Andrew's Memorial Health Championship (KFT) Preview

A marginally surprising winner on the KFT last week. Myles Creighton has looked good in patches on his two seasons since being elevated from the PGA Americas, but I didn’t think he could score heavily enough for long enough to take an event down. I thought the opposite was true for Pierceson Coody, who finished third as favourite, a final round 69 featuring a double bogey and bogey simply not getting the job done. I can cope with missing out on Creighton, but the bullet I did dodge was Quade Cummins, as if he’d won I’d be beating myself up. 

It’s worth unpacking that a little bit – because he’s a specific type of player well worth watching at this time of the year on both of the feeder tours. The “young player dropping down from a higher level for a single start” is a dangerous man almost always, and of that type of bet, Q-cumber was a good one. Although he didn’t win last year on the KFT, 14 top 20 finishes saw him win his PGA card with space to spare, and as an Oklahoma boy he was on familiar turf. Moreover, his PGA rookie season hasn’t been dreadful – he’s continuing to prove himself an excellent putter and he’s lurking outside the top 100 but not terribly. Coming back to this level, therefore, he’s a threat. With defending champions, hometown players, weeks without DPWT/PGA events, sponsor requests, these “dropdowns” do happen. I’m annoyed I didn’t see this one but I hope I’ll see others and if you see ones that I don’t mention, please do shout!

We carry on with another midwestern KFT event, and let’s see what’s occurring.

The Tournament

The Memorial Health Championship has solely the word “Memorial” in common with the PGA event at Jack’s place. This is not a Signature Event. It is not even an above-average KFT event. It is just… meh. 

Panther Creek, just outside Springfield Illinois, is our host and this is the tenth edition of this tournament held here. The course is a fairly straightforward 7,258 yard par-71, and after two 59s last week we are definitely on 59-watch again this week. Last year saw Jackson Suber shoot an -11 60 in round two (en route to third overall,) and Max McGreevy’s -24 260 was actually a higher aggregate than the previous couple of winners. 

With no weather to speak of, save some moderate wind on Friday, this will be a very similar test to last week. The par-five 16th, at 529 yards (which last year saw 11 bogeys, one double and 115 pars over the tournament – but also 274 birdies and 56 (!) eagles – might be the easiest hole these boys will see all year. The closing pair of holes are the toughest on the course so the finish is volatile, at least, but we are looking again for players who can score heavily, putt well and put the ball in the right places from tee to green. By KFT standards you’ll see a leaderboard favouring accuracy over length, and that’ll certainly be my focus in pulling a team together.

Selections

It is worth noting that the influx of PGA Tour U players continues, and the likes of David Ford are well worth watching here on a course that won’t be tougher than many NCAA events, and where class could well come to the surface. This time last year Austin Greaser was fourth in his just his fourth start as a pro. Ford, at 40/1, has been found by the bookies and despite his undoubted class I can leave him alone. It was harder to leave out the likes of Omar Morales and Pablo Ereno Perez at much juicier prices but I’m sticking to players who’ve shown something at the KFT level for my selections this week.

Also missing out was Mitchell Meissner who has the statistics to thrive but has historically performed worse in this event than those around it, and is yet to get his head in front at the finish despite repeated chances this season. The same can’t be said for Jeffrey Kang, who broke a string of four straight missed cuts with a 20th here last year when playing this event for the first time. The mini tour veteran is in much better form this season, ranking 39th in the order of merit and nine in birdie or better percentage (and third in putting.) He is a confident pick at a very long price.

More conventionally, I’m keen to keep Kensei Hirata onside, the Japanese player who looks like he’ll only spend a single season at this level, having won four Japanese Tour events last season and currently sitting 15th in the points list. He sits ninth in birdie average (11th for par breakers) and despite a missed cut last week is in decent form – seventh two starts ago for a tenth top 25 finish this season. 

My third and final pick is at the shortest price but I still think represents value. Emilio Gonzalez sandwiched a U.S. Open missed cut (by four shots, which is far from disgraceful- and his second place in a red-hot qualifier in North Carolina is sneaky-great form) with finishes of ninth, eighth and last week second on the Korn Ferry Tour. Unsurprisingly, he therefore ranks 24th in the order of merit – and he's seventh in putting and 27th in par breakers. Shooting 62-66 over the weekend make his runner up finish impressive rather than disappointing and I think he can go one better this time.

• Jeffrey Kang, 150/1, 1pt e/w, 1/4 odds 5 places, William Hill.

• Kensei Hirata, 45/1, 1pt e/w, 1/5 odds 6 places, Unibet.

• Emilio Gonzalez,35/1, 1pt e/w, 1/4 odds 5 places, Bet365.