Out of the Rough: ISCO Championship (2026)

With most of the Tour’s best preparing for The Open Championship with this week’s Genesis Scottish Open, the up-and-coming stars and unsung heroes will play alongside members of the DP World Tour for this week’s ISCO Championship.

Just as the Genesis Scottish Open is co-sanctioned between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, so is this week’s ISCO Championship.

This event was once played on the same week as The Open Championship but was moved forward a week four years ago to play opposite the Genesis Scottish Open.

This event debuted on the PGA Tour’s schedule in 2015 at Robert Trent Jones’ Golf Trail at Grand National in Auburn, Alabama as the Barbasol Championship.

It then moved to the Keene Trace Golf Club in Lexington, Kentucky in 2018 and was played there through last year.

Last year, the event was played at the Hurstbourne Country Club in Louisville, Kentucky for the very first time. The Hurstbourne Country Club will host the ISCO Championship again this season.

This event too serves as the final chance for any hopeful to play themselves into The Open Championship.

The Field

As previously mentioned, this is an alternate-field event with the Genesis Scottish Open.

Max Homa comes in as the highest ranked golfer within the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) at 73rd.

Patrick Rodgers (87th,) Lucas Glover (91st,) Christiaan Bezuidenhout (94th,) Stephan Jaeger (96th) and Rico Hoey (98th) join Homa as those ranked within the top 100 of the OWGR to be playing this week.

Other notable PGA Tour golfers teeing it up this week include Denny McCarthy, Taylor Pendrith, David Lipsky, Tom Hoge, Lee Hodges, Chandler Blanchet and Ben Kohles.

Again, this event is co-sanctioned between the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour as the DP World Tour makes up a portion of the field.

Although the Genesis Scottish Open is also a co-sanctioned event, a few of the DP World Tour stars are turning out to the ISCO Championship for an attempt at winning a PGA Tour Card.

Jacob Skov Olesen is the most notable DP World Tour member playing this week. He’ll be joined by the likes of JC Ritchie, Davis Bryant, Jorge Campillo, Karl Vilips, Wenyi Ding, among others.

Mouw comes in as the defending champion, having topped Paul Peterson by a single stroke a season ago. Peterson will also be back this week in hopes of avenging last year’s loss.

The Course

The Hurstbourne Country Club was built in 1967 by Chic Adams. Keith Foster substantially renovated the course in 2005. Most of the routing was untouched but the bunkers were upgraded in the renovation.

It plays as a par-70 at 7,056 yards.

Off-the-tee golfers will be faced with tight, tree lined fairways that feature many low-hanging limbs.

Bunkers are strategically placed to be brought into play off-the-tee as well as on the approach, surrounding the greens.

Five holes feature dog-legs as well, which will force golfers to either attempt to cut-the-corner or lay-up for a long approach shot.

Water comes into play on five holes as well. Ponds are featured on the front-nine as a creek comes into play on the back-nine.

Multiple holes also feature lengthy out-of-bounds areas that run along the fairways.

Notable holes include the par-four second that plays as the hardest hole on the course. It plays as 482-yards and features a pond in front of the tee box and another pond situated halfway along the fairway.

The par-four sixth hole demands a good drive into the fairway before attempting a second shot over water onto an undulating green.

The final two holes at this golf course are no joke either. The short par-four 17th features a green bordered by bunkers.

The unique par-three 18th hole is the course’s signature hole. It plays uphill towards the classic clubhouse. Golfers will play from an elevated tee over a valley onto the green. Three bunkers make hitting this green difficult. 

These final two holes will play their hand in who wins this week.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, Thursday is calling for a 50-percent chance of scattered thunderstorms. Friday is calling for a 65-percent chance of thunderstorms and Saturday a 60-percent chance of scattered thunderstorms. Sunday is calling for just a 25-percent chance of precipitation. Temperatures will be the highest on Thursday at 88-degrees before dropping to 86-degrees on Friday. Temperatures will continue to drop to 84-degrees on Saturday before rebounding to 87-degrees on Sunday. Winds are currently set at nine miles-per-hour for all of Thursday, Saturday and Sunday with Friday calling for a high of ten miles-per-hour winds.

Key Stats 

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (SG: OTT) / Driving Accuracy

• Proximity to the Hole from 175-plus yards

• Strokes Gained: Around the Green / Sand Saves Percentage

• Strokes Gained: Putting on Bentgrass (SG: PUTT Bentgrass)

• Par 5 Scoring Average

• Par 3 Scoring Average

• Birdie or Better Percentage

• Scrambling

Betting Card

Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+2200)

Of those in this field, Bezuidenhout tops my stats based model. He is currently first on Tour in sand saves percentage, ninth in scrambling, 23rd in SG: ATG, 32nd in SG: APP, 33rd in par-three average scoring, 49th in par-five average scoring, 62nd in driving accuracy percentage, 72nd in SG: PUTT Bentgrass, 79th in birdie-or-better percentage, 84rd in proximity to the hole from 175-plus yards and 129th in SG: OTT. Bezuidenhout placed 12th last week at the John Deere Classic. Prior to that he placed 54th at the RBC Canadian Open, 32nd at the Charles Schwab Challenge, missed the cut at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, 35th at the PGA Championship and sixth at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic. He did not play this event a season ago.

Beau Hossler (+4000)

Hossler isn’t in the best of form coming into this week but he placed 39th last week at the John Deere Classic and 45th at the RBC Canadian Open. He missed back-to-back cuts at both THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson and Charles Schwab Challenge but did place third at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic in the most recent alternate field event. He placed 14th at this event a season ago. Hossler is currently third on Tour in both par-three average scoring and scrambling. He is also 23rd in sand saves percentage, 46th in SG: ATG, 47th in SG: PUTT Bentgrass, 62nd in proximity to the hole from 175-plus yards, 64th in birdie-or-better percentage, 71st in SG: OTT, 85th in driving accuracy percentage, 98th in par-five average scoring and 107th in SG: APP.

Jacob Skov Olesen (+6000)

For those unfamiliar with the DP World Tour, Olesen is one of the up-and-coming Denmark golfers, a country that has produced a ton of talent as of late. On the DP World Tour, Olesen is currently 18th in both SG: ATG and birdie-or-better percentage, 21st in SG: PUTT, 31st in par-five average scoring, 36th in par-three average scoring, 50th in sand saves percentage, 52nd in SG: OTT, 60th in scrambling, 84th in SG: APP and 88th in driving accuracy percentage. Olesen missed the cut last week at the BMW International Open but prior to that he placed 41st at the DS Automobiles 83° Open d'Italia, 55th at the KLM open, 26th at the Austrian Alpine Open and second at the Soudal Open. He’ll be making his tournament debut this week.

A.J. Ewart (+8000)

Ewart placed 71st last week at the John Deere Classic. Prior to that he placed 29th at the RBC Canadian Open, 17th at the Charles Schwab Challenge and 19th at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson. He too will be making his tournament debut this week. On the PGA Tour, Ewart is currently sixth on Tour in scrambling, 21st in sand saves percentage, 23rd in SG: PUTT Bentgrass, 33rd in par-three average scoring, 61st in SG: ATG, 66th in par-five average scoring, 79th in proximity to the hole from 175-plus yards, 95th in SG: APP, 96th in birdie-or-better percentage, 111th in driving accuracy percentage and 116th in SG: OTT.

Daniel van Tonder (+20000)

This is simply a massive number for someone of van Tonder’s ability. On the DP World Tour he is currently seventh in SG: ATG, eighth in sand saves percentage, ninth in both par-five average scoring and scrambling, 19th in birdie-or-better percentage, 31st in SG: OTT, 35th in SG: APP, 78th in driving accuracy percentage, 127th in par-three average scoring and 128th in SG: PUTT. He placed 38th last week at the BMW International Open and 25th at the DS Automobiles 83° Open d'Italia. He too will be making his tournament debut this week.

2025 Betting Card

• Vince Whaley (+2800) - T4th

• Carson Young (+5000) - MC

• Chandler Phillips (+5000) - MC

• Kazuma Kobori (+12500) - MC