Barbasol Championship: Outsiders and veterans well worth chancing

• Stateside opportunity for DP World Tour players

• Finding greens and a sharp short game key

• Sedgefield and Deere Run form could prove pivotal

• Read my Scottish Open preview here

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Tournament History

The Barbasol Championship was introduced to the PGA Tour schedule eight years ago to fill the slot left by the Sanderson Farms Championship when that event moved to its now familiar autumnal slot.

Originally played in the same week as the Open Championship, the Barbasol Championship shuffled forward one week last year to play opposite the now co-sanctioned Scottish Open and that's the case again this time around. The Barracuda Championship will play alongside the Open next week.

Like next week's Barracuda Championship, and the Scottish Open on the DP World Tour, the Barbasol is now co-sanctioned between the two Tours. Fifty spots are available for players from the DP World Tour, although nowhere near that many made the trip across the pond last year.

The tournament was staged on the Lakes Course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama for the first three years, but it switched to the Champions Course at the Keene Trace club in Kentucky in 2018.

The Barbasol Championship was one of the few events cancelled because of the pandemic on the PGA Tour in 2020.

Venue

The Champions Course, Keene Trace Golf Club, Nicholasville, Kentucky

Course Details

Par 72, 7,328 yards

Stroke Index in 2022 - 69.82

Designed by Arthur Hills 35 years ago, the Champions Course is one of two courses at the Keene Trace Club.

The bentgrass fairways are generous and the bluegrass/bentgrass rough is not too penal. The bentgrass greens are large with some undulation and they're expected to run at around 12 on the Stimpmeter.

The two nines were reversed for the inaugural staging, but they reverted to how the members play the course in 2019.

The pros have demolished the Champions Course in each of the first four editions here with plenty of low scores being posted.

Trey Mullinax birdied the 72^nd hole to win 12 months ago with a 25-under-par total but that isn't the lowest anyone's gone here. Jim Herman got to 26-under when he won here in 2019.

It really is an easy set-up and we're going to get yet another birdie-fest.

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Weather Forecast

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TV Coverage

Live on Sky Sports all four days, starting at 21:00 on Thursday

First Seven Winners with Exchange Prices

• 2015 - Scott Piercy -19 26.025/1
• 2016 - Aaron Baddeley -18 40.039/1 (playoff)
• 2017 - Grayson Murray -21 55.054/1
• 2018 - Troy Merritt -23 50.049/1
• 2019 - Jim Herman -26 1000.0999/1
• 2020 - Event Cancelled
• 2021 - Seamus Power -21 (playoff) 25.024/1
• 2022 - Trey Mullinax -25 150.0149/1

What Will it Take to Win the Barbasol?

Here are the top-five and ties from the first four editions staged here with all the traditional stats - DD - Driving Distance, DA - Driving Accuracy, GIR - Greens In Regulation, Scr - Scrambling and PA - Putting Average.

2018

• Troy Merritt -23 - DD: 15, DA: 15, GIR: 5, Scr: 3, PA: 4
• Billy Horschel -22 - DD: 17, DA: 8, GIR: 7, Scr: 2, PA: 29
• Tom Lovelady -22 - DD: 1, DA: 34, GIR: 18, Scr: 5, PA: 42
• Richy Werenski -22 - DD: 40, DA: 15, GIR: 1, Scr: 16, PA: 27
• JT Poston -21 - DD: 20, DA: 45, GIR: 9, Scr: 12, PA: 7

2019

• Jim Herman -26 - DD: 30, DA: 8, GIR: 1, Scr: 1, PA: 39
• Kelly Kraft -25 - DD: 58, DA: 5, GIR: 13, Scr: 10, PA: 1
• Sepp Straka -23 - DD: 16, DA: 1, GIR: 5, Scr: 44, PA: 5
• Austin Cook -22 - DD: 21, DA: 8, GIR: 51, Scr: 18, PA: 7
• Matt Jones -22 - DD: 25, DA: 42, GIR: 7, Scr: 14, PA: 14

2021

• Seamus Power -21 - DD: 27, DA: 30, GIR: 8, Scr: 5, PA: 10
• JT Poston -21 - DD: 48, DA: 22, GIR: 1, Scr: 12, PA: 25
• Anirban Lahiri -20 - DD: 32, DA: 30, GIR: 33, Scr: 38, PA: 4
• Sam Ryder -20 - DD: 35, DA: 43, GIR: 4, Scr: 4, PA: 57
• Ryan Armour -19 - DD: 66, DA: 2, GIR: 1, Scr: 12, PA: 29
• James Hahn -19 - DD: 26, DA: 7, GIR: 38, Scr: 49, PA: 16
• Luke List -19 - DD: 3, DA: 17, GIR: 11, Scr: 12, PA: 62
• Henrik Norlander -19 - DD: 60, DA: 5, GIR: 25, Scr: 24, PA: 12
• Mito Pereira -19 - DD: 19, DA: 7, GIR: 11, Scr: 12, PA: 9
• Patrick Rodgers -19 - DD: 7, DA: 30, GIR: 25, Scr: 24, PA: 12

2022

• Trey Mullinax -25 - DD: 5, DA: 58, GIR: 1, Scr: 8, PA: 21
• Kevin Streelman -24 - DD: 64, DA: 2, GIR: 5, Scr: 21, PA: 1
• Mark Hubbard -22 - DD: 77, DA: 5, GIR: 10, Scr: 19, PA: 17
• Hurly Long -21 - DD: 41, DA: 14, GIR: 23, Scr: 13, PA: 14
• Vince Whaley -20 - DD: 29, DA: 75, GIR: 41, Scr: 47, PA: 4

And here are the top-five and ties with the Strokes Gained stats - SG: Tee, SG: Approach, SG: Around the Green, SG: Tee to Green and SG: Putting.

2018

• Troy Merritt -23 - TEE 12 APP 1 ATG 32 T2G 1 PUTTING 51
• Billy Horschel -22 - TEE 1 APP 21 ATG 14 T2G 4 PUTTING 21
• Tom Lovelady -22 - TEE 4 APP 32 ATG 1 T2G 2 PUTTING 32
• Richy Werenski -22 - TEE 34 APP 2 ATG 27 T2G 6 PUTTING 16
• JT Poston -21 - TEE 2 APP 19 ATG 71 T2G 16 PUTTING 3

2019

• Jim Herman -26 - TEE 18 APP 13 ATG 20 T2G 5 PUTTING 4
• Kelly Kraft -25 - TEE 12 APP 19 ATG 59 T2G 21 PUTTING 1
• Sepp Straka -23 - TEE 3 APP 15 ATG 19 T2G 1 PUTTING 29
• Austin Cook -22 - TEE 11 APP 30 ATG 35 T2G 15 PUTTING 7
• Matt Jones -22 - TEE 31 APP 5 ATG 13 T2G 3 PUTTING 19

2021

• Seamus Power -21 - TEE 15 APP 17 ATG 8 T2G 6 PUTTING 19
• JT Poston -21 - TEE 43 APP 23 ATG 20 T2G 20 PUTTING 2
• Anirban Lahiri -20 - TEE 13 APP 15 ATG 64 T2G 19 PUTTING 4
• Sam Ryder -20 - TEE 39 APP 1 ATG 34 T2G 2 PUTTING 57
• Ryan Armour -19 - TEE 31 APP 11 ATG 28 T2G 12 PUTTING 14
• James Hahn -19 - TEE 20 APP 24 ATG 32 T2G 1 PUTTING 51
• Luke List -19 - TEE 8 APP 4 ATG 10 T2G 1 PUTTING 65
• Henrik Norlander -19 - TEE 37 APP 2 ATG 38 T2G 7 PUTTING 27
• Mito Pereira -19 - TEE 2 APP 21 ATG 13 T2G 4 PUTTING 43
• Patrick Rodgers -19 - TEE 6 APP 38 ATG 57 T2G 30 PUTTING 3

2022

• Trey Mullinax -25 - TEE 7 APP 1 ATG 34 T2G 1 PUTTING 21
• Kevin Streelman -24 - TEE 13 APP 8 ATG 30 T2G 2 PUTTING 6
• Mark Hubbard -22 - TEE 5 APP 5 ATG 76 T2G 6 PUTTING 7
• Hurly Long -21 - TEE 4 APP 22 ATG 21 T2G 4 PUTTING 23
• Vince Whaley -20 - TEE 43 APP 35 ATG 3 T2G 8 PUTTING 19

Finding fairways is slightly more important than bombing it miles off the tee and you don't always need spectacular putting stats to win here. Finding the greens and scrambling well when they're missed is what this tournament's all about. The players need to set up as many birdie chances as possible because you just need to go low and keep going low.

In four editions here, the 2021 victor, Seamus Power, has had the worst Greens In Regulation and Scrambling stats of the four winners to date but he still ranked eighth for GIR and fifth for Scrambling.

Is There an Angle In?

The 2017 winner, Grayson Murray, had current form figures reading MC-27-35-18-26-74-MC, last year's victor, Trey Mullinax, had unimpressive numbers reading MC-MC-24-MC-32-MC-69-MC-MC and the 2019 winner, Jim Harman, won here after eight straight missed cuts, so current form is far from essential, although the other four tournament winners had shown glimpses. Here's the lead up form of the other four...

• 2015 - Scott Piercy MC-43-WD-MC-29-14
• 2016 - Aaron Baddeley MC-55-MC-MC-12-17
• 2018 - Troy Merritt 42-53-12-MC-17-43
• 2021 - Seamus Power 54-9-19-19-8-8

With that in mind, last week's event, the John Deere Classic, is a low-scoring birdie-fest on bentgrass greens so a decent warm up there should be ideal for this week. J.T Poston cemented the link last year when he won the JDC having finished second on his only appearance here in 2021.

A reasonable finish in the JDC Classic on Sunday must be a big plus and I just wonder whether the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club could be a decent event to consider too.

Last year's runner-up, Kevin Streelman, missed out on the playoff there by a stroke in 2021. Ryan Armour, who finished tied for fifth here in 2021, has an eighth and a fourth at Sedgefield.

Herman won the 2020 Wyndham, with the 2018 runner-up here, while Billy Horschel, in second, and the 2019 Wyndham winner, Poston, really should have won here in 2021.

In the absence of too much to go on after just four renewals at this track, a good week in Illinois last week and/or a decent record at Sedgefield Country Club (home of the Wyndham Championship), could be noteworthy.

Is There an Identikit Winner?

These opposite field events are very tricky to weigh up as they represent a great chance for struggling older pros to get back on track, as well as being a golden opportunity for up-and-coming players looking to earn the stability of a two-year exemption. And this event now offers up a chance for DP World Tour players to secure a card on the PGA Tour too.

Grayson Murray was only 23 when he won this in 2017 but Mullinax had just turned 30 and he edged out the 43-year-old veteran, Streelman, after a ding-dong battle on the back-nine.

Merritt was winning for a second time on the PGA Tour at the age of 32, while Power, although winning for the first time, was 34, Piercy and Baddeley were both 36 when they took the title.

Herman was 41 so, although it's early days, it's the older pros who have prospered in the main at this event so far.

Piercy and Power were quite well fancied but this has been a decent event for outsiders.

Winner's Position and Exchange Price Pre-R4

• 2018 - Troy Merritt - tied for the lead 3.3512/5
• 2019 - Jim Herman - led by a stroke 2.526/4
• 2020 - Event Cancelled
• 2021 - Seamus Power - tied for fifth, trailing by three 12.011/1
• 2022 - Trey Mullinax - tied third, trailing by three 17.016/1

In-Play Tactics

As is always the case when the scoring is low, making up ground is going to be tough, but nerves have played a part here.

The first four home in 2018 were always inside the top-eight places throughout the week. The top-two in 2019 were never worse than fourth after any round, Merritt won wire-to-wire, and Herman was never headed after halfway.

Power was a 12.011/1 chance with a round to go two years ago but he was never outside the top-five in-between rounds. Second and third round leader, Poston, really should have won.

Poston was matched at a low of 1.021/50 as he played the back-nine on Sunday but a double-bogey at the par five 15^th and a bogey at the 16^th saw him come back to the field. Power went on to beat Poston at the sixth extra hole.

DP World Tour player and German youngster, Matti Schmid, led through 54-holes 12 months ago and he was matched at just 1.9520/21 after he'd birdied the opening hole on Sunday. But Schmid went on to shoot 77 (the worst round of the day) to slip to eighth.

Streelman and Mullinax had the event between them after the turn in round four. Streelman was matched at a low of 1.51/2 but, just when we looked like getting a playoff, Mullinax produced this bit of magic to take the title.

What. A. Putt.@HTMullinax wins @BarbasolChamp and books a trip to @TheOpen in emphatic fashion pic.twitter.com/EVO9TGlmb0

-- PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 10, 2022

Market Leaders

Canada's Taylor Pendrith heads the market but he's not for me.

In two previous Barbasol appearances he's finished 11^th and 13^th and he finished 14^th last time out at the Rocket Mortgage Classic but that performance came after two missed cuts and he was particularly disappointing in round four, tumbling down the leaderboard with a clumsy 73 on Sunday having sat third and just one off the lead after 54 holes.

Having finished fourth in the RMC and sixth in the John Deere Classic last week, the 2009 US Open winner, Lucas Glover, is far harder to dismiss.

At 43, Glover is very much a veteran now, but he remains an elite ball striker and whenever he finds his touch on the greens, as he's done over the last fortnight, he's a force to be reckoned with.

Although this has been a great tournament for outsiders, two of the seven winners have been well-fancied and if there's to be a third, it's likely to be Glover.

He was backed at 30.029/1 when the market first opened and that's a fair price so if he drifts back out, I'll get him onside but 24.023/1 is a bit on the short side.

The only other player trading at less than 30.029/1 is Vincent Norrman but the 25-year-old Swede, who, like Pendrith, is in search of his first PGA Tour victory, has only ordinary form figures reading 48-MC-MC-MC-24 since he finished eighth at the Charles Schwab Challenge and he's playing in the event for the first time.

Selection

I may well back the big hitting rising star, Peter Kuest, if he drifts a bit before the off.

He finished 14^th at the Byron Nelson Championship back in May and he finished fourth at the Rocket Mortgage Classic a fortnight ago after Monday qualifying for both tournaments.

The top-ten finish two weeks ago got him into the field at the John Deere Classic last week and he did himself proud again, finishing 17^th.

With great Greens In Regulation numbers and nothing to lose, he may again contend but for now my only selection is Kentuckian, Josh Teater, who has course form figures reading 40-6-15-63.

The veteran Korn Ferry Tour regular is far from prolific, having won just once, back in 2009, but his GIR and Scrambling numbers are very good and only last month he was beaten in extra time at the BMW Charity Pro-Am.

Teater winning would be a fabulous story and I'm happy to chance him modestly at 80.079/1.

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*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter