#Merch is cool!

Collector’s item from the first edition!

One and Done

Each week I’ll throw in my thoughts on the field and those to back and avoid in this wonderful format.

This Year:

Event	Golfer	Place	$$
Safeway Open	Brendan Steele	T53	14,610
CIMB Classic	Ryan Moore	T66	12,740
CJ CUP @ 9 BRIDGES	Gary Woodland	2nd	1,026,000
WGC-HSBC Champions	Ian Poulter	21st	93,500
Sanderson Farms	Cameron Davis	MC	0
Shriners	Aaron Wise	T15	101,675
Mayakoba Golf Classic	Charles Howell III	MC	0
The RSM Classic	J.J. Spaun	MC	0
Sentry TOC	Jon Rahm	T8	191,000
Sony Open	Marc Leishman	T3	307,200
60th Desert Classic	Andrew Putnam	T34	29,975
Farmers Insurance	Patrick Cantlay	MC	0
WMPO	Hideki Matsuyama	T15	113,600
AT&T Pebble Beach	Jason Day	T4	334,400
Genesis Open	Justin Thomas	2nd	799,200
WGC-Mexico Champ	Xander Schauffele	T14	128,000
Puerto Rico Open	Graeme McDowell	T42	10,500
The Honda Classic	Adam Scott	MC	0
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Rickie Fowler	T40	35,490
THE PLAYERS Championship	Sergio Garcia	T22	125,000
Valspar Championship	Patrick Reed	MC	0
Corales Punta Cana	Trey Mullinax	T61	6,450
WGC-Match Play	Paul Casey	T9	167,000
Valero Texas Open	Billy Horschel	MC	0
Masters	Rory McIlroy	T21	107,956
RBC Heritage	Matt Kuchar	2nd	745,200
Zurich Classic	Ryan Palmer	WIN	1,051,200
Wells Fargo Championship	Phil Mickelson	MC	0
AT&T Byron Nelson	Keith Mitchell	T59	17,301
PGA Championship	Brooks Koepka	WIN	1,980,000
Charles Schwab Challenge	Jordan Spieth	T8	197,100
Memorial	Tony Finau	MC	0
RBC Canadian Open	Jim Furyk	T27	55,100
U.S. Open	Tiger Woods	T21	117,598
Travelers Championship	Bubba Watson	T54	16,560
Total Events: 35	Top 10s: 10	MC: 9	$7,784,355

Last Week – Travelers Championship

My Choice: Bubba Watson – T54

Five-under and stalking the lead after a birdie spree took him to six-under for the day on Friday, Watson bogeyed his last two holes and I felt that was that.

Air out of the balloon.

And that’s what you get when you invest in him. It’s part and parcel of his makeup. Once the interest wanes, check out time.

Frequent Flyers

Paul Casey – T5 with a sweet AF 65 on Sunday to wedge in the backdoor. Folks, they play 72 holes for a reason so no need to get upset! He’ll replace Bubba on my MUST PLAY AT TRAVELERS next year as his record is unbelievable.

Patrick Cantlay – T15

Any course, any time anywhere.

Jordan Spieth – MC

Another player who is becoming harder and harder to read, I was glad I squeezed at top 10 out of him at Colonial. I’m happy to report he won’t be on my radar again this season in this format.

Spicy:

Picks that should click but have more element of risk due to recent form, etc.

Charley Hoffman – MC

Woof. Recent form saw him back his MC at Memorial with another one at Travelers.

Daniel Berger – MC

Proving again he’s too volatile for this format when in this form. Save him for DFS long shot plays.

Ryan Moore – T15

68-64 to open had gamers dreaming before a dud (72) on Saturday wiped him out from contending.

Kevin Streelman – Lots of T15 this week! The former champ did his job with four rounds in the 60s.

Picks for Dreamers:

Breakout performance from this group will get gamers back into contention

Brian Harman – T8

Nailed on. Lefty was excellent after stumbling to open with 72. A trio of 66s blasted him to his first top 10 since THE PLAYERS.

Viktor Hovland/Matt Wolff – T54/MDF

Maybe the “new” track this week will level the playing field for these two. Super talents, though.

Russell Henley – MC

Five over. Disaster.

Picks for Noses:

Save them for another time. Each week I usually have a couple of these hit the top 10 so BUYER BEWARE!

I’d say so Gary Woodland!

I’m not interested in the Euros this week as they stop over on their way back to the continent.

Fleetwood – T13 and Molinari – T57

I have both of them yet to fire. We’ll start at Royal Portrush and it won’t be a mystery of who it will be. The Italian has lost his way since the back nine on Sunday at Augusta. Being the defending champion and answering questions all week about his current form doesn’t sound like a recipe for success.

Justin Thomas – T36

He says he’s fine. I have to believe him. His results suggest otherwise.

Six Beers In: 

Sungjae Im – T21, Stephen Jaeger – T30, Adam Hadwin – MC (E)

 

This Week – Rocket Mortgage Classic

New course that is going to be set up easy = total free-for-all.

Donald Ross courses are protected by the green complexes so finding the right tier and holing birdies will be the order of the day.

This two week stretch of new venues on TOUR is a great opportunity to steal a few bucks and make up some ground. It is also a perfect time for leaders to play conservative and extend their leads.

Please read The Confidence Factor for more details.

My Choice: Sungjae Im

I was THIS CLOSE to taking DJ down but my brain, what’s left of it, says MEMPHIS YOU MORON. Im plays every week, makes tons of birdies and hasn’t shown he’s bothered by much of anything. I’m not where I need to be because I’m terrible in majors (T21, WIN, T21)

Frequent Flyers

Dustin Johnson: See above.

Rickie Fowler: Makes perfect sense especially in this kind of field. He should stick out like a Blackhawks jersey.

Brandt Snedeker: Destroyed Ross’s Sedgefield last year and loves Poa. He won’t have to contend with Johnson and Fowler when he defends there later this year, probably.

Spicy:

Picks that should click but have more element of risk due to recent form, etc.

Ryan Moore: Another Sedgefield usual suspect on another Ross course. His last win was in 2015 though.

Brian Harman: He has the quality to keep it rolling again this week.

Joaquin Niemann: Only 20 his tee-to-green game has turned heads for a year. Time to take the next step.

Troy Merritt: Both of his wins are on new courses being played for the first time on TOUR.

Picks for Dreamers:

Viktor Hovland: He’s shown plenty of class and isn’t adverse to winning golf tournaments.

Chez Reavie: Projects fantastically this week based on his recent form but I don’t know how he reacts after achieving the goal. If he keeps up this incredible run, his investors will profit.

Gary Woodland: I think he’s a class player and he showed it two weekends ago on the biggest stage. I don’t think this is the week for this format but if you’re desperate, he has plenty of game to reward the risk.

Picks for Noses:

Bubba Watson, Charles Howell III

Six Beers In: 

Joey Garber, Brian Stuard, Kid Rock, Alan Trammell, Barry Sanders

 

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!