The final major of the year takes the world’s best to Royal Portrush for the time since 1951.

Check PGATOUR.COM for Barbasol OAD information.

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
John Deere Classic	Collin Morikawa	T4	264,000
Total Events: 38	Top 10s: 11	MC: 9	$8,680,083

Last Week – John Deere Classic

Another cornucopia of challengers last week but it was the WRONG first-time winner for my money, sadly. Dylan Frittelli took home the big check and his first TOUR title as he held off previous winners Russell Henley and Andrew Landry.

My Choice: Collin Morikawa – T4

As is usually the case at TPC Deere Run, rounds in the 70s are death and his opening round 70 set out a mountain to climb the rest of the week.

He damn near did it.

He hit all 18 GIR on Sunday and currently leads the TOUR in SG: Approach the Green (if he was eligible, that is).

Morikawa backed up his tough-luck T2 last week with another top finish this week. The point that should be illustrated for gamers is I’ve finished T2 and T4 the last two week and haven’t collected a million bucks. Hitting the top five is great but doing it in the big-boy events is paramount for season-long games. Remember that when you fire big bullets at the secondary events.

Frequent Flyers

Matt Wolff – T37

It’s a little different than going back-to-back in the college ranks and it also reinforces that -10 was no good this week. Haha.

Brian Harman – T26

Well, he posted three rounds of 67 and a 71. Can’t do that. His total of 12-under didn’t hit the top 25. Haha X 2.

Joaquin Niemann – T10

For the second year in a row he closed with 65 so he’s figured out how to close on Sunday from off the pace. He finished six off the pace but continues his excellent summer.

Spicy:

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

Sungjae Im – T26

Can’t post 70 on Sunday here!

Wyndham Clark – MDF

Ran out of gas with MDF after making the cut on the number. Very bright future.

Mackenzie Hughes – MC

70-70, two rounds under par, doesn’t cut it here and breaks a streak of five straight paydays.

Picks for Dreamers:

Zach Johnson – T37

Broke his streak of a million rounds in a row at par or better with 72 on Thursday. Rallied to play the final 54 holes in 11-under.

Daniel Berger – T33

Opened 66-66 and looked like he picked up where he left off in 2017 but 72-69 on the weekend wiped him out.

Picks for Noses:

Michael Kim – MC

Just on an awful run right now and not even the good vibes of his first win could spring him back to life.

Ryan Moore – T18

If I’m bemoaning T4 above, surely T18 is nothing to be excited about. These three events in the Midwest are win or bust, sadly.

 

This Week – 148th Open Championship

Sand dunes, fescue, gorse, wind, rain, sunshine and that’s all before 6 am ET tomorrow!

With a massive prize pool, including almost $2 million to the winner, I don’t need to tell you what to do this week.

As I wrote in my preview the last player outside of the top 50 OWGR to win a major was Keegan Bradley in 2011. This simply reinforces the class and quality required to close a victory of this magnitude.

Avoiding bogeys, scrambling and grinding for pars and making birdies when given the opportunities are the physical battle. The mental battle involves body clocks, cold hands/feet, windburn, sunburn and a brand-new course that not many have attacked in tournament conditions.

When the toughest conditions are presented the biggest names rise to the top.

It’s your job to get it right.

It’s not easy, it shouldn’t be, and neither is major championship golf.

Good luck.

My Choice: Rafa Cabrera Bello

I’m trailing and essentially have to have a small miracle to make any noise over the last few events so I’ll need to get some luck this week.

The good news is the Spaniard is on fire.

At this time in the season gamers will also have to keep in mind there is a WGC event next week and the FEC Playoffs around the corner.

I’m trying to leverage what I have left.

See if you can guess where I’ll be using the rest of my squad:

Dustin Johnson

Justin Rose

Francesco Molinari

Tommy Fleetwood

Webb Simpson

Henrik Stenson

Brandt Snedeker

The good news is I have options (and more not listed here but whatever) and the bad news is I have options.

Frequent Flyers

Rory McIlroy: The Obvious Child.

Jon Rahm: Hot as it gets.

Brooks Koepka: Can’t argue with his recent record. Only two players have beaten him in the majors this year.

Spicy:

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

Adam Scott: The ghosts of 2012 can be put to rest if his excellent putting continues to keep pace with his excellent ball-striking. Nobody is more comfortable in their own skin and doing it their own way.

Matt Kuchar: He’s done everything but win one of these. Closing the first one isn’t always easy but Stenson, Mickelson and Els have shown it’s not always young guys winning here.

Justin Rose: He should have been disappointed after Pebble Beach that he didn’t put more pressure on Gary Woodland but one tournament doesn’t make a season. Having already won a major the burden won’t be as great come Sunday.

Picks for Dreamers:

Hideki Matsuyama: Seems like he’s in here every week in some fashion. Playing well.

Xander Schauffele: Probably should be up the list and there’s no disputing how well he plays difficult courses.

Eddie Pepperell: What a story this would be. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was in the final pairing or MC. His recent results suggest any and all of that is possible!

Shane Lowry: Playing awfully well over the last two months and is familiar with this part of the world.

Picks for Noses:

Tiger Woods: He plays too well at East Lake to let this cross your mind.

Francesco Molinari: I don’t see it at the moment and he can’t just show up and overpower the place like Koepka can.

Six Guinness In: 

Mike Lorenzo Vera, Thorbjorn Olesen, Andy Sullivan, George Best

 

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!