Butterfield Bermuda Championship Power Rankings

Posted By

October 25, 2021

Patrick Reed (L) and Matt Fitzpatrick (R) are the only two players in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship field ranked inside the world top 30. (Getty Images)

Patrick Reed and Matt Fitzpatrick Butterfield Bermuda Championship Power Rankings — Patrick Reed (L) and Matt Fitzpatrick (R) are the only two players in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship field ranked inside the world top 30. (Getty Images)

The past several weeks have seen the PGA Tour travel an incredible distance, going from the CJ Cup @ Sherwood in California, to last week’s ZOZO Championship in Japan. This week the Tour treks across the Pacific, and across the United States, to Bermuda for the third edition of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.

Not surprisingly, just five players who spent last weekend in Japan were willing to undertake the arduous voyage. Those five will be among a field that is one of the weakest the Tour will see all season. However, what it lacks in highly-ranked players, it more than makes up for with determination and good stories.

A largely anonymous field makes the Bermuda Championship exceptionally difficult to predict. Who do we like most at Port Royal Golf Course?

The following is our best guess of who will contend:

15. Stephan Jaeger

Stephan Jaeger plays his shot from the 8th tee during round two of the Sanderson Farms Championship at CC of Jackson on Oct 1, 2021 in Jackson, Mississippi. (Photo by Sam Greenwood via Getty Images)

The 32-year-old from Germany was phenomenal on the Korn Ferry Tour last season, with two wins and four runner-ups among 13 top-10s.

Jaeger’s PGA Tour results have not been as stellar, but he has a top-notch short game and this field is only marginally better than the average Korn Ferry Tour field.

In his one made cut in three starts this season, he shot 15-under-par at the Sanderson Farms Championship, which was good for a share of 26th place.

World Rank: 116
Odds To Win: 40-1
Last 5 Starts: MC, 26, MC, 42, MC

14. Lucas Herbert

Lucas Herbert celebrates on the 18th after winning the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Golf Championship at Mount Juliet GC in Thomastown, Kilkenny, Ireland. (Photo By Ramsey Cardy Sportsfile via Getty Images)

The 25-year-old Aussie went on a nice run on the European Tour in the early summer and has a victory in Europe in each of the past two seasons.

He has missed the cut in both of his 2021-22 Tour starts, but is the fifth highest-ranked player in the field and has an all-around game that makes him a solid fit at Port Royal.

His short game has been better than his long game.

World Rank: 53
Odds To Win: 66-1
Last 5 Starts: MC, MC, 36, MC, MC

13. Brian Gay

Brian Gay plays a shot from a bunker on the 12th hole during the first round of the Palmetto Championship at Congaree on June 10, 2021 in Ridgeland, South Carolina. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann via Getty Images)

The 49-year-old is the defending champion, ousting Harry Higgs in a playoff last November. He has been absolutely horrific in the year since though, finishing the 2021 season with 14 missed cuts in his last 18 starts, with nothing better than a T46 in the four starts where he did play the weekend.

Even with the victory, he ranked 191st on Tour in strokes gained: tee-to-green and 189th in strokes gained: total.

In his current form, there is absolutely no reason to have confidence in him, but between the win last year and his T3 in Bermuda the year prior, it seems like Port Royal just clicks with him.

World Rank: 372
Odds To Win: 80-1
Last 5 Starts: WD, MC, MC, 51, MC

12. Kramer Hickok

Kramer Hickok walks off the 5th tee box during the third round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 26, 2021 in Cromwell, Conn. (Photo by Ben Jared for PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

The 29-year-old from Texas is one of just five players in the Bermuda Championship field who played at last week’s ZOZO Championship in Japan. Despite the brutally-long travel, Hickok hits our rankings due to his runner-up in June’s Travelers Championship, where he took Harris English to eight playoff holes, and his good history at Port Royal, finishing T8 last year and T15 in 2019. All eight of his rounds in this event have been in the 60s. He opened strong in Japan with a 3-under 67, but his Sunday 76 was the worst score in the 78-man field. It is difficult to tell just where his game is right now.

World Rank: 161
Odds To Win: 80-1
Last 5 Starts: 57, MC, MC, 56, MC

11. Thomas Detry

Thomas Detry and Jon Rahm on the 4th during day three of the Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club, North Berwick, Scotland. (Photo by Jane Barlow PA Images via Getty Images)

The 28-year-old Belgian has yet to win on either the PGA Tour, but that is forgivable given that he has only played in eight Tour events.

However, he has not won on the European Tour either, but he does have four runner-ups in Europe, and ranks inside the top 100 in the world (No. 84). His lone professional victory was a 12-stroke romp in a 2016 Challenge Tour event.

In his last five starts worldwide he has a T4. but also three missed cuts, and he was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard at the European Tour’s BMW PGA Championship after playing well in the first two rounds. He is undeniably one of the most talented golfers in the field.

World Rank: 82
Odds To Win: 50-1
Last 5 Starts: MC, MC, 4, DQ, MC

10. Hank Lebioda

Hank Lebioda on the 16th green during the second round of the Valspar Championship on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort on April 30, 2021 in Palm Harbor, Fla. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann via Getty Images)

The 27-year-old Florida State product has been on a roller coaster the past few months. He posted top 10s in three consecutive tournaments in July, but had to withdraw from the 3M Open in his next start and has missed the cut in each of his four starts since. This has the makings of a rebound week, however, as Lebioda has shown a liking for Port Royal, finishing T3 in 2019 and T16 a year ago. He ranked positively in five of the six strokes gained categories last season and was 26th in greens in regulation.

World Rank: 199
Odds To Win: 50-1
Last 5 Starts: MC, MC, MC, MC, WD

9. Sahith Theegala

Sahith Theegala plays his shot from the 18th tee during round three of the Sanderson Farms Championship at CC of Jackson on Oct 2, 2021 in Jackson, Mississippi. (Photo by Sam Greenwood via Getty Images)

Coming off an incredible amateur career at Pepperdine University, where he was the best golfer on the No. 1 ranked program. He even became just the fifth ever to win the Haskins Award, the Ben Hogan Award, and the Jack Nicklaus Award.

The 23-year-old American has made himself known in the professional game in recent months, finishing T4-T6 in the last two Korn Ferry Tour events of the season, and held the 54-hole lead four weeks ago at the Sanderson Farms Championship before finishing T8.

Theegala has shockingly few weaknesses for his age, and it seems likely that he will not have to wait terribly long for his first PGA Tour win.

World Rank: 372
Odds To Win: 40-1
Last 5 Starts: MC, 8, 47, 34, 37

8. Lucas Glover

Lucas Glover plays his shot on the 18th hole during the final round of the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run on July 11, 2021 in Silvis, IL. (Photo by Andy Lyons via Getty Images)

Glover rebounded nicely from a disappointing 2020 season, posting four top 10s in 2021, including a victory at the John Deere Classic in July. He has mostly struggled since, however, with nothing better than T38 in his last eight starts.

The short game of the 41-year-old has been a nightmare in his three 2021-22 starts, but he can grind among the best in the Bermuda field, and is an excellent shotmaker.

World Rank: 101
Odds To Win: 40-1
Last 5 Starts: 45, 67, 58, 38, MC

7. Denny McCarthy

Denny McCarthy looks over a putt on the 18th green during the first round of the AT&T Byron Nelson at Trinity Forest GC on May 9, 2019 in Dallas, TX. Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

McCarthy might rank a dismal 240th in the OWGR, but he has top 20s in two of his last five starts, was T3 at March’s Honda Classic.

McCarthy has performed well in both editions of the Bermuda Championship, though, finishing T4 last year – closing with a field-low 8-under 63, and was T15 in 2019.

The University of Virginia product has a well above-average short game, which has proven to be especially important at Port Royal.

World Rank: 240
Odds To Win: 40-1
Last 5 Starts: MC, 17, MC, 71, 15

6. Guido Migliozzi

Guido Migliozzi plays his shot from the 5th tee during the final round of the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course (South Course) on June 20, 2021 in San Diego, CA. (Photo by Ezra Shaw via Getty Images)

Just 24 years of age, Migliozzi is already the world’s highest-ranked Italian player (No. 79). Migliozzi had never played a PGA Tour event when he finished T4 at the U.S. Open, and then was T13 the following week at the Travelers Championship.

He has been on the other side of the Atlantic since, and he has three runner-ups on the European Tour this year, although he has cooled off considerably in the last three months, and has missed three of his last four cuts.

World Rank: 79
Odds To Win: 40-1
Last 5 Starts: MC, MC, 17, MC, 34

5. Adam Hadwin

Adam Hadwin lines up a putt on the 9th green during the Second Round of the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities on July 23, 2021 in Blaine, Minn. (Photo by David Berding via Getty Images)

The 33-year-old Canadian makes his Bermuda debut this week, and he has a similar game to Brian Gay and Brendon Todd, the winners of the two previous editions of the event.

Hadwin is coming off a T6 three weeks ago at the Shriners Hospitals Open, and has two other top 10s in the last three months.

He has been inching close to winning his first event since the 2017 Valspar Championship.

World Rank: 124
Odds To Win: 25-1
Last 5 Starts: 6, 45, MC, MC, 10

4. Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Christiaan Bezuidenhout reacts after making an eagle on the 4th hole during round 4 of The BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club on Sept 12, 2021 in Virginia Water, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote via Getty Images)

At No. 43 in the OWGR, the 27-year-old from South Africa is the third highest-ranked player in the field.

Aside from a seventh place finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, his 2021 Tour results have not been super impressive, although he did make the cut in all 12 starts and contended early at multiple majors.

Bezuidenhout won twice on the European Tour in 2020, and has been in good form lately, following up a solo-third at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship with a solo-fifth at the European Tour’s BMW PGA Championship. He has taken the last month-and-a-half off, and is not likely to feel the pressure that most of the field will be.

World Rank: 43
Odds To Win: 14-1
Last 5 Starts: 5, 16, 53, 44, 23

3. Mito Pereira

Mito Pereira watches his drive from the 9th tee in round 3 of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Kasumigaseki CC in Kawagoe on July 31, 2021. (Photo by YOSHI IWAMOTO / AFP via Getty Images)

The most recent golfer to earn his way onto the PGA Tour by winning three times in a season on the Korn Ferry Tour, Pereira has exploded onto the Tour scene and has made it clear that Joaquin Niemann is not the only Chilean to watch out for.

In July, Pereira finished T5 at the Barbasol Championship, and immediately followed it with a T6 at the 3M Open. He also made that epic seven-man playoff for the bronze medal at The Olympics, and finished solo-third at the Fortinet Championship, the opening event of the 2021-22 Tour season.

Also, it’s a small sample size (three starts), but for the current season, he ranks second in greens in regulation, strokes gained: approach-the-green, and strokes gained: tee-to-green.

World Rank: 90
Odds To Win: 20-1
Last 5 Starts: 40, 30, 3, MC, 39

2. Patrick Reed

Patrick Reed of Team USA talks with caddie and swing coach Kevin Kirk during round one of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Kasumigaseki CC on July 29, 2021 in Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann via Getty Images)

At No. 23 in the OWGR, Reed is the highest-ranked player in the Bermuda Championship field, as well as the most well-known.

However, Reed has not looked himself in recent months. Since finishing fifth at The Memorial Tournament in early June, Reed’s best result was a T19. He missed time during the FedExCup playoffs with an injury, and in two starts in the 2021-22 season, he has a missed cut and a T68.

Despite the recent struggles though, it is very difficult to not see him being competitive in such a weak field.

World Rank: 23
Odds To Win: 20-1
Last 5 Starts: 68, MC, 17, 31, 22

1. Matt Fitzpatrick

Matthew Fitzpatrick celebrates after winning the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters at Real Club Valderrama on Oct 17, 2021 in Cadiz, Spain. (Photo by Mateo Villalba / Quality Sport Images via Getty Images)

One of just three top 50 players in the field (No. 26), Fitzpatrick arrives in Bermuda coming off a victory at the European Tour’s Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters. He also finished T2 at the Scottish Open the week before The Open Championship, but his recent PGA Tour results have lagged behind what he has done in Europe.

In his last eight Tour starts, a T10 at the Palmetto Championship at Congree is his only top 20, and his last four results were T55, T26, T57, CUT, respectively.

Still, the 27-year-old Brit was tremendous off the tees and on the greens last season, and this week in Bermuda is a great chance for him to finally snag that first Tour win to go along with his seven European Tour victories.

He is the only player in the field who participated in last month’s Ryder Cup, losing all three matches he played for the losing European team.

World Rank: 26
Odds To Win: 11-1
Last 5 Starts: 1, 20, MC, MC, 57

Next Five: Brian Stuard, Russell Knox, Nick Watney, Danny Willett, Bo Hoag

{{post_title}}