Steve Bamford

Steve Bamford's Barracuda Championship Tips 2020

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Naturally the WGC FedEx St Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind takes centre stage this week, packed full of the world’s very best players. It would be easy to cast aside the Barracuda Championship at the new Old Greenwood Golf Course venue, however it’s a betting heat that I always enjoy and we’ve had winning success in the near past with J.J. Henry and Gary Woodland.

The Barracuda for me is all about spotting players who’ll arrive in Reno, Nevada with real motivation to perform this week and an improving game to boot. Played on a pretty stock Nicklaus-designed Par 72 at altitude, the field also contains some established players. The full 2-year PGA Tour exemption available to the winner is a huge carrot, as is the possibility of harvesting enough FedEx Cup points to grab a spot in the magical top 125, with the FedEx Cup Playoffs only 3 weeks away.

Before we talk the Barracuda Championship, the number of new visitors to Golf Betting System is sure to be strong, with new readers in the build-up to the PGA Championship.  Welcome to you all and let me point you in the direction of our weekly Golf Betting System podcast (published Tuesday) the Golf Betting Show on YouTube and our hugely popular private group on Facebook – you can Join Here.

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Course Guide: We are seeing the Old Greenwood Golf Course for the first time on the PGA Tour, but to my eye the course looks pretty similar to Montreux. At 7,518 yards from the tips, this course is a long Par 72 located at high altitude in the Sierra Nevada mountains where the ball travels further than normal. But for the arrival of the PGA Tour the course will play as a 7,390 yard, Par 71. Think eagles and birdies!  At 5,883 feet above sea level, expect the course to play incredibly short this week. Since 2012 this event has been played utilising the Modified Stableford scoring format – you can find out more about how points are accrued here; Modified Stableford System.

Old Greenwood Golf Course, Tahoe Mountain Golf Club, Truckee, California: Designer: Jack Nicklaus 2004; Course Type: High Desert, Resort; Par: 71; Length: 7,390 yards; Water Hazards: 6 Holes; Fairways: Bentgrass with Poa Annua; Rough: Kentucky Bluegrass 1.75″ followed by deep brush; Greens: 5,300 sq.ft average featuring Bentgrass with Poa Annua.

Widths Fairway Widths (yards): Below are the fairway widths for Old Greenwood Golf Course and how they compare to recent courses on Tour:

  • Old Greenwood: 35-40 yards.
  • TPC Twin Cities: 250 yards from the tee: 38 yards wide; 275:38; 300:31; 325:30; 350:36.
  • Muirfield Village: 250 yards from the tee: 34 yards wide; 275:33; 300:29; 325:24; 350:29.
  • Detroit Golf Club: 250 yards from tee: 34 yards wide; 275:34; 300:35 325:34; 350:33.
  • TPC River Highlands: 250 yards from the tee: 38 yards wide; 275:36; 300:29; 325:29; 350:28.
  • Harbour Town: 250 yards from tee: 29 yards wide; 275:26; 300:22; 325:26; 350:22.
  • Colonial: 250 yards from tee: 27 yards wide; 275:26; 300:27; 325:26; 350:23.
  • TPC Sawgrass: 250 yards from the tee: 31 yards wide; 275:32; 300:30; 325:28 350:20.
  • Bay Hill: 250 yards from the tee: 32 yards wide; 275:33; 300:33; 325:39 350:29.
  • PGA National: 250 yards from the tee: 29 yards wide; 275:27; 300:25; 325:27 350:25.
  • Riviera: 250 yards from the tee: 33 yards wide; 275:27; 300:26; 325:26 350:28.
  • Pebble Beach: 250 yards from the tee: 33 yards wide; 275:33; 300:29; 325:30 350:26.

Course Designer Links: For research purposes other Jack Nicklaus designs include:

  • Annandale Golf Club – Sanderson Farms Championship through 2013
  • Glen Abbey – RBC Canadian Open – 2008, 2013, 2015-2018
  • Montreux Golf & Country Club – Barracuda Championship through 2019
  • Muirfield Village – Memorial Tournament
  • PGA National – Honda Classic
  • PGA West – Nicklaus Private – Humana Challenge through 2015
  • PGA West – Tournament Course – CareerBuilder Challenge 2016 – 2019
  • Sherwood Country Club – Thousand Oaks – World Challenge through 2013
  • Valhalla Golf Club – 2014 PGA Championship

Course Overview: This is the first time we have seen Old Greenwood Golf Course and my initial reaction was that actually this golf course looks extremely similar to the old host course Montreux G&CC. At 7,390 yards, the course is shorter, but only has 3 par-5s across a Par 71 format. Green sizes are similar and the make-up of the greens remains exactly the same, with Bentgrass/Poa Annua mix greens. That’s important in my opinion.

A typical Jack Nicklaus design that becomes more challenging the closer you get to the hole, at 5,883 feet above sea level the air is dry and thin. Two of the par-5s namely No 6 and No 12, look reachable to the whole field, and there are a couple of driveable par-4s for the bigger hitters namely No 8 (357 yards) and No 11 (345 yards). There also looks like a significant change in terms of rough here at Old Greenwood. Effectively there isn’t any, with the main defence for errant tee shots being a 1.75 inch fairway rough collar and then deep brush. This set-up, in tandem with trees in very close proximity to fairway edges, suggests visually that ‘bomb and gouge’ could be a non-starter.

barracuda championship tips

Winners: 2019: Collin Morikawa (47); 2018: Andrew Putnam (47); 2017: Chris Stroud (44); 2016: Greg Chalmers (43); 2015: J.J. Henry (47); 2014: Geoff Ogilvy (49); 2013: Gary Woodland (44); 2012: J.J. Henry (43); 2011: Scott Piercy (-15); 2010: Matt Bettencourt (-11).

Tournament Stats: We’ve published some key player statistics for this week’s event that are well worth a look. Naturally they’ll help to shape a view on players who could go well this week: Current Form | Tournament Form | First Round Leader | Combined Stats.

Published Predictor Model: Our published predictor is available here. You can build your own model using the variables listed on the left hand side. Top 10 of my published predictor are Brendan Steele, Emiliano Grillo, Chesson Hadley, Pat Perez, Russell Henley, Richy Werenski, Kyle Stanley, Ryan Moore, Troy Merritt and Chris Stroud.

Recent Player Skill Rankings: These rankings are based on an 8-tournament window that stretches back to the Players Championship (Round 1), which includes PGA Tour and European Tour (where recorded) events. Players must have played in a minimum of 2 Tour events to be included and rankings are based on performance relative to the rest of the field:

  • Driving Accuracy: 1) Ricky Barnes; 2) Chris Baker; 3) Arjun Atwal / Ryan Moore; 5) Brian Stuard; 6) Kramer Hickok / Bo Van Pelt; 8) Russell Henley; 9) Austin Cook; 10) Ryan Blaum / Alex Cejka; 12) Ryan Armour / Kyle Stanley; 14) Adam Schenk; 15) Matthias Schwab / Tim Wilkinson; 17) Chesson Hadley / David Hearn; 19) Michael Gligic; 20) Vaughn Taylor.
  • Greens in Regulation: 1) Matthias Schwab; 2) Michael Gligic; 3) Kyle Stanley; 4) Ryan Blaum; 5) Chase Seiffert; 6) Ryan Moore; 7) Doug Ghim / Russell Henley / Hank Lebioda / Seamus Power; 11) Chris Baker; 12) Emiliano Grillo / Pat Perez; 14) Josh Teater; 15) Jhonattan Vegas; 16) Brendan Steele; 17) Joseph Bramlett; 18) Aaron Wise / Kristoffer Ventura; 20) Bill Haas.
  • Scrambling: 1) Jonathan Byrd; 2) Ben Taylor; 3) Kristoffer Ventura; 4) John Senden; 5) Michael Gellerman; 6) Arjun Atwal; 7) Michael Gligic; 8) Roger Sloan; 9) George McNeill; 10) Richy Werenski; 11) Si Woo Kim; 12) Branden Grace / Cameron Tringale; 14) Russell Henley / Patrick Rodgers; 16) Sam Burns / Austin Cook / Bill Haas / Tim Wilkinson; 20) Chesson Hadley / Denny McCarthy.
  • Putting Average (Putts per GIR): 1) Peter Uihlein; 2) J.J. Spaun; 3) Ben Martin / Richy Werenski; 5) Aaron Baddeley / Chris Stroud; 7) Austin Cook / Brandon Hagy / Pat Perez / Patrick Rodgers; 11) Arjun Atwal; 12) Michael Gellerman / Si Woo Kim; 14) Charley Hoffman / Ryan Moore / Adam Schenk; 17) Alex Noren; 18) Brian Stuard / Jhonattan Vegas; 20) Chris Baker / Maverick McNealy.

Recent Player Strokes Gained Rankings: These top 25 in the field rankings are based on an 8-tournament window that stretches back to the Players Championship (Round 1), which includes both PGA and European Tour events where recorded. Players must have played in a minimum of 2 Tour events to be included and rankings are based on performance relative to the rest of the field:

  • Top 20 SG Off The Tee: 1) Matthias Schwab / Kristoffer Ventura; 3) Adam Schenk; 4) Jhonattan Vegas; 5) Ryan Brehm; 6) Ryan Moore; 7) Sam Burns / Joseph Bramlett; 9) Will Gordon; 10) Patrick Rodgers; 11) Kyle Stanley; 12) Russell Henley; 13) Brandon Hagy; 14) Emiliano Grillo / Chesson Hadley / Kramer Hickok / Peter Guest; 18) Cameron Davis; 19) Austin Cook; 20) Hunter Mahan / Sebastian Munoz; 22) Seamus Power; 23) Ricky Barnes; 24) Zack Sucher; 25) Chris Baker.
  • Top 20 SG Approach: 1) Chris Baker; 2) Michael Gligic; 3) Ryan Blaum; 4) Russell Henley / Hank Lebioda; 6) Chase Seiffert; 7) Matthias Schwab; 8) Scott Stallings / Brian Stuard; 10) Sebastian Munoz; 11) Richy Werenski; 12) Josh Teater; 13) Bud Cauley / Branden Grace / Emiliano Grillo / Ryan Moore / Brendan Steele; 18) Pat Perez; 19) Johnson Wagner; 20) Si Woo Kim; 21) Matthew NeSmith; 22) Chesson Hadley; 23) Aaron Wise / Nick Watney; 25) Kyle Stanley.
  • Top 20 SG Around The Green: 1) Arjun Atwal; 2) Brandon Hagy; 3) Michael Kim; 4) Si Woo Kim; 5) Greg Chalmers / Will Gordon; 7) Peter Kuest / George McNeill / D.J. Trahan; 10) Hank Lebioda; 11) Russell Knox / Zack Sucher; 13) Michael Gellerman / Brian Stuard; 15) Rhein Gibson; 16) Jonathan Byrd / David Hearn / Chase Seiffert; 19) Kristoffer Ventura; 20) Rob Oppenheim / Kyle Stanley / Brendan Steele; 23) Doug Ghim / Maverick McNealy / Chris Stroud / Tim Wilkinson.
  • Top 20 SG Tee to Green: 1) Michael Gligic; 2) Hank Lebioda; 3) Chris Baker; 4) Matthias Schwab; 5) Chase Seiffert; 6) Sam Burns / Will Gordon / Kyle Stanley; 9) Richy Werenski; 10) Russell Henley; 11) Josh Teater; 12) Arjun Atwal / Ryan Brehm / Emiliano Grillo / Jhonattan Vegas; 16) Si Woo Kim; 17) Brendan Steele / Brian Stuard; 19) Ryan Moore / Sebastian Munoz / Kristoffer Ventura; 22) Chesson Hadley / Pat Perez; 24) Tim Wilkinson; 25) Cameron Davis / Doug Ghim.
  • Top 20 SG Putting: 1) Michael Gellerman; 2) Brandon Hagy; 3) Denny McCarthy; 4) Dominic Bozzelli; 5) Ben Taylor / Kristoffer Ventura; 7) Jonathan Byrd; 8) Ben Martin; 9) Peter Uihlein; 10) Ricky Barnes / Chris Stroud; 12) Bo Hoag; 13) Patrick Rodgers; 14) Greg Chalmers / Alex Noren; 16) Pat Perez / John Senden; 18) Richy Werenski; 19) Charley Hoffman; 20) Rhein Gibson; 21) Maverick McNealy / Troy Merritt; 23) Arjun Atwal; 22) Johnson Wagner; 23) Aaron Baddeley / Wyndham Clark / Roger Sloan.
  • Top 20 SG Total: 1) Pat Perez; 2) Kristoffer Ventura / Richy Werenski; 4) Chris Baker / Brandon Hagy; 6) Michael Gellerman; 7) Arjun Atwal; 8) Sam Burns  /Jonathan Byrd; 10) Ryan Moore / Kyle Stanley / Jhonattan Vegas; 13) Patrick Rodgers; 14) Brian Stuard; 15) Cameron Davis; 16) Branden Grace / Russell Henley / Si Woo Kim / Brendan Steele; 20) Ricky Barnes / Chase Seiffert; 22) Adam Schenk; 23) Will Gordon; 24) Chesson Hadley / Charley Hoffman.

Winners & Prices: 2019: Collin Morikawa 12/1; 2018: Andrew Putnam 28/1; 2017: Stroud 80/1; 2016: Chalmers 300/1; 2015: Henry 80/1; 2014: Ogilvy 66/1; 2013: Woodland 40/1; 2012: Henry 40/1; 2011: Piercy 50/1; 2010: Bettencourt 200/1. Past 6 Renewals Average: 94/1; Overall Average: 90/1.

Weather Forecast: The latest weather forecast for Truckee, California, is here. Nothing too major to report, I nessence we’re dealing with high altitude, desert conditions this week. Rain in these parts is pretty rare, so the condition of the course will be dictated by the Course Superintendent and the PGA Tour. So expect fairways with some roll and responsive, soft greens to help with scoring. Temperatures will top out at 20 degrees Celsius, with low humidity, so will be very pleasant. A 10-15 mph south-westerly breeze will be a feature every afternoon.

Path to Victory: Below are the end of round positions for the last 10 winners of the Barracuda Championship::

  • 2019 – Collin Morikawa: Round 1: 2nd, Round 2: 2nd, Round 3: 2nd.
  • 2018 – Andrew Putnam: Round 1: 30th, Round 2: 3rd, Round 3: 1st.
  • 2017 – Chris Stroud: Round 1: 15th, Round 2: 38th, Round 3: 22nd.
  • 2016 – Greg Chalmers: Round 1: 5th, Round 2: 1st, Round 3: 1st.
  • 2015 – J.J. Henry: Round 1: 3rd, Round 2: 3rd, Round 3: 1st.
  • 2014 – Geoff Ogilvy: Round 1: 2nd, Round 2: 2nd, Round 3: 1st.
  • 2013 – Gary Woodland: Round 1: 1st, Round 2: 1st, Round 3: 1st.
  • 2012 – J.J. Henry: Round 1: 4th, Round 2: 3rd, Round 3: 1st.
  • 2011 – Scott Piercy: Round 1: 47th, Round 2: 45th, Round 3: 1st.
  • 2010 – Matt Bettencourt: Round 1: 1st, Round 2: 1st, Round 3: 7th.

Incoming form of winners since 2010:

  • Collin Morikawa: 4th Deere Run/2nd TPC Twin Cities/36th River Highlands/35th US Open.
  • Andrew Putnam: 8th Canada/MC Deere Run/MC Greenbrier/27th TPC Potomac.
  • Chris Stroud: MC Canada/35th Barbasol/19th Deere Run/20th Greenbrier.
  • Greg Chalmers: MC Air Capital Classic/MC Nashville Open/27th Rust-Oleum/MC Puntacana.
  • J.J. Henry: 63rd RTJ/41st Canada/23rd Barbasol/MC Deere Run.
  • Geoff Ogilvy: 34th Canada/55th Congressional/MC US Open/MC St Jude.
  • Gary Woodland: 61st Canada/48th JDC/62nd Old White TPC/18th Congressional.
  • J.J. Henry: 37th Canada/21st Annandale/13th Deere Run/MC Old White TPC.
  • Scott Piercy: MC Old White TPC/6th Canada/18th Annandale/45th Deere Run.
  • Matt Bettencourt: 49th Deere Run/MC Aronimink/MC TPC River Highlands/70th US Open.

First Round Leader Analysis: First round leader(s), their wave and winning score since 2010. Full First Round Leader stats are here.

  • 2019 – Lingmerth – AM, 17 Points – 125/1.

For the record, here’s the breakdown of pure Poa Annua and Bentgrass/Poa Annua mix PGA Tour victors in the field since 2008:

  • 2 – Hunter Mahan, Brendan Steele, Nick Watney.
  • 1 – Aaron Baddeley, Sang-moon Bae, Greg Chalmers, Emiliano Grillo, Russell Knox, John Merrick, Ted Potter Jnr, Andrew Putnam, Scott Stallings, Chris Stroud, Kevin Tway, Vaughn Taylor, Bo Van Pelt.

This week is all about attacking golf. With eagles worth 5 points and bogeys -1 point, players who can create numerous scoring chances and convert plenty of them will gravitate to the head of the leaderboard. Such a format also rewards those who can take advantage of the altitude which, at 5,800 feet, is the highest tournament location on the PGA Tour.

In the last 2 champions of the Barracuda Championship, Collin Morikawa and Andrew Putnam, we’ve seen a huge swing in quality and price of winner. Morikawa hardly needs introduction and he won this as the 12/1 favourite 12 months ago. 4th at the John Deere Classic and 2nd at the 3M Open was face-palm obvious form, but naturally many a punter was put off by the lack of value in his price. Andrew Putnam was similar in 2018 as he arrived at the Barracuda direct off an 8th place finish in the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey – a Jack Nicklaus design. He’d already had a great season finishing 5th at Corales, 8th at the Valero Texas Open and 2nd behind Dustin Johnson at the FedEx St Jude Classic. At 138th in the OWGR he had already jumped over 200 spots in 2018.

Both of these wins also destroyed a long Barracuda trend. Before Putnam, no winner had been ranked inside the top 100 in the FedEx Cup when arriving here – indeed Scott Piercy (142nd), Geoff Ogilvy (151st), J.J. Henry (151st), Greg Chalmers (229th) and Chris Stroud (144th), were well outside the top 125 when triumphing.

Brendan Steele 2pts EW 22/1 (7EW, 1/5) with Boylesports

Born and raised in Idyllwild, California, which sits at 5,400 feet above sea-level, Brendan Steele is well accustomed to both these atmospheric conditions and the golf course agronomy this week. And actually I also think he’s the best player from 2020 in this field – at 41st he’s the highest ranked in the FedEx Cup standings anyway.

In both 2018 and 2019 winners of this, Andrew Putnam and Collin Morikawa, we’ve seen players of differing ceilings, but both arrived with high levels of confidence. Putnam had finished 5th at the Corales Championship, 8th at the Valero Texas Open, had gone head-to-head with Dustin Johnson at the St Jude Classic and arrived off of 8th place at the RBC Canadian Open. Morikawa had gone head-to-head with Bryson DeChambeau and Matthew Wolff at the 3M Open finishing 2nd and arrived off of a 4th place finish at the John Deere Classic. From a Steele in 2020 perspective, he went head-to-head with Webb Simpson and Cameron Smith, losing to the latter in a play off at the Sony Open. 4th at the Honda Classic, 6th at the Travelers Championship and a career-best 13th last time out at the Memorial Tournament. In all, he’s gained 304 places on the OWGR.

And in Steele we get a player who actually targets the Barracuda Championship. 8th (2012), 4th (2013), 25th (2014) 7th (2015) and 5th (2016) across 6 attempts, Steele clearly wants to win this tournament in his home Golden State. Think Zach Johnson at the John Deere Classic – the Barracuda matters to Brendan Steele. California form includes a couple of wins at Silverado – 2016 and 2017 – allied to 2nd at PGA West in 2015 and 7th at CordeValle in 2011. Arizona and TPC Scottsdale in particular is also a venue where Steele excels. 5th (2012), 6th (2013), 6th (2014), and 3rd (2018). Across this season, in this field, Steele ranks 16th for Birdie Average, 8th for Strokes Gained Approach and 6th for SG Tee to Green and at Memorial he ranked 9th for Driving Distance, 10th for Accuracy and 3rd for Total Driving. That will certainly work this week, on a course where negligent driving accuracy will be seriously punished. RESULT: T53

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Ryan Moore 2pts EW 22/1 (6EW, 1/5) with Betfred

This could also be the perfect course for Ryan Moore. A 5-time winner on the PGA Tour wins across Sedgefield Country Club, twice at TPC Kuala Lumpur and Deere Run, have all come on short, tree-lined golf courses. And his other win came at TPC Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada so he’s no slouch when it comes to desert-style golf. Winning totals of -16/264, -24/260, -17/271 and -22/262 highlight exactly that Moore can dissect a short course and score birdies for fun – and that’s exactly the assignment this week. Old Greenwood at 7,400 yards is likely to play close to 6,700 yards at 5,800 feet above sea-level and with responsive greens which are 80% Bentgrass, I’m fully signing up to Ryan at a wedge-fest.

5th (2008), 10th (2010) and 6th this year at PGA West; 2nd at Silverado (2018); 6th (2009), 14th (2010), 4th (2013) and 6th (2014) at TPC Scottsdale; 6th (2007) and 8th (2009) at Greyhawk GC; 16th (2005), 7th (2009), 1st (2012), 9th (2013) and 13th (2019) at TPC Summerlin. Golf across Arizona, Nevada and Northern California is Moore’s speciality and he’s in good spirits right now. In this field across my 8-week trackers Ryan ranks 3rd for Driving Accuracy, 6th for Greens in Regulation, 14th for Putting Average, 6th for SG Off the Tee, 13th for SG on Approach, 19th for SG Tee to Green and 10th for SG Total. 21 Birdies and 12th spot at TPC Twin Cities, a track which is a little too long for Moore, was a great sign that he’s close, He ranked 3rd for Driving Accuracy, 1st for Greens in Regulation and 5th for SG on Approach last week, so I’m hoping for a more assured putting week on soft greens I think he will like with their high Bentgrass percentage. RESULT: T12

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Kyle Stanley 1pt EW 50/1 (6EW, 1/5) with Betfred

I always think that positive mental attitude is critical in these alternate events where, lets face it, a proportion of the established names in effect don’t want to be here! An ‘in your face’ requirement for a result is a positive for me and any form of previous results at these 2nd Division events is always a positive in my mind. This brings to me to Kyle Stanley who sits 131st in the FedEx Cup standings, so is outside looking in at the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Originally from Gig Harbor, close to Seattle, Kyle has always been the kind of player who plays better on non-Bermuda agronomy. His 2 PGA Tour victories have come on Bentgrass overseed and pure Bentgrass, but he’s more than comfortable on the west coast. 2nd at Torrey Pines (2012), 1st at TPC Scottsdale (2012), 8th at Montreux (2014), plus 10th (2011) and 7th (2017) at TPC Summerlin; Kyle has had some stellar results across Arizona, California and Nevada. The Bentgrass/Poa Annua angle is also something that appeals with Stanley on the basis that he has finished 3rd (2013), 6th (2017) and 2nd (2018) at Muirfield Village – remember that Collin Morikawa won there 3 weeks ago.

4th for Greens in Regulation, 44th for SG on Approach and 61st for SG Tee to Green across this season – naturally it’s the putter which holds Kyle back, but that seems to be defrosting slightly and undoubtedly the 32 year old has been producing some low rounds recently. A pair of -5/65s Friday and Saturday at TPC River Highlands, saw Kyle 12th after 54 holes at the Travelers before finishing 24th, plus last week an opening round -5/66 was followed up with a -6/65.

Things are bubbling and it’s worth noting that Stanley’s 3rd place finish in February’s Puerto Rico Open came in one of these alternate events – he clearly takes them seriously. That amazingly was Kyle’s best PGA Tour finish since a runner-up spot at the 2018 WGC- Bridgestone Invitational played on Bent/Poa Annua mix greens at Firestone South. RESULT: T12

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Austin Cook 1pt EW 80/1 (7EW, 1/5) with Paddy Power

At 148th in the FedEx Cup standings, Austin Cook will be looking at this week as a real opportunity and we’ve seen in the past that the talented 29 year-old from Arkansas plays well at these alternate events. 8 missed cuts across his opening 11 events this season has left him in this position, but form is undoubtedly improving of late. 4 straight made cuts have seen Cook finish 54th (Travelers), 39th (Rocket Mortgage), 39th (Workday) and 56th (3M Open). Plus there were definite signs of life in Minnesota last week, where Cook was 21st for Greens in Regulation, 23rd for both SG Approach and Tee to Green – his best showing by far in 2020. The putter was ice cold, but Cook was 25th going into Sunday – his highest position after 54 holes since Houston 2019. And that makes Austin a backable proposition for me on the basis that he’s an excellent driver of the golf ball and actually a top-notch putter.

The winner of the 2017 RSM Classic at -21/261, Cook has always been a player for me who comes to the fore on low-scoring assignments. And he’s made use of these alternate events in the past finishing 6th (2015) and 4th (2019) at the Barbasol Championship. 4th (2016) and 2nd (2017) at the Utah Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour, played at high altitude on Poa Annua greens in Salt Lake City, provides more encouragement; plus 5th (2018) and 14th (2020) at the Greenbrier Classic highlights a player who’s comfortable at altitude. RESULT: T53

Odds and bookmaker offers correct at 08:50BST 28.7.20 but naturally subject to fluctuation.