With the top golfers in the world set to compete in the Open Championship overseas this week, the Barbasol Championship will serve as an alternate event for the PGA Tour. This will be the third installment of this tournament after Scott Piercy won the inaugural edition in 2015 and Aaron Baddeley won here in 2016. Baddeley won last year’s Barbasol Championship in a playoff over Si Woo Kim with a 24-foot birdie on the fourth extra hole to cap off a memorable event in dramatic fashion. While fans that attend the event will likely be hoping for similar theatrics this year the betting public will be pulling for a simple win for their selection with their money on the line.
Details
Event: Barbasol Championship
Category: PGA
Date: July 20-23
Location: Lake Course at Grand National, Opelika, Alabama
While the bigger names in golf will not compete in this tournament, the event’s first two champions have been revival stories with Piercy ending a three-year drought here and Baddeley ending a drought that lasted more than five years. With just five weeks left in the regular season, there isn’t much time for golfers to pick up crucial FedEx Cup points with more than half of this week’s field sitting below the cutoff line on the points list.
Past Winner
2016: Aaron Baddeley
2015: Scott Piercy
What To Know About The Course
The Barbasol Championship is the first PGA Tour event played in Alabama since the 1990 PGA Championship. It has generated plenty of excitement over the first two editions of this event. Scrambling and Putting numbers are extremely important this week as the eventual winner will need to take advantage of every opportunity to get under par. Driving Accuracy is also an important category to consider when evaluating the field for this week’s event. In case you’re wondering, the current top five golfers in terms of driving accuracy have been Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Francesco Molinari, Chez Reavie and Ryan Armour this season. Of that five, only Furyk is participating in the Barbasol Championship.
The Field
Jim Furyk is the sports betting favorite to win the third edition of the Barbasol Championship at +1400 odds. With Baddeley not on hand to defend his title, the field appears to be wide open with Daniel Summerhays and Patrick Rodgers the next in line according to the sports betting odds with both golfers listed at +1600 odds to win. Chad Campbell, Ben Martin and Chesson Hadley are all expected to be in the mix among the sports betting favorites for this event. Meanwhile, David Hearn might be the best value this week as he is listed between +2500 and +2800 odds to win this event outright depending on the sportsbook.
A Good Matchup To Bet: David Hearn over Ben Martin
While Martin can’t be completely overlooked, it makes sense to fade him with Hearn as a much better value this week. Hearn is coming off a missed cut at the John Deere Classic but he placed 14th at the Greenbrier Classic and recorded consecutive top-10 finishes at the FedEx St. Jude Classic and the Travelers Championship before that. Martin has just one top-10 finish to his name in 22 starts this season so it makes sense to capitalize on the value and take Hearn.
Top-Five Pick: Jim Furyk
“Mr. 58” is ineligible for a major for the first time in 22 years so he should be motivated to contend for the outright win as the biggest name on the marquee at the Barbasol Championship this week. Furyk undoubtedly has the tools to contend for the outright win this week and he should thrive in a relatively weak field. While he might not win the tournament, Furyk should be in the mix as a likely top-five finisher at the Barbasol Championship this weekend.
Odds To Win 2017 Barbasol Championship
Jim Furyk +1250
Daniel Summerhays +1550
Chesson Hadley +1850
David Hearn +2250
Chad Campbell +2250
Ben Martin +2250
Robby Shelton +2550
Andres Romero +3050
Scott Stallings +2550
Chris Stroud +3550
Trey Mullinax +2850
Matt Jones +4050
Brandon Hagy +4550
Boo Weekley +4550
Jonathan Randolph +5050
Ricky Barnes +5050
Robert Garrigus +5500
Rory Sabbatini +5050
Sam Saunders +4050
Cameron Tringale +5500
Patton Kizzire +4550
Rick Lamb +5500
Jonathan Byrd +4050
Dominic Bozzelli +5050
Seamus Power +6550
Retief Goosen +6550
Smylie Kaufman +5050
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