Phoenix Open 2025 FRL Tips: Sahith to get off to a flyer in Arizona

The boisterous Phoenix Open is next up on the PGA Tour’s calendar and Jamie Worsley has already given us his outright preview. With cooler conditions in the morning, Jamie Worsley attempts to use that to his advantage here to try and find the first-round leader in Arizona.

Here's Jamie's four Phoenix Open 2025 FRL Tips.

The Phoenix Open gets underway at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona tomorrow, and players look set for an excellent day of golf with nigh-on perfect conditions.

Wind isn’t forecast to exceed a mere 6mph throughout the opening day, accompanied by bright, clear skies. However, although temperatures are predicted to reach highs of 27C in the afternoon, the early starters will begin their week in much chillier conditions.

This should hand the advantage to those who tee off in the afternoon, which is not a rarity here. Indeed, of last year’s top 7 after round one, six had an afternoon tee time. With that, I’m going to focus all of my attention on the later starters in this week’s first-round leader market.

1 pt Sahith Theegala each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 50/1

Start time: 12:55

Sahith Theegala hasn’t really got going as yet in 2025, but he now arrives at a course where he’s finished inside the top 5 in two of his three visits. With many low rounds under his belt, he has every chance of landing the first-round lead on Thursday afternoon.

Theegala has by no means been poor at the start of this year, he’s just failed to really threaten the top of the leaderboard, finishing outside the top 30 in his four starts.

He’s done everything well during those events, gaining strokes in each area at least twice, but has ultimately failed to put it all together. That being said, he’s fired his best rounds of the week in round one in two of the four starts and comes into this after shooting a 67 at Pebble Beach to sit 15^th after 18 holes.

Theegala has made each of his three cuts here, finishing 3^rd in 2022, 39^th in 2023 and 5^th last year. He’s twice sat 2^nd after round one, opening with a 5-under 66 in 2022 and a 6-under 65 last year, and with a couple of 64s also to his name, he has the arsenal to score well tomorrow.

0.75 pts Cameron Young each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 60/1

Start time: 12:55

Cameron Young was among the main contenders at TPC Scottsdale entering last year’s final round, eventually settling for an 8^th-place finish. In good first-round form recently, he looks an attractive price to make a fast start on Thursday.

Young started the season well, finishing 8^th in The Sentry but he’ll have to bounce back from disappointing efforts in The AmEx and at Pebble Beach to get in the mix this week.

He has continued to drive it well, which is a key asset around here and in relation to this market, it’s pleasing to see him performing strongly in round one lately, ranking 23^rd for round-one performance for his last 10 starts. This includes opening with a 64 to take the first-round lead on his last start of 2024 in the Hero World Challenge and shooting 66 to sit 4^th after round one in The Sentry.

Young has made the cut in each of his three starts in the Phoenix Open, with that 8^th-place finish last year his best finish. He’s sat inside the top 20 after 18 holes on two of those weeks and with a 66 and several 67s to his name, he knows how to score at the venue.

0.75 pts Harry Hall each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 70/1

Start time: 13:06

Harry Hall has been in great form since the middle part of 2024, finishing inside the top 25 in 11 of his last 15 starts. With many of those performances aided by a quick start, he held plenty of appeal in this market.

Among those results was a breakthrough PGA Tour win in the ISCO Championship back in July. He maintained an excellent level of form thereafter and carried it over into the new season, recording finishes of 8^th, 10^th and 21^st in his first three starts of 2025, before finishing 58^th at Pebble Beach.

He’s sat inside the top 20 after round one in three of those four starts this year, going especially well when opening with a 64 to share the first-round lead at the Sony Open. When combined with his performances at the end of last year, which includes another 64 taking him into 2^nd place after 18 holes of the Shriners Open, he ranks 6^th in this field in round-one performance over his last 10 starts.

Hall was a rock-solid 41^st on debut here last year, despite entering that week in no form. His third-round 67 offers promise that he can find a low one tomorrow, especially with his now much-improved game.

0.75 pts Tom Hoge each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 70/1

Start time: 12:33

Tom Hoge has been the man to follow in this market at the beginning of the year and returning to a venue at which he’s recorded many a low round, he may just be the one to set the pace again on Thursday.

Hoge started this season strongly, finishing 8^th in The Sentry and has continued to look good over his next three starts, the latest of which was a 17^th-place finish at Pebble Beach.

His approach play has been typically superb, ranking 9^th at this early point in the season and he’s also largely fired on the greens. These qualities are ideal for shooting low scores and that’s indeed what he did in The Sentry, opening with a 61 to take the first-round lead and he repeated that feat the following week in the Sony Open, opening with a 64 to share 1^st place in round one.

Hoge has recorded three top 25s at TPC Scottsdale in his last five visits, with the course seemingly suiting his eye on approach and looking comfortable on the greens. He made an excellent start in 2020, shooting a 65 to sit in 4^th place after round one and again recorded a first-round top 10 in 2021, opening with a 66.

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