Akshay Bhatia 22/1 Each-way
Lanto Griffin 60/1 Each-way
Along with the Corales, Barracuda, Puerto Rico and Mayakoba, the Bermuda Championship was once the poor man’s opposite event to a WGC or suchlike.
However, we are just a few weeks away from tuning into virtual golf on the telly, so progression of all these to a much more valued status has been of little surprise.
That move to a regular/Fall season event means this week’s event at Port Royal is the second-last chance for many of those on the FedEx or PGA card bubble to secure opportunities for 2024, the final one coming at the RSM Classic in a week’s time.
Whilst it’s an impossible job guessing the mental state of those chasing their future wages, last week’s winning selection, Erik Van Rooyen, showed that players can rise to the occasion.
As the WWT started, the South African was holding the final card – #125 – but under huge pressure managed to not only secure his card with a high finish, but prove much more resilient down the stretch, finding a final hole eagle to complete a final round 63 and an emotional two-shot victory..
Things are almost as tough for golf bettors this week, with the island track hosting one of the shortest courses on the rotation. With wide enough fairways, easily reachable par-5s and gettable par-4s, these should be easy-pickings for the longer hitters.
It will probably come down to those that can hit shorter irons into these holes but – there is always a but – we’ve seen the likes of Brian Gay do his thing here. It’s unlikely given the overall profile of recent leaderboards but it raises a cautionary eyebrow.
The main, in fact, only defence here are the unpredictable island winds. Depending on the direction, they will require everyone to take the driver, or club down by two. And whilst a nice challenge, it makes predicting the winner a tad tougher.
Also on the side of the course are the (of course) Bermuda greens. Players who are used to the grainy surfaces will be ready for the change in direction, or ‘jumping’ off line. Given the majority of the field looks like being on the short stuff at the same time, this is the one factor we can try to predict.
In a tough to predict event, I’ll take just two players from the field.
Up top, Akshay Bhatia appeals as the one with an unknown ceiling and the most likely to not be here next year.
The 21-year-old was a multiple winner on the minor tours before graduating to the Korn Ferry Tour and winning on his very first outing as a full member. That victory, at the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic showed a penchant for windy tracks, something he backed up when winning the Barracuda Championship in Nevada.
Bhatia’s play-off victim that day was Patrick Rodgers, a hugely frustrating golfer to back but one that has plenty of coastal form, including a third and fourth place finish around here, whilst the event itself has seen victories for Erik Van Rooyen and a runner-up finish from Alex Noren, both well versed in the conditions.
Even before his victory in July, confirmation of his preference came when opening 2023 with a solid fourth in defence of his Barracuda crown, seventh place at Abaco, Bahamas and runner-up in Puerto Rico. Whilst there is little wrong in his midfield finishes in his last three outings in better class, he showed his capabilities by landing a place on the front page last week in Mexico, a final round 64 the perfect prep for this week.
Last year’s Bermuda champion, Seamus Power, showed his own prowess in such conditions with his only other PGA Tour win being at the Barbasol, and Bhatia can demonstrate that he’s come on plenty from what was an excellent debut here in 2022, ranking fourth for greens found before finishing inside the top-20.
I’ll turn to a very Bermuda-positive player for the only other selection this week.
After making his way inside the world’s top 50, Lanto Griffin struggled with injury, a story covered by the PGA Tour in which the 35-year-old explains the pain and discomfort he has felt for the last 18 months.
Formally a winner at Capitol Hill (a Robert Trent Jones design) and in windy Houston, his Bermuda portfolio is backed up with a third place at PGA West, top-10 at the Sony and, even when still feeling pain, top-15s at Mexico and in Texas.
To be with Griffin at this level simply required some recent encouragement and his last three starts, through the Fall series, have seen him finish 28th at the Sanderson Farms, 13th at the Shriners and last weekend’s 54th in Mexico.
Although a slow process, Griffin has now also found his putting prowess, telling the PGA Tour that putting coach Scott Hamilton had found an issue.
“It was like a light switch,” said Griffin, who led the field in SG: Putting and finished T28 at Sanderson Farms. “I went from having no confidence to seeing a stroke on video and feeling like I could make everything.”
A week later in Napa, the former world #49 ranked 15th for strokes-gained-putting and in the top-30 for putting average off a large gain for his around-the-green game.
Whilst he couldn’t find the entire game at the WWT last week, Griffin found 85% of fairways and scrambled well enough to save too many errors, just failing to match the prowess with the short stick.
The signs are definitely there. He says he “knew it was going to come back eventually,” and he comes back here with memories of three rounds of 68 or better on debut in 2019. It won’t take much more to see him challenge and both he and the main selection have a draw in the first half on Thursday, always a favourable advantage.
