Matt Kuchar looks primed to go well in a weak renewal of the Bermuda Championship according to golf expert Ben Coley.
Golf betting tips: Bermuda Championship
2pts e.w. Matt Kuchar at 28/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)
1.5pts e.w. Max McGreevy at 50/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)
1.5pts e.w. Greyson Sigg at 55/1 (bet365 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)
1pt e.w. David Ford at 66/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)
1pt e.w. Andrew Putnam at 100/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)
1pt e.w. Adam Svensson at 125/1 (BoyleSports 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)
Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook
Ben Griffin’s victory in Mexico continued an excellent run for class players in events which are really meant to provide a platform for those who need it, but here in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship there is nobody of anything like the calibre of the new world number nine.
The de facto favourite is Rico Hoey, whose switch to a broomhandle has helped him become merely a bad putter rather than an abysmal one (in relative terms, of course), and just behind the man from the Philippines we have a Colombian (Nico Echavarria) and a Dane (Thorbjorn Olesen), fitting for a cosmopolitan event which has gone to players of all kinds from all over the world.
Olesen has played in a Ryder Cup, Echavarria has won two PGA Tour events, but when people talk of a two-tier PGA Tour this is what they mean. There’s a big difference between this and even last week’s event, where Griffin and JJ Spaun were followed by potential superstar Michael Thorbjornsen, and a player of Wyndham Clark’s class couldn’t challenge the front of the betting.
Port Royal is notable for being short, second only to River Highlands in that regard but a par 71 rather than a 70. It features zero long par-fours by today’s standards and much of what length there is comes from par-threes which stretch beyond 200 yards. Pound for pound, it’s possible to argue that this is in fact that shortest course on the schedule, with Brendon Todd and Brian Gay both fitting winners in its early years.
Along with their putting prowess, shared by Lucas Herbert and a peak-form Seamus Power, wedge play is key. Power shares that quality with Camilo Villegas, winner in 2023, and Rafael Campos is nifty from 150 and in, too. There are simply a lot of short irons around here and while the wind can cause big issues, the rough tends not to, so second shots above all else may determine the shape of the leaderboard come Sunday.
Top of the list is MATT KUCHAR, who arguably merits favouritism, based on factors ranging from his form and class to his course suitability, with the fact that DataGolf have him as the top-ranked player in this field adding to the case.
In fact the obvious potential negative is that he’s 47 but that’s not really a concern at a course like this one, where Gay rolled back the years to win, and it certainly feels like it’s baked into the price given that his form figures since this portion of the season began read 13-18-11.
The first of those was in the strongest ever renewal of the Procore Championship, the second at a course where he’d missed the cut on his sole previous visit – and he played better than the end result having been fifth through 54 holes. Then, last week, bookend 65s mean he’s now ended 11 of his last 12 rounds inside the top 20 on the leaderboard.
None of this is to mention fifth place in the John Deere Classic just five starts ago and, on a light schedule, Kuchar is close to the top 100 in FedExCup points. He’d dearly love not only to secure his card and avoid burning a career-money exemption next year, but to do so in time for a trip home for the RSM Classic next week, rather than have to treat that end-of-term party like a trip to detention.
One of the more accurate drivers in this field and still a quality iron player, Kuchar undoubtedly has the right skill set for Port Royal. He’s won at Harbour Town, El Camaleon and Waialae (all short, coastal courses) and his wedge stats remain strong, as they generally have throughout his years of relative struggle.
We’ll have to cross our fingers if he does get into the mix but that applies to just about everyone in this particularly weak field and I don’t see a more obvious contender.
Returning to those wedge stats, it strikes me that Villegas and Power both currently rank high up from 50-125 yards and in other, similar categories. There’s some trepidation here as sample sizes can be small and the data available lacks depth, but what we do know for sure is that more wedges are hit here than almost any other course on the PGA Tour schedule.
If we find strong wedge players that’s a very good start and two of them are next into my staking plan, namely MAX MCGREEVY and GREYSON SIGG.
It’s almost exactly a year since McGreevy won the Dunlop Phoenix, a prestigious event in Japan where he had to fend off a handful of fellow PGA Tour players. That came after a golden run on the Korn Ferry Tour and seemingly set him up for a strong return to this level.
Fourth place in the Cognizant in March is a good form line with this in mind and 20th soon after at Sawgrass underlined his progress, but much of the remainder of the regular season was disappointing and it took a drop down in grade for him to bag another high finish in the Barracuda.
For now then this looks to be his level and the 30-year-old has started to find form yet again late in the year, buoyed perhaps by a return to the Japan a few weeks ago where he was 12th under tough conditions. He then returned home for 11th in Utah, clicking on Sunday after getting over the travel fatigue.
Last week’s 56th in Mexico wasn’t much to write home about but he must surely have taken encouragement from a second-round 63 to make the cut and whereas he had limited experience and no substantive form there, here in Bermuda he’s made three cuts from three including a best of eighth back in 2022, when he’d missed 10 of his last 12 cuts.
McGreevy has shot a round of 65 in each visit so far and having also been runner-up in Puerto Rico, it seems that his Oklahoma upbringing has equipped him well for coastal tests where there’s always likely to be a battle of some kind with the wind.
Based on the current forecast this could be among the toughest renewals so far in that regard and that ought to help this supremely accurate driver who co-leads this field in proximity from 50-125 yards alongside Sigg.
Onto the latter and he’s really upped his game lately, finishing 19th, 21st and 15th in his first three Fall appearances, then 46th last time. But for a poor final round in Mexico, where he’d missed the cut on his sole previous visit, we might be talking about four top-25s in a row for a player whose approach play has been electric at times.
Also accurate off the tee and good in the wind, Sigg’s record here is among the strongest in the field with form figures of 22-11-9. That’s been enough to rank third in adjusted scoring among those to have played multiple renewals over the last four years and he’s looked more comfortable here than anywhere on the PGA Tour.
As with Kuchar, he has a home game next week to look forward to but from 140th in the points standings and with no career money exemption to fall back on, his need is even more pressing. We’ll see how he responds but if the putter behaves, Sigg really ought to be a factor.
Eric Cole may find this to his liking and I made Ben Kohles a strong fancy at shorter odds last year, when a second-round 65 had him in the mix. Following a third-round 64 on debut we’ve evidence that this is a suitable test and his iron play has been outstanding for months now, but at no point during this run has he putted well enough to be considered a realistic champion.
The same could almost be said of ADAM SVENSSON but it’s only a handful of starts since he putted better at the 3M Open, where he opened with a round of 60, and the Canadian is worth the risk.
Svensson really hasn’t kicked on since winning the RSM Classic three years ago but combine that with victory in the Bahamas, where he was succeeded by subsequent Bermuda champion Rafael Campos, and you have a player who ought to be made for this sort of challenge.
He hinted as much on debut, too, finishing 22nd after a quiet final round, and this was his best result of those first seven events of the new season after winning back his PGA Tour card. That season also saw him produce top-10 finishes at the Sony and the Honda before ending the year with victory at Sea Island, performances which again emphasise his potential suitability.
A good day for Canadian Adam Svensson at the @WWTChampionship. Opens with five birdies in a row and fires a Saturday 64 to get into a tie for 10th. Every point counts with just three events left on the @PGATOUR schedule. Big Sunday ahead.
— Adam Stanley (@adam_stanley) November 9, 2025
We do have the putter to worry about but 21st last week, where he sat 10th through 54 holes after a Saturday 64, was encouraging. He ranked second for greens hit and his irons have largely been good for a while now, so if that putter of his does come up with something slightly better than average, we have a long-game which is capable of contending.
Svensson is a really good player in my eyes, the kind who can show it with his back against the wall from such a lowly FedExCup position, and his strong wedge stats are a nice additional boost.
Ford can focus on this week alone
Jeremy Paul comes up nicely in some of the stats I looked at and has won both in the Bahamas on the Korn Ferry Tour and by the coast in Egypt at a much lower level. Silly as it may sound though I don’t think he’s much of a price at 100/1 and will return to DAVID FORD next.
Ford has considerably more potential and the case for siding with him last week included his own bullishness following a breakout third place in Utah, where he kept on the heels of two powerhouse drivers who made life very difficult for those, like him, who are more about accuracy.
Last week might’ve been a touch disappointing given that he was six-under after round one and second on his side of the draw, but he showed plenty of character after a disastrous quadruple-bogey on Saturday afternoon. That came at the 15th having started at the 10th, and from when he reached the first tee through the opening nine the next day (holes 10-18), he took just 61 strokes.
A stuttering finish cost him a few dollars but he’s exempt through next year and free from the concerns of those fighting for cards which have never been more precious, and his accuracy from the tee makes him feel like a good fit for Port Royal.
Ford is shorter in the betting this week but accounting for the effective drop in grade, the favourites no longer 2025 Ryder Cup players but the likes of Hoey and Echavarria, he looks good value. As I wrote last Monday, nobody really knows exactly where he ought to be in the market and that’s not a bad thing. My instinct is that he’ll like this place and that he’ll fear nothing from this field.
My final selection came down to a choice between Vince Whaley at 28/1 and ANDREW PUTNAM at almost four-times that price, and I’ve sided with the latter.
Form figures of MC-7-8-5 at this course and a run of solid play stretching right back to April make Whaley among the most obvious options you’ll find in golf this week, as he’s playing as well as he ever has and is a dynamite putter.
But he’s also a longstanding PGA Tour maiden and, despite a humdrum 40th last week, I’d rather take my chances with Putnam around a short course which won’t put him on the back foot.
We don’t have strokes-gained data from Mexico but it appears as though his putting improved and an opening 64 there confirmed my belief that he’s been playing well without reward for a while now, hence a precarious position in the standings.
He was 21st here in 2020, by far his best golf since January of that year, and a narrow missed cut on his return doesn’t concern me too much given that I think his game is overall in a better place 12 months on.
Again you might not think so to glance at his results, but Putnam has started fast many, many times this season (top 10 after round one in more than 33% of starts), he’s missed several cuts by one or two shots, and he’s shown up in the places you might expect him to.
A massive fan of Pebble Beach (short, coastal), second to Kuchar in Hawaii, second at Southwind where Gay, Todd and Power in particular play well, third at Colonial where Griffin broke through (which he should’ve done here previously), second in Japan and a winner in Panama, Putnam has stacks of form that relates to this challenge.
He also has class, relative to this company, and while we’ve not seen it since summer, he’s a player I can see stepping up when he needs to.
Posted at 2100 GMT on 10/11/25
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