In Rio Grande, Puerto Rico’s Grand Reserve Golf Club, the Puerto Rico Open for this year will run from Thursday, March 2, through Sunday, March 5.
Last year, Ryan Brehm unexpectedly won this competition, earning his first PGA TOUR win. In 2023, he will not be returning as he will be playing in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Nate Lashley is the favorite
Lashley is coming into the Puerto Rico Open as the favorite with odds of +1400. The last tournament Lashley played in was The Genesis Invitational, where he placed T-20 as he carded -5 throughout the four rounds. Lashley has played in 11 PGA Tour events this year and has had two Top 25 finishes.
Lashley is ranked 106th in the FedEx Cup standings with 154 points; if he wins this event, he will receive 300 FedEx points.
Lashley is a huge favorite coming into this week because he had a great run at the Grand Reserve Golf Club last year. Lashley came in seventh place last year as he carded -11 throughout the four-day tournament. The stats show that he is the man to beat this week because he knows the golf course like the back of his hand.
Look for Lashley to make a big splash early in the week.
Another Favorite to win is Ben Martin
Martin is my favorite to in the Puerto Rico Open with odds of +1800. Martin just played in The Honda Classic this past weekend and went T-5 as he carded -9 throughout the four days. In Martin’s last two tournaments, he has finished T-13 and T-5, which shows he has been playing great golf.
Martin is ranked 79th in the FedEx Cup standings with 223 points this year. Martin has played in 12 PGA Tour events this year with three Top 25 finishes.
Martin did not play well at the Puerto Rico Open last year as he was cut and did not play the weekend. He looks to turn things around this week and will be the player to look out for this weekend.
Look out for Brandon Harkins
Harkins is another player in the field this week that has a solid chance to take home the win. Harkins’ odds of winning The Puerto Rico Open have been set at +1800 as well. Harkins has been eligible to play in the Puerto Rico Open this week as he has been playing on the Korn Ferry Tour this year.
In his last tournament, he was able to get a top-five finish as he tied for third. Harkins carded -11 and looked as if he was striking the ball solid that week.
Harkins has only played in one PGA Tour event this year, which was the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where he shot even through three days and was cut on the third day. Harkins looks to get back in a few PGA Tour events and needs a great finish this week, so look for him to make a move during those four days.
