Racing Post's Bermuda Championship predictions & free golf betting tips

Golf tips, best bets & player analysis for the Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Club, Southampton, Bermuda on the PGA Tour.

Where to watch

Live on Sky Sports Golf from 7pm Thursday

Best bets

Hayden Buckley
2pts each-way 33-1 Hills

Seamus Power
1.5pts each-way 30-1 Hills

Matthias Schwab
1pt each-way 40-1bet365

David Lipsky
1pt each-way 50-1bet365

Beau Hossler
1pt each-way 80-1Hills

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Golf's big guns have given the Bermuda Championship a swerve this week and the need for a two-week quarantine period following the tournament for anyone not double-vaccinated has not helped attract a strong field.

Just eight of the world's top 100 players will tee up, but that doesn't mean that proceedings at Port Royal in Southampton will be uncompetitive.

Plenty of players who have performed well in the closing stages of the Korn Ferry Tour season have made the trip and others will be keen to go into the winter in improved form, so it could make for an intriguing week.

Wilkerson's top tip

Hayden Buckley 33-1

Port Royal is a short course by PGA Tour standards, but players may not be in for an easy ride if the wind picks up off the Atlantic, which it looks as if it might this week.

Accurate drivers who can hit greens in regulation have done well in the two Bermuda Championships to date and this week could be right up Hayden Buckley's alley.

The 25-year-old, who is ranked third in the GIR standings, has been ticking along nicely since claiming his first Korn Ferry title at the Suncoast Classic in February.

Since August, he has tied for second on the second-string Tour's Utah Championship and was fourth when Joseph Bramlett won the Korn Ferry Tour Championship last month, but what is particularly encouraging is that he has transferred that form onto the main tour.

Buckley missed the cut at the Fortinet Championship, but has flourished since. He was fourth at the Sanderson Farms Championship when a third-round 70 put paid to his chances - he finished with a 66 - and he finished eighth at the Shriners Children's Open when his closing 63 was bettered only by winner Sungjae Im.

All of those performances should give him plenty of confidence that he can put up a strong show in this weak field.

Next best bet

Seamus Power 30-1

Seamus Power has climbed more than 300 places up the world rankings this year and is another straight hitter who can make a decent challenge.

He has already tasted success on the PGA Tour this year having won the Barbasol Championship in July while the game's elite were battling it out for The Open at Royal St George's, so he can assert his authority among less-that-stellar company.

That performance did come after five successive top-20 finishes and while he never really threatened last time out at the Shriners Children's Open, he posted four solid rounds for an encouraging 21st-placed finish.

A Saturday 74 sank his hopes in this tournament last year but his three other rounds were all in the 60s when the course played a lot tougher than it had the previous year, so he should have strong claims this year as he is ranked 17th in driving accuracy and 19th in GIR.

Other selections

Matthias Schwab 40-1

David Lipsky 50-1

Beau Hossler 80-1

This is the sort of course upon which Matthias Schwab would be expected to rise to the occasion.

The Austrian is still yet to post a professional victory, but he posted five top-tens in the first half of the year on the European Tour and recent signs have been promising.

He was fourth in the Albertsons Boise Open and eighth in the Korn Ferry Tour Championship and followed up those efforts with a couple of decent European performances, finishing 12th in the flagship PGA Championship at Wentworth and then 14th last time out at the Andalucia Masters.

That performance in Spain was more impressive as he had to recover from an opening 74 and there is no one in this field for him to fear.

David Lipsky has won twice on the European Tour and he looks worth chancing this week after he finished fourth in Andalucia when his Saturday 64 was the best round of the week.

He hit the same score in the second round as he finished 22nd at the Fortinet Championship, so this could be the week when everything falls into place.

Fellow American Beau Hossler has finished 26th and 24th in this tournament in the last two years, and his first performance could have been a lot better were it not for a Saturday 74.

His 16th at the Fortinet was encouraging, particularly as it included a second-round 64, and he is another contender who could have a strong week.

Players to note

Matthew Fitzpatrick
The market leader deserves respect on a track which should suit his style, especially after his victory at the Andalucia Masters two weeks ago.

Patrick Reed
The American missed out on selection for the Ryder Cup and has struggled with illness lately so is probably best watched as he feels his way back into regular action.

Brian Gay
Has finished first and third in this tournament but has missed 13 of his last 16 cuts, so it would be some comeback if he retained his title.

Russell Knox
The Scot has two top-20s here and should be suited by the test, but, like many this week, his recent form has been indifferent.

Port Royal course guide

Course Port Royal GC, Southampton, Bermuda
Prize money $6.5million ($1.17million to winner)
Length 6,828 yards
Par 71
Field 128
Course records- 72 holes 260 Brendon Todd (2019) 18 holes 62 Scottie Scheffler, Brendon Todd (2019)

Course winner taking part Brian Gay

When to bet By 11.35am Thursday

When to watch Live on Sky Sports Golf from 7pm

Time difference Bermuda is four hours behind the UK & Ireland

Last week - Zozo Championship 1 Hideki Matsuyama (12-1), T2 Brendon Steele (90-1), Cameron Tringale (35-1), T4 Mackenzie Hughes (60-1), Matt Wallace (70-1), Sebastian Munoz (90-1)

Course overview Port Royal was designed by Robert Trent Jones on high ground overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in 1970, then renovated by Robert Rulewich in 2009. Most of the early holes are flat, before the course moves to undulating terrain and some oceanside cliffs. The fairways are generous but the huge, undulating greens can cause plenty of three-putts.

The course hosted the Grand Slam of Golf between 2009 and 2014 – an event for the year’s Major winners. The 235-yard, par-three 16th is the signature hole and toughest on the course, with a forced carry across the ocean. The three par fives – the second, seventh and 17th – are all relatively short by modern standards and represent excellent birdie opportunities.

Story of last year Brian Gay won his fifth PGA Tour title and his first since 2013 when he fired a final-round 64 and then beat Wyndham Clark in a playoff.

Weather forecast Rain is expected at the weekend but high winds are anticipated for most of the tournament and are likely to have a huge bearing on club selection.

Type of player suited to the challenge It is not a long course and those challenging in the two incarnations of this tournament have tended to be accurate types with strong greens-in-regulation statistics.

Key attribute Accuracy

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