Puerto Rico Open – Expert Picks

Puerto Rico Open at Coco Beach
When: March 24^th - 27^th
Where: Coco Beach Golf and Country Club
2015 Winner: Alex Cejka (-7)

The format of this will go: I will select golfers based on the Yahoo format. I will select one A golfer, 2 B golfers and 1 C golfer that I think will do well as well as one dark horse pick, this should space out the selections and provide a vast field to select from for anyone who is in a format where you are limited to 10 starts per year.

Coco Beach Golf and Country Club - International: Designed in 2007 by Tom Kite, this 6,884 foot course is  rated 74.1. It is lush with mountains and palm trees with plenty of water on the side. Difficulties in this course include high winds and well placed sand traps. Due to difficult drainage, rain can create very thick and muddy terrain and the greens can run slow.

A:
Branden de Jonge. This category is tough as they have three total candidates in this tournaments. The other two are Tony Finau and Rory Sabbatini. This threesome has collectively missed 16 of the 23 tournaments they've played in. I stick with Branden because he has played at this tournament 4 times with 1 top ten finish and no missed cuts. The 13 year vet out of Virginia Tech, he will have to make good use of his Sand Save Percentage (39^th on the tour) and solid approach shots from 250+ yards. He does a good job of avoiding 3 putts which will be needed if the greens are tough.

B:
William McGirt. William, the 15 year vet out of Wofford College, is off to a solid year with 3 top 25 finishes, one 73 finish and 2MC in  his last 6 starts. He finished 29^th here in 2014 and being no stranger to the thick Bermuda grass, he hits the ball accurately and more importantly can scramble well whenever he's in the rough. He's strongest on Friday and Sunday so if he can use his Friday play to get through the weekend, he could make a final push on Sunday.

Scott Pinckney. 5 year vet out of Arizona State, he has a tendency to bounce back strong after Missed Cuts. With that said, he's now missed three consecutive cuts. I'm rolling the dice on a strong bounce back at a tournament where his one and only appearance yielded a 6^th place finish. Watch his drive, he's among the best on the tour in drives right now. His putting tends to be his downfall.

C:
Seung-yul Noh. He's only missed one cut and while he's mostly hanging in the 40-60 area in tournaments, this is low on marquee names so perhaps he cracks the top 10 with this field? He's an average player through his whole game. Making the cut can be half the battle with these tournaments.

Dark Horse Pick.
Scott Brown. He has 3 top ten finishes in 4 starts here. He's finished in the top 27 in his last three tournaments and he's got a great drive. I feel as good about his chances as any golfer at this tournament.

Last tournament results - Valspar Championship (120 total field) (Scott, Stenson, McIlRoy, Steele and Aphibarnrat)
A: 12^th place
B:  3^rd place, 27^th place
C: 46^th place
Dark Horse: 6^th place

YTD Avg: (Average field of 127 people)
A: 32nd place
B: 27th place
C: 45th place
Dark Horse: 46th place