08-16-17

Last week was a fantastic bag tap that just summed up my season in this format.

Thankfully time is running out on 2017 so the pain and suffering will only last a few more weeks.

Read this column if you need to know what NOT to do!

One-and-done

Each week I painfully writhe and wretch trying to figure out the proper strategy to find a player that will hit the top 10. Wins are great but aren’t likely, so I’m satisfied with having a chance to hit the big money. Missed cuts are absolutely the death in this game, but even the surest of things don’t always happen in the reality world of fantasy golf. Remember, fade or follow, it’s up to you.

Gamers who are new to OAD must remember that the most lucrative purses, the majors, WGC events, THE PLAYERS and FedExCup Playoffs, are down the road and you’ll need to save some big boys for these events, all 12 of them.

Last Season: Il Disastro  

Season total: $5,978,929; 47 events

• Wins: 2 (Matsuyama, Hoffman)
• Seconds: 0
• Thirds: 1
• Top 10s: 9
• Top 25s: 18
• MC: 8 (Mickelson, FIO; Oosthuizen, SHO; Chappell, Colonial; Casey, Memorial; Woodland, FESJC; Hearn, RBC Canadian; McGirt, Wyndham; Justin Thomas, DBC)

 

2016-17 season: Brand New Day

Season total: $4,049,741; 40 events

• Wins:
• Seconds: 1
• Thirds:
• Top 10s: 10
• Top 25s: 17
• MCs (10): Grayson Murray (Safeway Open); Patton Kizzire (SFC); Jamie Lovemark (CB Challenge); Jimmy Walker (FIO); Charl Schwartzel (Genesis); Russell Knox (Honda); Henrik Stenson (API); Thomas Pieters (Zurich); Kevin Kisner (WFC).

 

Event	Golfer	Place	Money
Safeway Open	Grayson Murray	MC	$0
CIMB Classic	Hideki Matsuyama	T-2	$756,000
WGC-HSBC Champions	Martin Kaymer	T-40	$62,000
Sanderson Farms	Patton Kizzire	MC	$0
Shriners	Chris Kirk	T-61	$14,190
OHL Mayakoba	Emiliano Grillo	T-10	$175,000
RSM Classic	Russell Henley	T-10	$150,000
SBS TOC	Brandt Snedeker	T-14	$122,000
Sony Open	Charles Howell, III	T-8	$180,000
CB Challenge	Jamie Lovemark	MC	$0
Farmers Insurance	Jimmy Walker	MC	$0
WMPO	Brendan Steele	T-16	$90,952
AT&T Pebble Beach	Phil Mickelson	65th	$15,120
Genesis Open	Charl Schwartzel	MC	$0
Honda Classic	Russell Knox	MC	$0
WGC-MC	Justin Rose	T-38	$64,000
Valspar	Bill Haas	T-41	$21,451
Arnold Palmer	Henrik Stenson	MC	$0
Puerto Rico Open	Luke List	T-37	$12,900
WGC-Match Play	Rory McIlroy	T-30	$74,000
Shell Houston Open	Jon Rahm	T-10	$182,000
Masters	Jordan Spieth	T-11	$223,200
RBC Heritage	Matt Kuchar	T-11	$114,045
Valero Texas Open	Charley Hoffman	T-40	$21,727
Zurich Classic	Thomas Pieters	MC	$0
Wells Fargo	Kevin Kisner	MC	$0
THE PLAYERS	Sergio Garcia	T-30	$65,205
AT&T Byron Nelson	Brooks Koepka	T-50	$18,090
DEAN & DELUCA	Bud Cauley	T-41	$24,050
Memorial	Dustin Johnson	MC	$0
FedEx St. Jude Classic	Billy Horschel	T-4	$252,000
U.S. Open	Rickie Fowler	T-4	$420,334
Travelers	Paul Casey	T-5	$248,200
Quicken Loans	Patrick Reed	T-17	$99,400
Greenbrier	Tony Finau	T-7	$228,975
John Deere Classic	Daniel Berger	T-5	$189,840
The Open	Adam Scott	T-22	$88,000
RBC Canadian	Bubba Watson	T-42	$42,200
WGC-BI	Branden Grace	T-28	$73,562
PGA Championship	Tommy Fleetwood	T-61	$21,300

Thermometer: 

I keep telling myself “only five more events until this shit circus is finally over”!

Last week:

I rolled with the No. 14 golfer in the OWGR. Do you want to guess what his worst finish (when making the cut) on Tour was this season?

You betcha.

The week I have him!

You want comedy? Look at the players I had available for this event listed below, minus Fleetwood. Jason Day, top 10. Justin Thomas WON. Louis Oosthuizen, T-2.

SHALL I CONTINUE???

How about Franny Molly, T-2?

Or Marc Leishman or Brian Harman, T-13?

My Choice: Tommy Fleetwood — T-61

Close Second: Marc Leishman — T-13, Zach Johnson — T-48

Outliers: Xander Schauffele — MC, Gary Woodland — T-23

Gut Shot(s): Daniel Summerhays — T-71, Lucas Glover — T-28

Rank Outsiders: Jhonattan Vegas, Kyle Stanley, Jason Kokrak

Luckless and terrible all at once.

What else is new?

 

Keys this Week:

Make birdies and go low.

Old. Young. Journeyman. Former studs. New studs. That’s who’s won here.

With a classic design and short course everyone is in play this week making it a MISERABLE week for fantasy.

Si Woo Kim made 26 birdies and an eagle last year en route to a five-shot runaway victory. He became the youngest player to win on Tour in some time.

The year before, Davis Love, III came from off the pace and became the oldest player on Tour to win in sometime.

Make birdies. Lots of them.

Avoid bogeys or worse.

Four rounds of even par isn’t getting you a top 20 like it did last week.

Last of the Mohicans

With only five events (including this week) left, it’s time to release the hounds. With four of those events with monster prize pools, it makes it even easier. Here’s who I have left (OWGR ranking) and thoughts on each:

Jason Day (7) — Yeah, anywhere is fine but his lack of form allows me to keep him dry longer. That’s fine as he has enjoyed East Lake over the years.

Alex Noren (9) — He’s not a member THIS YEAR so he’s not eligible for the FEC Playoffs.

Justin Thomas (14) — He’s in the worst slump of his short career with three MC’s on the bounce but with NO CUT this week, it might be exactly what he needs to be freed up.

Tommy Fleetwood (15) — He’s not a member THIS YEAR so he’s not eligible for the FEC Playoffs. Ctrl-C; Ctrl-V.

Rafael Cabrera-Bello (16) — Gamers, he is a member this year and currently checks in at No. 61 in the FEC rankings. He’s eligible, as of today, for the first three FEC Playoff events, if he chooses to play them. There’s no guarantee he will unless he wins this week…

Francesco Molinari (20) — Gamers, he is a member this year and currently checks in at No. 41 in the FEC rankings. He’s eligible, as of today, for the first three FEC Playoff events, if he chooses to play them. There’s no guarantee he will unless he wins this week… Ctrl-C; Ctrl-V.

Tyrell Hatton (22) — This week or next gamers! He’s not a member THIS YEAR so he’s not eligible for the FEC Playoffs. Ctrl-C; Ctrl-V.

Louis Oosthuizen (23) — The classic utility man is healthy and makes a great option moving forward. He sits No. 44 on the FEC ranking and will be used for sure (TPC Boston).

Brian Harman (26) — Sitting at No. 9 guarantees his trip to East Lake for The Tour Championship. Georgia native at East Lake doesn’t sound all that ridiculous. Stay tuned.

Marc Leishman (28) — Another Swiss Army Knife that translates on most tracks, the Aussie is No. 13 in the FEC rankings.

Kevin Chappell (29) — His world ranking matches his FEC ranking so he’ll need another decent effort to book his ticket to East Lake again. He lost in an playoff to Rory McIlroy at The Tour Championship last year.

Jason Dufner (30) — He won last time in Ohio at Memorial and has a pair of top 10’s in four tries at Firestone South. He’s also No. 21 in the FEC standings so he should be good for all four Playoff events.

My Weekly Finalists:

My Favorites: You can see the entire list at mikeglasscott.com

Since none of the above are playing this week, time to get creative.

My Choice: Webb Simpson

Close Second: Ryan Moore, Bill Haas

Outliers: Lucas Glover, Kyle Stanley, Haotong Li

Gut Shot(s): Kevin Na, Brandon Hagy

Rank Outsiders: Peter Malnati, William McGirt

QUESTION(S) OF THE WEEK:

Remember, if you don’t see a guy in my choices, it’s more than likely that I have already selected them.

Who do I save???

If you’re leading, you have a plan and surely won’t need my help!

If you’re trailing, there’s no point in taking great players with you to the final weeks if you can’t win.

Having the winner at East Lake doesn’t mean much if you finish outside the money.

For you baseball fans, it’s Game 6 and you’re trailing 3-2 in the series. Pitch everyone tonight because you’re trying to force Game 7. Worry about that later…

The winner this week will be…

20-under par or lower so find a guy who’s not afraid to make a bushel of birdies and is patient enough to handle less-than-perfect conditions if the joint gets soaked.

Based on that, I’m leaning to a veteran so that means a rookie like J.T. Poston will win this week.

Because I suck at this game.

Whatever.

Good Luck!