It’s the late season for the PGA Tour. Notable players are resting, and the fields are mostly filled with golfers who are scrambling to get placed in next year’s limited-100 field. The same will be the case for the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. You may not watch the event. The field’s lighter, and there is $6.5 million prize pool at stake. So, for the player’s there’s plenty of incentive to bring their A-game. The favorites to win at the Port Royal Golf Course are not going to be your household names. But they’ve been sharp enough to keep your card on this week.

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1. The hot hand, aka Rico Hoey

If your betting card had a limit, Rico Hoey would be maxing it out right now. The 30-year-old Filipino has been one of this year’s most improved players. After missing his first four cuts, Hoey went on a spree. He gave five top-11 finishes in ten starts, which included a solo second just last week at the Bank of Utah Championship.

Hoey also ranks second in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green and first in Greens in Regulation (73.01%). These are golden stats at a place like Port Royal. Here, the fairways are tight and the greens are small. So, the Filipino can make it work to his advantage.

Also, he’s been here before. In 2024, he had a T17 finish, so he has the course familiarity. That’s why, as per DraftKings Sportsbook, he has at +1800, making him the favorite to win.

2. The smart choice – Kevin Yu

A smart person’s pick would be Kevin Yu; that’s why he has odds of +2000. Don’t be surprised if one says that he might be better than Rico Hoey’s +1800. The 27-year-old from Chinese Taipei has come off a strong stretch, which includes a T15 at the Bank of Utah Championship. Then last year, he had his first PGA Tour victory, at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Statistically, Yu is elite in numbers. He’s ranked fourth on Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and has an average of 310 yards driving distance. That gives him a huge advantage when it comes to Port Royal’s gusty 27-mph winds. His recent five-tournament average shows 0.384 Strokes Gained: Total, which puts him high in a weak field.

Yu also has a razor-sharp iron play, which was witnessed by his third-place finish at the RBC Canadian Open. That was a course with a similar condition. All in all, if you are forced to choose between the top two, you’d better take Yu at +2000.

3. Your value pick – Thorbjørn Olesen

Thorbjørn Olesen has been trending upward at exactly the right time. The Danish Ryder Cup veteran finished T14 at Sanderson Farms and T3 at the Bank of Utah Championship. At the latter, he opened with a 6-under 65, and briefly held the favorite spot at +850 odds. It looks like he’s found his rhythm after the slow European summer.

His approach to play has also been consistently strong. Port Royal is a course that requires precise iron play, and Olesen is someone who can manage that easily. The veteran carries eight European Tour wins, so he does have the experience.

All of this arguably makes him the best value player among the top contenders at +2200 odds. He might not come across as flashy, but he may make you look smart by Sunday afternoon.

Set to roll from November 13-16, the Butterfield Bermuda Championship will be all about smart choices and smart plays. It’s a wide-open week, and with odds like these, there’s plenty of room to score big and cash even bigger.