2026 Waste Management Phoenix Open: PGA Tour model and fantasy golf rankings
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2026 Waste Management Phoenix Open: PGA Tour model and fantasy golf rankings

CHARLOTTE, NC - MAY 18: Scottie Scheffler (USA) plays his tee shot at the 10th hole during the final round of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Country Club on May 18, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)


Welcome to my weekly fantasy golf model for the 2026 Waste Management Phoenix Open!

Since March 2020, I've shared a weekly model which offers a clear-cut ranking system based on data points weighted in a formula. It's been a tremendous success. Winners typically rank inside the top 15 of our model, though, like any model, sometimes there are outlier champions.

Let me walk you through this week's results and how I get to them. You'll see our top 10 for free, and the rest of the model, including potential sleepers and value picks, is available for GNN members.

2026 Waste Management Phoenix Open: Field | Tournament Model| Rankings | Betting Odds and First Looks | One and Done | Horses for Courses | DFS Picks | Course Breakdowns | Cheat Sheet | Tournament History | Recent Form | Finish Database

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How the rubric works

The biggest chunk of my rubric relies on strokes gained, as well our derivative, Quality Strokes Gained, which weights a player's strokes gained against the depth of field they face. The rubric looks at this data over the longer term and medium term to derive a player's quality across the tour and across different fields. I include specific weighting of strokes gained and Quality Strokes Gained against the field strength that week, creating a range of comparison to see how players do against particular competition.

Next, the rubric accounts for two factors I look at every week: current form in the last 10 PGA Tour events played and their average strokes gained on the host course in the last three years.

All told, the model is designed to point out quality players and boost those middling players who have good current form or good course history.

While I think a long-term view of a player's performance is the best way to measure their potential, there's no doubt that short-term heaters happen. To that end, for GNN members, I also have a short-term model that compares a player's performance to his peers over the last 10 PGA Tour events.

2026 Waste Management Phoenix Open rankings: Top 10

POS PLAYER PTS DK PRICE ODDS
1 Scheffler, Scottie 3.378 14500 240
2 Schauffele, Xander 1.758 10500 2200
3 Straka, Sepp 1.484 7900 8000
4 Hall, Harry 1.31 8100 5000
5 Matsuyama, Hideki 1.245 9600 2600
6 Griffin, Ben 1.173 9500 3000
7 McNealy, Maverick 1.165 9100 3600
8 Kim, Si Woo 1.156 9900 3000
9 Burns, Sam 1.082 9400 2800
10 Spaun, J.J. 0.923 9000 4500

To see our hidden picks and weekly model, join GNN!

For just $40 for 12 months, GNN members get access to our winning weekly PGA Tour event model, in-depth DraftKings picks, searchable database of PGA Tour results from 2011-present and top-15 PGA Tour trends, as well exclusive members-only content.

You'll also have access to our course fit modeling, Quality Stokes Gained data, course demand insights, as well individual access to fantasy expert Ryan Ballengee for your unique questions.

You'll be charged $40 for one year of access from your start date. After signing up below, you'll get an email from us to complete sign-up and account creation.

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About the author

Ryan Ballengee

Ryan Ballengee is founder and editor of Golf News Net. He has been writing and broadcasting about golf for nearly 20 years. Ballengee lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his family. He is currently a +2.6 USGA handicap, and he talks about golf on various social platforms:

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Ballengee can be reached by email at ryan[at]thegolfnewsnet.com

Ryan occasionally links to merchants of his choosing, and GNN may earn a commission from sales generated by those links. See more in GNN's affiliate disclosure.