You know what I love more than golf? More golf!
That is the case this week as the Puerto Rico Open plays opposite the Arnold Palmer Invitational as the Tour’s first alternate field event of the season.
Throughout the PGA Tour’s 2025 schedule, there will be five alternate field events, with the first taking place this week.Â
Held annually at the Grand Reserve Country Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, this event has served as the jump-start to multiple careers across the PGA Tour. The likes of Tony Finau and Viktor Hovland have used this event to claim their maiden PGA Tour victory.
Ten-of-the-16 winners of this event have been first time winners on the PGA Tour.Â
The Field
Following suit with last year and due to the fact that the Arnold Palmer Invitational features a field of roughly 70-golfers, the field this week is one of the strongest that the Puerto Rico Open has ever seen.
Currently, four golfers ranked within the top 100 of the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) are slated to tee it up this week.
Thriston Lawrence (59th) is the highest ranked golfer within the field. He’ll be joined by Matt Wallace (75th,) Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (85th) and Niklas Norgaard (90th) as those ranked within the top 100 of the OWGR.
Brice Garnett comes in as the defending champion as he topped Erik Barnes in a playoff a season ago.
The Puerto Rico open has also never seen a back-to-back winner. Garnett will look to become the first.
Other former winners of this event playing this week include Ryan Brehm (2022,) Martin Trainer (2019) and Chesson Hadley (2014.)Â
The Course
Grand Reserve Country Club, formally named the Coco Beach Golf Club, sits at the foothills of the El Yunque Rainforest. It is a diverse and flat course that is extremely wind-exposed.
It plays at just over 7,500 yards as a par 72.
The course features an exposed layout and the winds will almost certainly be a factor throughout the tournament. Those who have experience in playing in windy conditions will see an advantage.
There is water in play on 13 of the holes as well.
The greens are Paspalum and are average sized compared to Tour standards.
Going low will be imperative this week for any potential winner. All but one of the former champions of this event shot double-digits under par en route to victory.
Six of the last seven winners have shot 19 under par or better to win this event.
The Weather
As of the time of writing this, there is a 25-percent chance of precipitation for Thursday. The chance of precipitation increases to 35-percent on Friday. Chances will then dip to zero-percent on Saturday before reaching a 30-percent chance on Sunday. Winds, at least at this point, look to be on our side this week. They’ll peak at nine miles-per-hour on Saturday as Sunday calls for eight miles-per-hour winds. Winds are set for seven miles-per-hour on Thursday and five miles-per-hour on Friday. Temperatures will range between 82-and-83 degrees across all four days as well.
Key Stats
Greens in Regulation Percentage (GIR%)
Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)
Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (SG: OTT) / Average Driving Distance
Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)
Scrambling
Bogey Avoidance
Birdie or Better Percentage
Betting Card
Niklas Norgaard (+2200)
Norgaard is currently third on Tour in average driving distance, 18th in SG: APP, 24th in birdie or better percentage, 50th in SG: PUTT, 52nd in SG: OTT, 65th in GIR%, 137 in bogey avoidance and 157th in scrambling. Norgaard has played three events so far this season. Most recently, he placed 25th at last week’s Cognizant Classic. He also placed 34th at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld and missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open. He’ll be making his tournament debut here this week.
Ben Kohles (+5000)
Kohles doesn’t fit the typical mold we’d look for in terms of success at this golf course but he did place sixth here a season ago and 16th in 2022. He has had some quality performances on the season as well. He missed the cut at last week’s Cognizant Classic but prior to that placed 25th at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld, 21st at The American Express and 53rd at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He is currently 23rd on Tour in SG: PUTT, 39th in GIR%, 41st in birdie or better percentage, 46th in SG: OTT, 47th in bogey avoidance, 100th in scrambling, 115th in SG: APP and 141st in average driving distance.Â
Jeremy Paul (+6000)
Paul is currently 26th on Tour in average driving distance, 27th in bogey avoidance, 34th in GIR%, 57th in SG: OTT, 65th in scrambling, 77th in SG: PUTT, 108th in SG: APP and 125th in birdie or better percentage. Paul burst onto the scene at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld where he had a share of the lead after the first round. He finished 25th there that week. He’s also placed 45th at the Sony Open in Hawaii and 64th at The American Express this season. He’ll be making his tournament debut here this week.