Hurry!

Balls in the air before 7 pm ET!

This Year:

I hit the winner’s circle three times and the two late victories pushed me into the top 10 of Spotter’s game.

All four majors selections hit the top 10.

Seven MC were dire but the most punishing one was Francesco Molinari at THE PLAYERS. We know what happened after that.

My Life

I have been given a fantastic opportunity at PGATOUR.COM to join their experts game so I better make the most of it.

Check PGATOUR.COM/Fantasy later this afternoon for details.

Coming Soon

Did you enjoy the off-season? I had just enough time to acquaint myself with the 49 newbies (barely) from the Web.com plus evaluate all the 150 on the FedExCup points list.

As usual, I’ll have my rankings* out between Thanksgiving and New Year so you can see what I think entering the meat of the 2019 season.

*I don’t do rankings. I evaluate every player and you can put them in a certain order. I’ll point out strengths and weaknesses plus hints on when to jump on board.

Last Week:

Swing and a miss, part II.

Off to a flier, folks!

The only upside is I’ve burned two picks that I won’t even consider using again the rest of the season. I have 45 more events to right the ship and I’m fine with that!

My Choice: Ryan Moore – T66

Safety Dance: Billy Horschel – T33, Keegan Bradley – T19, Xander Schauffele – 25th

Spicy: Anirban Lahiri (#CurryPower) – T63, Cameron Smith – T22

Picks for Dreamers: Stewart Cink – T13, Jason Kokrak – T43, Keith Mitchell – T22, Kiradech Aphibarnrat – T33

Picks for Noses: Justin Thomas – T5 (depending on format will be more valuable down the road). Pat Perez hasn’t had much success recently even though he’s the defending champ – T63.

Six Beers In: Andrew Putnam – T50, C.T. Pan – T30, Kevin Tway – T27

 

This Week

Read about all the details in The Confidence Factor.

Quick turnaround this week but I wanted to get something on paper for next week and next year. I wrote that last week and it holds true again this week.

OAD aren’t won this time of year but the money/points ALL COUNT.

This is the second of two YUGE WEEKS on the Asian Swing as the prize pool is massive here ($9.5 million) and obviously at the WGC-HSBC Champions next week ($10 million).

If your league is all about that base no treble then it’s time to unleash somebody with pedigree that can handle this.

Remember, there are just a handful of events that throw around big cash annually and rarely do off-the-pace guys sneak up and win these events. The biggest of the big boys have an advantage again this week of dealing with a short field and not having a cut to worry about. The more holes the underdog has to play, the more chances of him falling by the wayside.

Chalk week this week and next!

My Choice: Gary Woodland

Similar to Leishman last week he’s a pro’s pro who has won enough that an event like this shouldn’t bother him. He saw the course last year and has had success in this part of the world before. His last four starts are trending in the proper direction as well. I’m hedging a bit here but I have spots down the road for Koepka, Day, Thomas, etc. that make more sense.

Safety Dance: Louis Oosthuizen, Paul Casey, Marc Leishman, Charles Howell III.

Spicy: Emiliano Grillo, Byeong-Hun An, Sungjae Im.

Picks for Dreamers: Joaquin Niemann, Kyle Stanley, Adam Scott.

Picks for Noses: Alex Noren, Tyrrell Hatton, Hideki Matsuyama: I believe this trio will have more value down the road on courses where they’ve had better success.

Six Beers In: Ian Poulter, Jamie Lovemark

 

History Channeled:

2017-18 Thermometer: FINAL

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
Ft. Worth Invitational	Adam Scott	T52	16,472
AT&T Byron Nelson	Jimmy Walker	T6	257,950
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
Barracuda	Martin Laird	T15	51,000
WGC-Bridgestone Invite	Rickie Fowler	T17	104,250
PGA Championship	Brooks Koepka	WIN	1,980,000
Wyndham	Brandt Snedeker	WIN	1,080,000
THE NORTHERN TRUST	Jason Day	T20	101,160
Dell Technologies	Marc Leishman	T21	100,800
BMW Championship	Gary Woodland	T12	189,000
TOUR Championship	Justin Thomas	T7	279,900
Total Events: 47	Top 10s: 15	MC: 7	$10,967,909

 

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!