With most of the world’s top players at Bay Hill this week for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, opportunity awaits the field in the Puerto Rico Open. The winner receives 300 FedExCup points, a two-year exemption on the PGA TOUR and an invitation to next week’s PLAYERS Championship (if not previously eligible).
Heading up the field in Puerto Rico are two Danes named Rasmus – Højgaard (11/1) and Neergaard-Petersen (18/1), who was runner-up here last year.
Davis Thompson (22/1) earned his first PGA TOUR victory in July 2024 at the John Deere Classic (a 25/1 winner for us), but had just one top 10 in 2025.
Ricky Castillo (+2250) finished top 5 last week at the Cognizant Classic.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (27/1), Michael Brennan (28/1), who is one of two OWGR top 50 players (Rasmus Højgaard) in this week’s field, Adrien Dumont de Chassart (33/1), Seamus Power (33/1), Matt Wallace (35/1), and Chad Ramey (35/1) comprise the next rung on the odds board.
2024 champion Brice Garnett (90/1) and 2022 champion Ryan Brehm (500/1) are the two past event champions in the field.
University of Arkansas product and the 119th Southern Amateur champion John Daly II (300/1) will make his PGA TOUR debut as a sponsor exemption.
17-year-old and two-time AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year Miles Russell (150/1) will make his fifth career start on TOUR as a sponsor exemption.
The Event
The Puerto Rico Open began as an alternate tour event in 2008 and has maintained that status ever since. From 2008-2015, this event was opposite the WGC event at Doral before going opposite the WGC-Dell Match Play in 2016 and 2017. Two years ago, it was the alternate event to the WGC-Workday Championship and both this year and last year it is held opposite the Arnold Palmer Invitational. There was no event in 2018 due to Hurricane Maria, so a Puerto Rico Open Charity Day one-day event was held in its place.
While the winner does not earn an invitation to the Masters, he does earn a two-year PGA TOUR exemption and a spot in next week’s PLAYERS. Championship.
The Field
The Course
The Grand Reserve Country Club in Rio Grande, on the northern coast of Puerto Rico and about a 40-mile drive northeast of San Juan, has hosted the Puerto Rico Open since its inception in 2008. The course is a typical coastal resort track that was designed by Tom Kite in 2004. It is a Par 72 of 7,506 yards and is an exposed parklands that can be susceptible to windy conditions. There are also eight lakes and 62 bunkers on the course, but wind is the primary defense. The fairways and greens are both Paspalum and those greens are relatively large (6,500 sq ft) and slow (10.5 stimpmeter).
Weather
Temperatures will be in the mid-80s with some occasional showers, but with high winds per the AccuWeather forecast.
Puerto Rico Open Recent History/Winners
2025: Karl Vilips (-26/262); 75/1
2024: Brice Garnett (-19/269); 150/1*
2023: Nico Echavarria (-21/267); 125/1
2022: Ryan Brehm (-20/268); 80/1
2021: Branden Grace (-19/269); 22/1
2020: Viktor Hovland (-20/268); 12/1
2019: Martin Trainer (-15/273); 125/1
2018: No Tournament due to Hurricane Maria
2017: D.A. Points (-20/268); 175/1
2016: Tony Finau (-12/276); 50/1**
2015: Alex Cejka (-7/281); 125/1***
2014: Chesson Hadley (-21/267); 50/1
2013: Scott Brown (-20/268); 50/1
2012: George McNeill (-16/272); 55/1
2011: Michael Bradley (-16/272); 135/1****
2010: Derek Lamely (-19/269); 110/1
Playoff win over Erik Barnes – *
Playoff win over Steve Marino – **
Playoff win over Jon Curran, Emiliano Grillo, Tim Petrovic & Sam Saunders – ***
Playoff win over Troy Matteson – ****
Selections
Michael Brennan 28/1
While none of his three wins last year on PGATOUR Americas came south of the border, Brennan posted top 5 finishes in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. Brennan currently leads the PGA TOUR for Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee and leads the TOUR overall in Driving Distance. Since winning his PGA TOUR debut in Utah last fall, he has continued solid form making six of eight cuts against the top competition on TOUR and may relish the drop in class this week.
Chad Ramey 41/1
Ramey is five-for-five making cuts thus far in 2026 and posted his season-best finish of T17 at the Cognizant Classic last weekend, where he led the field for Strokes Gained: Approach. He finished fifth here on debut in 2022, three weeks before he won the Corales Puntacana, and he finished 26th last year.
David Ford 46/1
Ford finished T32 last week at the Cognizant and was 3rd in the field for Strokes Gained: Approach. He is an accomplished amateur and collegiate player who earned his PGA TOUR card through the PGA TOUR University ranking last year.
Sudarshan Yellamaraju 57/1
Canadian rookie Yellamaraju has made four of five cuts this season and finished T17 last week at the Cognizant Classic. He earned his TOUR card off the Korn Ferry Tour where he won in the Bahamas. Yellamaraju ranks No. 11 on the PGA TOUR for Driving Distance and in the top 20 for Approach Proximity to the Hole.
A.J. Ewart 66/1
Ewart won the PGA TOUR Q-School last fall and has made four of five cuts to start the 2026 season, including a T13 last weekend at the Cognizant Classic. The Canadian has played primarily on PGATOUR Americas over the last two years, so he is used to playing events south of the United States and finished top 10 in both Colombia and Peru last year.
Eugenio Chacarra 67/1
Chacarra was once the No. 2 World Amateur and left Oklahoma State three years ago to join LIV Golf. Last year, he left LIV and gained status on the DP World Tour by winning the Hero Indian Open via sponsor exemption, which was his third professional golf win. The Spaniard is in this field also via sponsor exemption, so perhaps history repeats itself.
Zach Bauchou 88/1
Bauchou is five-for-five making cuts thus far in 2026 with a T13 at The American Express and a T23 last weekend at the Cognizant Classic as the standout performances. He ranks top 10 in this field for Strokes Gained: Approach.
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