ISCO Championship 2026 Betting Tips: Six to sizzle in Kentucky

Part two of this week’s PGA Tour/DP World Tour double bill takes place in Kentucky, where a weaker but no less interesting field will compete at Hurstbourne Country Club in the ISCO Championship.

Our golf tipster Jamie Worsley is back with six more each-way picks this week, so let's check out his ISCO Championship 2026 Betting Tips here at Betfred Insights...

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TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The ISCO Championship debuted on the PGA Tour in 2015 and was initially an alternate-field event played opposite The Open Championship – a position it occupied until 2021.

It was moved to the week preceding The Open in 2022, at which point it became part of this co-sanctioned double-header with the DP World Tour (DPWT).

Last five winners:

• 2025 (Hurstbourne Country Club)

Winner: William Mouw (-10)

Runner-up: Paul Peterson (-9)

• 2024 (Keene Trace Golf Club)

Winner: Harry Hall (-22, playoff)

Runners-up: Rico Hoey, Pierceson Coody, Zac Blair, Matthew NeSmith (-22)

• 2023 (Keene Trace Golf Club)

Winner: Vincent Norrman (-22, playoff)

Runner-up: Nathan Kimsey (-22)

• 2022 (Keene Trace Golf Club)

Winner: Trey Mullinax (-25)

Runner-up: Kevin Streelman (-24)

• 2021 (Keene Trace Golf Club)

Winner: Seamus Power (-21, playoff)

Runner-up: J.T. Poston (-21)

William Mouw produced a stunning final-round display to win last year’s ISCO Championship. Beginning Sunday in 25^th place, seven shots off the lead, Mouw shot a superb nine-under 61 to secure the first title of his professional career, beating 54-hole leader Paul Peterson by one stroke.

THE COURSE

Hurstbourne Country Club

• Original architect / Year opened: Chick Adams / 1966
• Latest renovation: It has since undergone several renovations by Keith Foster, first in 2004 and more recently in 2023/24
• Par / Yardage: Par 70 / 7,056 yards
• Hole breakdown:
  • 4x par 3s (162-233 yards)
  • 12x par 4s (344-515 yards)
  • 2x par 5s (555-565 yards)
• Course style: A densely tree-lined parkland built on gently rolling terrain, delivering a strategic risk/reward challenge
• Fairways:
  • Although the driving lines appear tight, the fairways are reasonably generous
  • Many are doglegging, and with smartly placed bunkers pinching the landing areas, they’re surprisingly tough to hit
  • With some thick patches of bluegrass/fescue rough (4-6 inches long), players can be severely penalized for missing the short grass
• Greens:
  • The elevated bentgrass greens are small (4,750 sq. ft.), and due to many being narrow in shape, they provided a demanding approach test in 2025
  • Surrounded by deep greenside bunkers and troublesome rough, they’re extremely difficult to scramble around, ranking second only to U.S. Open host Oakmont in 2025
• Defences:
  • Water is in-play on six holes
  • Small putting surfaces that are both hard to find and punishing to miss

Hosting the event for the first time in 2025, Hurstbourne Country Club proved a stern test despite its diminutive length. That said, a pair of 61s over the course of the week showed that there is a score out there if hitting it well, and it will be interesting to see if the greater familiarity with the layout leads to lower scoring in its second staging.

THE WEATHER

It’s forecast to be a stormy, wet week in Kentucky, with over 40mm of rain scheduled to fall from Tuesday to Saturday. This will make for unpleasant playing conditions, but with little wind on the cards, any respite from the rain could offer a window to score on a receptive layout.

KEY STATS

SG: Approach / Greens-in-Regulation (GIR) / Proximity from below 125 yards

With small greens that pose extremely difficult questions around them, quality with the irons is a must at Hurstbourne. In addition, with plenty of approaches from under 125 yards, wedge play becomes paramount.

• 2025
  • William Mouw (Winner): 11^th in SG: Approach / 4^th in GIR
  • Paul Peterson (2^nd): 12^th in SG: Approach / 7^th in GIR
  • David Skinns (4^th): 7^th in SG: Approach / 15^th in GIR

SG: Around-the-Greens (SG: ATG) / Scrambling

Even the strongest iron players in the field are likely to miss greens in what could be attritional conditions. This should favour players who excel with the short game.

• 2025
  • William Mouw (Winner): 1^st in Scrambling
  • Paul Peterson (2^nd): 15^th in Scrambling
  • Manuel Elvira (3^rd): 3^rd in Scrambling
  • Vince Whaley (4^th): 3^rd in SG: ATG

Par 4 Scoring

Lastly, accounting for two-thirds of the holes around this venue, par 4 scoring is another key stat in Kentucky.

CORRELATING EVENTS

Notable correlating form is thin on the ground here, which is no surprise for a course that has hosted just one event, with a field split between the PGA Tour and DPWT.

It’s better to focus on layouts with similar characteristics – short, strategic and tree-lined with small bentgrass greens – and there are a number on the PGA Tour that match some or all of these criteria.

The two most recent events, the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run and Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands certainly tick many of those boxes. It’s also worth checking out the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club and the Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club.

Over to the DPWT and I think 2022-2025 Kenya Open host Muthaiga Golf Club holds the answers. Indeed, the solo player from the circuit to finish inside the top 10 here last year, Spain’s Manuel Elvira in 3^rd, has finished 4^th there.

Others to consider include the British Masters at The Belfry’s Brabazon Course, the Soudal Open at Rinkven International, and the Joburg Open at Houghton Golf Club.

THE FIELD

Six of the world’s top 100 will tee it up this week, as opposed to just one in 2025. Max Homa is the highest ranked of these at No. 73, and he is followed by fellow PGA Tour players Patrick Rodgers (No. 87), Lucas Glover (No. 91), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (No. 94), Stephan Jaeger (No. 96) and Rico Hoey (No. 98).

William Mouw does return to defend, and he is joined by just two further former winners: Troy Merritt (2018) and Scott Piercy (2015).

Denmark’s Jacob Olesen heads the DPWT contingent, alongside J.C. Ritchie of South Africa and America’s own David Bryant. Meanwhile, former No. 1 amateur Jackson Koivun will be hoping to bounce back from missing the cut on his pro debut at the John Deere Classic.

SELECTIONS

Market leaders (1/4, 5 places): Jackson Koivun 14/1, Max Homa 16/1, Davis Thompson 18/1, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 25/1, Ben Kohles 25/1

Check out the full ISCO Championship Odds here

1.25 pts Mackenzie Hughes each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 40/1

Mackenzie Hughes is a real danger in these opposite-field events and looks well priced to be in the mix again in Kentucky. He’s one of the standout short-game players on tour and, having recorded a season-best 10^th at the correlating Charles Schwab Challenge just three starts ago, I expect him to be a leading contender this week.

Excluding a stretch of four missed cuts in five events in March/April, Hughes has been largely consistent in 2026. He has picked up just two top-25s, though, as mentioned, the second of those did come at Colonial at the end of May, where he fired four rounds in the 60s to finish 10^th.

Nobody in this field is performing as strongly with their short game at present, with the Canadian ranking 2^nd in SG: ATG and 9^th in SG: Putting across the last three months. His ball-striking leaves a lot to be desired, but he did overcome that in Texas and is more than capable of doing it here.

Hughes also recorded a top-10 of 8^th at Colonial back in 2018 and has finished 3^rd at the Travelers Championship. That should set him up well for Hurstbourne and, as a player who finished 2^nd at the Myrtle Beach Classic last year and has been 2^nd and 3^rd at the Corales Puntacana Championship – both opposite-field events – he has the class to stamp his authority on this group.

1 pt David Lipsky each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 55/1

Often exceeding expectations on similarly tree-lined, strategic courses, David Lipsky is up next. His short game is in excellent shape, and with his ball-striking also tidy last week, he has every chance of improving on his 28^th-place finish here in 2025.

Lipsky came close to shedding his PGA Tour maiden tag at the beginning of the campaign, finishing as a narrow runner-up to Matt Fitzpatrick at the Valspar Championship. It’s been a bit of a struggle since, but he was 24^th at the Truist Championship, whilst he arrives in Kentucky after a 21^st at the John Deere Classic.

He was above average in driving accuracy and GIR there, though it was with the short game he impressed, ranking 11^th in SG: ATG and 13^th in scrambling – stats in which he sits 25^th and 36^th season long. If he can maintain that whilst finding a little improvement in approach, his profile would fit this test perfectly.

Opening with a three-over 73 to end day one in 105^th place, Lipsky was slow to get going 12 months ago. However, he bounced back with rounds of 67, 70 and 69 to finish 28^th and, as someone who has been 3^rd at the John Deere Classic and 9^th at the Charles Schwab Challenge, I’m certain he’s capable of even better.

1 pt Chandler Phillips each-way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 80/1

Arriving with two top-20s in three appearances, Chandler Phillips is a player on the up. While he did miss the cut at this event in 2025, he has some eye-catching comp form that suggests he can rectify that this week, and he looks an appealing price to do so.

Phillips was 19^th in Hawaii to begin the campaign but failed to record a single top 50 in his seven subsequent starts. An 8^th at the Texas Open stopped the rot, and he’s since added two 15^th-place finishes, which came at the Canadian Open and John Deere Classic.

His ball-striking has been inconsistent, but it was a positive to see him rank 15^th in GIR in Canada. He’s excelling in SG: ATG, sitting 6^th in this field over the last three months, and with the putter behaving much better than it did in 2025, he’s well equipped to scramble around these small putting surfaces.

Phillips’s short-game skills were evident in the second round here last year, but it came a little too late to stop him missing the cut. Top-15 finishes at the Charles Schwab Challenge, Rocket Classic and John Deere Classic offer encouragement that he can improve on his second attempt.

When we also consider that he’s finished 2^nd at the Bermuda Championship and won in the Bahamas on the Korn Ferry Tour – both events played on courses often impacted by weather – we’re dealing with a player that won’t mind if the conditions make things tricky.

1 pt Davis Bryant each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 90/1

Players of the PGA Tour typically dominate this contest, and I’d expect that to again be the case this week. Whilst that stops me stacking up on DPWT players, it doesn’t mean someone from there can’t make a name for themselves. With that, I fancy the in-form Davis Bryant to announce himself on home soil.

Colorado-born Bryant has been getting closer and closer to a breakthrough win in 2026, finishing 2^nd at both the Kenya Open and Austrian Alpine Open. He hasn’t missed a cut since the South African Open back in March and arrives in Kentucky as the fifth-best DPWT player across the last three months.

A big part of that has been his iron play, for which he ranks 2^nd in this entire field (including the PGA Tour members) since April. He’s a solid 55^th in SG: ATG on the DPWT, and he also encouragingly sits inside the top 25 in par-4 scoring.

Bryant would’ve been disappointed to miss the cut at Hurstbourne last year and will be eager to put that right. With each of those 2^nd-places this year coming on short par-70 courses, and having also finished 13^th on his British Masters debut at The Belfry in 2025, I’m confident he has the game to conquer this setup.

1 pt Troy Merritt each-way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 125/1

Troy Merritt won this title back in 2018 and will be hoping to build on recent improvements to launch another challenge in Kentucky. A 54^th-place finish at Hurstbourne in 2025 doesn’t quite paint the full picture, and with the driver looking under greater control right now, there’s a lot to like about this hefty price.

Merritt has mixed his time between the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour this year, and has failed to really make an impact on either circuit. He finally burst into life two starts ago on that lower tier, finishing 5^th at the Memorial Health Championship and carried the momentum into last week, entering the weekend of the John Deere Classic in 4^th before eventually placing 21^st.

The two-time tour winner showed quality right through the bag there, though he was especially strong on the greens, ranking 7^th in SG: Putting. There was also plenty of promise with the long game, as he hit the top 25 in SG: OTT, driving accuracy and GIR.

Merritt teed it up at this event last year, opening with a four-under 66 to sit 5^th after round one, but it was a struggle thereafter as he slumped to 54^th. Mind you, that is easy to forgive considering he had missed three cuts on the spin heading into that tournament.

His runner-up finish at the 2021 Rocket Classic is a positive, as are top-10 finishes at both the Charles Schwab Challenge and Travelers Championship, and as someone who even finished 4^th at the Soudal Open during his stint on the DPWT in 2025, there is plenty of evidence that the layout suits his game.

1 pt Davis Chatfield each-way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 125/1

Davis Chatfield has found the going tough in his rookie season, though he does arrive following his best finish of the year at TPC Deere Run. As a short but accurate type who did most of his standout work on similar layouts to this on the Korn Ferry Tour last year, he’s worth chancing to kick on in Kentucky.

Thanks to 12 top-25s, including two runner-up finishes, Chatfield ended 2025 in 10^th place on the Korn Ferry Tour standings, earning him this step up to the PGA Tour.

Ten missed cuts in 15 don’t make for happy reading this campaign, with his solitary top-20 coming courtesy of a 17^th-place finish at the Zurich Classic alongside Adrien Dumont de Chassart. There had been little to shout about since then, but he provided some encouragement in Illinois, firing four under-par rounds to finish 33^rd.

Although that isn’t a spectacular result in isolation, it’s how he achieved it that caught the eye. Having excelled in scrambling all year, sitting a handy 33^rd on the PGA Tour, it was actually his long game that engineered that effort, ranking 2^nd in driving accuracy, 12^th in SG: Approach and 27^th in GIR, which equated to 11^th in SG: Ball Striking overall.

The fact that performance came on a correlating course is another plus for Chatfield. When also taking those 2^nd-place finishes on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2025 into account – each of which came on compact parkland courses – I’m happy to take a punt on him finding further improvement this week.