Niall Lyons has five betting tips for this week's ISCO Championship in Kentucky including a 90/1 chance he just can't ignore.
ISCO Championship
The ISCO Championship once again moved to a new venue in 2025 this time to Louisville, Kentucky and the Hurstbourne Country Club.
This is a classical, tree lined style layout and at just over 7000 yards the par 70 should open itself to the entire field with bombers not exactly favoured here and shot making coming much more to the fore.
The fairways are narrower than tour average and shaping the ball both ways on a number of holes will be required. From my review of the course it screams Colonial Country Club just eyeballing it but it's interesting to note Keith Foster who renovated Colonial also had a hand in the restoration here also.
One of the caddies there this week Jason Palmer has described the course setup as 'very impressive' with firm fairways and greens. He also says the rough is high enough to lose control of the ball so similar to Colonial in many ways a god deal of strategy is needed from tee to green.
ISCO Championship Tips
- 2pts each-way B.Hossler 28/1 (1/5 6) Sky Bet, Paddy Power
- 1.25pts each-way C.Kim 50/1 (1/5 8) Betfred
- 1.25pts each-way A.Svensson 66/1 (1/5 6) Sky Bet, Paddy Power
- 1.25pt each-way J.Suber 70/1 (1/5 6) General
- 1pt each-way K.Kobori 90/1 (1/5 8) bet365 8 place market
Beau Hossler @ 28/1 (Six Places)
Maybe this is the week Beau Hossler manages a victory and he should be licking his chops at this opportunity. Forever the bridesmaid, most notably for followers of this column against Ian Poulter in Houston, he is rarely granted a field of this quality to get off the mark and I'd make the case he should be among the favourites here.
He started the season really well then went off the boil a little with his iron play suffering the most. The approach play has improved in recent weeks, most notably at the PGA Championship where he managed 19th place.
Last week he closed with a 63 to finish 11th at the John Deere and you can't help but feel this layout should play a little more to his strengths. I shudder backing Beau Hossler at this type of price, but the field quality must be taken into account and after the weekend I fully expected him to be among the market leaders.
Chan Kim @ 50/1 (Eight Places)
Cast your mind back less than three months ago to the Corales PuntaCana Championship and the eagle eyed amongst us will see that Emiliano Grillo was between 40-50/1 that week.
Chan Kim was almost half that price in most places and now we see a big difference here for the ISCO. Grillo going close to winning last week of course contributes to this but he lines up a 16/1 shot whilst Chan Kim is as big as 60/1 in places. It looks a bit skewed to me and I'm happy to weigh in on the two time Korn Ferry Tour winner.
One really bad round on Friday cost him playing the weekend at the John Deere but it's worth noting his long game was in decent shape those two days and it was a nightmare on the greens that held him up.
That's easily overcome in a short space of time and instead we can look to a much better effort on the greens the previous week when he finished 19th in Detroit. Kim is a danger given he knows how to win and the price certainly looks worth taking here.
Adam Svensson @ 66/1 (Six Places)
There aren't a whole pile of PGA Tour winners in the field this week but one who has tasted victory before at a bigger level than this is Adam Svensson and I'll include the Canadian in the staking plan at a tasty 66/1.
There are plenty in this field not exactly killing it in terms of results and Adam is one but he is certainly capable of much better. 44th last week at the John Deere was a middling effort but it was compiled once again with a poor week on the greens. It was however an improvement in that department compared to the last few months and continued improvement with that club could mark a mini revival.
His iron play as in good nick at the Rocket Classic despite missing the cut and he wasn't disgraced from tee to green last week either. He is better on the more strategic layouts and won't have been suited by a lack of distance off the tee in recent weeks. I expect better this week and having won in a much stronger field than this he has to be included at the price.
1.25pts each-way A.Svensson 66/1 (1/5 6) Sky Bet, Paddy Power
Jackson Suber @ 70/1 (Six Places)
This represents a huge chance for many to get their maiden tour victory and one who I quite like here is Jackson Suber.
He kicked off his first season on tour very impressively with a 6th placed finish at the Sony Open but has struggled a lot since with the driver and putter causing him major headaches for the most of the following months.
Things looked to turn though at Colonial of all places where he finished 53rd but managed to shoot a best of the day 63 in round 2. Since then 18th in Canada then 6th at the Rocket Classic suggests he's in a much better place.
He has started to putt much better and the driver isn't as much of an issue as it once was. A missed cut last week is of little concern given he shot two 69s and with his irons in really good nick lately he could be one to watch.
Kazuma Kobori @ 90/1 (Eight Places)
I find it difficult to ignore Kazuma Kobori following a pretty impressive rookie season on the DPWT and he should warrant a little bit more respect in the market now in a weak PGA Tour event.
The New Zealander favours accuracy over length and that looks perfect for a course where the rough is up and it isn't overly long.
His maiden season on tour has been littered with impressive efforts with the most recent coming last weekend in Germany finishing with a 63 to finish 3rd. He led the International Series Morocco after day 1 last July, was 2nd in the Australian Open after one round with 3rd in China, 7th in Belgium and 4th in Italy all indicating that he can off to a fast start.
Fast finishes haven't been much of a feature, until last weekend. He has had numerous wins as an amateur and on the Australasian tour so write this 23 year old kid off at your peril.
