Don’t Miss Out on the Exciting Puerto Rico Open!
This week the PGA TOUR hosts two exciting tournaments: the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Puerto Rico Open.[0] The winner of the Puerto Rico Open is rewarded with an invitation to THE PLAYERS Championship, the PGA Championship and a two-year PGA TOUR exemption. While the Arnold Palmer Invitational is a prestigious event with every PGA TOUR member from the top 50 in the world ranking playing, the Puerto Rico Open is a great opportunity for lower-ranked golfers to make a name for themselves.
The Puerto Rico Open is being held at Grand Reserve Golf Club, a 7,506-yard par 72 course designed by Tom Kite that features two par 5s over 600 yards on the back nine. The course is known for its fast, firm fairways that tend to rocket the ball forward, and players are helped out by the course not having a ton of rough.[1]
This year the Puerto Rico Open follows on the heels of the Island hosting the Latin America Amateur Championship last month. The winner of the championship earned invitations to play in this year’s Masters Tournament, the U.S. Open, and the Open Championship (three of golf’s four major championships).[2] Last spring Puerto Rico and Grand Reserve held the first United States Golf Association championship to be played outside the mainland – the Women’s Amateur Four-Ball.
Nate Lashley and Ben Martin are the co-favorites for the 2023 Puerto Rico Open at 16-1.[3] Other contenders include Akshay Bhatia (22-1), Scott Piercy (25-1) and Andrew Novak (25-1). Harry Higgs, Keegan Bradley, Dylan Wu, Harrison Endycott, Roberto Diaz, Max Homa, Will Zalatoris, Sam Stevens, Ryan Gerard, MJ Daffue and Harry Hall are all listed at 35-1 or higher odds.
Since June 2020 when the PGA Tour resumed, Mike McClure's proprietary model which was built by SportsLine has been very successful.[4] Since the restart, the model has been incredibly successful on its best bets, yielding a profit of over $8,300 from tournament to tournament.[3] The model has also nailed a whopping eight majors entering the weekend.[3] Those who have tracked it have witnessed tremendous gains.[3]
0. “Puerto Rico Open odds and best bet (Bet on Harry Hall’s hot putter)” FanSided, 28 Feb. 2023, https://fansided.com/2023/02/28/puerto-rico-open-odds-best-bet/
1. “Puerto Rico Open PGA Tournament Preview & Prediction” ATS.io, 2 Mar. 2023, https://ats.io/golf/puerto-rico-open/113271/
2. “Puerto Rico Set to Host PGA TOUR, Top Golf Professionals Compete Feb. 27-March 5, 2023” Drift Travel Magazine, 27 Feb. 2023, https://drifttravel.com/puerto-rico-set-to-host-pga-tour-top-golf-professionals/
3. “2023 Puerto Rico Open odds, picks, field: Surprising PGA predictions from golf model that nailed 8 majors” msnNOW, 1 Mar. 2023, https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/2023-puerto-rico-open-odds-picks-field-surprising-pga-predictions-from-golf-model-that-nailed-8-majors/ar-AA17ZIVj
4. “2023 Puerto Rico Open odds, picks: Proven golf model reveals projected leaderboard, surprising predictions” SportsLine, 1 Mar. 2023, https://www.sportsline.com/insiders/2023-puerto-rico-open-odds-picks-proven-golf-model-reveals-projected-leaderboard-surprising-predictions/
