It is time for the 3rd of this season’s four opposite-field events: the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic. Sure, the entire golfing world is going to be fixated on McIlroy and co at the Truist Championship.
2025 US PGA Tour
ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic
The Dunes Golf and Beach Club, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
8th-11th May
But these opposite-field events are invaluable to the less decorated golfers, allowing Korn Ferry alumni and grizzled veterans the chance to make an impression while the big dogs are away. This will be just the 2nd edition of this event, which plays second-fiddle to the Truist Championship (formerly the Wells Fargo Championship). The US PGA Tour actually showed some commendable innovation when they launched this event last year, hosting a play-in tournament for fringe pros and golfing content creators. It was the first time that the PGA Tour had reached out to that untapped reservoir of golfing enthusiasts who prefer to watch YouTube. Many younger fans find tournament golf soporific and are drawn towards the more immediate thrills of Good Good or Bob Does Sports. Nathan Franks, a senior of the South Carolina men’s golf team, played his way into this event with his one-shot victory at the Q at Myrtle Beach (which was essentially a jazzed-up Monday qualifying session).
The event returns to the host of last year’s inaugural tournament: the Dunes Golf and Beach Club. This tree-lined Robert Trent Jones Sr design dates all the way back to 1948 and measures 7,348 yards. The coastal layout runs alongside Lake Singleton, with water coming into play on almost all of the holes. The layout looks pretty firm and the fairways only measure around 25 yards across. Considering the narrowness of the fairways and thickness of the ryegrass rough , one would think that accuracy would be a key metric. But it didn’t prove the case last year, with GIR proving to be a be a much more important stat. There are certainly plenty of scoring opportunities if you find the fairways (or if you get it out far enough that it doesn’t matter). Putting metrics probably proved the most decisive stat during last year’s edition, with seven of the top ten in Putting Average finishing in the top 15 of the leaderboard.
Canadian Mackenzie Hughes is an understandable favourite this week. He missed the cut at last week’s CJ Cup but was in fine fettle leading up to that, finishing 10th in Houston before a T3 finish at the RBC Heritage. Tom Kim is slightly less convincing at 18/1, having not registered a top 30 finish in eight outings since his 7th at Pebble Beach. Thorbjorn Olsen will still be harbouring hopes of a Ryder Cup push (he is ranked 14th in the current standings). Elsewhere, the likes of Sami Valimaki and Rico Hoey bring some solid top-tier form into this opposite-field event.
Past Winners
2024: Chris Gotterup (-22)
Betting Favourites (To Win): Mackenzie Hughes (18/1), Tom Kim (20/1), Thorbjorn Olesen (22/1), Taylor Moore (22/1), Christopher Gotterup (25/1)
Value Bet
Joel Dahmen- To Win (50/1)
Joel Dahmen is exactly the sort of player who tends to thrive in these opposite-field affairs. The man with the baggy hat is a former winner of the Corales Puntacana Championship (Corales is a strong corollary course). He came within a whisker of winning there for the 2nd time three weeks ago, bogeying the last three holes to settle for a T2 finish. He struggled since, missing the cut at both the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and last week’s CJ Cup. Still, he ranked 2nd in Putting Average at Corales and I can see him putting the lights out this week.
The Man to Beat- Christopher Gotterup- To Win (25/1)
I love the look of defending champion Christopher Gotterup at 25/1. He was exemplary last year, winning by six strokes. The victory came down to an amalgamation of accurate driving and excellent putting metrics (he ranked 3rd for SG: Putting). The 25-year-old from Maryland arrives in decent form, collecting top 20 finishes in four of his last five outings. He finished in grand style at TPC Craig Ranch, shooting a seven-under-par final round to end up in a tie for 15th. He looks primed for a strong title defence.
