Happy Birthday America!

Before you consume copious amounts of adjunct American light lager beer, make sure you read who you should avoid taking in OAD.

I’ve also added a new, special category this week!

The only independence I’ve achieved recently is ostracizing myself for contention in Spotter’s league because of my poor selections.

Only one rule for today: Tomorrow everyone shows up with 10 fingers and 10 toes!

2018 Thermometer:

Event	Golfer	Place	$$
Safeway Open	Tony Finau	2nd	669,600
CIMB Classic	Paul Casey	T7	218,166
CJ CUP @ 9 BRIDGES	Keegan Bradley	T47	23,759
WGC-HSBC Champions	Hideki Matsuyama	T50	51,875
Sanderson Farms	Chesson Hadley	T2	464,400
Shriners	Patrick Cantlay	WIN	1,224,000
OHL Classic	Kevin Chappell	MC	0
The RSM Classic	Charles Howell III	MC	0
Sentry TOC	Kevin Kisner	T17	99,333
Sony Open	Brian Harman	T4	256,266
CareerBuilder Challenge	Jason Dufner	T36	27,189
Farmers Insurance	Jon Rahm	T29	43,872
WMPO	Alex Noren	T21	80,040
-AT&T Pebble Beach	Phil Mickelson	T2	488,400
Genesis Open	Dustin Johnson	T16	111,600
Honda Classic	Graeme McDowell	MC	0
WGC-Mexico	Tommy Fleetwood	T14	126,500
Valspar Championship	Ryan Moore	MC	0
Arnold Palmer	Tyrell Hatton	T69	18,067
WGC-Match Play	Patrick Reed	T9	163,000
Corales Puntacana	Patrick Rodgers	T22	27,850
Houston Open	Luke List	T24	54,162
Masters	Jordan Spieth	3rd	748,000
RBC Heritage	Cameron Smith	T32	35,510
Valero Texas Open	Billy Horschel	T11	136,400
Zurich Classic	Bud Cauley	MC	0
Wells Fargo Championship	Bryson DeChambeau	4th	369,600
THE PLAYERS	Francesco Molinari	MC	0
AT&T Byron Nelson	Jimmy Walker	T6	257,950
Fort Worth Invitational	Adam Scott	T52	16,472
Memorial	Tiger Woods	T23	76,985
FESJC	Henrik Stenson	T26	50,820
US Open	Justin Rose	T10	270,151
FESJC	Xander Schauffele	MC	0
Quicken Loans National	Kyle Stanley	T32	36,841
Total Events: 35	Top 10s: 11	MC: 7	$6,200,808

Last week:

I waffled between Stanley and Fowler too many times to count but ended up going with the reigning champion. His T32 finish > Fowler’s 12th finish as I’m hoping to get more than $163k from Fowler so I’m accepting this loss.

Leishman didn’t fire on Sunday but racked up over $130k while Howell’s closing 67 pushed him to almost $100k. Leishman (E) and Stanley (+3) bled cash all day Sunday so that wasn’t any fun.

Beau Hossler also burned some cash late with a double but continues to impress. Big Kira ran out of gas and J.B. Holmes came back to earth. Molinari continued his fantastic play and did something no Italian has done since the late 1940’s. Congrats to all of you who loaded up on him this week and any of you who pulled the trigger on Woods.

My Choice: Kyle Stanley – T32

Picks for Leaders: Kyle Stanley – T32, Marc Leishman – T13, Charles Howell III – T17

Picks for Chasers: J.B. Holmes – MC, Beau Hossler – T6, Kiradech Aphibarnrat – T48

Picks for Dreamers: David Lingmerth – T48, Ben An – T41, Francesco Molinari – WIN

Picks for Noses: Tiger Woods – T4

Six Beers In: Kevin Streelman (again) T32 with a Round 2 62 hahaha; Seamus Power opened with 66 and then faded to T58.

Drop-Dead Pick: Kyle Stanley – T32

 

This week:

It’s Year 2 of The Old White TPC 2.0 after the post-flood redo. Please read The Confidence Factor for all the course and additional player detail. All I know this week is that I don’t know anything this week. There has never been a player defend or win twice. There has never been a winner who has led other than Sunday. There have been plenty of first-time TOUR winners and first-time event winners.

The door is WIDE OPEN for all shapes, kinds and sizes.

That’s NOT what gamers look forward to dealing with in this format.

We want clear choices and obvious answers!

Here are a few:

My Choice: Bubba Watson

Picks for Leaders: Russell Henley, Tony Finau, Webb Simpson

Picks for Chasers: Jamie Lovemark, Danny Lee, Joaquin Niemann

Picks for Dreamers: Robert Streb, Anirban Lahiri, C.T. Pan, Ryan Blaum, Ryan Armour

Picks for Noses: Kevin Kisner

Six Beers In: David Hearn, Jimmy Walker

#NappyFactor: Austin Cook, Wesley Bryan

Drop-Dead Pick: Russell Henley

 

My Life

I’m having a tough time recently of lining up the stars but I’ll soldier on. With 10 or so events left I’m becoming less-choosey. I haven’t had a big finish in a while so it’s time to fire at ’em.

As my dawg Chadders says, “I WANT WINNERS” so I’m taking his advice this week. I’m loading up with the guy who has won the most on TOUR this season. He can’t get out of his way right now so I’m not letting him pass me by again. He has a home here so he’s comfortable and familiar with everything going on this week.

He’s also on shit-hot fire, which doesn’t hurt either.

Here’s my tentative plan:

 

John Deere Classic: Zach Johnson, Steve Stricker, Berger (if playing) or Kevin Tway.

Barbasol Championship: TBD (brand-new venue)

The Open Championship: Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler

RBC Canadian Open: Matt Kuchar, John Vegas, Brandt Snedeker

Barracuda Championship: Martin Laird, TBD

WGC-Bridgestone Invitational: McIlroy, Schwartzel, Koepka

PGA Championship: First-time venue Bellerive Country Club will suggest a top 10 OWGR player. Jason Day, Koepka and Thomas are obvious choices.

Wyndham Championship: Kevin Na, Ollie Schniederjans

NORTHERN TRUST OPEN: Matt Kuchar will be the only winner in the field at Ridgewood Country Club (2010). He was also T5 in 2014.

Dell Technologies TPC Boston: Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Chris Kirk

BMW Championship: Aronomink is the host and Rose (2010) and Nick Watney (2011) are the only two winners on TOUR here (Donald Ross course).

The TOUR Championship: There has never been a repeat champion or anyone who has won multiple FedExCup titles so whoever is left! A rookie won for the first time last year (Schauffele) so it’s not impossible!

Good luck!

History Channeled:

2015-16 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 total: $6,533,509 45 events

• Wins: 1
• Seconds: 1
• Thirds: 1
• Top 10s: 12
• Top 25s: 20
• 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).

 

Thanks for reading!