Out of the Rough: Puerto Rico Open (2026)

The first of four alternate field events on the 2026 PGA Tour schedule takes place this week for the Puerto Rico Open.

This week’s Puerto Rico Open will play opposite the Signature Event Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Held annually at the Grand Reserve Country Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, this event has served as the jump-start to multiple careers across the PGA Tour. The likes of Tony Finau and Viktor Hovland have used this event to claim their maiden PGA Tour victory.

11-of-the-17 winners of this event have been first time winners on the PGA Tour. 

The Field

It should go without saying, this week’s field is filled with the Tour’s up-and-commers, grinding veterans and unsung heroes.

As previously mentioned, this week’s event is an alternate field event, meaning that as 80 of the Tour’s best golfers will be playing the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a second event will run at the same time.

Michael Brennan comes in as the highest ranked golfer within the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) at 42nd that will be playing this week.

Rasmus Hojgaard, Nicolai Hojgaard, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Haotong Li, Dan Brown, John Parry, Adrien Sadier, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Jordan Smith, Matt Wallace and Davis Riley are the only other golfers ranked within the top 100 of the OWGR to be playing this week.

Karl Vilips is the defending champion, having topped Neergaard-Petersen by a stroke a season ago. He will not be back this week to defend his title.

Other former winners of this event playing this week include Brice Garnett (2024) and Ryan Brehm (2022.) 

The Course

Grand Reserve Country Club, formally named the Coco Beach Golf Club, sits at the foothills of the El Yunque Rainforest. It is a diverse and flat course that is extremely wind-exposed.

It plays at just over 7,500 yards as a par-72.

The course features an exposed layout and the winds will almost certainly be a factor throughout the tournament. Those who have experience in playing in windy conditions will see an advantage.

There is water in play on 13 of the holes as well.

The greens are Paspalum and are average sized compared to Tour standards.

Going low will be imperative this week for any potential winner. All but one of the former champions of this event shot double-digits under par en route to victory.

Seven of the last eight winners have shot 19 under par or better to win this event. Vilips won a season ago with a score of -26.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, forecasts are calling for morning rain showers with a chance of 40-percent for both Thursday and Friday. Saturday currently calls for a 40-percent chance of precipitation and Sunday a 50-percent chance. Temperatures are currently set at 83-degrees for all of Thursday through Saturday as Sunday calls for temperatures of 82-degrees. Winds are currently set at 17 miles-per-hour across all four days. 

Key Stats

• Greens in Regulation Percentage (GIR%)

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

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

• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

• Scrambling

• Bogey Avoidance

• Birdie or Better Percentage

Betting Card

Chad Ramey (+4000)

Ramey has played this event twice prior, placing 26th a season ago and fifth in 2022. He’s fresh off a 17th place finish at last week’s Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. Prior to that he placed 48th at the WM Phoenix Open, 22nd at the Farmers Insurance Open, 63rd at The American Express and 71st at the Sony Open in Hawaii. In other words, he hasn’t missed a cut yet. He is currently 19th on Tour in SG: PUTT, 33rd in scrambling, 41st in bogey avoidance, 63rd in average driving distance, 96th in birdie-or-better percentage, 111th in SG: APP, 114th in GIR% and 120th in SG: OTT.

David Ford (+5100)

I was high on Ford last week at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches so naturally I have to be high on him this week in an alternate field event. He placed 32nd last week. Prior to that he missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open, placed 13th at The American Express and 50th at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Ford is currently fifth on Tour in SG: APP, 25th in GIR%, 29th in SG: OTT, 34th in average driving distance, 43rd in bogey avoidance, 66th in birdie-or-better percentage, 71st in scrambling and 114th in SG: PUTT. He’ll be making his tournament debut this week. 

A.J. Ewart (+8000)

Ewart is currently 38th on Tour in both GIR% and bogey avoidance, 61st in SG: PUTT, 65th in average driving distance, 69th in scrambling, 78th in SG: OTT, 79th in SG: APP and 88th in birdie-or-better percentage. Not a bad resume for someone in this price range in an alternate field event. He placed 13th last week at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, 28th at the WM Phoenix Open, 49th at the Farmers Insurance Open, 44th at The American Express and missed the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He too will be making his tournament debut this week. 

Sudarshan Yellamaraju (+8600)

Yellamaraju is currently 11th on Tour in average driving distance, 38th in birdie-or-better percentage, 42nd in SG: OTT, 48th in SG: APP, 51st in SG: PUTT, 74th in GIR%, 88th in bogey avoidance and 124th in scrambling. He’s fresh off a 17th place finish at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. He also placed 54th at the WM Phoenix Open, 56th at the Farmers Insurance Open, missed the cut at The American Express and placed 13th at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He too will be making his tournament debut this week.

2025 Betting Card

• Niklas Norgaard (+2200) - T39th

• Ben Kohles (+5000) - T34th

• Jeremy Paul (+6000) - T16th

2024 Betting Card

• Brandon Wu (+3000) - T42nd

• Chan Kim (+4000) - T61st

• Rafael Campos (+5500) - T18th

• Hayden Springer (+8000) - T3rd

• Tom Whitney (+11000) - T61st