Puerto Rico Open Preview

Andrew Novak

If anyone thought the Honda Classic had a below-par field, don’t show them this week’s Puerto Rico Open.

Sure, the top few are valid members of the PGA Tour, all with their legitimate claims in this lowly class, but we then have the likes of Chad Campbell (unranked after not being seen for almost three years) and Frank Lickliter (now outside the world top 3000) bringing up a rear that stinks.

Still, someone has to win, and, with such dead wood, punters might smile at this opportunity to nab the winner of an event returning to its status as an opposite event – expect LIV to make an offer in 2024.

That’s not to say this exotic land doesn’t bring a classy winner. In the last six years, Tony Finau and Viktor Hovland both broke their maiden here, whilst after a period of personal tragedy, multiple winner, Branden Grace, bounced back to form.

A wind-affected island track that offers rewards for aggression. This feels like an ‘anyone’ week – the back-nine on Sunday could be fun.

The market is fascinating this week, with world number 376 Andrew Novak leading the field.

The 27-year-old made his way onto the top level by virtue of his performance on the Korn Ferry Tour during the combined Covid seasons, and he’s doing a great job in honing his craft.

Novak has made five cuts from seven starts since qualifying, with the most significant results being 17th in Bermuda (another wind-affected coastal course) 12th at the much higher-grade Sony Open and 29th at last week’s Honda Classic.

Each one of those sees him rightly disputing the market number one, but I’m not sure I can get involved at around 20-25-to-one with any of the favourites, even if they hold excellent claims.

Instead, I will take Novak at slight odds-on in his three-ball against Scott Brown and Arjun Atwal.

In the five starts mentioned above, the St. Simons resident has some impressive first round finishes. Novak has finished 11th after the first round in Hawaii, fifth at Torrey Pines and in the top-30 at Pebble Beach and at the Honda.

Furthermore, he was 15th at the end of the first round on debut here last year and 11th after Thursday’s round at the correlative Corales in the Dominican Republic.

Compare that with 49-year-old Atwal, with a best of 49th place since 2021 and an average first-round placing of around 120th for his three starts in 2023, and Scott Brown, admittedly a former winner here, but now 719th in the world and who has, since September, withdrawn twice during tournaments, and missed his last two cuts (Pebble and Honda) ranking 99th and 136th for his first round – he certainly looks wrong in every way.

Harrison Endycott

Plenty have broken their duck here, and now the Puerto Rico ‘curse’ has been resigned to history let’s get with a couple of players who have their best days in front of them.

Much of Harrison Endycott’s claims were covered in the 2023 Players To Follow list, but the summary is worth repeating to justify his selection this week.

Well-regarded at home, he mixed his time in junior golf with the likes of Min Woo Lee and Curtis Luck, during which he finished runner-up at The Players Amateur before winning the elite Porter Cup and being part of the victorious three-man Australian team at the Eisenhower Trophy, played partly at El Chamaleon, scene of the Mayokaba events on the PGA Tour.

After the death of his mother, Endycott understandably struggled through the late teens, understandably saying that, “At the time, golf didn’t really matter to me.”

Working through the grades, his debut, five-shot victory on the KFT, was backed up with a pair of top-10s and two-top-20s, easily enough to nab his PGA Tour card for 2022/23.

And, like Novak, he’s doing it nicely.

In 11 starts since gaining his place at the top level, the 26-year-old has made four cuts, including a first-time-out 12th at the Fortinet, 10th in Bermuda (led after a first round 62), 22nd at the American Express 7th after day one) and top-30 at the Plantation Course last week.

In between, the Aussie came home fast to be 18th in Cam Smith’s Australian PGA, and although he missed the cut at his home Open, sat in the top-10 after an opening 65.

Endycott’s weakness so far seems to be the driver, and with his stats suggesting he recovers well – top-15 for approaches in recorded events – this non-penal track should suit.

An Aussie with a residence in Scottsdale, playing on a windy coastal track – this is a great chance.

Brent Grant

Brent Grant could very well be one of the season’s fairy stories by September, having already secured his 2022/23 card with a stunning 50-foot birdie putt on the last hole of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship – enough to finish 11th and sneak in.

He hasn’t let that chance go, and while the opening nine events certainly haven’t been stunning – seven missed cuts – he showed up at Bermuda, finishing 35th after entering Sunday inside the top-15.

However, recent form has shown the real Grant, with back-to-back class efforts at Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach, where at the former he led an elite field after a first-round 64.

Brent Grant always brings the energy ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/dNhfPEcR4F https://t.co/Talvwe7Kng

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 26, 2023

After the back-to-back top-25s, he was a sneaky play at a long price for the Honda, but was never comfortable, withdrawing during the event with sinus issues.

Grant is a big-hitter off the tee, his driving distance ranking being fourth at Bermuda, 16th at the RSM and third at Pebble Beach, whilst he ranked highly for both his driving and greens during his KFT campaign.

Having spent a lot of his childhood in Hawaii and now on a course that will reward his best asset, Grant can justify this snippet from a recent interview:

“Fortunately for me, I grew up in the wind.”