|
It’s the final event of any note in the year for the PGA Tour. Some might quibble at that description because the field is small but others might argue that in that respect it has been ahead of the curve what with the circuit’s new-found fondness for limited fields. The Tiger Woods-hosted event is exactly as old as the century and it has moved about a bit. It started at Grayhawk in Scottsdale, Arizona, moved on to Sherwood Country Club in California, and is now entrenched at the Albany Club in the Bahamas. The host course was designed by Ernie Els and it is plumb in the middle of the ocean in the tropical climes so appreciated by the great and extremely wealthy. Despite those basic elements the course claims to be a bit linksy and a bit like the desert. The links aspect is emphasised by dunes that are up to 30 feet in height and the sand is pretty much everywhere off the fairways and greens hence the desert allusions. Scoring is straightforward when the wind is down but difficult if it gets up. There have been eight winners since the tournament moved to Albany: Bubba Watson (2015), Hideki Matsuyama (2016), Rickie Fowler (2017), Jon Rahm (2018), Henrik Stenson (2019), Viktor Hovland (2021-22) and Scottie Scheffler (2023). Host Woods doesn’t play and nor does the back-to-back winner Hovland. With no Rory McIlroy or Xander Schauffele either it’s probably among the weaker renewals we’ve seen. A final point about the course. It’s a par 72 at around 7,449 yards with Bermuda grass on the greens but here’s the quirky bit: there are five par-5s and five par-3s (and two short par-4s).
Angles to consider 1/ Desert course form (one in particular) A desert-like course that asks to be attacked makes it easy to think of TPC Scottsdale. Scheffler and Matsuyama have both won there twice, Fowler is also a course winner, Watson has twice been second there, Rahm is 8-for-8 at finishing top 20 there. Hovland has played there three times without doing much but he is a winner at Emirates in Dubai and has been second and third at Jumeirah, while Stenson has four wins in the UAE desert and one in Arizona in the WGC Match Play. 2/ Regional form Hovland had already won in Puerto Rico and Mexico when he won twice, Scheffler, Stenson, Fowler and Watson (if you count another silly season event) have won in Florida (across the water from the Bahamas), Matsuyama has since won in similar conditions in Hawaii. 3/ Form Scheffler broke the mould regarding form last year. His win was his first start since the Ryder Cup in late September/early October. The previous seven winners had had teed it up in November ahead of their win and five of them had a top four finish in those recent starts.
Selections The above angles have been used to create a shortlist from which the following players are selected. Sahith Theegala He was third at TPC Scottsdale in 2022 and fifth this year. But he was the 54 hole leader in the former and the halfway leader in the latter. He’s also made only seven starts in Florida but landed four top 15 finishes in that short spell – and he was second at Plantation in Hawaii at the start of the year. Akshay Bhatia He doesn’t have much desert form to go on but he’s played in the Bahamas four times on the Korn Ferry Tour and has a win, a fourth and a seventh in that run. He was also second last time out in the ZOZO Championship which makes him one of only seven starts who have played in November – and the only one with a top six finish in the last month. Jason Day Another of the few to have teed it up recently, in his case when eighth in the Australian PGA Championship two weeks ago. He was a winner and third in Arizona in the WGC Match Play and fifth at TPC Scottsdale this year. He’s also won at Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass in Florida. He was also second in the 2009 Puerto Rico Open. Tips: 1pt e.w. Sahith Theegala at 25/1 (SpreadEx, SportingIndex 1/5 1,2,3,4) 1pt e.w. Akshay Bhatia at 25/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4) 1pt e.w. Jason Day at 25/1 (Ladbrokes, Corals 1/5 1,2,3,4)
|
