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After two weeks of Hawaiian fun the PGA Tour heads to the mainland for the start of the West Coast Swing. For the most part, this stage of the season is defined by tricky poa annua grass on the greens and locations near the Pacific Ocean – but not this week. Instead the tour has an easier prospect, heading to a location which did much for promoting all notions of resort golf – Palm Springs. There are over 100 courses in the city so it it no surprise that the tournament has made the most of that abundance. Not this year, though. With COVID restrictions required there will be no amateurs this time around and just the two courses used (rather than the usual three or four). This is the sixth year that PGA West Stadium (7,113-yards, par-72) and the Nicklaus Tournament Course (7,152-yards, par-72) have been used, the former the official host and being utilised at the weekend (both tracks have Bermuda grass on the greens). This could be a significant change – 54 holes rather than 36 on the Pete Dye design, not least because it is said to share similar hope shapes to TPC Sawgrass. However, Phil Mickelson, the tournament host, has highlighted key differences when playing it (there is no comparable rough): “My game plan ... is bomb it down there as close to the greens as you can. The fairways are tight in a lot of areas (but) if I miss fairways, I have wedges or short irons in.” Martin Piller highlighted another possibility – when Q School was still a thing, it was held here, therefore: “I’ve played (it) a bunch throughout the years. It’s a tough course, but I always play it really well.” Note that it was set up tougher for Q School than for this event – although that may change with no amateurs to be catered for this week. A final thought: Adam Long won here two years ago off the back of a run of eight failures to break the top 60 (seven of them missed cuts) and Andrew Landry last year also missed seven of eight missed cuts in his run-up to this week. In other words, strange things do happen in Palm Springs ... Angles to consider 1/ Par 4 Performance Of the last five winners, three (Andrew Landry, Hudson Swafford, Jason Dufner) ranked first on these holes, Adam Long was second and Jon Rahm fifth. 2/ Putting Average The Strokes Gained rankings of winners are, to be frank, all over the place. Landry, Rahm and Swafford were top ten in both Off the Tee and Approach, Dufner poor in both, Long very poor in both. Three of those winners were dreadful Around the Green, none of them top five for Putting. However, in traditional stats, Landry and Long topped the Putting Average, Dufner ranked fifth and Rahm, though eighth, needed just 1.56. When greens are hit the putts will need to frequently drop. 3/ Pete Dye Some golfers really don’t like his designs, others thrive on them. Think TPC Sawgrass, Harbour Town, River Highlands, Kiawah Island, Whistling Straits, Crooked Stick, TPC Louisiana. 4/ Rust-free In the last seven years four in five top three finishers did not make this week their first post-holiday start – in other words they’d teed it up at some point during the Hawaiian fortnight which precedes this event.
Selections The above angles have been used to create a shortlist from which the following players are selected. Abraham Ancer Had three top 20s on the trot ahead of missing the cut last week and that might work in his favour – he’ll have fancied his chances at Waialae so his expectations might be a little less inflated this week. Finished second in the event last year with a final round 63 on the Stadium Course, has finished second on Dye’s Harbour Town, solid Par 4 and PA stats. Si Woo Kim Finished ninth in the event back in 2016 and is something of a Dye specialist with a win at TPC Sawgrass in 2017 and second at Harbour Town. Also won at the Wyndham, which demands going low. Carded a 64 and a 65 last week in Hawaii. Brian Harman Finished in the top 25 in four of the last five years and was third in 2017. Twice finished eighth at Sawgrass and has been a 54-hole leader at River Highlands. Solid stats.
Tips: 2-1; +82.20pts 1pt e.w. Abraham Ancer at 30/1 (William Hil 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) 5th 1pt e.w. Si Woo Kim at 66/1 (Unibet 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6) 1st 1pt e.w. Brian Harman at 60/1 (BetFred 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7) 8th
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