the tees, so you’re having to account for a little bit more of that. The rough is dried out, so it’s playing a little bit more unpredictable than it was before when it was still kind of damp. And the greens are still holding, so I still expect scores to be pretty low today.”
Cameron Champ (2019): “I just play (the par-5s) them as aggressive as I can. Obviously key is getting it in the fairway out here, some of the par 5s are pretty narrow, and then from there, like I said, I usually play my best whenever I stay aggressive and that’s what I try to do on the par 5s. Out here it just depends on the pins. Sometimes I don’t even care if I’m in the rough, it doesn’t really matter. I’ll just try to position it off the tee. If the pin’s far left, I’ll play the right side. And like I said, I’ll take it in the rough being up there hitting driver. So that’s kind of how I look at it this week. For me, the par 5s out here are key. I feel like I have to birdie those with my length, and some of the chances I can have at them, those are key for the rest of the week.”
Kevin Tway: “Yeah, I played in the wind all the time from Oklahoma State, and now I live in Jupiter and it’s windy there, so I’m comfortable with the wind. Got to hit the ball solid and that’s just what I’m trying to do. Yeah, the 2nd hole’s hard, especially when it was cold this morning. I think I hit 2-iron and I don’t hit many 2-irons on par 3s. Yeah, that hole’s tough. If the greens firm up, a couple of pins could be pretty tough, but there’s no wind, so it should be pretty good scoring.”
Brendan Steele: “The difficulty on this course is definitely on the greens. You have to be careful where you leave it. They’re quick and got a lot of slope. A few have tons of slope. Nos. 3, 4, 8, these holes, like if you get on the wrong side you’ve got no chance. As the week goes on it’s going to firm up. If you’re out of position it’s going to be almost impossible to hold the greens, as it was last year. I think even though there are some shorter holes that they’re really good strategically because they have areas where you can’t be always. So you know, okay, if I’m going to lay up here I need to lay up left so I can come in this way or you have the tree in your way or there is a bunker on the other side. If you’re hitting good shots you can score well, and if you’re not hitting good shots it’ll penalized you a little bit.”
Emiliano Grillo: “The course asks you to be aggressive a little bit, but you have to be very smart out there. If you play smart you can score well. Out here you got to play well off the tee. You got to play from the fairway. If not, you can get some bogeys out there. I think the main key is staying patient and hitting some solid shots.”
Justin Rose: “Yeah, this is a golf course where you have to drive it well. If you do drive it well around here, you set up a lot of birdie chances. The par-5s are all within range and then there are a lot of par-4s where you have wedges into the green. That’s why you see guys going low. Also a tricky course. Has its subtleties. You got to put the ball in play. There are some doglegs. Pretty narrow off the tee. It’s kind of the course if you play well you can go low. It’s going to find out our if you’re not on your game.”
First Round Leader Analysis: First round leader(s), their wave and winning score since 2010. Full First Round Leader stats are here.
- 2024 – Lipsky – AM -7/65 – 200/1.
- 2023 – Herbert – PM -9/63 – 55/1.
- 2022 – Lower – PM -8/64 – 100/1.
- 2021 – Reavie – AM -7/65 – 60/1.
- 2020 – Knox – AM -9/63 – 95/1.
- 2019 – Scott/Landry – AM/PM Split -7/65 – 28/1 125/1.
- 2018 – Straka – PM -9/63 – 150/1.
- 2017 – Duncan/Hoge/Steele – All AM -7/65 – 125/1 100/1 45/1.
- 2016 – Piercy – AM -10/62.
- 2015 – Steele – AM -8/64.
- 2014 – Bae/Gonzales AM/PM Split -6/66.
For the record, here’s the breakdown of pure Poa Annua and Bentgrass/Poa Annua mix PGA Tour victors in the field since 2008:
- 4 – Max Homa, Brandt Snedeker.
- 3 – Collin Morikawa.
- 2 – Scott Piercy, Nick Watney, Gary Woodland.
- 1 – Aaron Baddeley, Akshay Bhatia, Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Champ, Harris English, Emiliano Grillo, James Hahn, Tom Hoge, Patton Kizzire, Matt Kuchar, Nate Lashley, Luke List, Andrew Putnam, Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Erik van Rooyen.
The Procore Championship – previously the Fortinet Championship, Safeway Open or Frys.com – produces some interesting trends. In terms of form, Patton Kizzire, Sahith Theegala, Max Homa (2021 win), Stewart Cink, Cameron Champ, Brendan Steele and Kevin Tway of late, highlight that immediate top 10 form is no requirement for victory. Emiliano Grillo in 2015 on the other hand was quite simply playing exceptional golf after winning the web.com (Korn Ferry) Tour Championship on his previous outing.
Theegala, Cink, Steele, Bae, Molder, Blixt and Walker all had previous main Tour top 10 finishes ‘Out-West’ to their names, whilst Max Homa had won the 2021 Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in February, prior to winning here at Silverado in September. Patton Kizzire also had won the Sony Open in 2018 prior to winning this over 6 years later. So West coast form is a definite angle, although ultimately not imperative.
This tournament in recent times has also seen a pretty equal mix of experienced Tour winners and maiden winners – Molder, Blixt and Walker at CordeValle; plus Grillo, Tway and Theegala all won their first PGA Tour titles here.
On the other side, Sang-moon Bae had won at TPC Four Seasons in 2013 prior to winning here in 2014 and Brandon Steele had only tasted PGA Tour victory once, a distant 4 years prior to lifting the trophy here in 2016. Cameron Champ was also another single winner when capturing the title here in 2019, having won the 2018 Sanderson Farms Championship, prior to his win here at Silverado. Stewart Cink had won 6 times on the PGA Tour but was winless for 11 years before winning here in 2020, with Max Homa being a 2-time PGA Tour winner prior to his 2021 victory and a 4-time winner prior to 2022. Patton Kizzire was a 2-time PGA Tour winner prior to winning this in 2024, although he hadn’t tasted victory for a prolonged period of time. As far as patterns go, it’s a veritable melting pot in reality.
Spreading things slightly broader and taking the first tournament after the Tour Championship into account across the last 15 seasons – naturally this includes the ‘Fall Series’ from 2010 through to 2013 – 11 of those 15 tournaments have been won by players ranked in the top 90 in the Official Golf World Rankings. Bae (2014), Tway (2018), Cink (2020) and Kizzire (2024) won with OWGR ranks of 195, 138, 319 and 257 respectively.
- Bill Haas – 2010 Viking Classic – OWGR 89 – 22/1
- Kevin Na – 2011 Shriners Open – OWGR 76 – 60/1
- Ryan Moore – 2012 Shriners Open – OWGR 44 – 14/1
- Jimmy Walker – 2013 Frys.com Open – OWGR 66 – 30/1
- Sang-moon Bae – 2014 Frys.com Open – OWGR 195 – 150/1
- Emiliano Grillo – 2015 Frys.com Open – OWGR 72 – 50/1
- Brendan Steele – 2016 Safeway Open – OWGR 88 – 50/1
- Brendan Steele – 2017 Safeway Open – OWGR 59 – 33/1
- Kevin Tway – 2018 Safeway Open – OWGR 138 – 66/1
- Joaquin Niemann 2019 Greenbrier – OWGR 84 – 28/1
- Stewart Cink 2020 Safeway Open – OWGR 319 – 200/1
- Max Homa – 2021 Fortinet Championship – OWGR 44 – 60/1
- Max Homa – 2022 Fortinet Championship – OWGR 22 – 16/1
- Sahith Theegala – 2023 Fortinet Championship – OWGR 37 – 22/1
- Patton Kizzire – 2024 Procore Championship – OWGR 257 – 250/1
