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Another week on the PGA Tour, another time zone these players must adapt to. Heading to Bermuda for the third playing of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, competitors find themselves outside the United States for the second consecutive week.
Port Royal Golf Course has the honor of welcoming the PGA Tour as 126 players are set to take on the Robert Trent Jones design. With some work done on the property before the PGA Grand Slam of Golf era, players will need to handle not only the course, but the elements.
With high winds expected throughout the week – specifically Thursday and Sunday – and the possibility of rain in the forecast, those who take to the conditions may find themselves in the driver’s seat. As this is not the first time the wind has wreaked havoc in the Atlantic.
Just last year, Brian Gay came away victorious to the tune of 15-under, a far cry from Brendon Todd’s 24-under number the year before. Likely to find the eventual winner somewhere in the neighborhood of Gay’s score, players can’t go on cruise control on this par-71.
Measuring just north of 6,800 yards, difficult par-3’s and plenty of wedge opportunities will be the task at hand. Needing to consistently find the fairway in order to attack the scorable holes, our head-to-head matchup targets will simply be those players who are striking the ball well at the moment.
Mix in a bit of short-game prowess as winds will likely produce more missed greens in regulation than usual and we have found our way in. The oddsmakers at PointsBet Sportsbook have priced numerous head-to-head matchups ahead of the Bermuda Championship. While we won’t need to pull an all-nighter this week, play is set to begin at 6:35 a.m. EDT tomorrow as a friendly reminder.
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Head-to-Head Matchups (Odds Via PointsBet):
Denny McCarthy (-113) over Taylor Pendrith:
This almost feels like a David vs. Goliath situation given the mere statures of these players. While the skill level differential is hardly that of the Biblical story, McCarthy would technically find himself as David in this scenario. We all know how that one turned out and hopefully this one can play out similarly (minus all the violence).
Making his third appearance this week at the Bermuda Championship, the Argyle Country Club member has very much taken a liking to Port Royal GC. A T-15 finish in his debut was followed up with a T-4 finish just about 12 months ago. Arriving this season with some mixed results, I take solace in knowing McCarthy was in contention not too long ago.
Playing alongside Sam Burns in the final round of the Sanderson Farms Championship, the 28-year-old struggled and eventually finished outside the top-10 in a tie for 17th. Striking the ball competently, it has surprisingly been the putter to let McCarthy down. Losing strokes with the flat stick in 50.00 percent of his rounds this season, he is due for a major bounce back in that department. Having conquered these slow, Bermuda greens in the past, I am comfortable in saying one of the best putters on Tour will do so once again this week.
As opposed to Pendrith whose greatest strength – his distance – is mitigated in a sense at Port Royal GC. Surely an advantage every time he sticks a peg in the ground, the Canadian will be handcuffed this week. Playing his approach shots from similar yardages as the rest of the field, Pendrith’s approach play has yet to answer the bell on the PGA Tour.
Despite making all three cuts to begin his rookie campaign, Pendrith has lost strokes on approach in each of them, averaging –3.5 Strokes Gained: Approach per tournament. Couple this with some shortcomings on par-4’s and the 30-year-old could run into some trouble at Port Royal GC.
Mito Pereira (-109) over Patrick Reed:
I hate going against Reed given he is the most decorated player in this field, but the recent form is a bit concerning for me. Coming off his health battle late last season, the former Masters champion has not looked like his normal-self. Missing the cut badly at the Shriners Children’s Open, Reed followed up his poor performance at TPC Summerlin with another one down the road at The Summit Club.
Finishing in a tie for 68th, the 31-year-old posted –7.6 SG: Tee-to-Green, narrowly edging out his play the week prior which produced –7.7 SG: Tee-to-Green in only two rounds. He now comes to Bermuda for the first-time where I see him relying too much on his short-game as the week progresses. While he may be the best player in the world in that department, I believe it will become too stressful and boil over into yet another disappointing outing.
On the other end of the spectrum is Pereira who has continued to impress after a strong finish to last season. Posting +11.3, +8.5, and +5.9 SG: Tee-to-Green in his three outings, the Chilean has captured a top-5 finish to go along with two top-40 finishes. These results could have been even better if the putter decided to cooperate, something I am unsure of at Port Royal GC.
Despite this, the rest of his game and the inherent steadiness he possesses and Reed lacks is the main reason for this selection. Even if the putter decides it does not want to play in the Bermuda Championship, his tee-to-green play has been that good and should produce another quality result.
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