The Puerto Rico Open Predictions, Betting Odds & Top Picks

• The 11th edition of the championship
• Big opportunity for young players
• European Tour stars Ian Poulter, Matt Wallace, Thomas Pieters among favorites

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The Puerto Rico Open Picks and Predictions

Branden Grace is the outright pick at +1800 with bet365

Ollie Schniederjans can land a top 10 at +375 with DraftKings Sportsbook

Back Scott Brown to defeat Anirban Lahiri in their DraftKings Sportsbook match bet at -121

Picks:

Branden Grace each way in the outright +1800 with bet365

Ollie Schniederjans to make the top 10 +375 at DraftKings Sportsbook

Scott Brown to beat Anirban Lahiri at -121 with DraftKings Sportsbook

How to Watch the Puerto Rico Open

The Puerto Rico Open Profile

It was once the case that winning this event was something of a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it offers not only a glittering trophy and a winner’s check but also the future security of a PGA Tour card. On the other, a glance at the list of winners was a somewhat scary experience because it was a roll call of youngsters who never kicked on and journeymen who immediately returned to the doldrums.

Only two of the 11 champions do not fall in either category. Tony Finau, the 2016 winner, is one and is a rarity in having used the triumph to his advantage, racking up numerous top 10 finishes and moving into the top 20 of the world rankings. It remained the case, however, that until last year not one Puerto Rico Open champion had gone on to win anywhere else – then Viktor Hovland opened 2020 by lifting this trophy and ended it with more success at El Camaleon in the Mayakoba Classic.

This year there are two distinct categories of players for punters to take careful note of.

Ian Poulter, Thomas Pieters, Matt Wallace, Branden Grace, and Tom Lewis are part of the first group – all of the European Tour regulars sniffing the opportunity to land a PGA Tour title whilst the cream of the circuit are playing the WGC-Workday Championship in Florida.

The second class is made up of the likes of Brandon Wu, Will Gordon, Taylor Pendrith, Greyson Sigg, and Lee Hodges – youngsters still wet behind the ears but hungry to make one small step in Puerto Rico and one giant leap in their career ambitions.

Amazing Grace

Situated by the sea in the Caribbean, this week’s course demands quality driving from golfers who are unafraid of hitting the ball low into the wind. It’s an aspect of the game that South Africa’s Branden Grace has always enjoyed. He is a double winner of the European Tour’s Qatar Masters, an event that is a true test of ball-striking in the wind, and also a past winner of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on The Old Course at St Andrew’s.

It’s also the case that his only PGA Tour win came at Harbour Town which is yet another course that is regularly hit by sea breezes and, like Qatar and this week’s venue, features grainy greens. Perhaps the only concern with Grace might be his form which didn’t progress this time last year despite a victory on home soil.

However, he’s had a solid fortnight in California, finishing T34th at Pebble Beach and T20th at Riviera.

It’s progressive form and you can back him to maintain the upward curve with bet365 at +1800 each way.

Schniederjans to Pull Through

There was once a time when 27-year-old Ollie Schniederjans would have been placed among those youngsters mentioned above given his strong amateur pedigree (he was ranked first in the world).

However, it’s never quite worked out for him in the professional ranks. His recent form is rather a boom or bust (six top 12 finishes and six missed cuts in his last 12 starts), but within that record are results that hint that it is within him to push on and contend this week. First of all, there is the fact that last week he got right in the hunt, lying third after 54 holes before slipping to T12th on Sunday.

Then there is his top-three finish in the Bermuda Championship at the end of last year – an island resort course challenge not a million miles from this week’s examination.

He’s also played well in Central America (a common thread with winners here), has been third at Harbour Town (a good fit for this week) and in his only course start, he put very well and broke 70 in the first and final rounds.

Take the hint and back him to finish in the top ten at +375 with DraftKings Sportsbook.

Support Course Expert Brown

Scott Brown is not only a past champion of this week’s event – but he’s also an ultra-consistent performer there: he’s played it eight times and never missed the cut. Among that tally, he’s landed six finishes of T17th or better and five of them were top 10s. It means that whoever is paired with him in a match-bet is probably going to need a bit of luck, or a fantastic week, to better him.

Anirban Lahiri has played the course once, finishing T44th, which doesn’t bode too well. Nor does the fact that the Indian has managed only two top 40 finishes in his last 31 PGA Tour starts.

Since the start of 2020 the head-to-head count, when the two have played the same tournament, is an even 4-4 split.

But Brown holds the aces this week and DraftKings Sportsbook price him -121.

It’s a solid play with plenty in our favor.