Horses for Courses: Bermuda Championship

With back-to-back weeks of invitational fields in the rear-view mirror, the PGA TOUR heads to Southampton, Bermuda and Port Royal Golf Course for the second edition of the Bermuda Championship. Brendon Todd buried his demons in this event last year as he closed with 62 to win by four. His first victory on TOUR since 2014 officially cured him of “the Yips”. The proof was winning the following week at Mayakoba and then taking fourth at RSM the week after. Todd will lead the field of 132 as they will attack 6,828 yards (Par-71) of breezy, coastal golf designed by Robert Trent Jones. The top 65 and ties will play the weekend. With only one hole over 517 yards on the card and the Bermuda/Zoysia rough sitting at only two inches, it is not a mystery why 30 players were double digits under-par last year. RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks The major defense of any coastal track is Mother Nature and the wind will blow this week. I’d expect the TifEagle greens, which at 6,000 square feet on average are hardly enormous, to run quietly this week as the wind is forecast to blow. Only 19 acres of fairway suggest very tight landing areas and 88 bunkers will provide deterrence off the tee and into the greens. Water will be in play on five of the holes. Last year, the inaugural event was played opposite the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai. This season, it is a stand-alone event with the winner earning $720,000 of the $4 million prize pool PLUS earning a trip to the Sentry Tournament of Champions, the 2021 Masters and THE PLAYERS Championship, just to name a few. As always, there is PLENTY to play for each week on TOUR and most of these guys will be rested and ready to go. Only Todd and K.H. Lee played in the invitational events over the last two weeks. The PGA Grand Slam of Golf was held on this track from 2009 thru 2014. The only participant from that run of events in the field this week is Stewart Cink. Recent Winner Recent Winners & Notables Inaugural Event 2019: Brendon Todd (-24) Shot a career-best 62 (co-low round of the week) to win by four. … Played in the final pairing with 54-hole leader Harry Higgs (2nd). … First-ever official event in Bermuda. … Led the field in Par-3 scoring and T1 Par-4 scoring. … Top five Fairways, GIR, Scrambling, Birdie-or-Better Percentage and Bogey Avoidance. … 27 birdies led the field. … Zero 3-putts. … 51st in Driving Distance. … Posted 63 in Round 2. … MC in four of the five events leading in but was T28 the week before in Houston. Notables: Higgs (not entered) was bogey free thru 36 holes and led the field in scrambling (22 of 23) for his best career finish. … Brian Gay (T3) posted his last top 10 on TOUR here with all four rounds in the 60s and was T4 Birdies (24). … Hank Lebioda also joined the podium as he closed with 63 and was top five in Putting Average. … Aaron Wise (T3) circled 20 birdies and two eagles and was T3 GIR. … Fabian Gomez (7th) co-led the field in GIR and made led the field with FOUR eagles. … Ryan Armour (T8) was third in birdies (25). … David Hearn (T8) was second in Fairways. … Wes Roach (T8) opened with 63 and was second in Putting Average. … Cut was 2-under (140). … 22 bogey-free rounds. … Only more eagles made at TPC Summerlin, TPC Boston and Muirfield Village Golf Club. Other Top Finishes: T11 Bo Hoag (posted two rounds of 64) T11 Russell Knox (opened with 64, T1 GIR) T11 Josh Teater (15-under last 54 holes) T15 Kramer Hickok (2nd, Scrambling) T15 Denny McCarthy (T9, Putting) T18 Rafael Campos T18 Scott Stallings T24 Beau Hossler (2nd birdies, 26) T24 Rob Oppenheim (opened with 64) T24 D.J. Trahan (T7, Fairways) Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2019-2020 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. Players in BOLD below deserve deeper inspection. Ball-Striking 4 Doc Redman 6 Jhonattan Vegas 9 Harold Varner III 10 Emiliano Grillo 11 Josh Teater 11 Chesson Hadley 15 Adam Schenk 15 Will Gordon 17 Henrik Norlander 20 Aaron Wise 26 Kyle Stanley 26 D.J. Trahan 29 Seamus Power 30 Doug Ghim Greens in Regulation 2 Kyle Stanley 3 Aaron Wise 4 Will Gordon 7 Josh Teater 7 Emiliano Grillo 12 Doc Redman 13 Henrik Norlander 15 Harold Varner III 16 Pat Perez 19 Jhonattan Vegas 20 Chesson Hadley 21 Nick Watney 23 Russell Knox 24 Chris Baker 25 Joseph Bramlett 26 Bo Hoag 27 Brice Garnett 28 Cameron Tringale 30 Cameron Percy Bogey Avoidance 6 Brice Garnett 9 Cameron Tringale 11 Russell Knox 13 Tim Wilkinson 14 Ben Martin 20 Adam Schenk 22 Pat Perez 23 Brendon Todd 27 Mark Anderson 27 Scott Stallings 29 Harold Varner III 30 Cameron Percy

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