Ben James Is the Favorite at the Bermuda Championship, Here’s Why

It’s that time of year in the golf season where the big names are taking well-deserved time off.

That creates opportunity for up-and-comers.

One PGA Tour Rookie who has been attracting attention is 23-year-old Ben James, who has recorded four top-five finishes among his first 10 professional tournaments.

James has registered top-five finishes in each of his last three tournaments, including a second-place finish in Asheville last month. He also finished third at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., in August.

His 11th career event is the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, which starts Thursday, and he enters the event as the favorite.

Think of that: He wasn’t even an official tour member five months ago and now he’s in the Scottie Scheffler role in Bermuda.

James’ PGA Tour card was finalized on June 1 after he finished the college golf season at Virginia as the No. 1-ranked golfer in the PGA Tour University standings. That performance earmarked him directly into the top level of golf.

His second event as a professional was the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in New York and he had an opening-round 69 and a final-round 67. He finished in a tie for 23rd3 at 5-over 285.

James tied for fourth at the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic when he teed it up for the fifth time in mid-July.

The next week was the low point of his career as he missed the cut at the 3M Open in Minnesota.

Just 10 events into his career, he already has pocketed $1.896 million. At age 23.

Hey Ben, can you spare a loan?

In his last event in the Bank of Utah Championship earlier this month, James put together rounds of 65-66-64-67 while tying for fifth at 22 under. He finished four shots off the pace.

He wasn’t all that satisfied either. His putter wasn’t cooperating and he felt he could have finished higher up the leaderboard with a little bit more luck.

“It was something where I was really teetering throughout the day with frustration and emotion,” James said after the round. “I was definitely really happy how I handled myself not having my best stuff today and keeping it a nice round of golf.”

Those are the traits of a golfer worth watching – one not all that thrilled when he puts together a round that is typically highly acceptable.

James is displaying he has high standards and big-time competitiveness. It’s just a small sample size but he has shown he might be that next breakthrough young golfer.

Regardless, he’s going to be in the mix to win tournaments and regularly make cuts – he’s 9 of 10 so far this year.

And since missing that cut in Minnesota, he has shot 68 or lower in 14 of 16 rounds.

That’s pretty good stuff.

You can see why the oddsmakers have made him the favorite this week at Port Royal Golf Course in Bermuda.

The defending champion is Adam Schenk. That is his lone career victory. He missed the cut in Utah earlier this month.

Here are some of the other names who will be sharing the course with James: Corey Conners, Chris Kirk, Austin Smotherman, Mackenzie Hughes and Emiliano Grillo. Conners (No. 61) is the highest-ranked player in the field.

That’s a little different than maybe hearing Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Cameron Young and Justin Rose.

Perhaps it is Ben James’ time to really shine.