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GIR and Scrambling the stats to concentrate on
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Sedgefield form in the book a plus
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Read my Scottish Open preview here
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Read our Netherlands v England semi-final cheat sheet here!
Tournament History
Formally known as the Barbasol Championship, the ISCO Championship was introduced to the PGA Tour schedule nine 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 ISCO Championship shuffled forward one week in 2022 to play opposite the now co-sanctioned Scottish Open and that's the case again this time around for the third year-in-a-row. 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 ISCO Championship is now co-sanctioned between the two Tours and 50 spots are available for players from the DP World Tour, although nowhere near 50 have made the trip across the Pond over the last couple of years.
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.
Venue
The Champions Course, Keene Trace Golf Club, Nicholasville, Kentucky.
Course Details
Par 72, 7,328 yards
Stroke Index in 2023 - 70.43
Designed by Arthur Hills 36 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 five editions here with plenty of low scores being posted.
The winner, Vincent Norrman, and Nathan Kimsey both got to 22-under-par last year and Trey Mullinax birdied the 72nd hole two years ago to win 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.
Weather Forecast
TV Coverage
Live on Sky Sports all four days, starting at 21:30 on Thursday.
First Eight Winners with Pre-event 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
2023 - Vincent Norrman -22 (playoff) 27.026/1
What Will it Take to Win the ISCO Championship?
Here are the top-five and ties from the first five editions staged here with all the traditional stats.
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
2023
Vincent Norrman -22 - DD: 15, DA: 2, GIR: 37, SCR: 34, PA: 8
Nathan Kimsey -22 - DD: 58, DA: 41, GIR: 16, SCR: 14, PA: 12
Trevor Cone -21 - DD: 14, DA: 56, GIR: 1, SCR: 49, PA: 3
Adrien Saddier -21 - DD: 33, DA: 36, GIR: 13, SCR: 26, PA: 4
Lucas Glover -20 - DD: 26, DA: 11, GIR: 18, SCR: 1, PA: 22
DD - Driving Distance
DA - Driving Accuracy
GIR - Greens In Regulation
SCR - Scrambling
PA - Putting Average
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
2023
Vincent Norrman -22 - TEE 3 APP 48 ATG 8 T2G 8 PUTTING 7
Nathan Kimsey -22 - TEE 34 APP 51 ATG 5 T2G 20 PUTTING 1
Trevor Cone -21 - TEE 1 APP 2 ATG 8 T2G 2 PUTTING 41
Adrien Saddier -21 - TEE 41 APP 47 ATG 1 T2G 18 PUTTING 2
Lucas Glover -20 - TEE 28 APP 1 ATG 24 T2G 1 PUTTING 50
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 the first four editions here, the 2021 victor, Seamus Power, had the worst Greens In Regulation and Scrambling stats of the four winners but he still ranked eighth for GIR and fifth for Scrambling so it was quite odd to see last year's playoff protagonists rank so highly for those two stats but it's worth highlighting that Trevor Cone, who ranked first for GIR, was beaten by a stroke and the best scrambler, Lucas Glover, finished fifth, beaten by two.
Is There an Angle In?
The 2017 winner, Grayson Murray, had current form figures reading MC-27-35-18-26-74-MC, the 2022 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 five tournament winners had shown glimpses. Here's the lead up form of the other five...
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
2023 - Vincent Norrman 8-48-MC-MC-MC-24
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.
Normann didn't play in the JDC (finished 24th in the Rocket Mortgage Classic in his penultimate start) but J.T Poston cemented the link two years ago 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 decent event to consider too.
The 2022 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, Billy Horschel, in second, and the 2019 Wyndham winner, Poston, really should have won here in 2021.
Norrman finished only 58th at Sedgefield last year but he was seventh after round one.
In the absence of too much to go on after just five 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.
The late Grayson Murray was only 23 when he won this in 2017 and Norman was 25 last year but Mullinax had just turned 30 when he won here 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, Power, although winning for the first time, was 34, Piercy and Baddeley were both 36 when they took the title and Herman was 41, so although it's early days, it's the older pros that have prospered in the main at this event so far.
Piercy, Power and Norrman were quite well fancied but this has been a reasonable event for outsiders.
Winner's Position and Exchange Price Pre-Round Four
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
2023 - Vincent Norrman - tied second, trailing by one 4.03/1
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 three years ago but he was never outside the top-five in-between rounds and 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 15th and a bogey at the 16th saw him come back to the field. Power went on to beat Poston at the sixth extra hole.
DP World Tour player, Matti Schmid, led through 54-holes two years ago and he was matched at just 1.9520/21 after he'd birdied the opening hole on Sunday, but he went on to shoot 77 (the worst round of the day) to slip to eighth.
The runner-up, Streelman, was matched at a low of 1.51/2 two years ago and two men traded at odds-on last year without winning.
Pre-event 120.0119/1 chance, Trevor Cone, who had led by a stroke with a round to go, looked the most likely winner when he was matched at a low of 1.814/5 before he double-bogeyed the par three 16th after a poor tee-shot and sat in the clubhouse, England's Nathan Kimsey's price dipped to 1.511/2 before Norrman holed his eight-foot bogey putt on 18 to get into the playoff.
I'll be back later today or tomorrow with a look at the market leaders and a summary of any pre-event selections.
Amateur heads the market in Kentucky
I don't recall the last time an amateur headed the market before the off at a PGA Tour event. This may even be the first time it's happened. But after his 10th in the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and his tied second on Sunday at the John Deere Classic, the extremely promising youngster Luke Clanton, is the 12/113.00 jolly here.
That tells you all you need to know about the strength of the field and other than picking out David Micheluzzi for the Find Me a 100 Winner column, I'm more than happy to leave the event alone before the off.