Horses For Courses: Maiden Black Desert Championship means look to staple stats

The brand-new Black Desert Championship debuts this week in Ivins, Utah. The inaugural event will provide the first look at the Black Desert Resort for the PGA TOUR.

With no course history to lean on, we start with the most staple stat on TOUR to find an edge.

Strokes Gained: Approach the Green

Players listed are in the field this week; 2024 season stats.

The resort course, designed by Tom Weiskopf and Neil Smith, provides plenty of room off the tee to navigate the wind and keep the golf ball out of the black lava fields framing the property. With landing areas averaging 30 yards across and a 2-to-1 ratio of fairway to rough acreage, the field should pepper the short grass from the tee box. Getting it close from the fairway or playing out of just two inches of Kentucky Bluegrass will result in more attempts for birdies or better on the card.

The most recent winner at TPC Scottsdale, Nick Taylor (+8000), conquered another Weiskopf desert design that plays as a resort course for the other 51 weeks on the calendar. The Canadian defeated Charley Hoffman (not entered) in a playoff after both players posted 21-under. The champion posted 60 in Round 1, setting the course record on the par 71, 7,261-yard layout. The 263 total set by both men established the post-2015 renovation tournament scoring record by two shots.

Andrew Novak (+4000) and Kurt Kitayama (+2800) shared eighth place at TPC Scottsdale and were joined by Doug Ghim (+4500) on T12, this week’s favorite, Keith Mitchell (+1600), and Harris English (+6600) were in a tie for 17th place, among those who finished in the top 20.

Sub-Par Rounds

Posting 20-under last week in Mississippi at the Sanderson Farms Championship was good enough for solo seventh place for Daniel Berger. There were zero rounds above par from the top 32 players at The Country Club of Jackson over the four rounds. The rough at Black Desert Resort is shorter, the fairways are wider, and the greens are larger.

The 7,371-yard challenge, situated at 3,100 feet above sea level, will play shorter than the scorecard length. The 36-35 layout sees all three par 5s in the final 12 holes (Nos. 7, 9, and 18). There are a pair of drivable par 4s, one on each nine, which do not exceed 322 yards and will provide another scoring opportunity. Two par 3s do not exceed 152 yards. Wedges equal scoring chances!

Playoff runner-up last week, Beau Hossler (+2800), third choice at the BetMGM Sportsbook, joined Mitchell and winner Kevin Yu (not entered) with 27 par breakers at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Scrambling

Approach shots that do not find the 7,000-square-foot putting surfaces will be subjected to closely mown areas running off and away from the hole locations. The ability to putt, chip, pitch or flop will provide multiple ways to get it close to the cup and keep pace, whether the resulting putt is for birdie or par. The more squares on the card this week, the more par breakers will be required to push the leaders.

Last week, Bud Cauley (+5500) got up and down 17 of 18 times to lead the field at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Posting 67 or better in all four rounds, he shared fifth, his best finish on TOUR since T4 at 2020 The American Express in the desert of Indio, California. Joining Cauley in the 90 percent or better club last week were Stephan Jaeger (+3300) and Michael Thorbjornsen (+3300) with 22 of 24, and Henrik Norlander (+6600) with 20 of 22.

Oddsmaker’s Extras

Kurt Kitayama (+2800): The Las Vegas man loves playing courses for the first time. In the spring of 2022, he shared second at the inaugural Mexico Open at Vidanta. Later that summer, he finished second to Xander Schauffele at The Renaissance Club in the Genesis Scottish Open. The fall brought another runner-up payday to Rory McIlroy at THE CJ CUP in South Carolina at Congaree. The following winter, the California native played the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard for the first time and secured his first TOUR victory.

Erik van Rooyen (+4000): The South African posted 27-under to win the first event at El Cardonal at Diamante last November. He was also victorious on his debut at Old Greenwood in 2021 to win the Barracuda Championship.

K.H. Lee (+8000): The Korean posted 22-under and 25-under to win the first two events of THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson after it moved to TPC Craig Ranch (another Weiskoph design).

Garrick Higgo (+12500): Won the first Palmetto Championship at Congaree in June 2021.

-Odds courtesy of BetMGM-

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