Andrew Putnam (+170 for a Top 20) … If you’ve been paying attention, then you have solid ground on which to stand and argue his absence in the Power Rankings, but he’s just 2-for-4 at Mayakoba with zero top 60s. Furthermore, anytime a guy who’s been simmering takes a blow, he can be forgotten quickly. It’s the phenomenon of the sport. Case in point, since a T11 at the 3M Open in late July, he’s connected nine paydays, two of which going for a top five and another three for a top 25. At 33 years of age, he’s in his prime and befitting of the model proven to succeed at El Camaleón, but he’s also the ball-striker that the course rewards. Obviously, the projection is for a personal best this week.
Nick Taylor (+350 for a Top 20) … The 34-year-old from Canada is on a heater to start the new season. He’s covered one missed cut with a T6 (Fortinet) and a pair of top 25s, including a T23 in Bermuda on Sunday. He’s a two-time PGA TOUR winner who’s retained his fully exempt status since splashing in 2014-15, but this burst is unlike him. Consider that in each of the last four completed seasons, he totaled no more than four top 25s. He’s cycled through Mayakoba six times previously, four of which yielding a payday, the only top 25 of which a T15 in 2016, but piggyback his confidence and reach for this finish.
Ryan Armour … He led the PGA TOUR in both fairways hit and proximity to the hole last season, but he was limited to 19 starts due to conditional status. No biggie. He regained fully exempt status via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals and already has a T13 on the board this season at the Sanderson Farms Championship. As a bunter of a certain age (46), he’s among the throng licking its chops this week. He’s also a regular attendee when eligible. Since 2017, he’s 3-for-4 with a set-best T21 in 2018.
Tyler Duncan … With his profile and despite the results more often than not, he looks good a lot, but he looks even better this week, and it doesn’t hurt that this is a short course. Give a 33-year-old ball-striker a stage like El Camaleón and watch him dance. He’s 5-for-5 in the tournament with a personal-best T23 in 2020, so if you can find a top-30 market, go shopping. He’s also coming off a full season during which he ranked eighth in fairways hit, T11 in proximity to the hole and 34th in scrambling.
Adri Arnaus … With the DP World Tour dark this week, the Spaniard had an opening to take on Mayakoba, albeit not for the first time. He made the first of seven career PGA TOUR starts here in 2018. He missed the cut, but that was before he was a rookie on what is now his home circuit. Since 2019, he’s finished a respective 41st, 39th and 33rd in DPWT ranking, and he’s currently 27th with this season’s finish line on the horizon. He also broke through for victory for the first time on that tour six months ago. A month later, he crashed into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time. He just turned 28 and he speaks the native language of the Riviera Maya, so the transatlantic trip will have had a soft and welcome landing.
Odds were sourced on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. For live odds, visit BetMGM.
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