2017 Puerto Rico Open Golf – Tournament Outright Betting Preview

While the stars of the golfing world are in Texas battling it out in mano et mano action for plenty of bunce the second string will head to Puerto Rico this week for the Puerto Rico Open each with their eyes on one target – a win and all the PGA Tour and FedEx benefits that go with it. That alone makes this a very competitive tournament.

Recent Winners

2016 – Tony Finau

2015 – Alex Cejka

2014 – Chesson Hadley

2013 – Scott Brown

2012 – George McNeill

2011 – Michael Bradley

2010 – Derek Lamely

2009 – Michael Bradley

2008 – Greg Kraft

The Course

Once again the Coco Beach Golf and Country Club will host the tournament. It is a par 72 which measures 7,506 yards so it is fairly long for this sort of tournament but that doesn’t mean that length is the biggest thing around here.

In fact it is completely the opposite. This is a ball striking course although with the exposed nature of it and the wind potentially having an influence you need to be able to shape shots accordingly to score well around here. The greens are large so hitting them isn’t a problem but two putting on them can be so ball strikers who can putt are the order of the day this week.

The Field

It goes without saying that with the WGC Match Play alongside this tournament the field for this event isn’t the strongest. It is quite weak in fact although there are still a few household names hoping to take advantage of the absent star names.

Graeme McDowell is one of those as is Ian Poulter who is getting close to falling off the PGA Tour. He desperately needs a big finish while former winners Alex Cejka, Scott Brown and Chesson Hadley are all back for more.

Market Leaders

It shows how open this tournament is when Wesley Bryan is the favourite for it at 18/1. He has been enjoying himself on the PGA Tour recently although how he will feel with the expectation of favourite remains to be seen. He’s a little short for my liking.

Graeme McDowell will be much happier as a second favourite and he will be happy to be able to concentrate on his golf after co-hosting the tournament last week. Whether his form merits him being second favourite is open to debate but he’ll enjoy any windy conditions that come his way. Graham DeLaet is also 20/1 with McDowell but his putting issues are an instant turn off here.

Luke List is enjoying a decent patch of form and it is no surprise to see his early odds have been shortened quite dramatically. List is in decent form and could be a sleeper pick this week even at 30/1. It is 33/1 bar that named quartet in what looks a wide open betting heat.

Main Bets

I’m going with two main bets this week. One fits all the criteria and the other is something of a course specialist who I can’t really ignore. The criteria man is Ian Poulter. He probably should be defending the title this week having led after 54 holes here last year only to see Tony Finau fly past him on the final day.

I’m not surprised Poulter went well here though. He is a superb wind player who has never relied on length but can plot his way around a golf course as well as anyone and even to this day he remains a decent putter on tough greens. He may not hole as many as he needs to in big events but he can more than hold his own in this field and at 33/1 with his need for a huge week to keep his Tour card I’m prepared to take him here.

Scott Brown isn’t just a former winner here. He has a couple of fifth placed finishes and another top 10 besides that so he must love the place and he has actually admitted that the course suits his eye in interviews in the past. Brown doesn’t necessarily stat well here but something clicks when he enters the compound and given that it was only last month he was runner up around a beast of a track at Riviera we know he is hitting it well. At 33/1 I can’t resist him.

Outsiders

Cameron Tringale is probably in that position in the golfing world where he is a run of form away from being in the WGCs and that means he should be too good for a lot of the field here. Tringale was also in the top 10 at Riviera last month which shows encouragement that he is coming out of a bit of a form slump and if that upward trend continues he could lead this lot a merry dance at a daft price.

It is only eight months ago that Andrew Johnston was finishing in the top 10 of The Open and prior to that just less than a year ago he was winning around Valderrama in extremely windy conditions so we can take from that everything we want here. Beef is clearly comfortable in the wind and why wouldn’t he be playing his golf in Britain. If further confirmation of his wind comfort was needed top 10s in Qatar and the BMW PGA last year tell us that. He is very solid off the tee and very strong into greens. I think he’s a big runner this week.

Chris Stroud has plenty of wind tournament form on his CV. Two years ago he was second in the Alfred Dunhill Links and already this season on the PGA Tour he has a top 20 at Sea Island so resort or exposed golf seems to suit him. We’re taking a bit of a chance on his form but we can afford to do that in a field of this weakness. He does have a couple of top 20s here though so he isn’t a complete no hoper. I’ll chance my arm on him too.

Tips

Back I.Poulter to win Puerto Rico Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Betfred (1/4 1-5)

Back him here:

Back S.Brown to win Puerto Rico Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with BetVictor (1/4 1-5)

Back him here:

Back C.Tringale to win Puerto Rico Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)

Back him here:

Back A.Johnston to win Puerto Rico Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Skybet (1/4 1-5)

Back him here:

Back C.Stroud to win Puerto Rico Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 126.00 with NetBet (1/4 1-5)

Back him here: