PGA Tour: Puerto Rico Open Preview & Betting Tips

The PGA Tour Puerto Rico Open field features some fresh and some tested and proven players – who’s likely to pick up the hardware?

The 10th edition of the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open will tee off without a defending champion in the field.

2016 champion Tony Fineau traded his secure spot in the Puerto Rico Open field and the chance to defend his 1st PGA Tour title for a shot at getting into the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

Fineau’s 5th place finish at the Valspar Championship got him onto the list of Match Play alternates. Now it’s a waiting game for Fineau. He’ll be in Austin rather than at Coco Beach and if he doesn’t get in the field he’ll take the week off.

It’s going to be warm and wet at the Coco Beach Golf and Country Club. The par-72 track will measure 7506 yards this week but will play a bit longer because of weather conditions. Thundershowers on Thursday are likely to result in some 1st round delays but will give way to showers and light rain Friday-Sunday. A wet golf course combined with light winds could make the greens receptive but reduce roll-out, complicating course management strategies.

Top 3 to Contend

With Fineau out, Wesley Bryan is the highest ranked player in the field and stands a good chance of improving his 72nd rank this week.

The South Carolinian’s game is looking very good right now. He’s recorded 3 top-10 finishes in his last 4 PGA Tour starts. Coco Beach could give Bryan’s resume a boost, adding his 1st PGA Tour win to three 2016 Web.com victories. However, Bryan has no prior experience with Coco Beach and that could put him at a slight disadvantage given the weather conditions.

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I’m looking for Danny Lee and Chris Kirk to both deliver strong games this week. Either of them could successfully challenge Wesley Bryan and end up taking home the hardware.

Danny Lee’s 106th rank doesn’t accurately reflect his potential for a breakout. Although Lee hasn’t delivered the game he was playing two years ago I think it may just be a matter of getting his head back in the game.

His putting has been soft this year. But if Lee can channel his 2014 runner-up finish at Coco Beach and whatever he was doing right in 2015 he could easily be in contention this week.

Chris Kirk is another good bet for the win at Coco Beach, perhaps a stronger challenger than Danny Lee if you judge by his 86th OWGR ranking. However, two consecutive missed cuts – at the Valspar Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational – may figure negatively into Kirk’s mental confidence equation.

This is also Kirk’s first Puerto Rico Open – he’s previously played in the WGC events scheduled opposite the Open. So Coco Beach is a new venue for him as well as Wesley Bryan. That could be another reason to give Danny Lee a little more love.

Kirk has has a strong early season, through Mayakoba, and then seems to have slipped into a slump. Despite his problems, which I think are probably temporary, he’s still holding his own around the greens and on the putting surface – he’s ranked 95th on the Tour in SG: around-the-green and 26th in SG: putting. Given what’s been going on since the RSM Classic, when he started missing cuts, those are impressive stats.

Sleepers

Three players could easily emerge as challengers to the top of the field and run away with the tournament: Bryson DeChambeau, Fabian Gomez, and Graeme McDowell. They’ll all bear watching.

Bryson DeChambeau may be short on experience but he’s not short on raw talent or self-confidence, the essential ingredients in a recipe for golf success. The cocky young Californian is still settling into the rhythm of pro competition and his stats aren’t particularly impressive, but there’s enough game in his bag that if that invisible switch flips to the on position he could easily charge ahead of the field. With DeChambeau it’s not a question of “if?”, but “when?”

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Fabian Gomez seems to have one win per year in his bag – the 2015 St. Jude Classic and the 2016 Sony Open. The Argentine is having an up and down season – 10 starts, 5 cuts made, but that’s just about where was at this point in his 2016 season.  If you’re looking for a long shot who’s shown that he can get the job done, Gomez could be your pick this week.

In terms of experience and proven ability to stay the course, Graeme McDowell is certainly well-ahead of the entire Puerto Rico Open.  McDowell’s very respectable resume includes the 2010 US Open championship among his 14 worldwide career pro victories.

He’s playing a lighter schedule than the younger, hungrier players in the field but he’s earned that privilege.  Look for McDowell to survive the cut and stay in the field. He’ll effectively manage the threatening adverse conditions and perhaps come out on top on Sunday.

Next: WGC-Match Play Power Rankings

Who are you liking for the Puerto Rico Open? Where would you Graham Delaet and Ian Poulter? They’re also likely to get themselves onto the front page of the board this week.