Albertsons Boise Open Tips

Just have a sneaky feeling Ross Steelman might steal this one. A great each-way bet. He's playing well and I've heard he's practising well.

Cole Sherwood looks interesting at Hillcrest because his season has already shown the ceiling required to win at this level. He has a Korn Ferry Tour victory, a runner-up finish, and a strong overall scoring record. His game has been productive both off the tee and on approach. Hillcrest is a short par-71 layout where low scoring is normally required, so Sherwood's birdie production and strong par-4 scoring are important assets. His form has cooled over the last month, including a missed cut and some modest finishes, but that is also why his price has moved into a more attractive range. The main concern is that his putting has supplied a significant share of his strokes gained, but the underlying ball striking remains strong enough to support another winning week.

Petr Hruby is hit or miss, as are most players at his age who are competing at this level. He has made 5 of his 11 cuts this season and converted a couple of them into top-25 finishes. His strengths should be magnified here this week, with him ranked 20th in driving distance and 36th for strokes gained overall. That paints a much stronger position than his results alone indicate.

Vince Whaley drops back down to this event this week as the big hitters take on the FedEx Playoffs. He looks to regain his status starting here this week, and he has a good chance of doing so in this field. He could really find separation for himself with his excellent game on the greens, where he sits 4th for Strokes Gained: Putting across the season.

12 of 18 cuts made this season for Nicolo Galletti, which is a reasonable hit rate at this level. He has done well in then converting 5 of these into top-25 finishes. He's just missing the finishing touches come the weekend, but sitting 31st on tour for strokes gained/outing more than makes up for what he can lack in terms of distance off the tee.

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Ryan Burnett's game has been trending in the right direction of late with a newfound level of consistency in his ball striking that has seen him make 9 of his last 11 cuts. He withdrew from the Utah Championship at the beginning of the month, but any concerns seem to be behind him and he looks a huge price in this level field this week based on his showings over the last couple of months. If he can find a hot putting week here, he will contend.

Carson Bacha snapped a run of seven missed cuts in a row last week. He really looked to have found something in his game. He was visibly growing in confidence and comfort with each passing hole and round as he finished T12 at the Pinnacle Bank Championship. He still sits 60th on the KFT rankings, so a strong finish here in the next few weeks could still earn him PGA Tour status for next season.