Damien Kayat previews the 2023 Barbasol Championship.
2023 US PGA Tour/DP World Tour
Barbasol Championship
The Champions Course, Keene Trace Golf Club, Nicholasville, Kentucky
13th-16th July
This event began life eight years back when the Sanderson Farms Championship moved to its current autumnal slot. It was traditionally the opposite-field event to the Open Championship. But that changed last year when the tour decided to make this event- as well as the concurrent Scottish Open- a co-sanctioned affair between the US PGA Tour and DP World Tour. It was an obvious attempt to show solidarity as the LIV Golf phenomenon gained traction. The Scottish Open is now both a Rolex Series event and a co-sanctioned event between the US PGA Tour and DP World Tour.
The Barbasol Championship has essentially gone from being the opposite-field event to the Open to the opposite-field event to the newly elevated Scottish Open. Next Week’s Barracuda Championship- which became the new opposite-field event to the Open last year- has also been granted co-sanctioned status. But not too many have decided to cross the pond this week ahead of next week’s 151st Open Championship. This week will feature a smorgasbord of Korn Ferry alumni and grizzled veterans (with the odd DP World Tour pro thrown in for good measure).
This will be the 5th renewal of this event staged at Keene Trace Golf Club. The Champion’s Course was designed by Arthur Hills and opened 34 years ago. This is a typical opposite-field event in that it is a basic set-up. The bentgrass fairways are spacious and the bluegrass/bentgrass rough is very manageable. James Hahn shot a 12-under-par 60 in 2021.
Trey Mullinax birdied the 72nd hole last year to finish with a 25-under-par scoreline. Look for guys who find plenty of greens and scramble efficiently. A hot putter is generally essential in these birdie fests. This event has also proven to be a haven for the more experienced heads, with the likes of Jim Herman and Aaron Baddelay capitalizing on the absence of entrenched stars.
There are not too many times when you are going to see Taylor Pendrith topping a US PGA Tour betting market. He has finishes of 11th and 13th here and was 14th last time out at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. But that came on the heels of two missed cuts (just to give you a taste of the quality of this week’s field). Young Swede Vincent Normann has also missed the cut in three of his last five events. 2009 US Open champ Lucas Glover has actually registered some decent results of late.
Veterans such as Scott Piercy and Patton Kizzire could always come from nowhere in an event such as this. There’s always going to be a few wild contenders in week bereft of megastars.
Past Winners
2022: Trey Mullinax (-25)
2021: Seamus Power (-21) *playoff
2020: event cancelled due to pandemic
2019: Jim Herman (-26)
2018: Troy Merritt (-23)
2017: Grayson Murray (-21)
Betting Favourites (To Win)
Taylor Pendrith (18/1), Vincent Norrman (22/1), Lucas Glover (22/1), Peter Kuest (25/1), Akshay Bhatia (28/1)
Value Bets
Cameron Champ- To Win (40/1)
Cameron Champ is exactly the sort of experienced pro that could thrive in a week such as this. He lacks consistency but does have the ability to win. His first title came at the 2018 Sanderson Farms Championship. He then won the Safeway Open in 2019 and the 3M Open in 2021. He tends to win on courses with wide, inviting fairways that forgive his occasionally errant driving. He found his putter in the final round at the John Deere, shooting 5-under-par to finish in a tie for 51st. I expect him to overpower this course and be in contention come Sunday.
Ryo Hisatsune- To Win (50/1)
I’m opting for a guy whose game has been trending in the right direction on the DP World Tour: Ryo Hisatsune. His last three events have yielded results of T25, T15 and T8 (the tie for 8th coming at last week’s Made in HimmerLand event). He is currently sitting 26th in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai standings. That automatically puts him leagues above most of this field in terms of form.
The Man to Beat- Peter Kuest- To Win (25/1)
Peter Kuest is a rising start who hits the ball a country mile. He should be the ideal candidate to thrive on this wide, forgiving layout. He finished 14th at the Byron Nelson Championship in May and 4th at the Rocket Mortgage Classic two weeks ago. Those two sentences are enough to back a man in this field. He finished 17th at last week’s John Deere Classic and is quite simply one of few in-form players in the field.
