Welcome to our weekly PGA Tour game tips column, featuring picks from GOLF.com’s expert prognosticator, Brady Kannon. An experienced golf bettor and commentator, Kannon is a host and regular guest on SportsGrid, a syndicated audio network dedicated to sports and sports betting, and is a golf betting analyst for CBS Sportsline. You can follow Brady on Twitter at @LasVegasGolfer, and you can read their picks below for the 2026 Butterfield Bermuda Championship, which gets underway on Thursday at Port Royal GC.
We continue to study abroad as the FedEx Cup Fall Series resumes this week in Southampton, Bermuda for the Butterfield Bermuda Championship at the Port Royal Golf Club. This is the fourth of eight fall series events, and the second of four consecutive tournaments to be held outside the United States.
The Bermuda Championship began in 2019. Port Royal Golf Club is a design by Robert Trent Jones that opened in 1970. It went through an extensive renovation project in 2009. The golf course is a par 71 and is very short at just over 6,800 yards. It is not always played in short, however, because the wind is often a factor here when playing in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
Guess what kind of turf is here at Port Royal Golf Club? Answer #1: Bermudagrass. Because the wind is so prevalent in this place, the fairways are of medium width, but the rough is kept mostly low because the conditions can blow so many shots offline. It is also for this reason that Bermudagrass greens are especially large – and while it makes hitting in regulation much easier, it also brings the dreaded three-putt into play more often than usual.
Strokes Gained: The approach is still at or near the top of the list of weekly skills to consider, but I’ve given it a little extra emphasis this week since ball striking should be more important with wind and rain in the forecast. Rain is expected this week in Southampton on Tuesday and Sunday and it looks like the wind will be 15-30+ mph during the week.
I also looked at the driving precision and the good drive gained. Getting off the tee and onto the green figures to be a challenge – and from there, we’ll probably have a contest to put between those who solve the puzzle the best. I also looked at Scrambling, Hole Proximity from 75-150 yards, and 3-Putt Avoidance.
In comparing the courses, I looked TPC San Antonio where they play the Valero Texas Open. The layout has similar requirements, both courses feature Bermudagrass, typically less than star courses, and strong winds can be a factor at both properties. Same with TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas. The former home of the Shriners Children’s Open also has large greens, very little rough, an emphasis on scrambling, and often very windy conditions. Finally, I went with some more obvious coastal connections Pebble Beach, Valley Country Club in Hawaii (Sony Open), and The island of the sea in Georgia, home of next month’s RSM Classic.
Andrew Novak (30-1)
I was on Novak a few years ago in Bermuda when he finished runner-up. He was 14th this season in San Antonio and finished third there in 2025 and ninth in 2023. He was top 15 at the Sony and Pebble Beach and was seventh last fall at Sea Island, where he is also a member. Dancing has always been his forte. In the last 20 rounds, he ranks 14th in this field for Proximity to the Hole from 125-150 yards. He has been seventh and 17th in his last two Tour starts.
Eric Cole (30-1)
Cole’s best weapon is his putter and he is one of the best in this field not only with the flatstick, but also in the related courses. Cole finished 14th and 26th at San Antonio, third and 15th at Sea Island, 14th and 15th at Pebble Beach, and fifth and 13th at Sony. In the last 20 rounds, he ranks third in this field for 3-Putt Avoidance, 12th in Hole Proximity from 100-125 yards, and ranks second from 125-150 yards. Many golf handicappers are also using PGA National and Colonial Country Club as correlated courses this week, where Cole lost in a playoff at both courses.
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David Ford (42-1)
I’m making my primary trip in driving a “Ford” this week, since the young man caught my eye as a candidate possibly heading for fame in the near future. Over the last 20 rounds, he is the most accurate player in the field this week off the tee and is also #1 in 3-Putt Avoidance and is third in Scrambling. A standout in North Carolina, Ford turned professional in 2025 after finishing No. 1 in the 2025 PGA Tour University rankings. The two actors to achieve that before him were Ludvig Aberg and Michael Thorbjornsen. Ford just finished third in Utah three weeks ago. He won the 2020 Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, the Southern Amateur at Sea Island in 2022, and won the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational at Colonial Country Club in 2024. Let’s take it for a test drive.
Lee Hodges (50-1)
Hodges played golf in Alabama, so he is very familiar with Bermudagrass. He finished sixth and 10th at Waialae, sixth at the Valero Texas Open in 2023, and fourth and fifth the last two years at Sea Island. Hodges finished third earlier this summer at the John Deere Classic and was 13th earlier this month in Utah. In the last 20 rounds, he ranks 24th in this field for SG: Approach, 14th in Driving Accuracy, and is 15th in Hole Proximity from 125-150 yards.
Taylor Montgomery (130-1)
I’ll try a long bomb here with a local Las Vegas product. Montgomery lost his exempt status on the PGA Tour last season and has competed primarily on the Korn Ferry Tour as of late as he tries to regain his status. It looked like he was going to win soon after turning pro and playing a full Tour schedule in 2022 and 2023 — a run that saw him finish third at Napa, 10th at Mayakoba, 12th at the Sony Open, and 15th and eighth at the RSM Classic. Montgomery took 13th at Sony in 2024 but has fallen since. He finished 22nd in San Antonio and was 34th here in Bermuda last year. He has always been one of the best putters in the world. Maybe this week, he can be the best player in Bermuda.
