09-13-17

Limping to the end of the season I weigh in on my limited choices and choice of strategy.

For those of you with multiple BIG BOYS remaining, keep that in mind for next year as you don’t want to leave any in chamber especially with premium players.

Hey, we learn something each week and each season so pay attention!

These signs look just like my season! #Crooked

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: $4,781,753; 43 events

• Wins:
• Seconds: 1
• Thirds: 1
• Top 10s: 11
• Top 25s: 18
• 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
Wyndham	Webb Simpson	3rd	$394,400
THE NORTHERN TRUST	Justin Thomas	T-6	$283,281
DTC	Louis Oosthuizen	T-30	$54,337

 

Thermometer:

I couldn’t keep the momentum going as I didn’t have the guts to follow Leishman’s MC at TNT so my streak of top 10s ends at two.

Last week:

Louis, Louis, oh baby, you didn’t go.

After sitting five back after 36 on a course where he’s gone low, the South African limped home with 74-69 on Labor Day weekend to add another nail to my coffin.

My Choice: Louis Oosthuizen — T-30

Close Second: Jason Day — T-25, Jason Dufner — T-69, Kevin Chappell — T-35

Outliers: Chez Reavie — T-61, Patrick Cantlay — T-13, Jason Kokrak — T-53

Gut Shot(s): Gary Woodland — T-18

Rank Outsiders: Keegan Bradley — T-35, Robert Streb — T-73

The last 10 playoff winners have been in the top 15 in the OWGR at the time of their victory. This is a recording.

Keys this Week:

Well, I have a few to choose from who will be eligible this week and next.

My strategy of blowing out big players to try and get back into the race never came to fruition. Nobody said this would be easy!

Jason Day is the only player to hit the top 10 in each of the two events held at Conway Farms. He’s stuck his high school buddy on his bag this week but he also has the tournament record on this track so there’s no doubt this place fits his eye.

It’s going to take some doing to knock out Nos. 1, 2 and 3 this week so those boys know they can glide easy with no cut looming. Remember, the top five after this week will have a chance to win the $10 million with a win next week regardless of how the others finish.

Preliminary reports suggest that the course is firm and fast and that will accentuate premium players so not a surprise there.

 

My Weekly Finalists:

My Favorites: You can see the entire list here

My Choice: Marc Leishman

Close Second: Brian Harman, Kevin Chappell

Outliers: Pat Perez, Adam Hadwin

Gut Shot(s): Patrick Cantlay

Rank Outsider(s): Xander Schauffele, Luke List, Kyle Schwarber

 

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.

The winner this week will be…

A stud, big-game player. The last 10 winners have been in the top 15 in the OWGR at the time of victory. This is a recording.

I’d suggest those who hit GIR and lots of them because the greens aren’t huge targets. Smaller greens also reward proper iron play to the proper tiers. For those who don’t paint GIR, time to rely on the trusty short game to clean up any messes and save pars. It’s not the longest track in the world but the wind doesn’t look like it will be helping much so power players won’t hurt either.

Good Luck!