Barbasol Championship Picks and Predictions: Mark Hubbard, Sam Ryder Primed to Contend in the Bluegrass State

Barbasol Championship Picks and Predictions: Mark Hubbard, Sam Ryder Primed to Contend in the Bluegrass State

Most of the golf world will have its attention abroad this weekend as the Scottish Open is set to renew for the 40th edition. However, there is golf to be played stateside this weekend, with the PGA Tour taking a trip to Keene Trace Golf Club outside of Lexington, Kentucky. 

This will be the seventh-ever Barbasol Championship tournament, but just its fourth time in Nicholasville, KY. This has been an alternative event since its founding, originally acting as an alternative to The Open Championship in Britain. It was announced that starting this year, the event will coincide with the Scottish Open moving forward. Let’s dive into the course, touch on the field, and lock in a couple of picks to win this tournament outright! 

BARBASOL CHAMPIONSHIP COURSE PREVIEW

KEENE TRACE GOLF CLUB – Championship Trace

Click Here for BARBASOL Championship Odds

There are two courses at Keene Trace Golf Club, Keene Run and Champion Trace. This event will be played on the latter, a par 72 course spanning 7,328 yards. The course was designed by Arthur Hills and debuted in 1987. Championship Trace carves through the rolling hills of the Bluegrass state and features 72 bunkers in the landscape. Seamus Power, an Irish native, won the tournament last year in playoff fashion, shooting a 267 (-21) over the four-day tournament. He bested J.T. Poston in a six-round playoff where the duo played the 18th hole four times and followed that up with the ninth hole twice. Power earned $630,000 and his first PGA Tour victory. 

The defending champ will not return for this year’s event, but three former winners will appear in Kentucky, with Jim Herman (2019), Grayson Murray (2017), and Aaron Baddeley (2016) all set to compete this weekend. It’s not uncommon to see 20-under par performances at Keene Trace Golf Club. As a matter of fact, all three winners have cleared the 20-under mark since the tournament moved to Nicholasville in 2018. There are four par 5’s and four par 3’s sprinkled throughout the course. The par 5’s offer the best opportunity to gain strokes and are crucial to finding yourself in contention on Sunday. 

BARBASOL CHAMPIONSHIP KEY STATS

• Take Advantage of Par 5 Opportunities
• Avoid the Water

You won’t find very many household names playing this weekend’s Barbasol Championship in Kentucky. This boasts a fantastic opportunity for some of the up-and-comers to try and notch their first Tour victory. With that being said, we see some really favorable odds and nobody under +2000 to win the tournament. 

BARBASOL CHAMPIONSHIP PICKS AND PREDICTIONS - OUTRIGHT WINNER

MARK HUBBARD (+2500) (BET $100 TO WIN $2500)

33-year-old Hubbard has been ramping up his play recently. He hasn’t missed a cut in his last five PGA Tour events and is coming off of his best outing of the season. Hubbard finished T13 at the John Deere Classic last weekend, shooting a 271 (-13) over four days. 

The American-born golfer finished T20 at last year’s Barbasol Championship with a -15 performance. With the current form that he’s in and his previous success at Championship Trace, I like Hubbard to be in contention on Sunday afternoon. He comes in with the third-shortest odds this weekend.

SAM RYDER (+4000) (BET $100 TO WIN $4000)

Ryder has had a rollercoaster ride of a season. He’s played in 25 events since September and missed the cut in 12 of those tournaments. However, he’s shown signs of brilliance this year, posting two top 10 finishes and an additional top five. His top five was a third-place finish at the Zurich Classic back in April. 

The 32-year-old American has recently made two straight cuts, finishing T35 at the Travelers Championship and T60 at the John Deere Classic. Sam Ryder finished at -20 in last year’s Barbasol Championship, missing the playoff by just one stroke. He shot 7-under par on Sunday and proved he can play this course with the best in the game. These are solid odds in a wide-open field, so I’ll take a shot with Ryder to post a repeat performance this weekend.

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