Ian Richards looks at a wide-open Puerto Rico Open, where Sporting Life followers have a couple of selections in the mix. Find out who he considers value.
Recommended bets
0.5pt e.w. Rhein Gibson at 50/1 (1/5 1,2,3,4)
This is one of those events where the top of the leaderboard rather than reading like a 'who's who' of world golf looks more like a 'who was', 'who may be' or even simply 'who?!' to those who are unfamiliar with the lower echelons of the game.
We have had 11 editions of the Puerto Rico Open to date and while being up with the pace is the place to be, as it seems hard to play catch up, leading isn’t necessarily the key to winning. There have been 19 players either tied for the lead or having the outright lead at the cut but only two have gone on to win – D.A. Points in 2017 and Alex Cejka in 2015.
Both fall into the category of journeyman, but both had won tournaments before. There are always a lot of players in this event without such experience, and perhaps it's little wonder that some have failed to cope with the pressure of leading even as early as Saturday, before we even think about Sunday's final round.
Of the 11 winners, nine were placed in the top seven and no more than three shots behind the lead, with Tony Finau and Derek Lamely the only ones to come off the pace at 15th and four back, and 35th and six back, respectively.
Viktor Hovland enters the weekend as 7/2 favourite which is perfectly understandable as he is very much the bright future of golf. However it is worth remembering he still has to win a professional tournament and there is a certain precedent with current stalwarts of the game Jason Day and Bryson Dechambeau who both led here at the cut in their early days but failed to lift the trophy.
Kyle Stanley's game has been in the doldrums for a couple of years now but there is no denying he can win a poor event like this. That said having hit all 18 greens in round one, he struggled in round two; for a player who relies on ball-striking that would have to be a little worrying, and single-figure prices hold very little appeal.
Josh Teater ticks the box of journeyman pro having turned 40 last year. That's no bad thing here, but in a career of over 300 starts split between the main tour and the Korn Ferry tour he still only has the one victory to his name on the lower tour and that came back in 2009.
I am sure Emiliano Grillo will hang around the top of the leaderboard but since his breakthrough wins in 2015 he has simply failed to kick on. While he was second here on his last appearance five years ago there really isn’t much mileage in 13/2 about a player who, like Stanley, can look awfully suspect on the greens. They're class acts relative to this grade but there's a reason they're here.
Those are the four co-leaders and tucked in behind them in solo fifth is Sam Ryder, a joint-best, seven-under 65 yesterday having propelled him into that position. We see time and time again how difficult it is to back up a low round, and that is especially true at this level.
Two of the players tied for sixth, Ben Martin and Martin Laird, were put up on Tuesday at odds of 60/1 and 50/1 and are in a good position to gain profits for Sporting Life followers, but alongside them RHEIN GIBSON is the interesting one at this stage.
The Australian has possibly been inspired by the recent success of his fellow countrymen. He has been a professional for ten years and played all over the world, finally gaining a breakthrough win on the Korn Ferry tour last year.
While he missed the cut on his only other appearance here in 2016 he does have experience in similar conditions on the Korn Ferry Tour with back-to-back thirds in the Bahamas in 2018 and at 50/1 might be a bit underestimated. Certainly, looking to those two or three back looks the best approach at this stage even if there are four solid yardsticks tied for the lead.
David Lingmerth makes up the quartet who sit just two shots off that leading group but his game has been in disarray in recent years. We have a further nine players within striking distance just three off the lead and another eight just four back. I imagine there will be a lot of jostling for position today and the picture maybe a lot clearer heading into Sunday.
Posted at 0730 GMT on 22/02/20
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