Michael Kim went wild last year winning by eight while setting the tournament record of 27-under.

The Landlord is Zach Johnson but he’s not the automatic choice he once was in his “fifth major”.

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
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Sungjae Im	T21	68,528
3M Open	Bryson DeChambeau	T2	563,200
Total Events: 37	Top 10s: 10	MC: 9	$8,416,083

Last Week – 3M Open

20-year old Matthew Wolff also made eagle on the final hole, knocking my choice to T2 and no chance to win in a playoff.

Brutal.

My Choice: Bryson DeChambeau

Leading by two after posting 14-under thru 36 holes, DeChambeau trailed by one heading into Sunday. He staked his final iron to six feet, made the eagle putt and posted 20-under 264. It wasn’t good enough for a playoff. That’s fantasy golf sometimes. I went with the big boy, he does his job and it’s not good enough. Similar to my season in this format sadly!

Undaunted, we move on.

Let’s see how the other picks went. Sadly with no Wolff, I’m not patting myself on the back this week.

Frequent Flyers

Jason Day – T66

Adds to the general suggestion that when dominant putters don’t have an advantage, ball-strikers might be the way to go.

Patrick Reed – T23

What did four rounds in the 60s get you last week? T23 it appears if more than one was over 67!

Hideki Matsuyama – T7

Adds to the general suggestion that when dominant putters don’t have an advantage, ball-strikers might be the way to go. He’s played great as of late but it’s hard to imagine he’s available on many boards this time of year.

Spicy:

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

Joaquin Niemann – T23

His 63-65 middle two rounds couldn’t push out 73 to open and 70 to close.

Rory Sabbatini – MC

Life is just a party and parties aren’t meant to last. His streak of excellent play ends.

Viktor Hovland – T13

Another monster Sunday, 65 after his 64 in Detroit, salvaged a few bucks for gamers.

Picks for Dreamers:

Doc Redman – MC

Hardly a surprise as the reality of TOUR life probably outweighed the preparation.

Wyndham Clark – T5

Led for 10 minutes on Sunday at 18-under but this was new territory for him. Held it together as best he could to cash his best-ever payday.

Tony Finau – T23

Hard to say this was a good idea on any level. A player of his ilk shouldn’t be celebrating this result. I guess it’s better than four consecutive MC though.

Picks for Noses:

Brooks Koepka – 65th

Yep. It is what it is for now. One-way traffic in the majors.

Six Beers In: 

Sepp Straka – MC, Fran Tarkenton (HOF), Prince (RIP), Collin Morikawa – T2

 

This Week – John Deere Classic

More bent.

More Midwest.

Finally some course history!

Will any of it mater with the likes of Wolff, Morikawa, Clark, Niemann and Hovland around?

Maybe.

The record for FIRST-TIMERS IN THE EVENT is not good here.

Sean O’Hair is the last maiden to win and that was 2005.

Please read my preview for more details.

My Choice: Collin Morikawa

Posting 20-under and losing from the final group usually stings (see DeChambeau above) but not when you’re 22 and playing in your fifth TOUR event. He’s since accepted STM so he has nothing to worry about the rest of the regular season besides WINNING and getting into the FedExCup Playoffs.

Dots connected.

Frequent Flyers

Matt Wolff: I’ll suggest, for some humans, winning on TOUR is a massive deal. He’s not normal so I’m not treating him as such.

Brian Harman: Playing his best golf of 2019 as he returns to the site of his first win in 2014 and T10 last year.

Joaquin Niemann: Tick tick tick tick tick. He’s played some of his best golf in the Midwest this summer and last. This will be his second time in the event and he closed with 65 last year for T23.

Spicy:

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

Sungjae Im: Still hasn’t closed the deal in spite of all the rounds in the 60s and top-10 paydays. Completely doable but also a first-timer here.

Wyndham Clark: His final nine holes were interesting last week but he held on for T5. Keeping the ball-striking going for the fourth week running will show me something.

Mackenzie Hughes: Just keeps chugging along making cuts but nothing that has suggested BREAK OUT. A comfortable T16 last year included 65-68-65 final three rounds.

Picks for Dreamers:

Zach Johnson: Don’t have to worry about using him anywhere else. Nothing outside the top 5 would make it worth it. His last top 10 was in 2018.

Daniel Berger: Went close his first time in 2017 as he played from the final group (T5) and picked up his best finish of 2019 last week (T15). Right, dream on.

Picks for Noses:

Michael Kim: Simply hasn’t played well.

Ryan Moore: Fits in the above column as well. Save him for Sedgefield, if necessary at all.

Six Beers In: 

Denny McCarthy, Scott Langley, Vaughn Taylor, Kirk Ferentz

 

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!