ISCO Championship 2025 Betting Tips: Six against the field in Kentucky

The second leg of this week’s PGA Tour/DP World Tour double-header takes us to Kentucky, where Hurstbourne Country Club will host the ISCO Championship for the very first time.

Our resident golf tipster Jamie Worsley is back with his comprehensive preview. Six players stand out to him as each-way value this week, so let's check out his ISCO Championship 2025 Betting Tips here at Betfred Insights...

*You can bet on the tournament and check out the latest ISCO Championship odds over on betfred.com

TOURNAMENT HISTORY 

The ISCO Championship (originally called the Barbasol Championship) debuted on the PGA Tour in 2015. It was initially an alternate-field event, played opposite The Open Championship, and occupied this position until 2021.

It was moved to the week preceding The Open in 2022, at which point it became co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour, offering players further down the rankings on both tours a fantastic opportunity to secure their PGA Tour futures.

Last five winners:

• 2024

Winner: Harry Hall (-22, playoff)

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

• 2023

Winner: Vincent Norrman (-22, playoff)

Runner-up: Nathan Kimsey (-22)

• 2022

Winner: Trey Mullinax (-25)

Runner-up: Kevin Streelman (-24)

• 2021

Winner: Seamus Power (-21, playoff)

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

• 2019

Winner: Jim Herman (-26)

Runner-up: Kelly Kraft (-25)

England's Harry Hall won a dramatic edition of the ISCO Championship in 2024, prevailing in a five-man playoff with a birdie on the third extra hole. He's on to bigger and better things in 2025, such as earning a spot in the Scottish Open; therefore, he won't return to defend his title this week.

THE COURSE

After six years at Keene Trace Golf Club, the ISCO Championship moves west to Louisville and Hurstbourne Country Club for the first time. Originally designed by Chick Adams in 1966, it has undergone several renovations by Keith Foster, first in 2004 and more recently with further changes in 2023/24.

The course usually plays as a par 72, but it has been converted to a 7056yd par 70 for this event, and the two nines have been flipped. It possesses 4x par 3s (162-233yds), 12x par 4s (344-515yds), and 2x par 5s (555-565yds).

Hurstbourne CC is a traditional parkland course built on gently-rolling terrain, with holes framed by towering trees throughout. It is a fun risk/reward layout, with water in play on six holes thanks to numerous ponds and a creek that weaves its way through the property.

Although the driving lines appear tight, there is plenty of room in the doglegging fairways. That being said, strategic bunkering pinches many of the landing areas, the rough is thick, and there are several holes that will force players to lay up into the same section of the fairway.

The smooth-running, elevated bentgrass greens are small and heavily protected by bunkers, some of which are reasonably deep. They're often narrow in shape, which can make them challenging to hit and will likely put a premium on quality iron play.

It's difficult to know exactly how this unfamiliar course will play. Barring a couple of lengthier par 4s, there appears to be countless holes that can be attacked with a drive and a wedge, and both of the par 5s should be reachable in two for most in the field. Having said that, many of the more clear scoring chances come with danger attached, and I don't expect low scores to be gifted.

THE WEATHER

A warm and humid week in Louisville will carry the threat of thunderstorms throughout, resulting in rain and a potentially receptive course. With a lack of wind in the forecast, there is little in the conditions to hinder the players this week.

KEY STATS

• SG: Approach/Greens-in-Regulation
• SG: Off-the-Tee and/or Driving Accuracy
• SG: Putting (bentgrass)
• Par 4 Scoring

High-class iron players should relish playing into these small greens, and if conditions are indeed receptive, that only heightens the advantage for those who excel in approach.

Strength with the driver will also be required, whether that be a power player taking the course on at certain points, or accuracy-dependent players leaning on precision on a setup that doesn't make their lack of power a disadvantage.

Meanwhile, anyone who typically putts well on bentgrass surfaces should be respected, as should competitors who can score well on the abundance of par 4s.

CORRELATING EVENTS

I will keep it straightforward with comp events this week. I'm essentially focusing on tree-lined courses of a similar length, with small bentgrass greens, a similarly varied challenge in approach, and a closely-matched test off the tee.

Courses on the PGA Tour that match part or all of the criteria include the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run, the Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club, and the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. In addition, just in case the scoring is higher than anticipated, the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club is of interest.

With half of this field arriving from the DP World Tour, I've also selected some courses that can be of help from Europe and Africa. I particularly like Joburg Open host, Houghton Golf Club, which is a tree-lined par 70 of a similar length with small bentgrass greens. The Soudal Open at Rinkven International, the Kenya Open at Muthaiga Golf Club, and the Austrian Alpine Open at Gut Altentann Golf Club are also worth checking out.

THE FIELD

World No. 92 Emiliano Grillo is the highest-ranked player in the field and the only member of the top 100 in attendance this week.

Harry Hall doesn't return to defend but there are five former winners teeing it up in Kentucky: Seamus Power (2021), Jim Herman (2019), Troy Merritt (2018), Aaron Baddeley (2016), and Scott Piercy (2015).

The DP World Tour challenge is led by Kazuma Kobori, Brandon Robinson-Thompson, and Angel Ayora; now No. 1 amateur Jackson Koivun gets another chance to impress after finishing 11^th in last week's John Deere Classic; 16-year-old phenom Miles Russell receives a sponsor's exemption; and there's also a first PGA Tour start of 2025 for Kentucky-born five-time PGA Tour winner, J.B. Holmes.

SELECTIONS

Market leaders (1/4 5 places): Michael Thorbjornsen 16/1, Emiliano Grillo 18/1, Kevin Roy 18/1, Jackson Koivun 20/1, Rico Hoey 22/1, Vince Whaley 25/1

Although the talents of DP World Tour youngsters such as Angel Ayora and Jacob Skov Olesen held plenty of appeal, there's no getting away from the fact that PGA Tour players have largely dominated the event since it became co-sanctioned in 2022. It is from the home tour that each of the previous three winners have come, whilst last year, eight of the top nine plied their trade in the U.S.

This leads me to focus solely on PGA Tour players. With most of the fancied types at the top of the betting – such as Michael Thorbjornsen, Kevin Roy and Rico Hoey – not quite tempting me at the prices, I'm going to search for value further down the odds board for this event.

1.25 pts Ricky Castillo each-way (1/5 8 places) @ 45/1

There are plenty of positives to take from Ricky Castillo's rookie season, during which he's shown an ability to perform on a variety of layouts. He's been one of the strongest ball-strikers in this field in 2025 and although arriving in Kentucky off the back of three straight missed cuts, his game hasn't looked all that far away.

As a former No. 1 amateur, Castillo look destined to be a contender on the PGA Tour and he displayed his potential to perform at this level very early on, finishing 15^th in the Farmers Insurance Open on his third start of the season. He's recorded three further top-20s since, including a best of 5^th in the CJ CUP Byron Nelson, and though missing cuts, he has still managed to fire several low rounds in those three latest starts, shooting a 64 in the Canadian Open and a 67 in the John Deere Classic.

He ranks 6^th in this field from tee-to-green in 2024 and has especially excelled with his long game, ranking 11^th off-the-tee and 16^th in approach. His ranking of 28^th in greens-in-regulation provides us with added encouragement, and as the seventh-best par-4 scorer on tour, he possesses an appealing statistical profile for this test.

Castillo has no comp form to speak of, but I'm buoyed by the fact that he ranked 7^th in ball-striking at the potentially correlating Colonial Country Club four starts ago. Any repeat of that should give him every chance of making a PGA Tour breakthrough in this weaker field.

1 pt Steven Fisk each-way (1/5 6 places) @ 50/1

Steven Fisk is another strong ball-striking type who is showing lots of promise in his rookie season. With the additional improvements he’s made on the greens in recent starts, he looks a lively contender this week.

Fisk enjoyed a superb season on the Korn Ferry Tour last year, recording a victory and five additional top-five finishes to finish 4^th on the season-long standings, and as a result, earn his PGA Tour card. There have been ups and downs in 2025, but no shortage of highlights – including a best finish of 4th at the Puerto Rico Open and additional top-20s in Myrtle Beach and Mexico.

He ranks 3^rd in this field from tee-to-green and especially excels with the driver, matching power with a respectable level of accuracy to rank 9^th off-the-tee. He’s also an impressive 4^th in greens-in-regulation on the PGA Tour, and ranking as the 13^th-best approach player among this group, his prowess with the long game should carry him far in this event.

Fisk’s pro career has taken a little time to fully take off since he turned pro in 2019. However, he’s a former top-10 amateur and finally starting to realise some of that obvious potential, he’s a dangerous player in this quality of field.

1 pt Harry Higgs each-way (1/5 8 places) @ 70/1

Before suffering a disappointing missed cut in last week’s John Deere Classic, Harry Higgs had been playing some of his best golf of the season. He finished 2^nd amongst a stronger field than this in the opposite-field Myrtle Beach Classic back in May, and with his approach play looking largely sound in the last two months, I’m happy to take a chance on him bouncing back from his no-show at TPC Deere Run.

Higgs booked his PGA Tour return thanks to recording back-to-back victories on the Korn Ferry Tour last season – in the AdventHealth Championship and Knoxville Open. He couldn’t get anything going at the beginning of this year but burst into life in Myrtle Beach, losing in a playoff to Ryan Fox. He’s since made three of his last five cuts and finished 24^th in the Rocket Classic two weeks ago, where he closed out the event with a seven-under 65 – the joint-lowest score of the final round.

He looked good in approach and on the greens there. It’s in these areas that he’s excelled most across this improved run of form, ranking 8^th in approach and 28^th in putting in the previous three months.

Both of Higgs’ wins on the Korn Ferry Tour last season came on classic courses with bentgrass greens. Many of his better performances at this level have come on similar layouts – such as his runner-up finish in the 2020 Procore Championship – and this looks a great spot for him to become a PGA Tour winner.

1 pt David Lipsky each-way (1/5 8 places) @ 90/1

David Lipsky left behind some poor results to finish 3^rd in last week’s John Deere Classic. However, he had been hinting at improvements in the weeks leading up to it, especially within his approach play, and as a player who has displayed an ability to stack up quality performances once he finds form, he looks a big price to be in the conversation.

Lipsky’s results have borne more letters than numbers this year, recording just one solo top 40 prior to last week. He arrived at TPC Deere Run after missing his last five cuts on the spin, but he’d actually been hitting his irons well across those events, ranking 18^th in approach across the last two months, and he also found some accuracy off the tee in the Rocket Classic.

The American again hit plenty of fairways in Illinois and maintained form in approach, ranking 4^th and 22^nd in each area respectively. With the addition of a season’s best performance on the greens, ranking 5^th, he was able to majorly improve, firing four rounds in the 60s to finish 3^rd.

That result should serve Lipsky well at this similar layout, and as a player who has looked at home on somewhat tight parkland courses throughout his career – winning the Omega European Masters and Alfred Dunhill Championship on the DPWT – I expect he’ll enjoy what he finds at Hurstbourne CC.

1 pt John Pak each-way (1/5 8 places) @ 125/1

Expectations were high when John Pak turned pro in 2021, after an amateur career that took him to No. 2 in the world ranking, but things haven’t quite worked out. That being said, he’s made steady progress in the last two years, winning in Canada in 2023 and again on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024 – helping him towards earning a PGA Tour card. With some promising performances to his name in recent starts, he is an appealing price to transfer that winning form to this greater stage in Louisville.

Pak has been reasonably consistent this season, missing just six of his 15 cuts. He recorded a best of 17^th in the Mexico Open at the beginning of the year and has again threatened to contend in the last month-and-a-half, finishing 27^th in the Canadian Open and 28^th in the Charles Schwab Challenge.

He’s been eye-catching in approach this season, ranking 4^th in this field and is ultra-accurate off the tee, ranking 18^th in driving accuracy. The putter has been a concern, but he’s produced his two best displays in this area over those four most recent starts – each time on bentgrass greens – ranking 15^th in the Charles Schwab Challenge and despite missing the cut last week, he ranked 20^th and 46^th in his two rounds on the putting surfaces.

Furthermore, Pak’s win in the Compliance Solutions Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour last year came on bentgrass greens. Which adds to the optimism that this talented youngster can produce his best ever PGA Tour performance this week.

1 pt Troy Merritt each-way (1/5 8 places) @ 200/1

I did consider a flier on open qualifier and Louisville-native, Cooper Musselman at huge odds – who won the Kentucky Open at this course in 2017 – but have plumped for the 2018 winner of this event, Troy Merritt, as my final selection instead. He’s been predominantly plying his trade on the DP World Tour this season – doing so with some success in the last three months – and possessing tonnes of comp form, he is a huge price to be in the mix at what looks like a suitable layout.

Merritt has played five PGA Tour events this season, missing the cut in each, and it was a similar story at the start of the year on the DP World Tour. However, he found a purple patch of form from the end of March to May, finishing 17^th in the Indian Open, 4^th in the Soudal Open and 27^th in the Australian Alpine Open – the last two of these events mentioned as potential comps above.

He does arrive off the back of three missed cuts in Europe, but I’m hoping a return to the event at which he recorded his second PGA Tour win will spark him into life. Indeed, this is the type of venue at which he’s often performed best throughout his career, owing to his generally straight hitting and quality on the greens.

Both of Merritt’s PGA Tour wins have come on bentgrass surfaces. Meanwhile, aside from his top-five finish in Belgium this year, he also has noteworthy PGA Tour comp form – such as a runner-up finish in the 2021 Rocket Classic, and top-10 finishes at Colonial CC and TPC River Highlands.

You can access all our latest Golf Odds over on betfred.com

Find all Jamie's latest Golf Betting Tips over on our dedicated golf Insights hub