PGA Tour Preview: Butterfield Bermuda Championship

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00:00It's cold in the Northeast right now. We don't like this. It's the month of November.

00:04Like, times are starting to shift over. The days are getting shorter.

00:07And if you have to put those sticks away for the winter, at least you want to watch some action on TV.

00:12I'm Donnie Rightside. He's Joe Ranieri. Now we bring in Keith Stewart, a resident PGA professional,

00:17to keep us in the know in golf. How's it going, Keith?

00:20Donnie, Joe, you know what? The winds of change are coming on the PGA Tour,

00:25and the guys are going to feel it this weekend out there in Bermuda.

00:28Boy, is it going to blow.

00:30Yeah, by the way, that's a pretty good feed-in right there.

00:33By the way, we haven't talked to you in a while, so we need to keep up-to-date on all the PGA activities.

00:37But first, let's get to the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.

00:40This is from the island of Bermuda this week.

00:43We take a look at Port Royal Golf Course.

00:45Start with us here, Keith, the expectations of these golfers

00:48and how this actual tournament sets up with the place that they're playing.

00:52Well, guys, here's the underlying story right now.

00:55The top 100 get their tour cards for next year.

00:57We've got two events left on the PGA Tour.

01:00So if you travel to Bermuda, you are concerned about that top 100 cut line on the FedEx Cup points list.

01:06The guys that are out there, yes, not necessarily the greatest strength of the field,

01:09only nine players in the top 100 in the world.

01:12Recent winner, Michael Brennan, is the lowest-ranked guy at 40.

01:15But you know what? There is a lot of subplots going on.

01:18Last year, we had the winner, Rafael Campos.

01:20Never won before. Hadn't made a cut in like all of 2024, and he broke through.

01:25The year before, Camila Vajegas.

01:27This event gives us a lot of suspense, a lot of drama.

01:30And with the weather they have concocted this weekend out there and the forecast,

01:34I mean, these guys playing there on the west coast of Bermuda

01:36are going to have their hands full and a lot of pressure to go along with it.

01:40Yeah, it's funny, Keith. Last time we talked to you, we said, you know,

01:45this little mini-season is a good time to get some of these guys at 100 to 1.

01:51Thanks, Ben Griffin. Appreciate that last week.

01:54But am I missing something here, Keith?

01:576,800 yards for a PGA Tour event?

02:00Like, what is with this golf course here?

02:02What's going to win it, 30 under?

02:04Well, Joe, I mean, let's not jump out of your chair down there in Florida, okay?

02:07You know, places like Pebble Beach, these coastal golf courses,

02:10that can be weather-affected.

02:12They have to be a little bit on the shorter side.

02:14I mean, last week it was 7,400 yards, and the guy shot 29 under.

02:18So, you know, don't get too hung up on the length.

02:21By the way, you know, I don't begrudge Ben Griffin in the three-putt at the Pro Corps

02:25when we did have him.

02:26I begrudge him now because Garrick Higgo hit it in the weeds,

02:29and I hit him last week.

02:31I digress. Let's move on to Bermuda.

02:33But here's the deal, right?

02:34Don't get caught up on the 6,800 yards are the par 71.

02:37This golf course, right?

02:39A couple of keys for you guys.

02:41You can get yourself in trouble here in the wind.

02:44Very, very hilly.

02:45You know, Bermuda is an island, is the top of a volcano.

02:48That's the rim there that is the surface of the actual grass.

02:52It's super hilly, the terrain, and this wind that we keep talking about,

02:56or I'm alluding to, it's going to be 20, 30-plus miles an hour over the weekend, right?

03:01It's coming out of the West.

03:03Well, I got good news for you, Joe.

03:04The golf course sits on the West Coast.

03:06That's actually bad news.

03:07These guys are going to get blown away on that back nine.

03:10It's going to be super challenging.

03:11So for Keats Keys this week, I'm definitely looking at a birdie-to-bogey ratio.

03:15They're going to make tons of birdies, but they've got to stay away from those bogeys.

03:18The second thing is that approach play has been the thing here, and especially with your wedge.

03:24Now, you talk about the length of this golf course.

03:26It's short, so you end up with a lot of short clubs that hit the ball what?

03:29High, and it's windy.

03:31So that's kind of the crux of the issue here, the challenge that these guys face.

03:35They have to be able to flight their wedges.

03:36They have to be able to control their spin.

03:38And then the third thing is that this is grainy island Bermuda grass.

03:42Much like the Pass Palum last week in Mexico, these guys have got to be able to put Bermuda.

03:46You know, the guys that are good down in Florida, the guys that are good on these coastal golf courses

03:50like Sea Island next week, those are the guys that were interested.

03:53Those are three Keats Keys for this week.

03:56Let's go with the early leans on the early lines to make some money here.

03:59Richard Hoey, I see here at least at FanDuel at a 19-1 price here to win it.

04:03You're getting some good options, Keith.

04:04Who are your options this week?

04:06I don't like Ricky Hoey as the favorite, and I'll tell you why.

04:10You can't gain with the putter.

04:11You know, the guy's a brilliant ball striker, but you've got to be able to putt this week.

04:15I just brought it up.

04:16So I'm going to go down a little bit further, and some of the odds boards this morning,

04:19like DraftKings, had Nico Echevarria up at plus 3,000.

04:23He's coming off a 9th, a 14th there in Mexico, and then you know what?

04:27He is a great Bermuda grass putter, a great wedge player, and he's trending.

04:31The second guy, Sammy Valamaki, who I like to call Sammy Valamaki, making us money.

04:36Right, Joe?

04:37I mean, this guy, he's sitting right at plus 5,000 this morning, middle of the board.

04:41You talk about these long shots.

04:42You've got to remember, if you go after a guy that's 100 to 1 this week, he's normally

04:46300 to 1 in a normal field.

04:48So these guys at 50, 60, 40, these are the guys that are usually right around triple digits,

04:53but due to the strength of field, I love Sammy Valamaki.

04:55He was runner-up last week to Ben Griffin, lost by a couple strokes, but the guy made 30 birdies.

05:01He's a great approach player, and he's great with long par threes, which is one of the very

05:05good keys for this week out there in Bermuda.

05:07Talk to me about the old guys, though, because you talked about a top 100, right?

05:13That's what it's all about.

05:15Well, Matt Kuchar is 110, I think, last I saw here, so he's got two events to try to

05:20climb into it.

05:21What is he, 40 to 51?

05:23He had a good showing last week, and he loves those island courses, like you said.

05:27What about Kuchar?

05:29Joe, this is a great grab and a great read for yourself.

05:31I mean, he was great at Sedgefield at Wingdom.

05:33He missed the playoffs, but then this fall, he's been very, very good.

05:36I bet him last week as an outright in Mexico, and you know what?

05:40I tell you what, it was a little bit of a heartbreaker, because I had him for a top 10.

05:44He had an eagle putt on the final hole.

05:46He leaves it on the edge, makes birdie, finishes T11, but you know what, though?

05:50He's trending, and he's the type of guy over there.

05:53Brendan Todd, Camilla Vajegas, you know, Seamus Power, you know, these guys that are great

05:58wedge players, great putters, don't hit it necessarily very far, but you don't have to.

06:02You brought up the 6,800 yards.

06:03I love me a little cooch this week.

06:05The human ATM has been collecting all fall.

06:09How about this, Keith?

06:10Let's take a look at some of the future events on the PGA Tour, maybe non-sanctioned events.

06:14We're getting the, you know, the Skins game back on Black Friday, but you know what I like

06:17about this?

06:18Smart by the PGA.

06:19Don't put this one at 3.30 in the afternoon when we're watching football.

06:22Give it to us in the morning, Keith.

06:24A 9 a.m.

06:25start for Shawflay, Thomas, Bradley, and Fleetwood.

06:27Smart PGA.

06:29Smart.

06:29Well, I tell you what, they chose the East Coast for the venue, right?

06:34Golf's played in the morning.

06:35They're getting the golfers before all the other sports take over, NHL, NFL.

06:39You mentioned, Donnie.

06:40Yeah.

06:40They have a great crew.

06:41They've got some guys that can add some candor.

06:43And that's always been kind of the issue with these match play events that are made for TV

06:49is that we've got JT, we've got Xander, we've got Keegan.

06:51And we've got, you know, we've got some guys that are going to be comfortable with one another

06:55and create some banter.

06:57I love where they're going with the Skins game.

06:58And we've got the hero the week after that.

07:01So don't stop watching your golf.

07:03We got more to come.

07:04We do, Keith.

07:05Real quick here.

07:06Tiger Woods, does he swing competitively next year in 2026?

07:09Come on now.

07:09What do we got?

07:11Of course he does.

07:12He's Tiger Woods.

07:12He's got to come back, even if it's just with Charlie at the end of the year and the father-son.

07:17Let's do it.

07:17That's Keith Stewart here, our PGA Pro.

07:19We love Keith Stewart.

07:20We'll talk to him soon, getting us caught up to all the PGA stuff we need to know.

07:24Thanks again, Keith.

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