Power Rankings: ISCO Championship

When PGA TOUR CEO and future commissioner Brian Rolapp announced two weeks ago the framework for the 2028 PGA TOUR schedule, he explained how the Championship Series and the Challenger Series would run concurrently, each with dedicated provisions and objectives. While the overall plan will be unprecedented, Additional Events like this week’s ISCO Championship have been a staple of the circuit throughout the 21st century. Like all others before it, this stop also serves as a timely example of the possibilities.

Graduating to the PGA TOUR is difficult enough, but there isn’t another level above it, so winning here is the ultimate career achievement. When a tournament like the Genesis Scottish Open is contested the same week, the opportunity to break through for an official victory presents as more attainable. Case in point, the ISCO Championship boasts the longest active streak of first-time winners with five.

Hurstbourne Country Club in Louisville, Kentucky, hosts for the second time. It was a challenge in its debut, so a coronation would have an extra layer of satisfaction. For that detail, where champion William Mouw excelled and more is laid out beneath those projected to contend and others to consider.

Others to consider

• Brice Garnett ... While Davis Thompson and Christiaan Bezuidenhout appear in the Power Rankings proper in part due to their success in the Additional Events this season, the veteran ball-striker has two victories in the series in his career. This year, he’s 2-for-2 with a T19 at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic, but he’s also risen to a T22 at the Charles Schwab Challenge and a T4 at the RBC Canadian Open since.
• Jacob Skov Olesen ... The lefty missed the cut here last year, but he was still seeking traction as a rookie on the DP World Tour. He’d find it with a surge later in the season to finish 41st in the Race to Dubai. With a T2, a T3, a T4 and a T5 on the board this year, he’s currently 27th in the ranks. Does his best work around and on greens.
• Oihan Guillamoundeguy ... The 21-year-old from France has been a quick study. After turning pro in 2022, he won once on the Alps Tour both that year and in 2023. With a swift graduation to the HotelPlanner Tour, he won again in 2025 and finished fifth in the Road to Mallorca. As a rookie this year on the DP World Tour, he’s 49th in the Race to Dubai with two top fives and a T25 in his last six starts. His strength as a ball-striker is favored on the smaller greens of Hurstbourne, but he’s far from a fully formed product to pigeonhole fairly.
• Josiah Gilbert ... Jackson Koivun's teammate en route to their second national championship at Auburn University, is making his PGA TOUR-sanctioned debut at Hurstbourne. While Koivun exited the collegiate ranks as the world’s top-ranked amateur, Gilbert sits seventh in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, so the Australian-born 21-year-old figures to contend in PGA TOUR University as a senior in 2026-27.

While the Genesis Scottish Open fields the full boat of 156 with an even split of entrants representing the DP World Tour, the ISCO Championship has been pared to 144 this season. However, the familiar cohort of 50 DP World Tour members was not modified.

Should a non-member of the PGA TOUR prevail at Hurstbourne, he will have the option of accepting membership as a winner through 2027, but FedExCup points earned would not contribute to 2026 totals, either for him or any non-member who qualifies for Special Temporary Membership. (However, the points would be included in non-member totals in pursuit of the top 70 non-member category for 2027.) Meanwhile, if a PGA TOUR member takes the title, the customary two-year exemption (or one-year extension where applicable) would apply, as would the 300 FedExCup points that go with it.

Top 10s by PGA TOUR members would pay forward into a spot at next week’s Corals Puntacana Championship, at which the same non-member guidelines referenced above would apply. Non-members are ineligible for the same provision, save one exception. All DP World Tour members who finish inside the top five at Hurstbourne would be guaranteed one of the 50 spots among their contingent at Corales.

All of that addresses what happens after the dust settles at Hurstbourne, but there’s still the matter of staging the tournament.

In its first spin as the host last year, all Hurstbourne did was finish as the hardest par 70 of the 13 played in non-majors last season. The scoring average was 71.118. The 36-hole cut of low 65 and ties landed at 1-over 141, and Mouw prevailed by one stroke at a 10-under 270. Wind kicked up a bit in the third round, but Hurstbourne presented as the kind of consistently fair and firm test that touring professionals respect.

From tee to green, the test was tough and rewarding. Bentgrass greens average just 4,750 square feet, so precision on approach played way up. However, unlike other tracks with smaller-than-average greens, Hurstbourne was even more challenging when it came to getting up and down for par; thus, why scoring was high relative to all others. It ranked second in scrambling to the only other par 70 all season. Only Oakmont Country Club, host of the 2025 U.S. Open, ranked higher.

Not only did Mouw slot third in greens in regulation (averaging 13 per round), but he also finished second in scrambling. That combination alone is tough to beat anywhere, but the first-time winner also was perfect on all looks from 6 feet and in. He also ranked third in average distance of putts holed per round.

Mouw’s formula for success will be difficult to replicate, but he’s back to give it a try. Like many others in the field, he eschewed a spot at the Genesis Scottish Open in favor of the ISCO Championship. The former regulation requiring golfers who gain entry on their number by a certain time at The Renaissance Club no longer applies.

Mouw and all others who are back for a second crack at Hurstbourne will see primarily the same stock par 70 that tips at 7,056 yards. The biggest difference is that the bluegrass rough is down an inch to three inches, but the putting surfaces once again are prepped to touch 13 feet as measured using the Stimpmeter.

Rain and boomers are all but promised at times throughout the tournament, but the wind isn’t forecast to be much of a bother save during Friday’s scheduled second round. Daytime highs easily will climb into the 80s, with maybe one 90-degree reading along the way.

ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE

PGATOUR.COM's Rob Bolton previews and recaps every tournament. Refer to the timing of his contributions below. He’s also active as @RobBoltonGolf on X, where you can connect with him.

• MONDAY: Power Rankings (Genesis Scottish Open)
• TUESDAY: Sleepers (Genesis Scottish Open); Power Rankings (ISCO Championship); Expert Picks
• WEDNESDAY: Fantasy Insider
• SUNDAY: Points and Payouts (Genesis Scottish Open); Points and Payouts (ISCO Championship); Qualifiers

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