The stars of the PGA Tour this week are in Florida for the latest of the Signature Events but for those not fortunate enough to qualify for them they have the chance to earn some corn at the Puerto Rico Open, an event which has plenty of privileges for whoever wins it.
Brice Garnett won the tournament last year but he hasn’t been able to kick on from there and so he is back in the field looking to make a successful defence of his crown but a better than usual field will be out to deny him.
Recent Winners
2024 – Brice Garnett
2023 – Nico Echavarria
2022 – Ryan Brehm
2021 – Branden Grace
2020 – Viktor Hovland
2019 – Martin Trainer
2018 – No Tournament
2017 – D.A. Points
2016 – Tony Finau
2015 – Alex Cejka
The Course
The Coco Beach Golf and Country Club is once again the venue for this tournament as always, although it now goes by the name of the Grand Reserve Country Club. It is a par 72 which goes up to 7,506 yards so on paper it is a long course but it rarely plays to its full yardage, and if you look at the previous winners, rarely is length a key requirement, it is more about hitting the large greens in the right number and then getting the putts to drop. One thing to note is that the nines have been flipped this week.
The other big factor when tackling this event is the wind. This is an exposed track right on the coast so the wind always has an impact, and the forecast this week suggests that the wind is certainly going to play a part. It can kick up without notice anyway so keep your eye on players who specialise in the wind, or at least are not inconvenienced by it. In summary we want good approach players and putters who can handle the wind.
The Field
Clearly we are not going to be looking at a star-studded field this week when you consider that the majority of the star names we see week in and week out are at Bay Hill rather than here. There are still some solid names on show though with the home charge being led by the likes of Ryan Gerard, Bud Cauley and the impressive Patrick Fishburn. It wouldn’t be a surprise were either of those to win their maiden title at this level when we get to the business end on Sunday.
There is a pretty strong European charge on show this week with Niklas Norgaard, Matt Wallace, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Matti Schmid and Antoine Rozner all in with live chances of picking up a PGA Tour and the benefits that go with it. The internationals will be looking to win on overseas soil too and while the home star Rafael Campos isn’t on show the likes of Adam Svensson, Rico Hoey and Takumi Kanaya will be some of the players from outside of Europe and USA looking to land their own piece of history.
Market Leaders
Niklas Norgaard is on debut on the PGA Tour this season and while his opening three tournaments probably haven’t gone to how he would have planned them, he has got better with each one and a T25 at PGA National last week represents decent progress. That has converted him into a 22/1 favourite to land this title but for all of the talent that the Dane has, that feels a little on the short side this early into his life as a PGA Tour player.
Ryan Gerard comes next in the betting at 25/1 which shows how wide open this tournament is. He was T11 on debut here a couple of years ago and after a year of tearing it up on the Korn Ferry Tour since then he arrives as a better player which bodes well for those who fancy him to run well at this price. Gerard has played five PGA Tour events this year but he has finished inside the top 25 in the last three and might just be hitting form at the right time to launch a big challenge here.
Bud Cauley comes third in the market at 28/1 on the best prices. The fact that he has played 205 PGA Tour events and hasn’t won one would definitely be an issue when considering anyone at that sort of price. He hasn’t really troubled the leaderboard workers in any of the three tournaments he has played this season either and he only averages a top five finish on average just over one in every 16 events he plays. He is easy enough to swerve here.
Matt Wallace is the fourth favourite to win another PGA Tour title this week. That is the first thing he has on the three above him in the betting. He knows how to get the job done at this level. We know he will handle the wind because he has a decent record in the UK and if he can get himself into contention then he could easily justify only being 33/1 in the betting. This is a tournament where promise and potential can often triumph over the tried and tested which puts me off a touch.
Main Bets
Adam Schenk opened up his season with a T6 in the Sony Open and while his private life has taken precedent since then with his partner having a baby, he is entitled to go well here on a track where he has run very hot at in the past. Schenk was T25 in the Farmers Insurance Open and the Phoenix Open and got back to action with a missed cut at PGA National last week but he still carded -2 for the two rounds. He has two top 20s in this tournament in the past and seems to be continuing to improve with each season. He feels a decent price to me too.
Lanto Griffin has lost his way a little bit but at his best he was operating at a much higher level than this and the fact that his PGA Tour win came in the Houston Open we know that he is capable of handling the breeze and that should give him a chance of performing well here. Griffin got his tour card back at Q-School and will be looking to fast track his way back to the top of the game and a win here would certainly do no harm in that regard. Griffin has registered a top 10 at Torrey Pines this season and another top 25 in Mexico last time out and he feels primed for a good showing here.
Outsiders
Chad Ramey has won one of these lesser events in his career and generally in conditions where the wind is going to be a factor he handles himself pretty well. This season hasn’t gone to plan so far but I’m not sure we need to worry about his previous form because he is massive down in grade here. Although he missed the cut last week he shot -4 for 36 holes at PGA National which isn’t too shabby and with the knowledge that he can deliver the goods at this level I think he is a fair outsider bet here.
Rikuya Hoshino is quite new to the PGA Tour but one of the reasons he is on it in the first place is because he won the Qatar Masters over on the DP World Tour in similar conditions to what he will face here in terms of an exposed track where hitting the greens is as important as putting. He has done little on the PGA Tour this season but probably hasn’t had conditions to suit very often but he does have that here. This will be by far the weakest field he has lined up in for a while and off the back of a solid effort at PGA National last week I’ll pay to see how well he does here.
Tips
Back A.Schenk to win Puerto Rico Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 36.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-7)
Back L.Griffin to win Puerto Rico Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)
Back C.Ramey to win Puerto Rico Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 61.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-7)
Back R.Hoshino to win Puerto Rico Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)
