After a break of a couple of weeks, the Korn Ferry Tour is back, for the first of a couple of consecutive weeks of play in South America, a very welcome addition to the schedule last year. The first half of this double header is the historic Argentine Open (Abierto, if your bookie goes with the natives.) They’ve been playing this since 1905, and it features a smattering of local pros and amateurs as well as the usual KFT stars. This preview was delayed partly because of your gentle writer having a complicated life, but also because I half-expected a market leader or two to Monday qualify into the Cognizant and throw the market off. That didn’t happen, so we can get ready for a potentially thrilling event.
The Tournament
Let’s start with the basics. We’re at Jockey Club, in the well-heeled Buenos Aries suburb of San Isidro, and we’re playing the Red Course. Well, we’re not, the touring players are, and that’s probably just as well, because this is too hard for mere mortals. Please don’t look too closely at last year’s tournament (won by Mason Anderson with a 263 at -17, after he beat Kris Ventura in a playoff.) That was at Olivos, a more straightforward and less highly-rated course that was also set up to help the longer hitters in the field.
This week’s course is an Alastair Mackenzie design, and there are lots of highfalutin comparisons to the Old Course (as far as I can tell, simply because there’s a valley of sin in front of the final green) and even to Augusta. The latter is clearly overblown, but this is a tough challenge, with narrow fairways protected by mature trees, lots of doglegs and small greens. This is the 19th time Jockey Club has hosted the tournament, though not all of those were on, or exclusively on, the Red Course (Colorada.) Most memorably, Angel Cabrera won for the locals in 2001.
At just 6,836 yards for a par 70, length isn’t a massive advantage, though the two par fives, both on the back nine, are there to be birdied, especially the 470-yard tenth. More important is accuracy off the tee, a good short game and, I think critically, effective course management and nous. With winds up and down (a possible advantage to the late Thursday wave, but hard to say) and gusting all day every day, and the strong possibility of rain delays on Friday, this could be a bit of a grind. We’ll see lots of courses over the US stretch of the season that suit the young bombers, but we aren’t there yet. I’m keen to pick experienced players, and those who’ll be comfortable fighting for par instead of rolling in multiple birdies. I’m a hostage to fortune if I pick a winning score, but I’d be delighted if anyone I name scores under 270 (-10.)
The Field
You might see different favourites depending on where you look, but the market in most places appears to be headed by Adrien Dumont du Chassart and John Keefer. The former burst onto the PGA Tour with great acclaim last year after a barnstorming start to his professional career in the later stages of the 2023 KFT season. Having not done a lot, he’s primarily playing the DPWT on the 126-150 prior year rankings from 2024. But the SA Open is co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour, he couldn’t get a start, and here he is. On a course that won’t suit, I suspect. Still, eighth in Qatar points to the fact that he can match form to his undoubted talent. John Keefer I’ve written about before, and I think he’s a perfect example of a pure modern talent who won’t enjoy this much. Noteworthy that before finishing second and fourth in Panama and Astara he was Cut and 60th in his two starts on the Bahamas, which may well be more relevant.
I find it harder to pick holes in Austin Smotherman (experienced, the form player on the KFT so far, a classic “too good for KFT, not quite PGA” player) or Alastair Docherty, whose form, particularly second in the KFT Championship at the tough and MacKenzie-esque French Lick (Pete Dye) reads very well. In the end, it was only price that put me off either of them and I couldn’t argue with anyone selecting them. Christo Lamprecht and Davis Chatfield were easier to pass up, and after that we’re up to the 25/1 or bigger prices. Of those, Hank Lebioda could be well-suited to the challenge and made my longlist. So too did Shad Tuten, but his record outside of the South-Eastern USA just isn’t good enough.
At a huge price, I looked long and hard at Logan McAllister, who I think should be doing well in these sort of events, but he continues to pass up KFT starts to chase PGA appearances and isn’t playing enough. He looked ordinary in missing the cut at Astara and that was just about enough to end my interest. Finally, Russel Knox kept coming into my thoughts, with form in the Bahamas and his undoubted skill in the wind, as well as his experience giving him a real chance. I just don’t think his chance is as good as 28/1 and there were others I liked more.
Selections
First up is Seonghyeon Kim (he might be SH Kim with your bookie, check around.) The Korean is younger than my ideal range of experience but like so many Koreans, he’s been pro forever (well, since 2019, but given he’s 26, that’s pretty early.) I was aboard when he came up just short in a playoff in the first event of the season (80/1, and yes, it still hurts) and this is the first event he’s played since that will suit him. He’s accurate from tee to green, but his strength is putting and scrambling, and he is a very smart golfer who won’t take silly risks. I think he’s among the very best on this Tour and his record at this level and particularly on tight courses made him the first name on my list, a position he’s never given up.
Second, I’m taking a very experienced golfer who’ll need to rack up points in short course events like this one to regain his PGA card, Tyler Duncan. The Sea Island player is back to KFT level for the first time since 2019 and his PGA career was ultimately limited more by his lack of power than anything else. His PGA win was at the RSM Classic, and he went well in the Honda (as this week’s event should always be called.) He’s a plotter and a putter, he’s better than most of this field, he knows his game, and I thought I’d be passing him up for price. Then I saw his price and he became a second very easy pick.
The third pick was by far the hardest, with lots of the names I’ve already discussed almost making the list. Ideally I’d have taken a player at a huge price, and I was looking for reasons to support lots of Argentinian pros – honestly, the time I piss away on datagolf is horrendous – as well as the veterans of this group. I have to pick the guys I think are value, however, and I’ve got back to Southeast Asia for another “young veteran”, a regular winner on the Japanese Tour, and another candidate to be the best player on this year’s KFT. Yes, Kensei Hirata is my third, and on a course where driver won’t be used much and where placement is far more important than power, I couldn’t find a way to leave him off my card without forcing it.
Seonghyeon Kim, 45/1,1pt e/w, ¼ odds 5 places, Bet365.
Tyler Duncan, 80/1,1pt e/w, ¼ odds 5 places, Bet365.
Kensei Hirata, 30/1, 1pt e/w, ¼ odds 5 places, Ladbrokes.
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