Andrew's Club Car Championship (KFT) Preview (2025)

Welcome, friends, to the meat of the Korn Ferry Tour season. We’ve seen six events so far, and we’ve travelled around a little bit. Two weeks in the Bahamas in January, two weeks in Panama and Bolivia in February and two weeks in Argentina and Chile in March. After a long gap we’re back, and we’re in the USA.  There are sixteen events in the next nineteen weeks, and by the middle of August we’ll know the majority of the graduates moving onto the PGA, with just four playoff events to come. So, if you’re going to excel, now is the time kick into gear. If you count the Hotel Planner Tour, there are going to be 38 previews from me by the 16th September. Welcome to the summer, let’s get into it.

The Tournament

The Club Car Championship is vying for the “most boring title on the KFT” award, which is competitive. The event is better than that sounds, and we’re in beautiful Savannah, Georgia on a shortish, but challenging course that we know plenty about. The Landings Club has hosted this event since 2018 (Sam Burns won the inaugural event) and this is also a site for second stage PGA Q-school qualifying (yes, the weather is different in November, but it means even more of the field know the course.) To be strictly accurate, we’re on Skidaway Island which is to the South of Savannah but very like Hilton Head in geography and inhabitants, and at Deer Creek, one of a few highly-rated courses at this site.

Steven Fisk won from Rob Oppenheim in a playoff last year at 274 (-14 on this par 72 track,) a year after David Skinns won at -17 (before the course was lengthened somewhat) and T.J. Vogel reached the same winning score in 2023. If you’re following along as the day progresses, note that the outward-nine is far more straightforward, with the drivable par four 5th, the easiest hole on the course, and the 1st and 7th (par fours) and 3rd and 6th (par fives) also among the holes playing well below par. All the par fives are scoring holes but the par threes are tricky, especially the 2nd and 17th.

I mentioned Hilton Head and this is similar in that it is a tree-lined course with lots of shaved run-offs and some very deep bunkers. It has less water (though there’s some) and is wider in the fairways, but overall this isn’t a test of pure power but of nous, shot-making, approach and short play. Yes, Burns and Fisk can give it a whack, and it certainly won’t hurt, but this is a more nuanced test than some that these guys have in store. We’re expecting a dry week with a bit of wind but it should be warm and fairly straightforward. https://www.windfinder.com/forecast/savannah_airport

The Field

There’s a very typical looking market for the KFT, with a bunch of guys among the favourites depending on where you look. The very early money has come for Christo Lamprecht, suggesting that some think that length is more of an advantage than I do – though I’m sure having attended Georgia Tech helps. He’s up there with Kensei Hirata, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, John Keefer and a number of others. But at a best priced 28/1 the field (early markets) you can get each-way value on any player you like. I was, as ever, tempted by Petr Hruby at some big prices but I’ll wait for a longer course. I know that a win is coming from Kensei Hirata and I’m nervous about missing out on it, and similar things could be said for John Keefer and Justin Suh. In the end, though, I found this a fairly easy week to make a card for.

Selections

First on my list is Davis Chatfield, who I think has done enough in his young career to be favourite here and was real value at the prices. He’s unusual on my list here as he’s far from local (he went to Notre Dame and grew up in New England) but he’s got a game that is made for this sort of course and he’s on great form. His six starts this year have included five made cuts, all top 30 finishes, with three top tens, including a second in Chile last time out. Last year he started slowly enough but finished 14th – he was 64th two years ago on debut – but is simply playing better golf now. He’s one of the shorter-hitters on this tour but accurate from tee-to-green, in great form, and good enough to grab a maiden win here.

Turning to the locals, Tyler Duncan is a player I tipped in Argentina, when he finished just outside the places at 80/1. He’s a shorter price here but that reflects a return to home and a return to form. After that 7th in Argentina he was 26th on the PGA Tour in Puerto Rico, and this Ponte Vedra, Florida resident has always played his best golf on the Atlantic Coast. As well as a win and a 3rd at the RSM Classic, he’s been 12th at Hilston Head, 3rd in the Honda, and more of the same. This is his sort of course in his part of the world, and for all he lost his PGA card last year he’s more than good enough to win in this field and he won’t see many better chances.

At a bigger price, Ryan Blaum is another son of the Atlantic Coast, a Duke grad and Miami resident and other who had his finest moment at the RSM Classic (fourth in 2019.) He was second in this event in 2022 and 14th last year, and comes here in decent nick with four made cuts from four starts, including a 5th in Argentina. Moreover, he has made it through second stage qualifying here the last two seasons. He knows his game, knows the course, and needs to get on with it if he’s going to win his card back. A big week here will help and could well happen.

Next, I’m taking another Duke graduate, the well-travelled Julian Suri, who has played most of his golf in Europe but obviously knows these courses well and is back going for it on the Korn Ferry this season. He’s played well on the shorter courses (a career story) with 20th in Argentina and 24th in the Great Abaco, whilst missing a couple of cuts. On last year’s KFT, he played his best golf in the south-east – 4th in Raleigh, NC, and 22nd in Knoxville, TN, but missed the Club Car. He was, however, very good here in Q-school in 2023 so he has quietly picked up the course knowledge. I don’t think that his price shows that advantage and I wouldn’t want to miss out on someone who hasn’t yet achieved the results that his talent suggest are reachable.

Finally, and at a truly absurd price, I’m taking a chance on a return to form for Robert Streb. This is another winner of the RSM Classic, in 2021. This is another guy who, at his best, was far better than this field (two top tens in majors, seven top five finishes on the PGA with two wins, etc, etc, etc.) He’s in dreadful form, and that’s in the price. But this is exactly his sort of course and I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him. Is he likely to win? No, but he’s not priced like he’s a likely winner. I’ll have a look at him here, and I’ll have a look at him when we get to Kansas in June. 

• Davis Chatfield, 33/1, 1pt e/w, 1/5 odds 6 places, Skybet.

• Tyler Duncan, 50/1, 1pt e/w, ¼ odds 5 places, Bet365.

• Ryan Blaum, 100/1, 1pt e/w, ¼ odds 5 places, Bet365.

• Julian Suri, 100/1, 1pt e/w, 1/5 odds 6 places, SportingIndex.

• Robert Streb, 400/1, 0.5pts e/w, ¼ odds 5 places, Bet365 and 1pt top ten finish (including ties) 22/1.