The PGA Tour heads to Texas this week, with the TPC Craig Ranch course in McKinney hosting the AT&T Bryon Nelson tournament.
As important as this event is on its own, it will also be used by many of those turning up this week as a warm-up for next week’s U.S. PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Oklahoma. Outsider KH Lee won last year in 25-under par, and it’s likely that a similar number will be needed this time around.
Favourite is the world no. 1 Scottie Scheffler, and the Texan will be sure to want to perform in his home state. However, he’s the only player with a chance of the wining all four majors this year so may be concentrating on next week.
Similarly, Texas events typically bring out the best in Jordan Spieth, but next week he will be looking to complete a career Grand Slam of Majors, so will be focused on readying himself for that.
We like the look of Sam Burns. We backed him, along with Billy Horschel, at the Zurich Classic pairs event a few weeks ago, and he played very well in finishing second. He has already won three times on the PGA Tour in just over a year, and shot a 62 in this event last year in finishing runner-up. We’ll take a punt at 20/1.
The DP World Tour event this week comes from Belgium, with the Rinkven International course hosting the Soudal Open.
Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry are the two biggest names of Belgian golf, and much will be expected from both in terms of event promotion, which could distract from the actual playing.They are talented players, Pieters in particular, and obviously have a chance, but we’ll steer clear.
Adrian Otaegui won on this course in 2018 in the Belgian Knockout, and he went well in his title defence a year later until losing to eventual champion Guido Migliozzi. He is playing well at the moment, having come second in the ISPS Handa Championship last month. We’ll side with the Spaniard.
Recommendations:
Bryon Nelson: Burns to win, 1 pt, at 20/1, William Hill
Soudal Open: Otaegui to win, 1 pt, at 25/1, Paddy Power
0.5 points each way the double
Please subscribe for latest tips and news, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook
