Nash & Lyle break down the tournament and field for Louisville as they’ll be heading there for the first 2 rounds!
#golf #pgatour #sports
And it’s a touchdown. There it goes. See you. Wow. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Welcome back to the Diving into Sports podcast with your host Lyall and Nash Henry. Let’s dive into today’s topic. So, we got the 2025 Isco Championship at Hurst Country Club in Louisville. We will be going for the third time and it’s a pretty packed field with a lot of big names. We’re really excited and brand new course, a big nice course in a big city and a lot will change, but a lot for good, too. I think it’s going to be a lot better tournament this year and it’s only going to get better from here really. And it’ll be fun to see how hard the course plays. Yeah, I mean it’s a really cool event as it’s one of only a couple events the entire year that’s co- mergered between the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour. Barracuda is the other one, but obviously it’s stable for it scoring. So, it’s a really unique event and it’s playing at this new course in Louisville which is really highly touted and it ends with a par three. So, it’s a really unique finish with clubhouse looking back in the background. It’s going to be a really fun weekend. There are a lot of interesting names playing great lately on both European and American tours to keep in to keep your eyes on. Yeah, I mean, they’ve had the Kentucky Open there before. It’s no joke. Like, this course is one of the biggest ones in Kentucky. Not just uh difficulty, but the caliber and and quality of it, too. It’s really a nice course. The bunkers look awesome. I’ve seen them preparing it. It looks like it’s in great shape. And they’ve also, of course, held some of the the pre-round stuff at Valhalla Golf Club. I mean, it’s a city that’s right. They held a major that’s hosted a major before. So, it’s definitely a bigger they’re moving to a bigger city for sure. So, the attendance might reflect that. We’ll have to see. But definitely a pretty big change this past year. So, we’ll be going for rounds one and two. It’s our first time going on Thursday and Friday this year. the Thursday and Friday tea time stretch from 6:45 all the way to 2:22. That is a long time. That is a packed day. That is a lot of golfers. And quite honestly, the biggest most interesting group of people on in professional golf the whole year. The most diverse and the most interesting. It’s just it’s an awesome tournament. But especially this year, there’s some really cool names. Yeah. I mean, a lot of the DP World Tour players, some have been invited via top 10 finishes at the International Open in uh Germany, but also there are names that have just been playing really well over in Europe, but obviously haven’t seen a PGA Tour tournament in in years. I mean, there are guys that haven’t played in f up to five, six years in any event on the PGA. So to have them coming to America even just for one event makes it definitely a standalone kind of field. Uh but there are some really some names to keep an eye on that have been playing well on the PGA Tour as well lately. Yeah. So we have names like Michael Thorj Bjornson Young stud. I mean, he was an amateur playing well and now he’s one of he’s top 110 on OWGR. And even though he missed the cut last year, look for him to have a great week this week. Did pretty well to John Deere last week. Then we have someone like Emmeliano Gillo. I mean, he went to a playoff last week. He’s playing in Isco. This is I mean for an alternative PGA event it is about as high class as it gets considering the opposite field event that Genesis the Scottish Open which has the majority of the top 100 players in OWGR. It is one of the most buffed fields of all time which in turn means the Isco field is one of the most buffed alt events of all time. So yeah, Gerillo’s 92nd in OWGR right now and he’s playing an alternative event which you don’t see much. And then Bo Hustler also did well at the John Deere last week. Cameron Champ, Mark Huard, Kevin Roy, all those guys did really well and have been doing really well lately in America. All in the alt event in Kentucky. So, I mean, you look at someone like Kevin Roy making a lot of cuts recently, kind of coming out of nowhere. But hey, who’s this guy named Kevin Roy? a lot of Google searches, a lot of follows probably, and now it’s an alternate, it’s his week. If it’s an alternate and you’ve been playing well, you’ve got a shot because and you should know that because you have to go out playing and you have to take risks if you want to win at an an easier course like this. And that’s what they’re going to do. The winner is going to take shots. They’re not going to hold back. And they’re going to do that starting out on Thursday. So, we’ll get a pretty good idea of who’s going to be in contention on Sunday after tomorrow’s round. Let’s move into who we think has the best shots of winning, who we want to win, who we’re excited to see. Yeah, Nash, you can start with that. Yeah, I mean, I would say someone to keep an eye on in terms of winning is Cameron Champ. He’s made the last three PJ Cups cuts and is in the top 25 in those last three events. John Deere, he was tied for the lead after 36 holes. So, he’s definitely been playing great golf lately. He’s an someone to keep an eye on for sure. And then DP World Tour wise, someone who could definitely be a sleeper pick is Kazuma Kabori from New Zealand. He has also been playing really well but on the European tour. Uh qualified via top five at the BMW International Open in Germany, but then did really well in the Asian tour swing or the Asian swing on the DP World Tour. Uh he’s only 23 years old, but he’s another one of those younger players looking for his first win. We could see it at an event like this. He’s someone I’m definitely keeping my eye on. Cameron Chapp, I would say, is a guy that I think definitely could win. Dorj Bjornson’s the kind of the betting favorite him and Gerillo. It’s pretty rare that you have the batting favorite ultimately win. At least it seems so. So I don’t think he’s gonna win. Was at Scotty. I mean he actually didn’t even make the cut in Kentucky last year even though it was a different course of course but I don’t think he’s gonna really finish up there. Bo Hosler is definitely someone also I would keep an eye on to do well this week. He seems to always play well in this kind of style of event in the Midwest areas. He hasn’t won. I don’t believe so he’s ever won on the PGA Tour. I don’t think so, but uh you know he’s him and Cameron Champ I would say are the two guys to win that I would keep an eye on. And then Kabori of course as a sleeper pick. Well then moving over to me I’m going to roll with my boys Harry Higs and Kieropy Barn. are both in the field this week. Um, I would like to say they’re my winner picks, too. But realistically, I will say Kirk has a lot better shot than HS. Hes struggled this year. I wish that wasn’t the case, but other than the Myrtle Beach Classic, which he almost won. Um, Kirk putting on a show on the DP World Tour, still not as good as he has been in the past, but still pretty good. Um, I would I would not be surprised with him being top 10. And hey, maybe even getting his first PGA win, but if I was to give my most honest prediction, I think Kevin Roy is who I think will win. And I think Guerrillo is a guaranteed top five. He’s guaranteed top five. I think someone like Jackson Kovven who finished top 15 on the John Deere last week. He’s an amateur but he’s the top ranked college golfer. Um he’s going to make a run. And then someone like it Justin Lowour. It’s always players like that that you’re not expecting to do well and then they just have a good week. Justin Lowour, like Nash said, Bo Hustler, Ben Silverman, you know, they’re not they’re there’s a lot of players like that who I think there’ll be someone like that who pops out and surprises you. Let me put it that way. There’ll be the Chalk. There’ll be those players and then of course Kier. Yeah. And then uh another player or another player too I’d keep an eye on. one Takumi Kaya from Japan who’s already punched a ticket to his fifth British Open. He will be playing there next week. He’s the only active player in the field that’s already secured for that major event. Uh but of course the winner qualifies for it. So he’s top 200 OGR. Played a lot of cornfairy last year, but been playing a lot of PGA lately. not a ton of great finishes, but in terms of just overall talent, he’s definitely on the top of the pool this week at the Isco. And then another local player that I think has is definitely will be in the mix there playing with Kirk is Vince why. He’s done really really well to Isco before a top 10 just a couple years ago. Of course, that was in his hometown of Lexington. Now it’s in Louisville. I’m sure he’ll still have some family there, maybe some followers. Uh he’s been playing really great golf lately. I think four straight made cuts. So that’s definitely a name to keep an eye on. But yeah, following up in the Kirac trend, it’s really just a a cool event because you’ve got players from I mean you have a lot of players that actually appeared on Olympic teams. You’ve got Kirk from Thailand, Joel Gerbick from Switzerland, Gavin Green from Malaysia, Rafa Campos from Puerto Rico, Fabriio Zenodi from Paraguay. Those were all Ricardo Guveta from Portugal. Those were all sole competitors for their Olympic national team uh in Paris in 2024. So, really cool to have all those guys in an event together. Uh yeah. Yeah. I mean, the fact that it’s co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour makes it a lot more special, too. I just quickly want to say I’m also going to be interested to see how Marcus Bird does APGA, too. We’re got to give a shout out to them. They It’s a great tour if you haven’t heard of it. And he’s a great player sponsored by Isco. And then another DP World Tour name to watch out for is Wendy Ding. My goodness, that guy doesn’t miss cuts. And I’m curious to see how he’ll do in the States. I mean, he’s just been dominant on the DP World Tour. Been playing great. So, yeah, I love following the DP World Tour and when it comes together with the PGA Tour, it’s like a recipe for success. So, to get to go there, I love it.’ll be fun. I’ll be following Kira deck. He’ll go low and it’ll be fun. And it’s also uh the final qualifier for the British Open. Winner goes to the British goes to the British Open. How about that? No time for that prize at the top. I think it’s really intriguing to a lot of these guys who might be sub 200 even FedEx cut points PGA. Just looking at that prize at the top, I could be playing in a major tournament next week. I mean, that’s got to be really And how about a DP World Tour player who doesn’t even have a PJ Tour card? Boom. you’ve got one for two years. Yeah, it’s on a silver opportunity for a lot of these players and that’s why I mean there were a couple uh exceptions like Richie Winsky who withdrew to play in the cornfairy event to try and get those points which is a unique and positioning wise it’s kind of smart but then you look at other players who like Fabian Gomez and alternate you know he was slim to the field but he’s been playing well in the cornfairy tour you know one good week he’s going to make a lot of ground up on the FedEx Cup list for cash. There’s also a chance at that British Open prize, which it’s a very unique positioning spot for a lot of these guys. So, yeah, a lot to look forward to, a lot of names to keep an eye on, a lot of stories to keep an eye on. We didn’t even get to the Monday qualifiers, but that’s a whole other thing. And we’ll have a great time at the course. We’ll do a recap once the week is over. and we hope you enjoy it on TV and can follow along. Yeah, thanks so much for listening and we will see you in the next episode. Last thing I will say is though, make sure to keep an eye on Michael Valar the Monday qualifier. He’s a club pro from Toledo. He drove five hours just to play in the pre-qualifier, got through that, then got through Monday qualifier. First appearance in a PGA event. Very unique player on this field. We will definitely be keeping an eye on him. Holy Toledo. Well, we will see you next time. And with that, that is the end of Thanks for listening. We will see you next time.
