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In theory this week’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship should have been an opposite field event to the World Golf Championship HSBC Champions. That event was cancelled, but it has not prompted a different field. Not, at least, in the PGA Tour sense. The loss of the WGC event has also, of course, impacted on the European Tour and quite a few players who might have played there have instead opted to make the journey west. Matthew Fitzpatrick leads the betting, closely followed by Christiaan Bezuidenhout, with the likes of Danny Willett, Matthias Schwab, Guido Migliozzi, Thomas Detry, Aaron Rai and Lucas Herbert all at 66/1 or less. It’s a big opportunity for all of them and Fitzpatrick has already noted that his stats team pointed him in the direction of this event ahead of the Houston Open because they perceive it will suit him better. “You've got to be able to control your ball here and for me, growing up in the UK, I've played in plenty of wind. Playing the European Tour as well is the same. “That's probably the No. 1 thing here from what I've been told is, you know, your wind skills. Effectively, how well you control your golf ball is a big factor in people playing well here as well as driving it straight and hitting your irons well as well. “Most places will have approach play as kind of No. 1 most important thing, but on top of that you're looking at driving accuracy and wind here. Those were things that stood out for me more so than Houston, for example.” Ryan Armour has a pair of eighth-placed finishes from his visits and says: “It's not the easiest golf course. It's got its quirks and you've kind of got to go from point A to point B and take your chances with how many looks you get throughout the day.” Harbour Town winner Boo Weekley added: “This is a great little golf course. It’s very similar to Hilton Head, it just ain’t got the trees. Kind of got to hit it in the right spot and leave yourself, you know, certain clubs.”
Angles to consider 1/ Putting No Strokes Gained stats have been collected in the first two editions of the event and, for all the flaws of traditional stats, it does seem clear that putting matters. When he won Todd ranked third for Putting Average and the same rank for Putts per Round. Of the six men who finished tied third or better four ranked top 12 for PA. Last year’s winner Gay ranked sixth for PA and fourth for PPR. Play-off loser Clark was fourth and 23rd, third placed Ollie Schniederjans ninth in both. 2/ El Camaleon form Todd won at El Camaleon two weeks after his success here and Gay is also a past winner there. Both feature tricky sea breezes, the need for accurate golf tee-to-green, and competence on Bermuda grass greens. 3/ Good at windy/island golf Todd and Gay proved themselves at El Camaleon, Clark had top 10s in the Bahamas and Puerto Rico, Schniederjans best PGA golf has come at the likes of Harbour Town, Waialae and Sea Island, Higgs has finished second in Jamaica. Recall those Weekley words about Harbour Town – Gay won there, Todd has been second, Stewart Cink (fourth here last year) is superb there.
Selections The above angles have been used to create a shortlist from which the following players are selected. Denny McCarthy We came close to the bullseye in this event last year, backing Clark and McCarthy – and we’ll go again with the latter. He’s a winner on the blustery Atlantic Beach in Florida on the second tier, has finished fourth in the Dominican Republic, eighth at Sea Island, and T15th and fourth here. He loves playing on Bermuda grass and putts especially well on it. Dylan Frittelli Finished eighth at Harbour Town last year and T11th at El Camaleon earlier that season. Not done much this last 12 months, but shown his class by landing his only top five finishes on the PGA Tour at the Masters and the Open. Played quite nicely in his penultimate start at Jackson CC (fourth for GIR, T39th). A winner at Heritage in Mauritius and fifth when he defended at Four Seasons. Different islands, but similar conditions, climate and courses. Graeme McDowell A winner at El Camaleon? Tick. A winner at Harbour Town? Tick. A winner in the region? Tick (Corales Puntacana). It’s a really neat combo and he’s made four of his last five cuts with T22nd in his penultimate start at the Dutch Open. It’s not great form, but windy golf can help in such circumstances. Guys who like it (and McDowell does) start thinking about the shot in front of them rather than their swing.
Tips: 0-3; -6.00pts 1pt e.w. Denny McCarthy at 40/1 (William Hill 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) 39th 1pt e.w. Dylan Frittelli at 66/1 (Unibet 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6) 22nd 1pt e.w. Graeme McDowell at 80/1 (Skybet 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7) 12th
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