If you’re wondering how I feel this week:

2019-2020 One and Done

Event	Golfer	Place	$$
The Greenbrier	Scottie Scheffler	T7	235,625
Sanderson Farms	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
OHL Mayakoba Classic	Russell Knox	T33	36,810
The RSM Classic	Harris English	MC	0
Sentry TOC	Rickie Fowler	T5	285,000
Sony Open	Charles Howell III	T12	116,500
The American Express	Phil Mickelson	MC	0
Farmers Insurance Open	Tony Finau	T6	253,125
Waste Management Phoenix	Bubba Watson	T3	386,900
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am	Brandt Snedeker	MC	0
Genesis Invitational	Justin Thomas	MC	0
Puerto Rico Open	Viktor Hovland	WIN	540,000
WGC-Mexico Championship	Dustin Johnson	T48	45,500
The Honda Classic	Daniel Berger	T4	280,000
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Tommy Fleetwood	MC	0
THE PLAYERS Championship	Abandoned	No Result	X
Total Events: 22	Top 10: 9	MC: 8	5,130,395

Welcome aboard!

If you need more explanations, please go back and read last week or the week of Sentry. I’m trying to streamline this for the degenerates who want the pick NOW NOW NOW.

 

Last Time — THE PLAYERS

Jon Rahm

No point in reliving the last 90 days here! Make sure you check with your league(s) to know your rules/rights moving forward as there isn’t a universal way of dealing with this new season.

Glad to be back for the sprint to East Lake! With the elimination of so many events, there will be plenty of premium players to choose from for the final 14. Guys are trying to get reps in before the season’s only major, the PGA Championship, in August. Each week is going to feel like a major with the caliber of players entering.

In essence, this will make the job harder but there’s nothing we can do about that right now!

Remaining Events:

RBC Heritage (Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head Island, SC) — Usually the week after the Masters = not the deepest of fields. Not the case this year. The last four winners have been CT Pan, Satoshi Kodaira, Luke Donald and Branden Grace. Oh, hey, look! That’s Tiger’s yacht on the way!

Travelers (TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, CT) — This will be the third week of less than 7,250 yards and greens under 5,500 square feet. The bombers should be getting itchy by now to get out and swing it. Annually following the U.S. Open in this spot in the rotation not much changes here.

Rocket Mortgage Classic (Detroit Golf Club) — Ahhhhhhhhh, Par-72 (7,350) but a seemingly natural break in the schedule after three straight weeks on “normal” tracks. Nate Lashley posted 25-under here to win by six last year.

Columbus, Ohio, I — Yeah, the big dogs will return for the Memorial the following week.

Memorial (Muirfield Village GC, Dublin, OH) — Jack’s place always gets a very solid field and that should increase this year as prep for the PGA Championship at Harding Park in three weeks. Patrick Cantlay will defend.

3M Championship (TPC Twin Cities, Blaine, MN) — The top 52 players were 10-under or lower in the inaugural event last summer. Along with Detroit and Columbus I, these will be the lightest fields of the summer for my money. Matthew Wolff fired 21-under to hold off Bryson DeChambeau and Collin Morikawa by a shot.

World Golf Championship – FedEx St Jude Invitational (TPC Southwind, Memphis) — Super tune-up for a major with a major money grab included. TPC Southwind will require all 14 clubs in the bag and will prime every part of the game for a major the following week in San Francisco. Brooks Koepka defends in a limited field event.

Barracuda Championship (Tahoe Mountain Club – Old Greenwood, Truckee, CA) — Double whammy for gamers here as the field will be slight the week before a major (and opposite a WGC event) and it’s brand-new track for the event. No more Montreux. Sad!

PGA Championship (TPC Harding Park, San Francisco) — Koepka will look to make it three straight after claiming the title in 2018 at Bellerive in St. Louis and the 2019 edition at Bethpage Black on Long Island. Hopefully by the first weekend in August the entire international contingent will be able to make this field the deepest, as usual, in history.

Wyndham Championship (Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro, NC) — The Webb Simpson Open welcomes back defending champion JT Poston who won last year’s event without squaring a bogey on his card. First time that’s happened for the winner since a long time ago (1974). Simpson was second.

FedEx Cup I – THE NORTHERN TRUST (TPC Boston) — Not even a pandemic can turn off the CAPS LOCK button, sadly. Back to TPC Boston after they were removed from the FedExCup Playoffs schedule last year when the number of events was reduced from four to three. Past winners include Bryson DeChambeau (2018), Justin Thomas (2017), Rory McIlroy (2016, 2012), Rickie Fowler (2015), Webb Simpson (2011) and Phil and Tiger in the “old” days.

FedEx Cup II – BMW Championship (Olympia Fields – North Course, Chicago) — Jim Furyk won the 2003 U.S. Open here. There was speculation running wild this week that this even could be moved because of the restrictions in Chicago and the state of Illinois. Stay tuned.

FedEx Cup III – The TOUR Championship (East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta) — Rory McIlroy will defend his playoff crown. Make sure you know how your league is handling the FedExCup Playoffs!

 

This Week – Charles Schwab Challenge

Get Horsed for Coursed HERE.

I’ll repeat, the top five and 15 of the top 20 OWGR are here this week because it’s worth mentioning.

Over the years Colonial has flummoxed the group who prefers to overpower the course because the wind, doglegs and classic design usually are in play. That’s not the case with the wind this year. All forecasts I’ve seen suggest 2018 conditions when Rose almost set the tournament record and there were plenty double digits under par. Add in a field depth that usually isn’t available because of the 120 invitational status and we’ve got work to do!

THE PICK – Jordan Spieth

He’s local. He’s destroyed this place over the last few years tee-to-green and holing putts. It’s his spiritual home in Texas and he hit the top 15 as a high schooler on a sponsor’s exemption. He’s had time to settle into married life and doesn’t have to pack his bags for this home game.

Safety Dance:

Jon Rahm: Tough one to burn here because there’s a WGC and a major on the horizon but he should be in here every week.

Ryan Palmer: This would have made more sense during the “normal” season because in the middle of May I would be rationing starts (if I didn’t suck already that is) on the big boys.

Kevin Na: Nobody repeats here besides Hogan but nobody posts more scores lower than 63 than Na.

Sergio Garcia: Not sure where else I’d be using him and he knows about working the ball both ways.

Spicy:

Harris English: Check his HFC rating and it’s not like he’s been playing like shit either.

Rory Sabbatini: Making start No. 20 will give him all the tactical advantages over the bomb-and-gouge crew.

Andrew Putnam: Can’t argue his first two visits here so there’s something that fits his eye.

Scottie Scheffler: Only five Texans have won this event but he has no problems tee-to-green or making birdies. He’ll test the experience v. elite talent paradigm this week.

3 AM at the Blackjack Table:

Joel Dahmen, Emiliano Grillo, Kevin Tway, Tom Hoge

 

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!