Who you like this week?
No, seriously, who?
One and Done
Event | Golfer | Place | $$ |
The Greenbrier | Scottie Scheffler | T7 | 235,625 |
CIMB Classic | Sungjae Im | P2 | 719,400 |
Safeway Open | Byeong-Hun An | MC | 0 |
Shriners Hospitals for Children | Scott Piercy | MC | 0 |
Houston Open | Henrik Stenson | MC | 0 |
CJ CUP AT NINE BRIDGES | Marc Leishman | T43 | 31,785 |
ZOZO Championship | Hideki Matsuyama | 2nd | 1,053,000 |
WGC-HSBC Champions | Xander Schauffele | 2nd | 1,095,000 |
Bermuda Championship | Denny McCarthy | T15 | 51,750 |
Total Events: | Top 10: 3 | MC: 3 | 3,186,560 |
LAST WEEK – WGC-HSBC Champions
THE PICK
Xander Schauffele – 2nd
Beware the sick golfer! Losing in a playoff to McIlroy is no shame. Now, I’ll just need to make sure to have McIlroy in a winning performance where he pockets $1.8 or more to make this gamble worthwhile!
Safety Dance:
Rory McIlroy – WIN
I wrote this last week: hard to get off of him this week and I have a feeling I might regret this. I’m sure he’ll be in contention more than once this season.
Justin Rose – T28
Always great to read after the week how he’s been letting it slide recently! Tough beat for those hoping for a third consecutive podium here.
Hideki Matsuyama – T11
Remarkable turnaround after his opening round hangover 75.
Spicy:
Tony Finau – T53 Enough.
Patrick Reed – T8
Ian Poulter – WD
Tyrrell Hatton – T14
3AM at the Blackjack Table:
Matthew Wallace – T60, Cameron Smith – T60, Kurt Kitayama – T28
This Week – Mayakoba Golf Classic
Sand, sun and fun PLUS LOTS OF OLD GUY WINNERS should be a clue!
Frankly, the last four winners here have made all of us scratch our heads. Kuchar’s form was dire. Kizzire had never won an event on TOUR. Perez was coming off surgery recently. McDowell was going to lose his U.S. Open exemption.
So yeah.
Only two to win in their 20s were Harris English and John (WD) Huh so it’s MATURE GOLF this week.
Or is it?
As Fleetwood Mac once sang, “you can go your own way”.
Big thanks for selling that to a commercial that runs non-stop on my TV these days!
The choices this week are plentiful.
I don’t think, like last time out, any of them are great.
When in doubt, I’m leaning on a bit of heat and a bit of luck.
THE PICK
Russell Knox
Read Horses for Courses for more info but he’s knocked the rust off last week and playing well enough to go in here. The premium players in the field this week don’t stand out so I’m taking a calculated risk.
Safety Dance:
Charles Howell III – copy and paste until Colonial.
Abraham Ancer – Slowly figured it out here with T21 and T9 in his last two visits. Doesn’t hurt he posted T4 in Shanghai either. I’m not sure I’m using him anywhere else.
Danny Lee – Loves it here and steams into port with T2 and T10 in his last two in Asia.
Spicy:
Pat Perez – Old guys know what they like and where the like to play. He’s riding WIN-T34-T6 in his last three here and hit the podium as recently as Las Vegas.
Harris English – First champion after the move to March is playing lights-out golf this fall with three top-six paydays in four starts.
Emiliano Grillo – Never posted a round of par or worse here in 12 attempts. Won’t have to worry about closing the deal late as he’s won before on TOUR.
3AM at the Blackjack Table:
Brice Garnett, Kramer Hickok, Scott Piercy, Harold Varner III
Check out my previous results below if you need a history lesson:
History Channeled:
2018-19
My majors contributions and PLAYERS selection were worse than bad so to still break the $10 million mark with those awful results was encouraging.
Another valuable lesson learned is that the Playoffs are for the big boys. Now, WHICH big boys make this more and more difficult and that’s why it’s enjoyable and maddening all at the same time. Only McIlroy and Woods have won the FedExCup twice so start there.
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 |
The Open Championship | Rafa Cabrera Bello | MC | 0 |
Barbasol Championship | Denny McCarthy | T11 | 77,000 |
WGC-FESJI | Dustin Johnson | T20 | 113,500 |
Barracuda Championship | Martin Laird | T7 | 105,437 |
Wyndham Championship | Webb Simpson | 2nd | 669,600 |
THE NORTHERN TRUST | Tommy Fleetwood | T43 | 27,565 |
BMW Championship | Brandt Snedeker | T5 | 351,500 |
Total Events: 45 | Top 10s: 14 | MC: 10 | $10,024,685 |
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!