With all the elite golfers converging on Renaissance for this week’s Genesis Scottish Open, some of the less illustrious PGA Tour pros- and Korn Ferry Alumni- will gather in Kentucky for the latest installment of the ISCO Championship.
2025 US PGA Tour/ DP World Tour
ISCO Championship
The Championship Course, Hurstbourne Country Club, Louisville, Kentucky
10th-13th July
With all the elite golfers converging on Renaissance for this week’s Genesis Scottish Open, some of the less illustrious PGA Tour pros- and Korn Ferry Alumni- will gather in Kentucky for the latest installment of the ISCO Championship. This week’s event will be the 4th- and penultimate- opposite-field event on this year’s calendar (the final one being next week’s Barracuda Championship). Last year, the PGA Tour revealed that ISCO Industries would become the new title sponsor of what was formerly known as the Barbasol Championship. This event was introduced to the tour ten years ago, brought in to replace the Sanderson Farms Championship (which itself was moved to an earlier autumnal spot). It was originally played as the opposite-field event to the Open Championship. But that changed three years ago, with the two grand tours deciding to show some solidarity in the face of LIV expansionism. The decision was made to co-sanction both the Scottish Open and this tournament. The ISCO Championship went from being the opposite-field event to the Open to being the opposite-field event to an elevated Scottish Open (that sounds convoluted). Next Week’s Barracuda Championship- now the opposite-field to the Open- was also granted co-sanctioned status.
The last six editions of this event were hosted at Keene Trace Golf Club. This year’s renewal remains in Kentucky but moves to a brand-new venue: Hurstbourne Country Club (where it will remain for the next three years). A new course always makes this process slightly more challenging. Hurstbourne is a short parkland layout that features relatively small bentgrass greens. The greens feature some false fronts and run-off areas that lead to deep sand traps (this should put a premium on accurate iron-play and scrambling). The zoyisa fairways are tree-lined but not particularly narrow, while the bluegrass-fescue rough does look penal. I think scoring will be fairly low this week (despite the size of the greens). Perhaps look for guys who can make plenty of birdies and scramble effectively. The last two events- the Rocket Classic and John Deere Classic- were both played on bentgrass greens. I think that it may behoove you to opt for players who have relatively solid immediate form.
Emiliano Grillo missed out in a playoff last week and will go into this event as the betting favourite. He has made six successive paydays and will feel confident of making hay while the giants are away. Michael Thorbjornsen has had some injury issues but picked up a T4 at the recent Rocket Classic. Jackson Koivun is the world’s top-ranked amateur and is fresh off a T11 finish at the John Deere Classic. Rico Hoey has struck the ball brilliantly this year, ranking 1st on tour for SG: Off-the-Tee. Elsewhere, experienced PGA Tour campaigners such as Hossler, Champ and Hubbard will look to take advantage of this depleted field.
Past Winners
2024: Harry Hall (-22) *playoff
2023: Vincent Norrman (-22) *playoff
2022: Trey Mullinax (-25)
2021: Seamus Power (-21) *playoff
2020: event cancelled
Betting Favourites (To Win): Emiliano Grillo (16/1), Michael Thorbjornsen (16/1), Jackson Kuivan (16/1), Kevin Roy (18/1), Mark Hubbard (20/1)
Value Bet
S.H. Kim- To Win (40/1)
Korn Ferry player S.H. Kim will be looking to make a strong impression this week. He failed to gain his PGA Tour card at Q-School last year. But the man who finished runner-up to Sahith Theegala at the 2023 Fortinet Championship has managed to rediscover some form at Korn Ferry level. He won the Adventhealth Championship in May and also claimed runner-up finishes in the Bahamas Classic and Argentina Open. He currently sits 4th in points on the Korn Ferry Tour, leading the tour in ball-striking. He finished 10th last time out at Korea’s PGA Championship and he could be a factor in this decimated field.
The Man to Beat- Emiliano Grillo- To Win (16/1)
There’s one thing I love about these opposite-field events: you get good value for your betting favourites. Grillo just lost out to Brian Campbell in the John Deere playoff and is the highest ranked player in the FedEx Cup standings in this week’s field. The metronomic Grillo’s career has suffered due to his relative lack of length from the tee. That shouldn’t matter too much this week as his accurate style should suit these conditions beautifully. He is an erratic putter but still managed to gain 1.3 strokes on the field during last week’s John Deere Classic.
