Andrew's LECOM Suncoast Classic (KFT) Preview

The Korn Ferry Tour has the second consecutive event before another break around the Masters Tournament, and it is a bread-and-butter event, but this is good bread and good butter, and well worth your time. Before that, we must look back to last week, which saw a very poor performance for all of our golfers – rather like my picks elsewhere, they were unable to avoid disaster, with Nick Gabrelcik finishing second last of those who made the cut, having sat fifth after the first round, for frankly unlikely and unpleasant results of 65/72/82/75. Moving day indeed. 

Your winner, Davis Lamb, was taking a step up, having won twice on the Canadian Tour (as was) in 2023 and once on the newly formed PGA Tour of the Americas in 2025. In both of those years he gained a KFT card and this time around he looks to be putting it to good use, with this win lifting him to third overall in the rankings and close to ensuring a Tour card already. He’s not the longest in the field but he’s got a tidy tee-to-green game and putts nicely, and he’ll be one to watch on the shorter or tougher courses that they face. He had some success as an amateur with four years at Notre Dame, but it was a year as a graduate student at Florida Athletic that seems to have given him the time to turn into a decent pro. Don’t sleep on him.

The Tournament

To return to this week, I’ve said that we’re looking at an event which is both typical and good. The event in question takes the players to Lakewood National which is near Tampa Bay in Florida. It is a typical event in that this is a straightforward course, at around 7,100 yards (they’re saying 7,133 but it does vary) and par-71. Winning scores tend to be around -20. As I said when looking at it last year, bombers do fairly well but this is an event that can be won by players of a range of styles. Honestly, this is an event and a course that do nothing much to quicken my blood.

However, it is a good event. By which I mean, it has proven to be extremely predictive of future success. Good players tend to go well here, and the guys who are towards the top of the leaderboard are well worth following. I’m certainly going to follow the results with interest, and I’m going to focus on well-rounded players with long-term potential and with experience of playing well in this corner of the USA. It isn’t going to be particularly windy but the current forecast suggests Sunday play could be at risk, let’s hope they finish promptly.

The Selections

One reason this is such a short preview is that I’m about to do something very obvious, and back the favourite. Last week, my only reasons to avoid Blades Brown were that we were at a course where he couldn’t really use his significant power, and that he wasn’t performing on the KFT. After a third-place finish (and a 54 hole lead) last week, coming to a longer course, neither of those problems apply. He’s the most talented golfer in this field, he’s playing great golf at the moment, and this course will suit. I was delighted by the early prices and happy to take them.

After Brown, this got a bit trickier. S.Y. Noh is playing well and this course has been kind to Korean golfers in the past, but he didn’t look great last week, whilst Florida native Nick Gabrelcik has a long way to go to recover from his performance last week. I was sweet on a few others but for reasons of price or form the likes of Justin Hastings, Taylor Montgomery, Frankie Capan, Barend Botha, Mason Andersen and Derek Hitchner failed to make the list.

Second on my team is another who, like Brown, disappointed on Sunday after three very good rounds. John Marshall Butler is someone I mentioned before the season and who is indeed playing very well, particularly now that we’re back to the USA and courses that the Auburn grad will be comfortable on. His price reflects the final round 80 and the finishing 53^rd, but I’m happy to take the upside on his sixth place after 54 holes and hope that he has four rounds in him on this longer, more straightforward course. He’s too good for his price.

Finally, Noah Goodwin is returning to the KFT after a first try at the PGA level last season. His fourth place here at Lakewood in 2024 was among his best results in his two previous KFT seasons. He’s shown signs of form after a weak start the year with a 15^th last week, and that’s enough for me to take what is an attractive price. The “young player returning from a first PGA year” is a tried-and-true method of finding quality bets at this level and the former SMU Mustang is exactly the right sort to keep on board.

• Blades Brown, 20/1, 2pts win only, Fitzdares

• Noah Goodwin, 60/1, 1pt e/w, 1/5 odds 6 places, SportingIndex

• John Marshall Butler, 200/1, 1pt e/w, 1/5 odds 7 places, Fitzdares