PGA Tour Preview: Bermuda Championship

This week’s PGA Tour action is the Bermuda Championship. Here’s a full preview of the action from the Golf Insider…

Bermuda Championship

This tournament returns to the rotation in 2020 after its inaugural running last year – so there’s not a whole lot of form to work on. What we do know is that we have a foreign location.  It’s also situated at what one might consider an exotic, resort-style venue. The make-up of the field, as a result, is not the typical high standard we see regularly on the PGA Tour, with the line-up populated by any number of journeyman players, up-and-coming talent, and perennial bridesmaids. Yes, there are a few familiar names competing this week, but far fewer than normal. This could all be viewed as ingredients to produce a lower than normal standard of competition but, if anything, the desire to win among this week’s players is arguably stronger than many other tournaments.

The Course

We do know a little about the course as it was the host venue for the Grand Slam of Golf (an annual four-man, two-round shootout between the previous year’s four Major champions) which ran from 2009 to 2014. It’s the Port Royal GC in Southampton, Bermuda. The venue is located right on the Atlantic coast and features several signature holes (notably the treacherous over-water par-3 16th). It was designed by Robert Trent Jones and will be set-up as a par 71, laid out over 6,842 yards. There is some performance data available from the Grand Slam days… all of which suggests scoring will be easy enough for those players who can handle the conditions.

The Field

A standard field of 150+ golfers line up for this week’s tournament. Will Zalatoris is the $11 favourite with TopSport.

The Weather

The rain forecast is 10% – 20% – 20% – 40% over the four days, so by and large it’ll be dry. Temperatures will be in high 70s throughout the tournament, and wind speeds will be generally within manageable limits – although on Friday gusts of 20mph plus are expected.

Outright value bets

Emiliano Grillo – currently $31 with TopSport

My one pick near the top of the market is the Argentine, Grillo. This tee-to-green machine should find this course very much to his liking, and his stats in recent events would suggest that he’ll go well this week, on one condition. He must putt well. In his last four starts Grillo has ranked 3-10-11-10 among the field for Greens-In-Regulation and comes here on the back of eight straight cuts made. The best of his finishes during this time were in the first two of these tournaments (third in the 3M Open, ninth in the Barracuda Championship), but this simply underlines his class in a field of this quality. We last backed Grillo in a similar event, the Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic, and if he can sharpen up his putting this week, I give him a solid chance at the price.

Camilo Villegas – currently $101 with TopSport

There’s no doubting that Villegas can play, and win. The Columbian is a four-time PGA Tour winner. Why is he playing here, and why is he such a big price? The reason is that the last of these wins came in 2014. Since then it’s been a struggle with form and injuries (shoulder), although he did lose a play-off in the RSM Classic in 2017. Villegas missed all of 2019, and played just once on tour in 2020, so if back to anything near fitness, then he’s a huge price in this field. He’s played three times on the Korn Ferry Tour, and made three starts on the PGA circuit (two MCs, but one positive 23rd at the Sanderson Farms). A calculated gamble this on a player of considerable ability who could find his range in this off-week.