This article is part of our Yahoo PGA DFS Picks series.
Butterfield Bermuda Championship
Southampton, Bermuda
Port Royal Golf Course - Par 71 - 6,828 yards
Field - 132 entrants
Purse - $6.5M
The Preview
Instead of going on a rant about another awful field or the PGA Tour's continued unwillingness to provide ShotLink data for these tournaments, I will simply start this by saying that Bermuda provides a beautiful backdrop for the penultimate event of the FedExCup Fall and we are lucky to have golf contests in the November DFS lobbies. The Butterfield Bermuda Championship is hosted by an extremely short Port Royal Golf Course, which has served as the only venue since 2019. The sub-7,000 yard layout's primary defenses include a trio of difficult par-3s that each measure at least 213 yards, while Southampton's weather forecast predicts strengthening coastal winds that may invite more bogeys throughout the latter stages of the week. However, scorable par-5s and slow bermuda greens work in the favor of the players in what could be a birdie fest for at least the first two rounds.
Recent Champions
2022 - Seamus Power
2021 - Lucas Herbert
2020 - Brian Gay
2019 - Brendon Todd
Key Stats to Victory
SG: Approach
SG: Putting (bermuda)
Birdie or Better percentage
P3: 200-225, P4: 350-400 and P5: 500-550 Efficiency
Yahoo Value Picks
Based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Lucas Glover - $44
Glover took a two-month break from tournament action after making his first TOUR Championship since 2019 in late August, but he had a chance to shake off the rust last week in Mexico during his first start of the FedExCup Fall. Despite the pedestrian T59 finish, he missed just two fairways in regulation throughout the entirety of the World Wide Technology Championship, while also ranking top-15 among his peers in GIR percentage. Over his last 24 measured rounds, Glover is second to none in both SG: Approach and overall proximity. Sportsbooks won't have him listed as the outright betting favorite this week, but he probably carries the most win equity in this field.
Akshay Bhatia - $41
It's no secret that Bhatia has performed well at these island venues in the past, most notably having won the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour last year, but he's now coming off an eight-under 64 in the final round of the WWT Championship where he ultimately tied for 10th on Sunday. He ended the week at El Cardonal with 25 total birdies and an eagle, despite averaging a disappointing 1.82 putts per GIR. For a bit of course history at Port Royal, Bhatia collected a top-20 finish in his Butterfield Bermuda Championship debut in 2022, hitting the fourth-most greens in regulation (55).
Taylor Pendrith - $41
Pendrith's putting woes plagued him during a stretch of three consecutive missed cuts from the 3M Open to the Fortinet Championship, but he found success on the greens in his last two outings, leading to a pair of top-15 finishes at the Shriners Children's Open and the WWT Championship. The Canadian has ascended to second in putting from 5-10 feet over his last 24 measured rounds, and he's fourth in Par-4 Efficiency within this sample as well. This past week in Los Cabos, Pendrith racked up 28 birdies and ranked ninth in putts per GIR.
Glue Guys
Doug Ghim - $33
Ghim lost a combined 4.9 strokes putting across just four rounds en route to back-to-back missed cuts at the Sanderson Farms Championship and the Shriners Children's Open, but he rebounded with a T15 last week in Mexico where he hit 63 of 72 greens in regulation on the way to 20 birdies and a pair of eagles. He's the only player in this week's field to rank top-10 in both SG: Off-the-Tee and SG: Approach over their past 24 rounds, and he's third in Opportunities Gained during this span as well.
Matti Schmid - $29
After posting top-40s in his past two starts at the Shriners Children's Open and the WWT Championship, Schmid is up to second in eagle rate, sixth in Birdies or Better Gained, sixth in P5: 500-550 Efficiency and 10th in Prox: 200-plus over his last 24 measured rounds. He has notched 82.0 or more Yahoo fantasy points in five of eight starts dating back to the Barbasol Championship.
Ryan Palmer - $28
Palmer had fallen all the way down to No. 156 in the FedExCup Fall standings due to a three-month slump from the John Deere Classic through the Shriners Children's Open, missing five of six cuts to go along with a 68th-place effort at the Sanderson Farms Championship. He turned things around last week at the WWT Championship, however, playing his final 54 holes in a collective 21-under-par to ultimately tie for fifth. Palmer hit the second-most greens in regulation throughout the week at El Cardonal, and he's sixth in P4: 350-400 Efficiency over his last 24 rounds.
Bargain Bin
Vince Whaley - $26
Whaley returned value for us last week at just $21 as he accumulated 22 birdies and an eagle in Mexico, and he's still worth considering this week despite the $5 jump in salary. Over his past 24 measured rounds, he's top-15 in SG: OTT, Prox: 200-plus and putting from 5-10 feet. Additionally, Whaley tied for seventh in his most recent Port Royal appearance in 2021 when he holed 21 total par-breakers.
Adam Long - $24
In contrast with his last name, Long remained perfectly accurate throughout his week at El Cardonal where he hit 56 of 56 fairways in regulation, while also breaking 70 in all four rounds as he ended the WWT Championship with a top-25 result. He's seventh in Par-4 Efficiency over his past 24 rounds, and Long has placed 35th or better in three straight outings since the Sanderson Farms Championship.
Kelly Kraft - $20
Kraft was not shy in letting his social media followers know how much he hated Tiger Woods' setup at El Cardonal last week where he ended a streak of five straight top-40s, which lasted from the Barbasol Championship through the Shriners Children's Open. Nonetheless, he still made the cut in Los Cabos, and his salary hasn't budged from the $20 minimum. His par-4 efficiency metrics had been exceptional leading into the WWT Championship, and he's top-20 in both SG: APP and SG: Putting over his last 24 measured rounds.
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