09-06-16

If Mark Twain said that golf is a good walk spoiled, I’ll add that OAD is the highest form of nut-kickery invented by man.

Both HOT TAKES are over-exaggerated yet true to some degree.

Whatever.

I have bits left. Time to make them work.

Fachts:

• The only player to win the FEC twice is Tiger Woods so history says a new, fresh face should hold the trophy again this season.
• The only players that have defended their FEC titles at East Lake are Woods and Snedeker. Spieth will join that party to see if he can be the first to go back-to-back. I have him saved for such the occasion so there’s NO CHANCE.
• Nobody has successfully defended their FEC championship since the invention in 2007.
• Jim Furyk checks in at No. 84.
• Justin Roes checks in at No. 45.  Make it No. 50 now.
• Danny Willett was No. 86 but he’s elected to stay in Europe and defend his Crans-sur-Sierre title in Switzerland. He’s eliminated.

History Lessons:

Since the advent of the FEC Playoffs in 2007, there have been a few fellas win multiple events.

• Tiger Woods, 3
• Rory McIlroy, 3*
• Vijay Singh, 2*
• Camilo Villegas, 2*
• Steve Stricker, 2
• Dustin Johnson, 2
• Henrik Stenson, 2*
• Billy Horschel, 2*
• Jason Day, 2*

*same season

Only Woods, Stricker and Johnson have won titles over multiple years.

Only DJ was won titles in CONSECUTIVE years.

There has been a multiple winner in the last FOUR YEARS IN A ROW. Patrick Reed and McIlroy can add this distinction if they win this week.

Only two of the four went on to win the $10 million (Stenson, Horschel).

The list of winners contains very few surprises outside of Slocum, Hoffman and maybe a young Villegas. Everyone else who’s won one of these events has been a multiple winner on Tour.

Don’t forget, the last two events of the Playoffs are NO-CUT EVENTS, starting this week.

 

2015-16 season

Season total: $5,774,308; 44 events

• Wins: 2
• Seconds: 0
• Thirds: 1
• Top 10s: 9
• Top 25s: 17
• MC: 8 (Mickelson, FIO; Oosthuizen, SHO; Chappell, Colonial; Casey, Memorial; Woodland, FESJC; Hearn, RBC Canadian; McGirt, Wyndham; Thomas, DBC)

 

Last week: Justin Thomas, MC; $0

 

Thermometer:

The thermometer got mad and went home. Can hardly blame it…

 

Gone, but not forgotten:

Event	Golfer	Place	Money
Frys.com	Brooks Koepka	T-41	$21,000
Shriners	Scott Piercy	T-25	$44,832
CIMB	Anirban Lahiri	T-21	$78,400
WGC-HSBC Champions	Adam Scott	T-70	$42,000
Sanderson Farms	Patrick Rodgers	T-20	$41,356
OHL Mayakoba	Patton Kizzire	T-58	$13,764
RSM	Brendon de Jonge	T-33	$27,049
HTOC	Brandt Snedeker	T-3	$381,000
Sony	Kevin Kisner	T-5	$220,400
CB Challenge	Ryan Palmer	T-17	$75,897
Farmers	Phil Mickelson	MC	$0
Waste Management	Hideki Matsuyama	WIN	$1,170,000
AT&T Pebble Beach	Jimmy Walker	T-11	$143,500
NTO	Dustin Johnson	4th	$326,400
Honda	Luke Donald	T-61	$13,115
WGC-Cadillac Champ	Henrik Stenson	T-28	$79,428
Valspar	Danny Willett	T-22	$52,959
Arnold Palmer	Scott Brown	T-27	$41,934
WGC-Dell Match Play	Rickie Fowler	T-53	$63,000
Puerto Rico Open	Graham DeLaet	T-11	$66,000
Shell Houston Open	Louis Oosthuizen	MC	$0
Masters	Bubba Watson	T-37	$50,250
RBC Heritage	Matt Kuchar	T-9	$147,500
Valero Texas Open	Charley Hoffman	WIN	$1,116,000
Zurich Classic	Daniel Berger	T-20	$64,909
Wells Fargo	J.B. Holmes	T-53	$16,589
THE PLAYERS	Rory McIlroy	T-12	212,625
AT&T Byron Nelson	Jason Dufner	T-24	54,020
Colonial	Kevin Chappell	MC	$0
Memorial	Paul Casey	MC	$0
FESJC	Gary Woodland	MC	$0
U.S. Open	Jason Day	T-8	$247,806
Quicken Loans	Patrick Reed	T-39	$28,290
Barracuda	Jon Rahm	MDF	$6,420
WGC-BI	Shane Lowry	T-36	$73,500
Barbasol	Kyle Reifers	T-35	$15,808
The Open	Sergio Garcia	T-5	$310,797
RBC Canadian Open	David Hearn	MC	$0
PGA Championship	Branden Grace	T-4	$405,000
Travelers	Ryan Moore	T-17	$83,490
John Deere Classic	Zach Johnson	T-34	$24,240
Wyndham	William McGirt	MC	$0
The Barclays	Justin Rose	T-31	$45,220
DBC	Justin Thomas	MC	$0

 

Keys this Week:

• Massive track, almost 7,600 yards
• GIR masters and par breakers
• Plenty of LUCK

 

My Finalists:

Listed by OWGR position; FedExCup Points in parentheses

 

3.) Jordan Spieth (5)

25.) Emiliano Grillo (6)

20.) Russell Knox (7)

22.) Jim Furyk (84)

26.) Charl Schwartzel (32)

29.) Scott Piercy (31)

31.) Justin Thomas (8)

32.) Kevin Kisner (12)

33.) Kevin Na (14)

35.) Bill Haas (36)

 

My Choice: Emiliano Grillo

Close Second: Jordan Spieth

Just Missed: Russell Knox

Stratagem: If you’re leading, you surely not reading this drivel to figure out how to close the deal. If you have four premium players left, it’s not time to abandon the strategy that you’ve used to get to this point. If Day, McIlroy, Spieth or whomever is left. the answer is YES!

WE GET IT. YOU’VE CRUSHED US ALL.

Now, make a big pick and hope you get third.

For those of you desperate, well, time is almost up. How can you win or hit the board next week if you don’t do the business this week? Sack it up. Throw a hay maker. Pray you have somebody left to steal it next week. Or, pick better golfers in the previous 40-something events next year. Salty? WHO ME??? If I would have dreamed that McIlroy’s first win of the SEASON would have been last week, I wouldn’t have woken up because death seemed an easier option at the time.

 

QUESTION(S) OF THE WEEK:

• What are you doing???
• Where’s Grillo???

 

ANSWER(S) OF THE WEEK:

• I’m not sure anymore. This season is ending like the sequel to Caddyshack and I’m glad the it’s almost over. Fantasy golf is hard.
• I’ve left Grillo out, rightly or wrongly, as I feel he’ll be a better option at Crooked Stick (only one previous Tour event this century so no inherent advantage for anyone) or even a difficult East Lake. I wrote that last week. I see no reason to change any of it. Knox had seen DBC a few times and had been in the hunt so he should have gone last week!

Good luck chops!

You’ll need it!