The big run begins this week!

WGC-MAJOR-Wyndham-FECI, FECII, FECIII and The TOUR Championship are the only events left after this double-header week.

For those of you who took the chance and waited…

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
A Military Tribute	Bubba Watson	T13	121,632
John Deere Classic	Zach Johnson	T16	81,366
British Open	Rory McIlroy	T2	694,250
RBC Canadian Open	Charley Hoffman	T29	37,743
Total Events: 38	Top 10s: 12	MC: 7	$7,134,799

Last week:

Dustin Johnson blew away the field as the Korean duo of Byeong-Hun An and Whee Kim couldn’t keep up. Keegan Bradley poked his head up again with solo fourth while Joel Dahmen cashed his third top 10 in his last four starts. Yep, I had him when he was T15 at Keane Trace…

It was a tough week for leaders if they didn’t have DJ or Fleetwood (T6) to choose from. Finau and Hoffman self-destructed on Sunday to the dismay of many but that’s fantasy golf. Gotta #Play72.

My Choice: Charley Hoffman – T29

Picks for Leaders: Tony Finau – T37, Matt Kuchar – MC

Picks for Chasers: Dustin Johnson – WIN, Bubba Watson – MC

Picks for Dreamers: Joaquin Niemann – T37,Brandt Snedeker – T8

Picks for Noses: Sergio Garcia – MC, Kevin Kisner – MC

Six Molsons In: Tom Lovelady – MC, Billy Horschel – MC, Harold Varner III – T17

 

This week:

The WGC-BI cash grab for the final time at the South Course at Firestone Country Club will provide a proper warm-up event, as usual, for the PGA Championship next week in St. Louis at Bellerive Country Club.

The world’s top 50, minus Wednesday WD’s Adam Hadwin and Justin Rose, will battle it out for $1.7 million and 550 FEC points to the winner. Regardless of your game, it’s go time. This week, next week and the four Playoff events will put nails into the coffin or cause a grand-stand finish. Remember, with NO CUT this week you will collect $$$/Points regardless. That will NOT be the case next week or the first two Playoff events.

Firestone South has hosted every time minus one of the last 20 so course history is real and spectacular. There are some who just can’t figure it out here and a few that can’t miss. At 7,400 yards and Par-70 the key this week is finding GIR and keeping bogeys to a minimum. The list of winners over the last decade is littered with big, bad ball-strikers so I’d start there.

My Choice: Rickie Fowler

Picks for Leaders: Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods

Picks for Chasers: Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama, Brooks Koepka

Picks for Dreamers: Matt Kuchar, Xander Schauffele, Kevin Chappell

Picks for Noses: Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson

Six Beers In: Luke List, Russell Knox, Thorbjorn Olesen

 

20th Barracuda Championship

Another week, another Nicklaus course that will take low scores and an experienced winner.

Here are 10 guys to look at this week:

Martin Laird: Four starts here, his worst payday is T7.

Kevin Streelman: Checks the boxes in too many categories to omit.

Joel Dahmen: Top 10’s in three of his last four

Robert Garrigus: T38 in his last seven here; T6 last year best of the bunch.

Mackenzie Hughes: Form of 2018 included T13 LW.

J.J. Henry: He’s won this twice in the last four years.

Graeme McDowell: The altitude will help him greatly and so will his pedigree.

Andrew Putnam: He’ll fill up the GIR stat and that never hurts when scoring is needed.

Kevin Tway: Gave it a sniff last week but couldn’t close the deal. Soft landing for a big bounce back.

 

 My Life

Hoffman’s crash and burn from T13 to T29 on Sunday didn’t help the cause and neither did DJ winning. This is my last “iffy play of the year and the no-cut is the main reason.

I go into plenty of detail in The Confidence Factor, so please read that!

Here’s my tentative plan:

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: Leftovers from PGA choices.

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!