Serving as an alternate event to The Open, the The Barbasol Championship will attract a field of younger players and savvy veterans fighting for status on the PGA Tour. Now in its fifth season playing alongside one of the Tour’s majors, the field will lack star power, but it certainly won’t be at a loss for drama if last year’s edition is any indication. Troy Merritt broke free from the pack in the final round to win by a stroke over three golfers. Merritt is back to defend his title at the Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky and he is featured in several matchups with odds listed below and available at top offshore sportsbooks.
Barbasol Championship Matchup Odds at BookMaker.eu
Tyler Duncan -110 vs. Ollie Schniederjans -110
Danny Lee -125 vs. Brice Garnett +105
Trey Mullinax +105 vs. Brian Gay -125
Peter Malnati -115 vs. Nick Taylor -105
Matt Jones -115 vs. Harris English -105
Robert Streb -120 vs. Roberto Diaz +100
Denny McCarthy -125 vs. Nick Taylor +105
Joey Garber -120 vs. Richy Werenski +100
Brian Stuard +110 vs. Jason Dufner -130
Adam Schenk -115 vs. Wes Roach -105
Austin Cook -105 vs. Sebastian Munoz -115
Beau Hossler +100 vs. Troy Merritt -120
Sepp Straka +100 vs. J.T. Poston -120
Peter Malnati -105 vs. Denny McCarthy -115
Jhonattan Vegas -125 vs. Troy Merritt +105
Russell Henley -125 vs. J.T. Poston +105
Hank Lebioda +105 vs. Patrick Rodgers -125
Russell Henley -140 vs. Sepp Straka +120
Stephan Jaeger +110 vs. Bill Haas -130
Zack Sucher +100 vs. Adam Svensson -120
Sam Saunders -135 vs. Seamus Power +115
Beau Hossler +105 vs. Jhonattan Vegas -125
Shawn Stefani -135 vs. Johnson Wagner +115
Roberto Castro -125 vs. Josh Teater +105
Ryan Armour -110 vs. Peter Uihlein -110
Jim Herman +105 vs. Ted Potter, Jr. -135
Alex Prugh -135 vs. Ben Silverman +105
David Hearn -110 vs. Fabian Gomez -120
Jonathan Byrd -110 vs. Kramer Hickok -120
Ryan Blaum -125 vs. Sangmoon Bae -105
Brendon Todd -110 vs. Cameron Davis -120
Chase Wright -120 vs. Chip McDaniel -110
D.J. Trahan -120 vs. David Lingmerth -110
Dominic Bozzelli +105 vs. Tom Hoge -135
David Toms -110 vs. Jim Knous -120
Need to Know
The field at last week’s John Deere Classic was more in line with what we have this week, so I’ll use that as a reference point in my matchups. Then again after looking at my results, maybe I shouldn’t. Four of my five picks ended up a loser, which I’m not very proud of. The field was difficult to handicap and I’ll go with that as the reason why I deviated from my usual 60 percent success rate. With a week to adjust to the watered down field, I should be better this week. There could be some low scores this week on the 7,328-yard, par-72 Keene Trace Gold Club layout. It’s a generic design with few obstacles, and we saw Merritt dissect the track to a 23-under last year.
Barbasol Championship Matchup Picks
Brian Gay -125 vs. Trey Mullinax
Gay is one of those savvy veterans I mentioned earlier and he stands out as one of the better players in the field, at least on paper. Recent form hasn’t been great with three missed cuts in his last five starts. That may actually be beneficial to him this week since he has played a lot of golf this season. He’s advanced to the weekend in 19 of his 25 starts with six top-25s, and he should take advantage of the weakened field.
Bill Haas -130 vs. Stephan Jaeger
Sticking with those veteran players, why not take a peek at Haas. He’s another player who could easily stand out in this field and he’s coming off his best showing in four months. Haas was in contention last week just one-shot off the lead after 54 holes. A final round 71 dropped him into a share of 10th, but he flashed his ball-striking ability. Besides, it’s going to be a challenge for Jaeger to bounce back after his meltdown last week.
Patrick Rodgers -125 vs. Hank Lebioda
A risky pick here since Rodgers hasn’t played competitively since March. But when he was playing he was sharp. Part of his early season success included a runner-up finish at the RSM Classic where he went 61 and 62 over the final two rounds. He also had a pair of top-15s before heading to the clubhouse with an injury. This is a nice course to make a return since there aren’t many obstacles to get in his way.
Troy Merritt +105 vs. Jhonattan Vegas
This is a tough matchup to handicap with both players flashing inconsistency lately. I noticed the previous picks were all favorites and I needed to take a plus-odds player, so why not lean on the defending champ. Merritt has been a boom or bust lately with three top-20s in his last eight events. But he also has three missed cuts in that span. He torched Keene Trace with an opening 62 last year and was atop the leaderboard throughout. Those happy memories - along with a T7 two weeks ago - give him the edge over Vegas, who imploded last week to fall off the pace.
Wes Roach -105 vs. Adam Schenk -115
The light went on for Roach after he grabbed a T10 at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Knoxville Open two months ago. Suddenly he’s locked in. A T11 in Canada followed, along with a T3 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and another T10 last week. In those three PGA Tour events he scored 69 or lower in all 12 rounds. He also has a chance to pick up valuable FedEx Cup points to keep him among the top 125.
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