RBC Canadian Open

May 29, 2024 / mikeglasscott / Leave a comment

We stand on guard for thee!

RBC Canadian Open

Hamilton Golf & Country Club

Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

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Quick Links:

Odds Outlook – DFS Report – Horses for Courses/Stats Suggest – Expert Picks

Bet365: Top of the Board

Rory McIlroy (4/1): The two-time champion has racked up three top-10 paydays on three different courses, including T9 at Oakdale last year. With two victories in his last three starts on TOUR, I can easily make the case for him again this week. This field is nowhere near the depth of the PGA Championship, and with only one water hazard, he is free and clear to fire away.

Tommy Fleetwood (18/1): Making his third start in Canada, the Englishman has lost in a playoff and cashed T6 in his previous two appearances. Hamilton will be his third different course in three starts, and the changes won’t be new to him.

Sahith Theegala (20/1): The 2023 is an outstanding putter and doesn’t mind new Bentgrass greens. Finishing T12 at Valhalla, he continues to produce results on unfamiliar greens. The only weakness in his game is around the greens, but he sits in the top 32 of the other Strokes Gained categories.

Corey Conners (22/1): After the drought finally broke last year, I am starting my card with an Ontario native this week. The Listowel native, a two-time winner on TOUR, will not have a nation sitting on his shoulders. Asking him to play target golf and pound greens in regulation is the perfect recipe. If he makes a few putts, away we go!

Shane Lowry (25/1): Martin Ebert also oversaw the renovation at Royal Portrush, the scene of his only major championship. Finishing seven shots behind McIlroy in the 2019 event, the Irishman has cashed T12 or better in three of five weekends. After T6 at the PGA Championship, I can’t dismiss him.

Alex Noren (25/1): Cashing T26 or better in 10 of 12 events, the days of finding any value on the Swede are long gone. Sitting fourth in SG: Total and eighth in SG: Tee to Green, it’s easy to see why. Like Fleetwood, he’s still looking for his first win in North America.

Sam Burns (28/1): The new father tends to make money with the flat stick. Maybe a few quiet nights out of the country will rejuvenate his game!

Cameron Young (28/1): One of the best drivers of the golf ball on TOUR, he’s still looking for his first win. Finishing second at a hilly, tough-driving Innisbrook makes me take a second look this week. Cashing T63 at Valhalla, his third consecutive T34 or worse payday pushes me away.

Players to consider for Top 10, Top 20, or Top 40 action:

Tom Kim (33/1): Making six cuts in a row, four have resulted in T30 or better. Something is cooking here, and I don’t want to be late.

Aaron Rai (40/1): Placing T3 and T13 the last two seasons suggests he enjoys golf in the Toronto area.

Adam Scott (40/1): Outside of a missed cut at Valhalla, the veteran has racked up T30 or better in five of his last six.

Erik van Rooyen (55/1): Cranking out frequent results of T25 or better since last fall, the South African has three top-10 paydays in his last nine.

Taylor Pendrith (60/1): The Canadian has not produced the goods on home soil, but he’s won and cashed T10 and T11 in three of his last four starts on TOUR.

Greyson Sigg (125/1): For the gamblers only! His last four starts have resulted in MC-T13-MC-T9. The 29-year-old sits 12^th in SG: Approach and 30^th in SG: Tee to Green.

Bud Cauley (175/1): Finishing T4 in 2012, it’s been a long road back to Hamilton. There are not many in the field this week who cashed a check in that edition. Kevin Kisner is the only other player in the field who cashed in the top 10.

Robby Shelton (225/1): Cashing T9 last week, he was second in Putting and T9 in Fairways.

David Lipsky (300/1): Finishing T9 at Colonial last week, he led the field in GIR. Now, about that putter…

Stuart McDonald (500/1): A winner on the PGA Tour Americas this spring, the Canadian played the weekend last year at Oakdale.

Mike Weir (2500/1): The Presidents Cup captain was T14 at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship last week in Michigan. Drop a loon on him to make the cut!

Mike Glasscott: RBC Canadian Open Tips:

Win: Corey Conners (22/1)

Top 10: Adam Scott (4/1), Shane Lowry (13/5), and Alex Noren (13/5)

Top 20: Taylor Pendrith (12/5), Greyson Sigg (15/4), and Ben Silverman (9/2)

NOW PLAYING:

Host Course	Hamilton Golf & CC
Yards (per official scorecard):	7,084
Par:	70 (35-35).
Greens:	V8 Creeping Bentgrass; 6,000 square feet on average.
Stimpmeter:	11 to 12 feet.
Rough:	Poa annua, Kentucky Bluegrass and Turf Tuff fescue at three inches plus.
Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play	72/1/1
Architect(s):	HS Colt (1916); Martin Ebert & Tom Mackenzie (2019).
Defending Champion (event):	Nick Taylor (-17*) at Oakdale
Defending Champion (course):	Rory McIlroy (-22) 2019.
Multiple Champion(s) Entered:	Rory McIlroy (2022, 2019), Jhonattan Vegas (2017, 2016).
Course Record	61; Rory McIlroy (Round 4, 2019), Ben Silverman (Round 2, 2019).
72 Hole Tournament Record:	258, 22-under; Rory McIlroy (2019).
Facts of the Week:	Every tee box, bunker, and green complex was renovated after the 2019 event.

Hamilton Golf & CC

One of just two Harry S. Colt designs in Canada, Hamilton Golf & CC opened outside Toronto in 1916. Located in Ancaster, the club has 27 holes, but the event uses the 18 holes (West and South) designed by the legendary architect Harry S. Colt.

Martin Ebert and Tom Mackenzie renovated the entire property after the conclusion of the 2019 event. The 2024 edition will play 7,084 yards (Par-70), 117 yards longer than the 2019 tournament.

The tee boxes, greens, and bunkers were reconstructed, and a new irrigation system was added. The most noticeable change will be the return to the bunkering from Colt’s original design from photographs found at the club. The penalty for finding the sandy areas, 72 total, will include increased depth, jagged edges, and fescue “eyebrows.”

New tee boxes provide additional yardage, and the expansion of the putting surfaces features pin positions new to all.

Reducing trees throughout the property added new sightlines, fresh angles of attack, and better growing conditions for the turfgrass.

The elevation changes up and down the valley requires navigating sidehill lies and properly judging yardage.

For the third week in a row and fourth time in five events Bentgrass (V8 Creeping Bentgrass) will comprise the putting surfaces. The new, expanded greens, now covering 6,000 square feet on average, will provide bigger targets to attack. The Stimpmeter will run between 11 and 12 feet.

Recent Winners

2023 Season Winners

Event	Winner
Sentry Tournament of Champions	Jon Rahm
Sony Open in Hawaii	Si Woo Kim
The AMERICAN EXPRESS	Jon Rahm (2)
Farmers Insurance Open	Max Homa (2)
AT&T Pebble Beach	Justin Rose
WM Phoenix Open	Scottie Scheffler
The Genesis Invitational	Jon Rahm (3)
The Honda Classic	Chris Kirk
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Kurt Kitayama (first TOUR win)
THE PLAYERS Championship	Scottie Scheffler (2)
Valspar Championship	Taylor Moore (first TOUR win)
Corales Puntacana	Matt Wallace (first TOUR win)
WGC – Dell Technologies MP	Sam Burns
Valero Texas Open	Corey Conners
Masters	Jon Rahm (4)
RBC Heritage	Matt Fitzpatrick
Zurich Classic of New Orleans	Davis Riley & Nick Hardy (first TOUR win for each)
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Tony Finau (2)
Wells Fargo Championship	Wyndham Clark (first TOUR win)
AT&T Byron Nelson	Jason Day
PGA Championship	Brooks Koepka
Charles Schwab Challenge	Emiliano Grillo
Memorial	Viktor Hovland
RBC Canadian Open	Nick Taylor
U.S. Open	Wyndham Clark (2)
Travelers Championship	Keegan Bradley (2)
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Rickie Fowler
John Deere Classic	Sepp Straka
Genesis Scottish Open	Rory McIlroy (2)
The Open Championship	Brian Harman
3M Open	Lee Hodges (first TOUR win)
Wyndham Championship	Lucas Glover
FedEx St. Jude Championship	Lucas Glover (2)
BMW Championship	Viktor Hovland (2)
TOUR Championship	Viktor Hovland (3)
Fortinet Championship	Sahith Theegala
Sanderson Farms Championship	Luke List
Shriners Children’s Open	Tom Kim
ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP	Collin Morikawa
World Wide Technology	Erik van Rooyen
Butterfield Bermuda	Camilo Villegas
The RSM Classic	Ludvig Aberg

2024 Season Winners

Event	Winner
The Sentry	Chris Kirk
Sony Open in Hawaii	Grayson Murray
The American Express	Nick Dunlap (a)
Farmers Insurance Open	Matthieu Pavon (rookie)
AT&T Pebble Beach	Wyndham Clark (54 holes)
WM Phoenix Open	Nick Taylor
The Genesis Invitational	Hideki Matsuyama
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Jake Knapp (rookie)
Cognizant Classic	Austin Eckroat (first time)
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Scottie Scheffler
THE PLAYERS Championship	Scottie Scheffler (2)
Valspar Championship	Peter Malnati
Texas Children’s Houston Open	Stephan Jaeger (first time)
Valero Texas Open	Akshay Bhatia
88^th Masters Tournament	Scottie Scheffler (3)
RBC Heritage	Scottie Scheffler (4)
Zurich Classic	Rory McIlroy & Shane Lowry
THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson	Taylor Pendrith (first time)
Wells Fargo Championship	Rory McIlroy (2)
106^th PGA Championship	Xander Schauffele
Charles Schwab Challenge	Davis Riley

RBC Canadian Open

Preceded by the Western Open in 1899, the RBC CO, established in 1904, is the second-oldest non-major championship.

Hosting for the seventh time in history and the fifth time this century, Hamilton Golf & CC has crowned Bob Tway (2003), Jim Furyk (2006), Scott Piercy (2012), and Rory McIlroy (2023) as champions. As of Tuesday, McIlroy is the only one entered this week.

The invitational field of 156 players includes 12 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf rankings, led by No. 3 Rory McIlroy.

After two rounds the top 65 and ties play the final 36 holes. The last two editions at Hamilton produced cuts of 2-under (2019) and 1-under (2012).

Nick Taylor, the 2023 winner at Oakdale Golf & CC after defeating Tommy Fleetwood in a playoff, became the first Canadian to win this event since 1954.

The 2019 champion, Rory McIlroy, also won the 2022 edition. No event was played in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. Jhonattan Vegas won the 2016 and 2017 editions at Glen Abbey.

The winner will take home 500 FedExCup points plus $1.692 million from the $9.4 million purse.

Recent Winners – RBC Canadian Open

Italics – not entered this week.

Year	Winner	Notes
2023	Nick Taylor (-17*)	First Canadian to win since 1954. Defeated Tommy Fleetwood in a playoff by holing a 72-foot eagle putt at Oakdale.
2022	Rory McIlroy (-19)	Defended his 2019 title defeating Tony Finau (not entered) at St. George’s.
2021	No Event
2020	No Event
2019	Rory McIlroy (-22)	Equaled the course record, 61, on Sunday to win by seven shots over Shane Lowry.

One and Done

I’ll be joining Spotter’s game again this season. Now, where did I put my checkbook…

35 events.

1 player per event (plus a backup pick if your guy gets kidnapped on Wednesday night and doesn’t make it to the first tee Thursday).

1 use per year.

Add up the total money and Spotter is yer uncle!

Event	Selection	Earnings
The Sentry	Collin Morikawa	690,500
Sony Open in Hawaii	Corey Conners	18,592
The American Express	Adam Hadwin	310,800
Farmers Insurance Open	Jason Day	0
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am	Jordan Spieth	70,125
WM Phoenix Open	Matt Fitzpatrick	156,200
The Genesis Invitational	Max Homa	329,000
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Tony Finau	145,125
Cognizant Classic	Russell Henley	32,850
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Scottie Scheffler	4,000,000
THE PLAYERS Championship	Will Zalatoris	0
Valspar Championship	Sam Burns	0
Texas Children’s Houston Open	Wyndham Clark	54,418
Valero Texas Open	C Bezuidenhout	67,735
88^th Masters Tournament	Rory McIlroy	175,500
RBC Heritage	Patrick Cantlay	1,160,000
Zurich Classic	Nick Taylor	122,375
THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson	Stephan Jaeger	112,100
Myrtle Beach Classic	Daniel Berger	20,350
Wells Fargo Championship	Sahith Theegala	47,000
106^th PGA Championship	Brooks Koepka	113,962
Charles Schwab Challenge	Taylor Moore	0

Total Winnings:		7,626,632

His game has more fun stuff to it. Reach out @A340Spotter on Twitter or A340Spotter@frontier.com for more details and to join.

Recapping Last Week – 78^th Charles Schwab Challenge

MY CHOICE: Taylor Moore – MC

My pal Chadders thinks he has a curse. Well, I just halted a streak of 15 straight for Moore at Colonial.

What a game.

Others to Consider:

Jordan Spieth: Those of you who have been saving him, it’s time. It’s time for him to get his wrist fixed. Imagine cashing T37 but hitting 39 of 56 Fairways (T2).

Tony Finau/Collin Morikawa: I don’t love the prize pool for using either of these two, but with the new greens they should be chomping at the bit. Finau cashed T17 after imploding with 75 on Sunday. Morikawa took home solo fourth after four rounds in the 60s.

Thomas Detry/Billy Horschel: Both are sizzling recently and can get it going with the putter. It has been suggested by TOUR pro Michael Kim that the approach play will be EASIER after the renovation, but the new grass will make it play firmer this week. Reaffirming there is no reason to ever stretch in this game, Detry cashed T56 and Horschel T24.

Tom Hoge: Played at Texas Chrisitan down the street and kills it on approach. T17, solid angle and payday if you went off the grid.

Mark Hubbard: If you’re looking to zig, he’s had too many good weeks in a row. T65 Taylor Moore’d it but with $19,292.

This Week – RBC Canadian Open

I’m loading up on any and all hockey players, curlers, and Tim Horton franchisees.

MY CHOICE: Mackenzie Hughes

I was surprised to remember I have used Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, AND Nick Taylor! Gotta go with what’s available!

Others to Consider:

Taylor Pendrith: The Canadian produced a spectacular run of results over the last month but was halted at the PGA Championship with a missed cut. Winner at TPC Craig Ranch earlier this season.

Adam Svensson: His victory was on a Par-70 with big greens at The RSM Classic two years ago.

Shane Lowry/Tommy Fleetwood: SOMEBODY HAS TO WIN THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, RIGHT?

Rory McIlroy: One angle this week is the field isn’t deep enough. The other angle is the prize pool isn’t worth it.

Good luck! You’ll need it!

78th Charles Schwab Challenge

May 22, 2024 / mikeglasscott / Leave a comment

Welcome back, champ!@GrilloEmiliano | @CSChallengeFW pic.twitter.com/ZP8dVmnavC
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 21, 2024

78th Charles Schwab Challenge

Colonial Country Club

Fort Worth, Texas

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Quick Links:

Odds Outlook – DFS Report – Horses for Courses/Stats Suggest – Expert Picks

Bet365: Top of the Board

Scottie Scheffler (11/4): Last week, he was arrested, played a round without his regular caddie, Ted Scott, and still cashed T8. This week, he is home with his newly expanded family, sleeping in his bed, and presumably will not be going to jail. Only three players have beaten him in the last two events at Colonial.

Collin Morikawa (12/1): The disappointment of not being in the fight Sunday at Valhalla from the final group should provide the fuel this week. Cashing T4, he picked up his third top-10 result from his last four events. After the renovations on multiple greens and holes, I am leaning on the ball-strikers to lead the way.

Max Homa (22/1): I can’t get it out of my head that his worst results this season are on the smallest greens on TOUR. Cashing T9 last year, his best result from five visits has me conflicted.

Jordan Spieth (22/1): Playing across town from his Dallas home, investors are paying for his spectacular course form. The 2016 winner has cashed T14 or better in nine of 10 weekends. Cashing T10 at Valero the week before the Masters was the last time he was relevant on Sunday. If the switch is going to flip, this is the week.

Tony Finau (30/1): The man from Utah likes his golf in Texas. Missing the cut last year broke a seven-year run of T34 or better. Finishing second in 2019 and T4 in 2022, it’s obvious the layout fits his eye. A winner in Houston two years ago, his best finish of the season is T2 at Memorial Park.

Harris English (30/1): Pre-renovation, he would have had more of my interest. Super on and around the greens, he struggled last week at Valhalla tee-to-green. In six weekends, he’s never cashed out worse than T30.

Players to consider for Top 10, Top 20, or Top 40 action:

Aaron Rai (55/1): Posting T7 in Houston and T4 at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, the Englishman thrives on approach (10^th).

Thomas Detry (55/1): Coming off T4 at the PGA Championship, all nine of his paydays this season are T28 or better, minus THE PLAYERS.

Mark Hubbard (75/1): Making his 15^th start of the season, he has played all 14 weekends previously. Top 50 in approach. Top 50 in putting. Never missed the cut in five tries and was T9 last year.

Lee Hodges (80/1): His T12 result at the PGA Championship featured T9 Fairways and T8 GIR. Heater.

Robert MacIntyre (110/1): Paired with Detry at Zurich, the duo posted T8 for the week. The Scotsman shot 68-69 and missed the cut at TPC Craig Ranch before rattling off T13 at Myrtle Beach and T8 at the PGA Championship.

Sam Stevens (125/1): The last time out, he posted T10 at WFC and cashed T29 on debut here last year.

Alex Smalley (200/1): Missing the cut in a major will not erase T20, T13, and T6 in his previous three on TOUR.

Jorge Campillo (200/1): Quietly sits 32^nd in SG: Tee to Green and has cashed T4, T24, and T18 in his last three starts. Vamos!

Ryan Palmer (500/1): Making his 21^st start, the member at CCC is looking for his first top 10 since 2019. Start with a Top-40 ticket and work your way up! Let’s gamble!

Mike Glasscott: Charles Schwab Challenge Tips:

Win: Tony Finau (30/1)

Top 10: Jordan Spieth (23/10), Collin Morikawa (29/20), Lee Hodges (13/2)

Top 20: Alex Smalley (5/1), Mark Hubbard (13/5), Ryan Palmer (9/1), Adam Schenk (11/4)

NOW PLAYING:

Host Course	Colonial Country Club
Yards (per official scorecard):	7,289
Par:	70 (35-35).
Greens:	007XL Bentgrass; 5,000 square feet on average (T-third smallest on TOUR 2024).
Stimpmeter:	12 to 13 feet. Brand-new Sub-Air system in use.
Rough:	TifTuf Bermudagrass at 2.5 inches.
Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play	64/4/6.
Architect(s):	John Bredemus-Perry Maxwell (1936); Gil Hanse & Jim Wagner (2023).
Defending Champion:	Emiliano Grillo (-8*)
Multiple Champion(s) Entered:	Zach Johnson (2012, 2010).
Course Record	61; 8 players (last 2018).
72 Hole Tournament Record:	259, 21-under; Zach Johnson (2010).
Facts of the Week:	Every blade of grass and every hole was modified during the 2023 renovation.

Colonial Country Club

Located in Fort Worth, Texas, the club opened in 1936. The John Bredemus-Perry Maxwell design found national acclaim by hosting the first U.S. Open in the South in 1941. The course also hosted the 1975 Tournament Players Championship and the 1991 Women’s U.S. Open.

The 2024 tournament will play to Par-70 and tips out at 7,289 yards, 80 additional paces than the 2023 edition. Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner renovated the entire property after the conclusion of play last May, above and below the soil, as part of a $20 million renovation.

The list of changes is extensive. The greens all have new 007XL Bentgrass, while the rest of the property received new TifTuf Bermuda sod (tees, fairways, rough, and approaches).

Holes were moved back while others were lowered, shifted, or both. Par-3 holes Nos. 8 and 13 had more dramatic changes and will present as they did in the 1940s.

Hogan’s Alley requires precision over power. Shaping the ball both ways off the tee and finding greens in regulation provide a solid foundation for contenders.

For the second week in a row, greens average just 5,000 square feet and are Bentgrass. The Stimpmeter will run between 12 and 13 feet. Players new to the event will not notice the changes, leveling the playing field to a degree.

The Par-3 holes stretch 194 yards or deeper, while the Par-5 holes, listed at 581 and 639 yards respectively, provide a tough scoring duo.

Hazards include 64 bunkers and four water penalty areas in play across six holes.

In 2023, the course ranked as the toughest, non-major Par-70 layout on TOUR.

The course record, 61, was last set by Kevin Na (not entered) in 2018.

Zach Johnson, the only two-time winner in the field, owns the tournament scoring record (-21, 259) in 2010.

Recent Winners

2023 Season Winners

Event	Winner
Sentry Tournament of Champions	Jon Rahm
Sony Open in Hawaii	Si Woo Kim
The AMERICAN EXPRESS	Jon Rahm (2)
Farmers Insurance Open	Max Homa (2)
AT&T Pebble Beach	Justin Rose
WM Phoenix Open	Scottie Scheffler
The Genesis Invitational	Jon Rahm (3)
The Honda Classic	Chris Kirk
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Kurt Kitayama (first TOUR win)
THE PLAYERS Championship	Scottie Scheffler (2)
Valspar Championship	Taylor Moore (first TOUR win)
Corales Puntacana	Matt Wallace (first TOUR win)
WGC – Dell Technologies MP	Sam Burns
Valero Texas Open	Corey Conners
Masters	Jon Rahm (4)
RBC Heritage	Matt Fitzpatrick
Zurich Classic of New Orleans	Davis Riley & Nick Hardy (first TOUR win for each)
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Tony Finau (2)
Wells Fargo Championship	Wyndham Clark (first TOUR win)
AT&T Byron Nelson	Jason Day
PGA Championship	Brooks Koepka
Charles Schwab Challenge	Emiliano Grillo
Memorial	Viktor Hovland
RBC Canadian Open	Nick Taylor
U.S. Open	Wyndham Clark (2)
Travelers Championship	Keegan Bradley (2)
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Rickie Fowler
John Deere Classic	Sepp Straka
Genesis Scottish Open	Rory McIlroy (2)
The Open Championship	Brian Harman
3M Open	Lee Hodges (first TOUR win)
Wyndham Championship	Lucas Glover
FedEx St. Jude Championship	Lucas Glover (2)
BMW Championship	Viktor Hovland (2)
TOUR Championship	Viktor Hovland (3)
Fortinet Championship	Sahith Theegala
Sanderson Farms Championship	Luke List
Shriners Children’s Open	Tom Kim
ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP	Collin Morikawa
World Wide Technology	Erik van Rooyen
Butterfield Bermuda	Camilo Villegas
The RSM Classic	Ludvig Aberg

2024 Season Winners

Event	Winner
The Sentry	Chris Kirk
Sony Open in Hawaii	Grayson Murray
The American Express	Nick Dunlap (a)
Farmers Insurance Open	Matthieu Pavon (rookie)
AT&T Pebble Beach	Wyndham Clark (54 holes)
WM Phoenix Open	Nick Taylor
The Genesis Invitational	Hideki Matsuyama
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Jake Knapp (rookie)
Cognizant Classic	Austin Eckroat (first time)
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Scottie Scheffler
THE PLAYERS Championship	Scottie Scheffler (2)
Valspar Championship	Peter Malnati
Texas Children’s Houston Open	Stephan Jaeger (first time)
Valero Texas Open	Akshay Bhatia
88^th Masters Tournament	Scottie Scheffler (3)
RBC Heritage	Scottie Scheffler (4)
Zurich Classic	Rory McIlroy & Shane Lowry
THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson	Taylor Pendrith (first time)
Wells Fargo Championship	Rory McIlroy (2)
106^th PGA Championship	Xander Schauffele

Charles Schwab Challenge

The 78^th edition is the longest-serving, non-major championship event on the PGA TOUR.

The nickname Hogan’s Alley was contrived after native Texan and Fort Worth resident Ben Hogan won five times, including the inaugural event, and cashed 15 times in the top 10.

The invitational field of 132 players includes 21 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf rankings, including No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.

Exactly half of the field, 66 players, took part in the second major of the season, the PGA Championship, last week at Valhalla.

After two rounds, the top 65 and ties will play the final 36 holes. The only time the cut has been under par in the last decade was 2-under-par for the 2020 edition in June.

Emiliano Grillo, the 2023 winner, joined 2014 winner Adam Scott to become just the second international winner in 10 years.

No player has won this event more than twice this century.

Sergio Garcia (not entered) is the last player to win on debut (2001). He joins Keith Clearwater (1987) as the only player to win on debut since 1967.

Ian Baker-Finch (not entered) was the last player to go wire-to-wire (1989).

The winner will take home 500 FedExCup points plus $1.638 million from the $9.1 million purse.

Recent Winners – Charles Schwab Challenge

Italics – not entered this week.

Year	Winner	Notes
2023	Emiliano Grillo (-8*)	Doubled the final hole but won a playoff on the second hole for his first win on TOUR since 2015.
2022	Sam Burns (-9)*	Sat 7 shots off Scheffler’s 54-hole lead, shot 65, won in a playoff beating his best buddy.
2021	Jason Kokrak (-14)	54-hole leader Jordan Spieth (-15) posted 73 from the final group and finished second by two shots.
2020	Daniel Berger (-15*)	Defeated Collin Morikawa in a playoff in a rare (COVID-19) June edition.
2019	Kevin Na (-13)	Knocked off Tony Finau by four shots.
2018	Justin Rose (-20)	Easily winning by three, the Englishman missed tying the tournament scoring record by a shot.
2017	Kevin Kisner (-10)	Stifled Spieth’s attempt at becoming the only repeat champion since Hogan.
2016	Jordan Spieth (-17)	Three-shot winner over Harris English.
2015	Chris Kirk (-12)	Won by a shot over Jordan Spieth, others.
2014	Adam Scott (-9*)	Needed extra holes to defeat Jason Dufner.

One and Done

I’ll be joining Spotter’s game again this season. Now, where did I put my checkbook…

35 events.

1 player per event (plus a backup pick if your guy gets kidnapped on Wednesday night and doesn’t make it to the first tee Thursday).

1 use per year.

Add up the total money and Spotter is yer uncle!

Event	Selection	Earnings
The Sentry	Collin Morikawa	690,500
Sony Open in Hawaii	Corey Conners	18,592
The American Express	Adam Hadwin	310,800
Farmers Insurance Open	Jason Day	0
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am	Jordan Spieth	70,125
WM Phoenix Open	Matt Fitzpatrick	156,200
The Genesis Invitational	Max Homa	329,000
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Tony Finau	145,125
Cognizant Classic	Russell Henley	32,850
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Scottie Scheffler	4,000,000
THE PLAYERS Championship	Will Zalatoris	0
Valspar Championship	Sam Burns	0
Texas Children’s Houston Open	Wyndham Clark	54,418
Valero Texas Open	C Bezuidenhout	67,735
88^th Masters Tournament	Rory McIlroy	175,500
RBC Heritage	Patrick Cantlay	1,160,000
Zurich Classic	Nick Taylor	122,375
THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson	Stephan Jaeger	112,100
Myrtle Beach Classic	Daniel Berger	20,350
Wells Fargo Championship	Sahith Theegala	47,000
106^th PGA Championship	Brooks Koepka	113,962

Total Winnings:		7,626,632

His game has more fun stuff to it. Reach out @A340Spotter on Twitter or A340Spotter@frontier.com for more details and to join.

Recapping Last Week – 106^th PGA Championship

MY CHOICE: Brooks Koepka – T26

I’m going to strike while the iron is hot. A winner recently, that’s what I need to see. I had earmarked Justin Thomas for this spot for almost the entire spring, but it is this week or Pinehurst in THIS FORMAT for Koepka. I’m riding the heat.

I can’t believe he missed THAT MANY putts under six feet. Posting 12-under in three rounds, 74 in Round 3 sunk my battleship.

My plan to play Justin Thomas (T8) ALL SEASON would have been better, but whatever.

With Memorial (Cantlay/Hovland), the U.S. Open (DeChambeau/Schauffele), and Memphis (JT) the big-ticket items in the States left, I’m ready. The Open Championship will depend on the draw at Royal Troon.

Others Considered:

Rory McIlroy – T12, Scottie Scheffler – T8, Xander Schauffele – WIN, Bryson DeChambeau – 2nd, and Justin Thomas – T8.

This Week – 78^th Charles Schwab Challenge

Charles Schwab Field in Omaha is hosting the B1G Baseball tournament so it’s a busy week for Chuck.

I call it Colonial, sorry Chuck.

MY CHOICE: Taylor Moore

Playing the weekend in all 15 events this season, his full bag makes him a threat weekly. The native Texan, from San Angelo, shared second in Houston two weeks before the Masters, and cashed T12 last week at Valhalla.

Others to Consider:

Jordan Spieth: Those of you who have been saving him, it’s time.

Tony Finau/Collin Morikawa: I don’t love the prize pool for using either of these two, but with the new putting surfaces in play, they should be chomping at the bit.

Thomas Detry/Billy Horschel: Both have been sizzling recently and can get it going with the putter. It has been suggested by TOUR pro Michael Kim that the approach play will be EASIER after the renovation, but the new grass will make it play firmer this week.

Tom Hoge: Played at Texas Chrisitan down the street and kills it on approach.

Mark Hubbard: If you’re looking to zig, he’s had too many good weeks in a row.

Good luck! You’ll need it!

106th PGA Championship

May 15, 2024May 16, 2024 / mikeglasscott / Leave a comment

My old Kentucky home.

Well, not mine, but you get the point

106^th PGA Championship

Valhalla Golf Club

Louisville, Kentucky

Head to Golfbet for all our content each week.

Quick Links:

Odds Outlook – DFS Report – Horses for Courses/Stats Suggest – Expert Picks

Thoughts on Chalk (odds via Bet365.com)

Scottie Scheffler (4/1): I’ve said this before golf is not played in a vacuum. These are human beings dealing with human being stuff. Just ask Jon Rahm! A new baby, new way of life, and new responsibilities change people. Winning the press conference this week is easier than winning the golf tournament. I don’t think he misses the cut, but I’m playing this cautiously, if at all, because there’s no value in getting it right.

Rory McIlroy (7/1): Real life is also happening in the McIlroy camp as well. Multiple outlets reported he filed for divorce TWO DAYS AGO in Palm Beach County, Florida. The winner of his last two events played on TOUR has obviously not been bothered on the golf course by this impending decision. The timing is nothing short of interesting. The reigning champion from 2014 made Valhalla his third win in a row. I’m expecting history to repeat this week.

Brooks Koepka (14/1): After T40-whocares at the Masters, I read about how he couldn’t make anything, he was not scoring, the whole bit. Then he won two weeks ago. The 2023 champ would join Tiger Woods in winning this event FOUR times with a victory this week. He would also join Woods in defending the title twice. The longer, wetter, and more demanding the layout, his value increases. It’s him or McIlroy for me this week.

Xander Schauffele (14/1): Through 54 holes last week, I thought the drought from the summer of 2022 was old news. Nope. There’s no shame in getting beaten by McIlroy on the back nine on Sunday. I wasn’t expecting Rory to have a SEVEN SHOT LEAD on the 18^th tee box. Take his top 10 price, up the ante, and you should be fine again this week.

Jon Rahm (16/1): The Masters told me everything I needed to know about this version. Pass.

Ludvig Aberg (18/1): If his knee doesn’t bother him, the tight driving conditions and big ballpark will not either. After running solo second at Augusta, I can’t look away. Running 18/1, there’s little value in hoping he begins his major career with back-to-back top-10 paydays.

Bryson DeChambeau (25/1): It’s not Winged Foot, and it’s not Oak Hill, but Valhalla is similar. A previous winner at Muirfield Village GC, another Nicklaus design, I won’t talk you out of him.

Max Homa (25/1): I love the Quail Hollow Club warm-up for him. Big vibes this week after T8 at WFC. Cashing T3 at Augusta National and T10 at Royal Liverpool in his last two majors, his confidence will be sky-high. I’ll write another top-10 ticket for him this week.

Collin Morikawa (28/1): Remember, his two major championships are on courses that are less than 7,300 yards. The wetter, the worse for wear, I believe, this week. A previous winner at MVGC, his super iron play will be his superpower again this week.

Players to consider for Top 10, Top 20, or Top 40 action:

Tommy Fleetwood (35/1): If I had a win ticket on him last week in Charlotte and he cashed T13, surely I can’t abandon him this week. Finishing T13, T3, and T7 on 7,438 yards or better in three of his last four starts, I will run him out again to grind out another top 10 and top 20 finish.

Justin Thomas (50/1): No way I’m leaving the hometown star off my ticket. This number is fantastic for a recent TWO-TIME WINNER of this event. He’s flashed just enough (T21, T5) in his last two outings to inspire.

Sahith Theegala (60/1): Over the last 18 months, he’s shown the goods on every kind of grass in every kind of event. It might not be this week, but he needs to be on the radar for the biggest events. Don’t let one round of 82 last week sour his chances this week.

Shane Lowry (90/1): Too many recent big results in this event to ignore. The tougher the driving, the tougher he gets.

Corey Conners (90/1): Ran well at Kiawah Island and was in the final two groups on Sunday last year at Oak Hill. Hasn’t MC since the U.S. Open last summer.

Denny McCarthy (100/1): Beaten in a playoff at MVGC last year and defeated in a playoff last month at VTO. Never missed in four previous.

Akshay Bhatia (110/1): Won the 2018 Junior PGA Championship here.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout (150/1): Lovely top 10 and top 20 chance.

NOW PLAYING:

Host Course	Valhalla Golf Club
Yards (per official scorecard):	7,609.
Par:	71 (35-36).
Greens:	T-1 Bentgrass; 5,000 square feet (third smallest on TOUR 2024).
Stimpmeter:	13 feet. Sub-Air system in use.
Rough:	Tall fescue and Bluegrass at four inches.
Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play	62/5/7.
Architect(s):	Jack Nicklaus.
Defending Champion (event):	Brooks Koepka
Defending Champion (course):	Rory McIlroy (2014).
Multiple Champion(s) Entered:	Tiger Woods (4), Brooks Koepka (3), Justin Thomas (2), Phil Mickelson (2), and Rory McIlroy (2).
18-hole Record (majors)	62; Xander Schauffele (U.S. Open, 2023), Rickie Fowler (U.S. Open, 2023), and Branden Grace (The Open, 2017).
Course Record (latest):	63; Jose-Maria Olazabal, 2000.
72 Hole Tournament Record:	268 (Par-71); Rory McIlroy (2014). 270 (Par-72); Tiger Woods & Bob May (2000).
Facts of the Week:	Valhalla is hosting the PGA Championship for the fourth time. Only Southern Hills in Tulsa has hosted more championships (5).

Valhalla Golf Club

Hosting the PGA Championship for the fourth time, Valhalla crowned champions in 2014 (Rory McIlroy), 2000 (Tiger Woods), and 1996 (Mark Brooks). The club has also hosted the 2008 Ryder Cup and the 2011 and 2004 Senior PGA Championship.

The Jack Nicklaus design, opened in 1986, originally played to a Par-72 at 7,144 for the 1996 championship.

The 2014 edition featured T-1 Bentgrass greens, shifted to Par-71 (35-36), and was extended to 7,458 yards.

For 2024, four tee boxes were extended (Nos. 1, 12, 14, and 18), and the course added 151 yards.

Zeon Zoysia fairways and tee boxes debuted in 2021. Valhalla becomes the third PGA Championship to feature Zoysiagrass fairways (2018 Bellerive, 2011 Atlanta Athletic Club). With only 23 acres of fairway snaking around doglegs that turn right and left, the four inches of tall fescue and Bluegrass will see plenty of action.

Forced carries into perched and protected greens will test shot-making and decision-making. With only 5,000 square feet to aim for, the putting surfaces, on average, ranked third smallest on TOUR behind Harbour Town and Pebble Beach.

The second major championship of the season will also test putting acumen on pure Bentgrass greens. TPC Craig Ranch is the only TOUR event this season that has featured Bentgrass surfaces on the greens.

Torrey Pines (South) and Corales (Corales Puntacana) are the only courses used this season that measure longer. Featuring six Par-4 holes that extend 472 yards or more, the four Par-3 holes range between 190 and 254 yards. The three Par-5 holes range between 570 and 597 yards.

Sub-Air systems will control the speeds on the greens.

Hazards include 62 bunkers and five water penalty areas in play across seven holes.

The 2014 championship produced the third-fewest rounds over par in PGA Championship history.

Jose-Maria Olazabal posted the tournament course record with 63 in 2000.

Tiger Woods and Bob May own the Par-72 scoring record of 270 (-18).

Rory McIlroy owns the Par-71 scoring record of 268 (-16).

Recent Winners

2023 Season Winners

Event	Winner
Sentry Tournament of Champions	Jon Rahm
Sony Open in Hawaii	Si Woo Kim
The AMERICAN EXPRESS	Jon Rahm (2)
Farmers Insurance Open	Max Homa (2)
AT&T Pebble Beach	Justin Rose
WM Phoenix Open	Scottie Scheffler
The Genesis Invitational	Jon Rahm (3)
The Honda Classic	Chris Kirk
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Kurt Kitayama (first TOUR win)
THE PLAYERS Championship	Scottie Scheffler (2)
Valspar Championship	Taylor Moore (first TOUR win)
Corales Puntacana	Matt Wallace (first TOUR win)
WGC – Dell Technologies MP	Sam Burns
Valero Texas Open	Corey Conners
Masters	Jon Rahm (4)
RBC Heritage	Matt Fitzpatrick
Zurich Classic of New Orleans	Davis Riley & Nick Hardy (first TOUR win for each)
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Tony Finau (2)
Wells Fargo Championship	Wyndham Clark (first TOUR win)
AT&T Byron Nelson	Jason Day
PGA Championship	Brooks Koepka
Charles Schwab Challenge	Emiliano Grillo
Memorial	Viktor Hovland
RBC Canadian Open	Nick Taylor
U.S. Open	Wyndham Clark (2)
Travelers Championship	Keegan Bradley (2)
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Rickie Fowler
John Deere Classic	Sepp Straka
Genesis Scottish Open	Rory McIlroy (2)
The Open Championship	Brian Harman
3M Open	Lee Hodges (first TOUR win)
Wyndham Championship	Lucas Glover
FedEx St. Jude Championship	Lucas Glover (2)
BMW Championship	Viktor Hovland (2)
TOUR Championship	Viktor Hovland (3)
Fortinet Championship	Sahith Theegala
Sanderson Farms Championship	Luke List
Shriners Children’s Open	Tom Kim
ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP	Collin Morikawa
World Wide Technology	Erik van Rooyen
Butterfield Bermuda	Camilo Villegas
The RSM Classic	Ludvig Aberg

2024 Season Winners

Event	Winner
The Sentry	Chris Kirk
Sony Open in Hawaii	Grayson Murray
The American Express	Nick Dunlap (a)
Farmers Insurance Open	Matthieu Pavon (rookie)
AT&T Pebble Beach	Wyndham Clark (54 holes)
WM Phoenix Open	Nick Taylor
The Genesis Invitational	Hideki Matsuyama
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Jake Knapp (rookie)
Cognizant Classic	Austin Eckroat (first time)
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Scottie Scheffler
THE PLAYERS Championship	Scottie Scheffler (2)
Valspar Championship	Peter Malnati
Texas Children’s Houston Open	Stephan Jaeger (first time)
Valero Texas Open	Akshay Bhatia
88^th Masters Tournament	Scottie Scheffler (3)
RBC Heritage	Scottie Scheffler (4)
Zurich Classic	Rory McIlroy & Shane Lowry
THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson	Taylor Pendrith (first time)
Wells Fargo Championship	Rory McIlroy (2)

106^th PGA Championship

The PGA Championship moved to May for the 2019 edition and beyond.

The fourth PGA Championship at Valhalla will be the first one played in May.

Jack Nicklaus (5), Tiger Woods (4), and Brooks Koepka (3) have won the most stroke-play championships. Other multiple winners in the field this week include Louisville native Justin Thomas (2022, 2017), the oldest major champion, Phil Mickelson (2021, 2005), and reigning Valhalla champion from 2014, Rory McIlroy (2014, 2012).

The only all-professional major championship, the field of 156 players includes 20 PGA Club professionals and 98 of the top 100 players in the Official World Golf Rankings.

The PGA Championship evolved to stroke play for the 40^th edition in 1958. The top 70 players and ties after 36 holes will advance to the final two rounds.

In the last five championships, only Collin Morikawa has won a major championship for the first time.

The last seven championships have been won by four different players. Koepka (3), Thomas (2), Mickelson, and Morikawa.

Koepka, the last player to successfully defend the championship (2018-19), also is the last player to win in wire-to-wire fashion (2019).

The only players to win on debut this century are Shaun Micheel (2003), Keegan Bradley (2011), and Collin Morikawa (2020).

Winning the 2012 edition at The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, McIlroy set the record for margin of victory, eight shots.

Mickelson won the 2021 playing at The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island at age 51, the oldest player to win a major championship.

The field consists of 16 former champions and 34 players who teed it up in the 2014 event.

The winner will take home 750 FedExCup points.

The purse will be announced during the tournament.

Recent Winners – PGA Championship

Italics – not entered this week.

Year	Winner	Notes
2023	Brooks Koepka (-9)	Closed with three rounds in the 60s at Oak Hill to win by two and claim his third Wanamaker Trophy.
2022	Justin Thomas (-5)	Equaled the largest come-from-behind victory (7 shots) to force and win a playoff at Southern Hills over Will Zalatoris.
2021	Phil Mickelson (-6)	Held off Koepka by two shots at Kiawah Island to become the oldest major champion at 51 years old.
2020	Collin Morikawa (-13)	Joined Keegan Bradley (2011) and Shaun Micheel (2003) as the only winners on debut in recent history.
2019	Brooks Koepka (-8)	Held off Tiger Woods while seting the 36-hole scoring record (63-65) and easily defended his 2018 title at Bethpage Black.
2018	Brooks Koepka (-16)	Posted 264 (-16) at Bellerive to set the majors scoring record.
2017	Justin Thomas (-8)	Made up two shots on Sunday at Quail Hollow Club to win by two and claim his first major championship.
2016	Jimmy Walker (-14)	The Texan won his only major on a soggy Baltusrol and kept Jason Day from defending the title.
2015	Jason Day (-20)	Set the PGA scoring record to par at a calm Whistling Straits for his only major championship.

One and Done

I’ll be joining Spotter’s game again this season. Now, where did I put my checkbook…

35 events.

1 player per event (plus a backup pick if your guy gets kidnapped on Wednesday night and doesn’t make it to the first tee Thursday).

1 use per year.

Add up the total money and Spotter is yer uncle!

Event	Selection	Earnings
The Sentry	Collin Morikawa	690,500
Sony Open in Hawaii	Corey Conners	18,592
The American Express	Adam Hadwin	310,800
Farmers Insurance Open	Jason Day	0
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am	Jordan Spieth	70,125
WM Phoenix Open	Matt Fitzpatrick	156,200
The Genesis Invitational	Max Homa	329,000
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Tony Finau	145,125
Cognizant Classic	Russell Henley	32,850
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Scottie Scheffler	4,000,000
THE PLAYERS Championship	Will Zalatoris	0
Valspar Championship	Sam Burns	0
Texas Children’s Houston Open	Wyndham Clark	54,418
Valero Texas Open	C Bezuidenhout	67,735
88^th Masters Tournament	Rory McIlroy	175,500
RBC Heritage	Patrick Cantlay	1,160,000
Zurich Classic	Nick Taylor	122,375
THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson	Stephan Jaeger	112,100
Myrtle Beach Classic	Daniel Berger	20,350
Wells Fargo Championship	Sahith Theegala	47,000

Total Winnings:		7,512,670

His game has more fun stuff to it. Reach out @A340Spotter on Twitter or A340Spotter@frontier.com for more details and to join.

Recapping Last Week – Wells Fargo Championship

MY CHOICE: Sahith Theegala – T52

Sat T7 after a wonderful 65 in Round 2.

Shot 82 in Round 3.

I mean, shit.

This Week – 106^th PGA Championship

MY CHOICE: Brooks Koepka

I’m going to strike while the iron is hot. A winner recently, that’s all I need to see. I had earmarked Justin Thomas for this spot for almost the entire spring, but it is this week or Pinehurst in THIS FORMAT for Koepka. I’m riding the heat.

Others to Consider:

Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau, and Justin Thomas.

Look at the winners above. There is absolutely no angle to stray from the chalk this week. I will point out that the recent champions at Muirfield Village, another Jack Nicklaus design in use in two weeks, are Viktor Hovland, Billy Horschel, Patrick Cantlay (2), and Bryson DeChambeau.

LIV guys are in consideration because they will only be at the next two major championships and are essentially freerolls.

A victory for Jordan Spieth would see him join the club of players who have won the career Grand Slam.

Good luck! You’ll need it!

Wells Fargo Championship Preview

May 8, 2024 / mikeglasscott / Leave a comment

Theegala and Berger.

Berger and Theegala.

Think about it…

Wells Fargo Championship

Quail Hollow Club

Charlotte, North Carolina

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Quick Links:

Odds Outlook – DFS Report – Horses for Courses/Stats Suggest – Expert Picks

Eyes On (odds via Bet365.com)

Rory McIlroy (15/2): Coming off a win in his last event with Shane Lowry at the Zurich Classic, the three-time WFC winner should be licking his chops. Known to get hot and stay hot, he has won the week before a major multiple times and won’t be bothered by any stats suggesting otherwise.

Xander Schauffele (9/1): Running second to Clark last year, albeit by four shots, he was three clear of his next closest competitor. The model of consistency, I’m expecting better results on his own ball after T23 with Cantlay in New Orleans. Super all through his bag, I’ll hop on board for another top-10 payday.

Wyndham Clark (16/1): Back to where it all started last spring, the reigning champion has since won ANOTHER Signature Event, plus a major championship. Without Scheffler in the field, it removes the hurdle that thwarted him at TPC Sawgrass and Bay Hill. Defending for the first time is rarely easy and no player has done it here.

Patrick Cantlay (18/1): The metrics have been providing the clues. I wouldn’t imagine the correction occurring this week.

Max Homa (20/1): The 2019 winner and top-10 finisher last year (T8) ran T3 at the Masters, another similar layout. The Californian plays well where he plays well. QHC qualifies.

Justin Thomas (25/1): The ascent to Valhalla should continue again this week. Cashing T5 at RBC Heritage, the man longing for his old Kentucky home, far away, has one more tune-up before looking to secure his third PGA Championship.

Cameron Young (25/1): Almost half of the last 11 winners have been first-timers on TOUR at QHC. The big-hitting Wake Forest alum should have plenty of support as he tries to break through. Being a great putter THIS WEEK is the key.

Collin Morikawa (25/1): Keeping it between the lines and painting GIR is the formula to contend. Paying off approach play and keeping a clean card is the winning formula. I’ll be more interested next week on less familiar putting surfaces.

Tommy Fleetwood (25/1): Grinding out pars over the last two years has seen him cash T5 and T14. Not many enjoy four difficult rounds more than the Englishman.

Players to consider for Top 10, Top 20, or Top 40 action:

Sahith Theegala (28/1): Playing the weekend 10 times from 12 attempts, he’s cashed in the top 10 in half. With plenty of pop and guile from tee to green, his putter should shine this week.

Alex Noren (45/1): The Swede has posted consistent results all winter and spring. Adding another top-25 payday this week after solo third at Byron Nelson would be his sixth in a row. Heat check.

Rickie Fowler (55/1): Just a sprinkle, but he plays well here. The 2012 champ has four top-10 and seven top-25 paydays.

Denny McCarthy (66/1): The super putter lost in a playoff in a big ballpark in San Antonio before the Masters. The underrated ball-striker cashed T8 here last year.

Taylor Moore (90/1): Missing the weekend only once this season, he won’t have to worry about how his partner is playing this week. The winner at Innisbrook enjoys a tough examination.

Taylor Pendrith (110/1): Hits it a mile and can really putt. Riding high after his first win on TOUR last week at TPC Craig Ranch, not having a cut should ease his adrenaline.

Wells Fargo Championship Tips

OUTRIGHT – Rory McIlroy (15/2), Tommy Fleetwood (25/1),

TOP 10 – Max Homa (21/10), Xander Schauffele (23/20), Sahith Theegala (13/5)

TOP 20 – Alex Noren (11/8), Denny McCarthy (17/10), Taylor Pendrith (23/10)

NOW PLAYING:

Host Course	Quail Hollow Club
Yards (per official scorecard):	7,558
Par:	71 (36-35).
Greens:	Poa Trivialis (TifEagle Bermuda); 6,578 square feet.
Stimpmeter:	12 feet.
Rough:	Overseeded Rye at 2 inches.
Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play	61/7/4.
Architect(s):	George Cobb (1961); Tom Fazio (1997-).
Defending Champion (event):	Wyndham Clark (-19).
Multiple Champion(s) Entered:	Rory McIlroy (2021, 2015, 2010).
Course Record (latest):	61; McIlroy, 2015.
72 Hole Tournament Record:	Clark (265); McIlroy (-21 on Par-72).
Facts of the Week:	No event here in 2017 or 2022 due to hosting the PGA Championship and Presidents Cup.

THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson

May 1, 2024 / mikeglasscott / Leave a comment

Year four at TPC Craig Ranch in the Dallas suburb of McKinney.

THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson

TPC Craig Ranch

McKinney, Texas

Head to Golfbet for all our content each week.

Quick Links:

Odds Outlook – DFS Report – Horses for Courses/Stats Suggest – Expert Picks

Eyes On (odds via Bet365.com)

Jordan Spieth (16/1): The highest-ranked player in the field, the Dallas native missed the 2023 edition with a nagging wrist injury. Opening the week at 14/1, his odds have inflated since Monday. The shift to TPC Craig Ranch has produced solo second and T9 from two visits, the best two results from any tournaments he’s played under the Byron Nelson moniker. Sleeping in his own bed won’t help his nagging wrist, but he’s in the field, and that’s the first step.

Si Woo Kim (18/1): The 2023 co-runner-up has glided through 2024. Never missing a cut, he has popped five straight T30 or better with the best of the bunch coming at TPC Sawgrass (T6). Terrorizing tracks tee to green, I will need the putter to show up on the weekend to pick up win No. 5 on TOUR.

Jason Day (20/1): Defending a title is nothing new for the Australian. Neither is winning in the Dallas area. K.H. Lee showed the way to successfully defend the title in 2022. With 13 wins to his name, including two at this event, he’s impossible to overlook.

Adam Scott (25/1): Posting T8 at TPC Scottsdale, Weiskopf’s other design used on TOUR, the Australian bagged his best finish of the season. Last year, he opened and closed with 63 for 19-under (T8) and is 35-under in two visits.

Alex Noren (25/1): First-time winners on TOUR this year have lifted the trophy five times from 17 events. If the Swede closes the deal this week, he makes it six from 18. Do the 40-somethings have enough in the tank to make enough birdies to keep up? Ranking second in bogey avoidance, he won’t needlessly throw away shots. I’m hoping he continues to pepper the first page of the leaderboard, but this time on Sunday.

Sungjae Im (28/1): This is a super exercise in restraint or paint. His strength is finding fairways, yet everyone will enjoy that angle this week. In his last six starts, he’s cashed as many times as he’s checked out early, but T12 at RBC Heritage is his best since T5 to open the season at Kapalua. Too many questions.

Min Woo Lee (28/1): Taking three weeks off after T22 at the Masters, the Australian jumps back in an event where there’s no time to be rusty. Sitting No. 2 in Total Driving does not hurt, but his iron game and putter have not risen to the level to pay it off. The metrics are not his friend this week.

Byeong Hun An (28/1): The metrics are the Korean’s friend! Ranking 14th in Total Driving and 18th in GIR, he also registered second in Proximity. Making his 192nd start on TOUR the only metric missing is a win.

Tom Kim (28/1): Known for games around town with Scottie Scheffler, the Dallas resident is looking to get back into contention in his backyard. Without a top 10 since his repeat victory at the Shriners in October the birdie machine needs a bit of oiling. I’d prefer him as a countermeasure in other formats.

Players to consider for Top 10, Top 20, or Top 40 action:

Stephan Jaeger (33/1): Already a winner in Texas in Houston in March, the only man to beat Scottie Scheffler in a month is making bunches of birdies and enjoying a career-best season.

Tom Hoge (33/1): Big targets off the tee will give his superior irons more chances to get it close again this week. Only Scheffler is better on approach. Sits seventh in Birdie or Better Percentage.

Seamus Power (60/1): The only player in the field to cash T19 or better in all three events.

Sam Stevens (80/1): The Fort Worth native can really move it off the tee and is a noted wind player (T3 Corales 2023; 2nd Valero Texas Open 2023).

C.T. Pan (80/1): Posted a career-best round of 62 in Round 4 here last year to finish fourth.

Chan Kim (80/1): Cashed eight straight on his own ball and nine consecutive starts overall including T28 last week at Zurich. The last two on his own ball were T6 at Corales and T14 at Valero. Toss in T8 at Vidanta, and this event is right up his alley.

Peter Kuest (90/1): The Monday qualifier at Valero cashed T10 and followed with T9. The only way to get more starts is to perform!

Joseph Bramlett (125/1): Proven track record here offsets an inconsistent 2024.

Vincent Norrman (125/1): Won a shootout at the Barbasol in the summer of 2023 and backed it up with a win at the Horizon Irish Open eight weeks later. The 2024 results? Right, nothing but a sprinkle here.

Ryan Palmer (140/1): Cashing in the top 10 in the last two editions, the Colleyville resident shared the 36-hole lead in 2022 and the 54-hole lead in 2023.

Wesley Bryan (250/1): Running solo second in Corales, he missed catching Billy Horschel but has cashed in four of his last five on TOUR.

NOW PLAYING:

Host Course	TPC Craig Ranch
Yards (per official scorecard):	7,414.
Par:	71 (36-35).
Greens:	Bentgrass (TifEagle Bermuda); 6,778 square feet.
Stimpmeter:	11.5 feet.
Rough:	Bermudagrass at 2.75 inches.
Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play	83/4/13.
Architect(s):	Tom Weiskopf (2004).
Defending Champion (event):	Jason Day (-23).
Multiple Champion(s) Entered:	K.H. Lee (TPC Craig Ranch), Jason Day (TPC Craig Ranch, TPC Four Seasons).
Course Record (latest):	60; S.Y. Noh (alternate this week; Round 1, 2023).
72 Hole Tournament Record:	26-under 262; K.H. Lee, 2022.
Facts of the Week:	The event moved to TPC Craig Ranch for the 2021 edition. The results from previous years (Trinity Forest and TPC Four Seasons) are not for course historians.

TPC Craig Ranch

Serving as the host for the fourth consecutive season, TPC Craig Ranch in the Dallas suburb of McKinney, Texas, hosts the event.

The second of two Tom Weiskopf designs (TPC Scottsdale) used on TOUR this season will play a standard Par-71 and tip at 7,414 yards for the second consecutive year. The first two editions played as a Par-72 at 7,468 yards.

One of the most scoreable tracks in play, the rolling hills northeast of Dallas provide massive landing areas off the tees and green complexes averaging 6,800 square feet. The wind is a way of life in Texas, and the big targets off the tees and into the greens allow for big gusts and breezes.

With plenty of room to work the ball, 83 bunkers, and water penalty areas on 13 holes should be avoided. Rowlett Creek runs through the land and crosses Holes Nos. 14 and 18.

Bentgrass putting surfaces cover the greens and will be on offer for the first time for any who didn’t play in the Masters last month. The green speeds are a very tame 11.5 feet on the Stimpmeter because of the constant winds that blow.

The stock Par-71 features three Par-5 holes, and none of the trio extends more than 564 yards. The four Par-3 holes are all 216 yards or better except No. 17, which measures only 147 yards.

With the course sitting right in front of the players, the scoring reflects the quick learning curve. The winning scores have been 23-under, 25-under, and 26-under, and four-round totals of 10-under par or better are the norm. Ranking in the top five easiest courses on TOUR the first three seasons, I wouldn’t expect anything but more birdies for the 2024 edition.

Defending champion Jason Day has won this event on two different courses.

Tournament record holder K.H. Lee won the first two events at TPC Craig Ranch. Setting the tournament record in 2021 with 25-under-par, he posted one better in defense.

With usually soft conditions, low scores are required, not expected. The course record, 60, has been set twice in the last two editions.

The 2022 edition produced the most birdies and eagles of any TOUR stop that season. The 2023 version ranked third in most birdies circled.

Recent Winners

2023 Season Winners

Event	Winner
Sentry Tournament of Champions	Jon Rahm
Sony Open in Hawaii	Si Woo Kim
The AMERICAN EXPRESS	Jon Rahm (2)
Farmers Insurance Open	Max Homa (2)
AT&T Pebble Beach	Justin Rose
WM Phoenix Open	Scottie Scheffler
The Genesis Invitational	Jon Rahm (3)
The Honda Classic	Chris Kirk
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Kurt Kitayama (first TOUR win)
THE PLAYERS Championship	Scottie Scheffler (2)
Valspar Championship	Taylor Moore (first TOUR win)
Corales Puntacana	Matt Wallace (first TOUR win)
WGC – Dell Technologies MP	Sam Burns
Valero Texas Open	Corey Conners
Masters	Jon Rahm (4)
RBC Heritage	Matt Fitzpatrick
Zurich Classic of New Orleans	Davis Riley & Nick Hardy (first TOUR win for each)
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Tony Finau (2)
Wells Fargo Championship	Wyndham Clark (first TOUR win)
AT&T Byron Nelson	Jason Day
PGA Championship	Brooks Koepka
Charles Schwab Challenge	Emiliano Grillo
Memorial	Viktor Hovland
RBC Canadian Open	Nick Taylor
U.S. Open	Wyndham Clark (2)
Travelers Championship	Keegan Bradley (2)
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Rickie Fowler
John Deere Classic	Sepp Straka
Genesis Scottish Open	Rory McIlroy (2)
The Open Championship	Brian Harman
3M Open	Lee Hodges (first TOUR win)
Wyndham Championship	Lucas Glover
FedEx St. Jude Championship	Lucas Glover (2)
BMW Championship	Viktor Hovland (2)
TOUR Championship	Viktor Hovland (3)
Fortinet Championship	Sahith Theegala
Sanderson Farms Championship	Luke List
Shriners Children’s Open	Tom Kim
ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP	Collin Morikawa
World Wide Technology	Erik van Rooyen
Butterfield Bermuda	Camilo Villegas
The RSM Classic	Ludvig Aberg

2024 Season Winners

Event	Winner
The Sentry	Chris Kirk
Sony Open in Hawaii	Grayson Murray
The American Express	Nick Dunlap (a)
Farmers Insurance Open	Matthieu Pavon (rookie)
AT&T Pebble Beach	Wyndham Clark (54 holes)
WM Phoenix Open	Nick Taylor
The Genesis Invitational	Hideki Matsuyama
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Jake Knapp (rookie)
Cognizant Classic	Austin Eckroat (first time)
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Scottie Scheffler
THE PLAYERS Championship	Scottie Scheffler (2)
Valspar Championship	Peter Malnati
Texas Children’s Houston Open	Stephan Jaeger (first time)
Valero Texas Open	Akshay Bhatia
88^th Masters Tournament	Scottie Scheffler (3)
RBC Heritage	Scottie Scheffler (4)
Zurich Classic	Rory McIlroy & Shane Lowry

THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson

Formerly the AT&T Byron Nelson, the event has shifted from TPC Four Seasons to Trinity Forest to TPC Craig Ranch over the last decade.

The third of four events in Texas, the TOUR will return the week after the PGA Championship to Irving and Colonial Country Club for the Charles Schwab Challenge.

This is the first full-field event since the Valero Texas Open led into the Masters.

The field of 156 players includes 10 of the top 50 from the Official World Golf Rankings and will be cut to the top 65 and ties for the final 36 holes.

Internationals have won the three events.

Winning by three shots in the inaugural event at TPC Craig Ranch, K.H. Lee owns the margin of victory mark.

Adam Scott is the only player on TOUR to have won all four stroke-play events in the Lone Star State.

The winner will take home 500 FedExCup points and $1.71 million of the $9.5 million purse.

Players not already qualified for the Wells Fargo Championship next week have one final opportunity to force themselves into the Aon Next 10 and Aon Swing 5. Those who fall short will tee it up in the brand-new event, the Myrtle Beach Classic, in South Carolina.

Recent Winners – THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson

Italics – not entered this week.

Year	Winner	Notes
2023	Jason Day (-23)	Closed with 62 to win for the first time since 2018 on TOUR and the second time at this event in Dallas (2011).
2022	K.H. Lee (-26)	Closing with 63, he beat the tournament scoring record he established with his 2022 win.
2021	K.H. Lee (-25)	Cruised to a three-shot victory in the inaugural PGA TOUR event at TPC Craig Ranch.
2020	No Event

One and Done

I’ll be joining Spotter’s game again this season. Now, where did I put my checkbook…

35 events.

1 player per event (plus a backup pick if your guy gets kidnapped on Wednesday night and doesn’t make it to the first tee Thursday).

1 use per year.

Add up the total money and Spotter is yer uncle!

Event	Selection	Earnings
The Sentry	Collin Morikawa	690,500
Sony Open in Hawaii	Corey Conners	18,592
The American Express	Adam Hadwin	310,800
Farmers Insurance Open	Jason Day	0
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am	Jordan Spieth	70,125
WM Phoenix Open	Matt Fitzpatrick	156,200
The Genesis Invitational	Max Homa	329,000
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Tony Finau	145,125
Cognizant Classic	Russell Henley	32,850
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Scottie Scheffler	4,000,000
THE PLAYERS Championship	Will Zalatoris	0
Valspar Championship	Sam Burns	0
Texas Children’s Houston Open	Wyndham Clark	54,418
Valero Texas Open	C Bezuidenhout	67,735
88^th Masters Tournament	Rory McIlroy	175,500
RBC Heritage	Patrick Cantlay	1,160,000
Zurich Classic	Nick Taylor	122,375

Total Winnings:		7,333,220

His game has more fun stuff to it. Reach out @A340Spotter on Twitter or A340Spotter@frontier.com for more details and to join.

Recapping Last Week – Zurich Classic of New Orleans

MY CHOICE: Nick Taylor – 10th

They didn’t do what the Irish did.

Fitting.

Others to Consider:

Sahith Theegala: Shit-hot fire for months, I don’t believe Zalatoris as his partner is going to suddenly cool him off. I’m not using him this week because I’m saving him for a bigger purse. Missed the cut and his partner isn’t going to play this week because of flare-up in his back. Good swerve!

Shane Lowry: I’m getting the feeling we missed the Florida window to play him. BUT, you get a free double shot of McIlroy if you go this route. Now, who’s gonna make some putts? Maybe that feeling is me sucking at this game? Left a million on the table! Sad! WINNER

Rasmus Hojgaard: The DP World Tour member won’t play many over here so this is a free roll if you believe in TWINS. Missed the cut.

Alex Fitzpatrick: See above minus TWINS. T11, cashing for the second consecutive year.

Joel Dahmen: Comes with Keith Mitchell, batteries not included. They might hit every fairway and every green, but Dahmen is 181^st in SG: Putting and Mitchell is 142^nd. T28.

Matt NeSmith: Comes with Taylor Moore, who has made a million cuts in a row, and they have finished T4 the last two years. The last two years NeSmith has not played this poorly leading into the event. I’d prefer a top 20 ticket over OAD. Missed the weekend by a shot, ending the T4-T4 streak.

Tyson Alexander: Comes with Billy Horschel, two-time winner here since 2013 and victor last week at Puntacana. MC by three. Not. Even. Close. Bud.

This Week – THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson

MY CHOICE: Stephan Jaeger

With a victory already in Houston, the German birdie machine has nothing to worry about this spring. Tee it up, go make a ton of birdies, and keep cashing checks. Closing 65-63 here last year, he’s making his third visit and will add to his 33-under aggregate and join the list of international winners.

Others to Consider:

Byeong Hun An: Hitting it great all season, the Bentgrass greens will provide the perfect pace and balance for racking up birdies. Looking for his first win on TOUR, he would join countrymen Sangmoon Bae, Sung Kang, and K.H. Lee as winners of this event.

Si Woo Kim: There’s no guarantee he’ll play the Wyndham Championship in August where he’s a former champion. Ran second here last year.

Alex Noren: The safest play on the board, the Swede hasn’t missed a cut this year and is constantly in the top 25. Like An, he’s never won.

K.H. Lee: Self-explanatory.

Tom Hoge: Only Scheffler is better on approach.

Good luck! You’ll need it!

Zurich Classic of New Orleans

April 24, 2024 / mikeglasscott / Leave a comment

The two best friends that anyone could have!

Zurich Classic of New Orleans

TPC Louisiana

Avondale, Louisiana

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Quick Links:

Odds Outlook – DFS Report – Horses for Courses/Stats Suggest – Expert Picks

Eyes On (odds via Bet365.com)

Patrick Cantlay & Xander Schauffele (4/1): Teammates too many times to count in international competitions, the California duo makes their fourth consecutive appearance in New Orleans. The buddies have cashed T4-WIN-T11 and are more than comfortable on this course and at this event. Both players rank in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings, the only team who can claim that. Cantlay picked up his annual podium at Harbor Town last week and Schauffele has cashed in the top 10 in eight of his last 11 starts.

Rory McIlroy & Shane Lowry (15/2): Making their Zurich Classic debut, the international Ryder Cup teammates pair up for the first time on TOUR. The Florida neighbors are looking for the spark this spring to shift them into gear for the PGA Championship next month in Louisville. They won’t miss many fairways and greens, but two-putting every green won’t work in this cut-throat birdie-fest.

Sahith Theegala & Will Zalatoris (15/2): Running second to Scheffler last week, Theegala added another big finish to his last eight months on TOUR. The winner at Fortinet last fall has five top-10 paydays in 11 starts this season. Zalatoris, who cashed T4 with Nick Hardy in 2022 before missing last season with back surgery, has also been hot on TOUR. Picking up three paydays in his last six starts, the best of the bunch is T2 at The Genesis Invitational at Riviera. First appearance together.

Collin Morikawa & Kurt Kitayama (12/1): Back-to-back top-10 paychecks the last two weeks have turned the spotlight back on the two-time major champion. Partnerships with Hovland and Homa haven’t cracked the code so he’s trying his neighbor in Las Vegas. Kitayama has only missed one cut this season but has never missed the weekend in two trips to the Big Easy. Another pair that will need at least one putter to get Creole hot!

Nicolai Hojgaard & Rasmus Hojgaard (20/1): TWINS! After cashing T16 on his first visit to the Masters, the higher-rated Dane missed the cut at Corales. Playing four weeks in a row, he will be energized with his brother joining the action. Rasmus is playing for the first time since WD at the Hero Indian Open four weeks ago. There’s no time to be rusty when the cut usually requires 7-under or better to see the weekend.

Tom Hoge & Maverick McNealy (25/1): Too bad this event isn’t at Pebble Beach! Feasting on small greens, TPC Louisiana will provide slightly bigger targets than the famous coastal links. Hoge has never missed a start here since his 2015 debut. Missing the cut in two of the last three editions, this is the fourth consecutive year he’s used a different partner. McNealy, who missed twice with Joseph Bramlett, is the next man up. Cashing in eight straight, he navigated TPC Sawgrass for T9. Dating back to last fall, Hoge has rattled off 12-straight weekends and would have had another top 10 save for a NINE on the final hole at Harbour Town. Super ball-striker meets super short-gamer.

Nick Taylor & Adam Hadwin (25/1): Beginning the week 33/1, the Canadian duo has moved up the board the last two days. Already a winner this season at TPC Scottsdale, Taylor knows he’s auditioning with Hadwin this week for International Captain Mike Weir and the 2024 Presidents Cup in Montreal this September. Cashing in five straight events, Hadwin has produced three top-10 paydays in his last eight tournaments. Cashing T13 on debut in 2022, the runners-up from 2023 posted 63 in Foursomes in the final round, tying the record in that format. I’m expecting another big week.

Billy Horschel & Tyson Alexander (33/1): Teacher and pupil. The University of Florida Gators should be comfortable in the swamp. Winning last week in the Dominican Republic will just add to the fire for Horschel. Alexander has quietly cashed in his last three and six of eight.

Taylor Moore & Matt NeSmith (45/1): The first two times they partnered up, they shared fourth place each time. Opening with 60 in 2022, they returned last year to post 26-under, a score that would have won four of the six previous editions.

Davis Thompson & Andrew Novak (45/1): The birdie machine, Thompson, pairs up with the SG: Approach machine, Novak. The Sea Island pals have been piling up the top-25 results individually in early 2024.

Kevin Yu & C.T. Pan (70/1): Trying to prove to Mike Weir that they should be included in the Presidents Cup, the duo from Taiwan will rely on tight ball-striking to give the putters plenty of chances to heat up. The top 10 results have dried up since the calendar changed to March. Countrymen coming together should inspire.

Pierceson Coody & Parker Coody (80/1): The twins from Texas both found the top 20 last week in the Dominican Republic. Pierceson signed for T18, and Parker cashed his best finish on TOUR with T6. Pushing each other, they won’t need any impetus to get it going in the bayou this week.

Charley Hoffman & Nick Watney (300/1): One of only two teams to play in the previous six events, the veteran duo will rely on the recent form of Hoffman. The Southern California native ran second in Phoenix and shared fourth last week at Corales. Watney’s best days are possibly behind him, but if there’s one final charge, this tournament may provide it.

NOW PLAYING:

Host Course	TPC Louisiana
Yards (per official scorecard):	7,425.
Par:	72 (36-36).
Greens:	Poa Trivialis overseed (TifEagle Bermuda); 5,225 square feet.
Stimpmeter:	12.5 feet.
Second Cut:	Ryegrass Overseed at 2 inches.
Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play	106/7/8.
Architect(s):	Pete Dye (2004).
Defending Champion (event):	Nick Hardy & Davis Riley (-30)
Multiple Champion(s) Entered:	No team has won twice.
Course Record (latest):	59; Patrick Cantlay & Xander Schauffele (2022, Round 1).
72 Hole Tournament Record (April):	258; Nick Hardy and Davis Riley.
Fact of the Week:	All six winning totals have been 20-under par or better.

TPC Louisiana

The fourth Pete Dye design of the season and second course in back-to-back weeks, TPC Louisiana opened in 2004.

Hosting the Zurich Classic of New Orleans every year save two since 2005, no other course has hosted the team event since the 2017 inception. Every edition of the team game has played at Par-72 and 7,425 yards.

Carved through the swamps of the bayou, 106 bunkers, eight holes with water penalty areas, and two inches of TifSport Bermuda rough complement the risk-reward concept.

Fairways are not generous and the putting surfaces rank inside the top five of smallest on TOUR, averaging just 5,225 square feet.

Poa Trivialis putting surfaces, common this time of year before the TifEagle takes over, will run at 12 feet.

Registering 30-under and 29-under to win in the last two editions, four of the six winning totals have been 26-under or better. The best way to factor in a shootout is pummel fairways and greens and convert those attempts into birdies. Making birdies and avoiding bogeys is the formula for success.

The stock Par-72 comes with four Par-5 holes that measure less than 590 yards. Cutting corners and doglegs plus handling forced carries will provide the temptations and reward the bold who execute.

The pressure of performing for the teammate will enter all decisions made.

Set in 2023 by Nick Hardy and Davis Riley, the tournament scoring record is 30-under-par.

The Four-balls (Best Ball) record is 59, produced by Patrick Cantlay & Xander Schauffele in Round 1 of 2022.

The Foursomes (Alternate Shot) record is 63, last accomplished by Nick Taylor & Adam Hadwin in Round 4 in 2023. Cantlay & Schauffele also matched this mark in 2023 in Round 2.

Recent Winners

2023 Season Winners

Event	Winner
Sentry Tournament of Champions	Jon Rahm
Sony Open in Hawaii	Si Woo Kim
The AMERICAN EXPRESS	Jon Rahm (2)
Farmers Insurance Open	Max Homa (2)
AT&T Pebble Beach	Justin Rose
WM Phoenix Open	Scottie Scheffler
The Genesis Invitational	Jon Rahm (3)
The Honda Classic	Chris Kirk
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Kurt Kitayama (first TOUR win)
THE PLAYERS Championship	Scottie Scheffler (2)
Valspar Championship	Taylor Moore (first TOUR win)
Corales Puntacana	Matt Wallace (first TOUR win)
WGC – Dell Technologies MP	Sam Burns
Valero Texas Open	Corey Conners
Masters	Jon Rahm (4)
RBC Heritage	Matt Fitzpatrick
Zurich Classic of New Orleans	Davis Riley & Nick Hardy (first TOUR win for each)
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Tony Finau (2)
Wells Fargo Championship	Wyndham Clark (first TOUR win)
AT&T Byron Nelson	Jason Day
PGA Championship	Brooks Koepka
Charles Schwab Challenge	Emiliano Grillo
Memorial	Viktor Hovland
RBC Canadian Open	Nick Taylor
U.S. Open	Wyndham Clark (2)
Travelers Championship	Keegan Bradley (2)
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Rickie Fowler
John Deere Classic	Sepp Straka
Genesis Scottish Open	Rory McIlroy (2)
The Open Championship	Brian Harman
3M Open	Lee Hodges (first TOUR win)
Wyndham Championship	Lucas Glover
FedEx St. Jude Championship	Lucas Glover (2)
BMW Championship	Viktor Hovland (2)
TOUR Championship	Viktor Hovland (3)
Fortinet Championship	Sahith Theegala
Sanderson Farms Championship	Luke List
Shriners Children’s Open	Tom Kim
ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP	Collin Morikawa
World Wide Technology	Erik van Rooyen
Butterfield Bermuda	Camilo Villegas
The RSM Classic	Ludvig Aberg

2024 Season Winners

Event	Winner
The Sentry	Chris Kirk
Sony Open in Hawaii	Grayson Murray
The American Express	Nick Dunlap (a)
Farmers Insurance Open	Matthieu Pavon (rookie)
AT&T Pebble Beach	Wyndham Clark (54 holes)
WM Phoenix Open	Nick Taylor
The Genesis Invitational	Hideki Matsuyama
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Jake Knapp (rookie)
Cognizant Classic	Austin Eckroat (first time)
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Scottie Scheffler
THE PLAYERS Championship	Scottie Scheffler (2)
Valspar Championship	Peter Malnati
Texas Children’s Houston Open	Stephan Jaeger (first time)
Valero Texas Open	Akshay Bhatia
88^th Masters Tournament	Scottie Scheffler (3)
RBC Heritage	Scottie Scheffler (4)

Zurich Classic

After a major championship and a Signature Event, the partner’s game makes it three weeks in a row with a completely different vibe.

The field of 160 players divided into two-man teams includes 15 of the top 50 from the Official World Golf Rankings and 27 players who teed it up last week at Harbour Town, another Pete Dye track.

Defending champions Hardy & Riley join Cantlay & Schauffele as the only previous team champions in the field.

Billy Horschel, paired with Tyson Alexander this week, is the only player in the field to win the team title (2018 with Scott Piercy) and the individual stroke play title (2013), his first victory on TOUR.

Nick Watney (2007), playing with Charley Hoffman, and Jason Dufner (2012), playing with Kevin Chappell, are the only other players in the field to win the individual title.

Scott Piercy (2018), playing with Harry Hall, and Ryan Palmer (2019), playing with Zach Johnson have won the team titles with different partners. Winning by three shots in 2019, Palmer has the record for margin of victory.

After one round of Four-balls (Best Ball) and one round of Foursomes (Alternate Shot), the field will be cut to the top 33 teams and ties.

The final two rounds will be Four-balls followed by Foursomes.

The winners will each take home 400 FedExCup points and $1.268 million of the $8.9 million purse.

This is the second of three events (Corales, Zurich, and CJ Cup) that will count towards the Aon Next 10 and Aon Swing 5 for the Wells Fargo Championship in two weeks.

Recent Winners – Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Italics – not entered this week.

Year	Winner	Notes
2023	Nick Hardy & Davis Riley (-30)	First win on TOUR for both players in their first partnership. Defeated Canadians Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin by two shots.
2022	Patrick Cantlay & Xander Schauffele (-29)	Posted 29-under thru 54 holes to win comfortably.
2021	Marc Leishman & Cameron Smith (-20)	Needed a playoff to defeat South African duo Schwartzel and Oosthuizen. Highest winning total.
2020	No Event
2019	Ryan Palmer & Jon Rahm (-26)	Winning by three shots over Tommy Fleewtood & Sergio Garcia set the event record for margin of victory.
2018	Billy Horschel & Scott Piercy (-22)	Not even two double bogeys, the most by a winning team to date, could slow down this pair. Horschel has won both the team and stroke play events here.
2017	Jonas Blixt & Cam Smith (-27)	Defeated Kevin Kisner & Scott Brown in a playoff to win the first edition.

One and Done

I’ll be joining Spotter’s game again this season. Now, where did I put my checkbook…

35 events.

1 player per event (plus a backup pick if your guy gets kidnapped on Wednesday night and doesn’t make it to the first tee Thursday).

1 use per year.

Add up the total money and Spotter is yer uncle!

Event	Selection	Earnings
The Sentry	Collin Morikawa	690,500
Sony Open in Hawaii	Corey Conners	18,592
The American Express	Adam Hadwin	310,800
Farmers Insurance Open	Jason Day	0
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am	Jordan Spieth	70,125
WM Phoenix Open	Matt Fitzpatrick	156,200
The Genesis Invitational	Max Homa	329,000
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Tony Finau	145,125
Cognizant Classic	Russell Henley	32,850
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Scottie Scheffler	4,000,000
THE PLAYERS Championship	Will Zalatoris	0
Valspar Championship	Sam Burns	0
Texas Children’s Houston Open	Wyndham Clark	54,418
Valero Texas Open	C Bezuidenhout	67,735
88^th Masters Tournament	Rory McIlroy	175,500
RBC Heritage	Patrick Cantlay	1,160,000

Total Winnings:		7,210,845

His game has more fun stuff to it. Reach out @A340Spotter on Twitter or A340Spotter@frontier.com for more details and to join.

Recapping Last Week – RBC Heritage

MY CHOICE: Patrick Cantlay – T3

I love it when a plan goes according to, well the plan.

Moving forward, I might have to shift him to AUTO PICK for this event, especially if it remains a Signature Event. Always nice to catch a million plus without having to win.

Onward!

Others to Consider:

Matt Fitzpatrick: Other than what I wrote above, this is his spiritual home on TOUR. T28 as the spirit did not move him this time around, sadly.

Scottie Scheffler: Save your money for the majors or Augusta North (Muirfield Village Golf Club). Those of you who didn’t listen, congratulations. Those of you who have just not timed this correctly, be patient, I think he’ll win again. Let’s just hope it’s another BIG BOI event!

Jordan Spieth: Colonial instead. He suggested at the Masters that his wrist will need looking after at some point. T39.

Shane Lowry: Please, fire away. It was Cantlay or bust for me. Literally whiffed on everything else on Hilton Head. T64 in a 69-person field.

Cameron Davis: I cannot get off him this week so fade accordingly. Tried to save you from me. T49.

This Week – Zurich Classic of New Orleans

MY CHOICE: Nick Taylor

The NHL Playoffs are here. The Presidents Cup is coming soon. Whoa, Canada!

Taylor and partner Adam Hadwin ran second in 2023 and are playing well on TOUR.

This format does not require the best player to win. It requires the best team. I’m relying on the countrymen from the Great White North to get it over the finish line.

Others to Consider:

Sahith Theegala: Shit-hot fire for months, I don’t believe Zalatoris will be the cooler to his heat. I’m not using him this week because I’m saving him for a bigger purse.

Shane Lowry: I’m getting that feeling we missed the Florida window to play him. BUT, you get a free double shot of McIlroy if you go this route. Now, who’s gonna make some putts?

Rasmus Hojgaard: The DP World Tour member won’t play many over here so this is a free roll if you believe in TWINS.

Alex Fitzpatrick: See above minus TWINS.

Joel Dahmen: Comes with Keith Mitchell, batteries not included. They might hit every fairway and every green, but Dahmen is 181^st in SG: Putting and Mitchell is 142^nd.

Matt NeSmith: Comes with Taylor Moore, who has made a million cuts in a row, and they have finished T4 the last two years. In the last two years, NeSmith has not played this poorly leading into the event. I’d prefer a top-20 ticket over OAD.

Tyson Alexander: Comes with Billy Horschel, a two-time winner here since 2013 and victor last week at Puntacana.

Good luck! You’ll need it!

56th RBC Heritage

April 17, 2024 / mikeglasscott / Leave a comment

At all hours of the day, the lighthouse looks gorgeous. 😍 pic.twitter.com/dQSurD98M6
— RBC Heritage (@RBC_Heritage) April 13, 2023

56^th RBC Heritage

Harbour Town Golf Links

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Head to Golfbet for all our content each week.

Quick Links:

Odds Outlook – DFS Report – Horses for Courses/Stats Suggest – Expert Picks

Eyes On (odds via Bet365.com)

Scottie Scheffler (+400): Golf is not played in a vacuum by robots, right? Baby is due any minute. Surely he is “worn out” from four rounds of major championship golf last week? No way he just shows up and plows down the field again, right? Right?

Xander Schauffele (+1400): Just take your top-10 money and move on to next week. He’s cashed eight of ten in the top 10 and was fourth here last year.

Ludvig Aberg (+1400): The Swedish Cyborg tried to run down Scheffler last week. Playing in his first major championship didn’t slow him down but a loose iron shot on No. 11 on Sunday did. He won’t make that mistake this week if in contention. Hop on.

Patrick Cantlay (+1400): His record here resembles his record on TOUR. Always in contention, he’s yet to get it over the finish line in the Lowcountry. Without a win since late summer of 2022, we always want more. He is the course horse (non-winner’s division) this week.

Rory McIlroy (+1400): The win in the Middle East in January feels like it was ages ago. Hopefully after telling Todd Lewis from The Golf Channel that he will finish his career on the PGA TOUR will set him free. It’s your money.

Collin Morikawa (+1800): Now do it again. If his tee-to-green game is back, he’ll enjoy the VERY friendly greens at Harbour Town. I wrote in here last week if he’s 30-1 or worse, he’s an auto-bet. Hope you scattered a few across your card.

Tommy Fleetwood (+2000): The safest bet on the board last week shared third in his best finish at the Masters. I’d expect another similar performance this week.

Matt Fitzpatrick (+2500): I was disappointed to read he was having trouble with his lofted irons last week. I would have thought all gears would be greased before the first major. Cashing T22 last week wasn’t the end of the world, but he constant struggle with his equipment is off-putting. He shouldn’t be this deep at this course as the defending champion if everything was fine and/or dandy. Weird.

Max Homa (+2500): Emptied the tank last week. See you at Quail Hollow in a few.

Cameron Young (+2800): Easy greens should have his full attention this week. Looking for his first TOUR win, he opened with 63 the first time he played here. First-time winners ran well here before the Pandemic, but this Signature Event field is quite a bit different.

Will Zalatoris (+2800): Missed the cut by a mile at the last Pete Dye challenge at TPC Sawgrass. I’ll do you a favor and leave him alone this week.

Jordan Spieth (+3000): If the drive down Magnolia Lane doesn’t fire the all the cylinders, I’m not sure this week will either. Never missing the cut in seven previous tries here, he won’t again this week (no-cut event). The contrarian play here is a top-10.

Wyndham Clark (+3000): An absolute stat monster, I’d prefer him on a bigger track (Quail Hollow) but he did show the technical ability to work shots at TPC Sawgrass. Never missing the cut in five starts at Harbour Town, he’s never cashed better than T29. Conflicted.

Shane Lowry (+3500): Top-10 machine here arrives as a sponsor’s exemption. Pay it off.

Brian Harman (+5000): Nice price for a guy with 14 previous starts and recent success.

Cam Davis (+6000): Every dollar you got.

JT Poston (+6000): Top 20 should be about right.

Denny McCarthy (+6000): Let’s try this again. Working out the kinks at Augusta after a tough playoff loss in San Antonio should have eased the pain. He will relish his next moment.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+6000): Stick him in the top 20 and off you go.

Taylor Moore (+6000): Just as hot as Bezuidenhout, nudge him up a tier.

Adam Schenk (+8000): Might be a week for Top 20 plays.

Rickie Fowler (+12500): Does nappy factor work on Kid No. 2? Well, Fowler No. 2 is on the way! Let’s try it!

NOW PLAYING:

Host Course	Harbour Town Golf Links
Yards (per official scorecard):	7,213.
Par:	71 (36-35).
Greens:	Poa Trivialis overseed (TifEagle Bermuda); 3,700 square feet.
Stimpmeter:	12.5 feet.
Second Cut:	Ryegrass Overseed at 1.25 inches.
Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play	54/18/18
Architect(s):	Pete Dye (1967).
Defending Champion (event):	Matt Fitzpatrick (-17).
Multiple Champion(s) Entered:	None.
Course Record (latest):	61; Troy Merritt (2015; not entered).
72 Hole Tournament Record (April):	264; Brian Gay (2009).
72-Hole Tournament Record (June 2020).	262; Webb Simpson.
Fact of the Week:	Only three previous champions are in the limited field this week.

Harbour Town Golf Links

The third Pete Dye design of the season, and the first of two in the next two events (TPC Louisiana), Harbour Town opened for business in 1967.

The RBC Heritage has been hosted on the links since 1965. The 2023 edition was the first to break the 7,200-yard barrier and returns at 7,213 yards for the 2024 edition.

Playing 36-35 to Par-71, the famous lighthouse on Calibogue Sound is the aiming point on the 18^th tee and provides the widest fairway on the property. Only 22 acres of Fairway can be found snaking through the trees, 54 bunkers, and 18 water penalty areas.

The rough cut down to 1.25 inches for the 2024 edition will assist recovery shots to hold the greens. The overseeded Poa Trivialis putting surfaces are the second-smallest greens on TOUR, trailing only the links at Pebble Beach. The more wind, the more difficult it is to attack fairways and greens.

Properly missing greens affords a chance to chip in or knock it close. Approach shots finding the proper levels on the putting surfaces are opportunities to shave a shot off the scorecard. Known for hole-outs and one of the highest one-putt percentages on TOUR, keeping the ball dry is the No. 1 priority. Gaining strokes tee to green goes a long way to winning this week.

Troy Merritt (2015) and David Frost (1994) share the course record with 61 (-10). Neither man is in the field this week.

Winning by ten shots, Brian Gay set the April tournament scoring record in 2009 on 20-under-par 264.

The June scoring record is 22-under 262, set by Webb Simpson in 2020.

2023 Season Winners

Event	Winner
Sentry Tournament of Champions	Jon Rahm
Sony Open in Hawaii	Si Woo Kim
The AMERICAN EXPRESS	Jon Rahm (2)
Farmers Insurance Open	Max Homa (2)
AT&T Pebble Beach	Justin Rose
WM Phoenix Open	Scottie Scheffler
The Genesis Invitational	Jon Rahm (3)
The Honda Classic	Chris Kirk
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Kurt Kitayama (first TOUR win)
THE PLAYERS Championship	Scottie Scheffler (2)
Valspar Championship	Taylor Moore (first TOUR win)
Corales Puntacana	Matt Wallace (first TOUR win)
WGC – Dell Technologies MP	Sam Burns
Valero Texas Open	Corey Conners
Masters	Jon Rahm (4)
RBC Heritage	Matt Fitzpatrick
Zurich Classic of New Orleans	Davis Riley & Nick Hardy (first TOUR win for each)
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Tony Finau (2)
Wells Fargo Championship	Wyndham Clark (first TOUR win)
AT&T Byron Nelson	Jason Day
PGA Championship	Brooks Koepka
Charles Schwab Challenge	Emiliano Grillo
Memorial	Viktor Hovland
RBC Canadian Open	Nick Taylor
U.S. Open	Wyndham Clark (2)
Travelers Championship	Keegan Bradley (2)
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Rickie Fowler
John Deere Classic	Sepp Straka
Genesis Scottish Open	Rory McIlroy (2)
The Open Championship	Brian Harman
3M Open	Lee Hodges (first TOUR win)
Wyndham Championship	Lucas Glover
FedEx St. Jude Championship	Lucas Glover (2)
BMW Championship	Viktor Hovland (2)
TOUR Championship	Viktor Hovland (3)
Fortinet Championship	Sahith Theegala
Sanderson Farms Championship	Luke List
Shriners Children’s Open	Tom Kim
ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP	Collin Morikawa
World Wide Technology	Erik van Rooyen
Butterfield Bermuda	Camilo Villegas
The RSM Classic	Ludvig Aberg

2024 Season Winners

Event	Winner
The Sentry	Chris Kirk
Sony Open in Hawaii	Grayson Murray
The American Express	Nick Dunlap (a)
Farmers Insurance Open	Matthieu Pavon (rookie)
AT&T Pebble Beach	Wyndham Clark (54 holes)
WM Phoenix Open	Nick Taylor
The Genesis Invitational	Hideki Matsuyama
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Jake Knapp (rookie)
Cognizant Classic	Austin Eckroat (first time)
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Scottie Scheffler
THE PLAYERS Championship	Scottie Scheffler (2)
Valspar Championship	Peter Malnati
Texas Children’s Houston Open	Stephan Jaeger (first time)
Valero Texas Open	Akshay Bhatia
88^th Masters Tournament	Scottie Scheffler (3)

The 56^th RBC Heritage

The fifth Signature Event of the season, the field of 69 players includes 43 of the top 50 from the Official World Golf Rankings.

Only 15 players in the field this week did not qualify for the Masters last week.

The Aon Top 10 and Aon Next 5 are in the field.

Matt Fitzpatrick won the 2023 edition, defeating 2022 champion Jordan Spieth in a playoff.

There are no multiple winners in the field this week and only three previous winners (Fitzpatrick 2023, Spieth 2022, and Simpson 2020).

The last champion to successfully defend the title was Boo Weekley in 2008.

A TOUR event since 1969, the youngest winner is Davis Love III (23, 1987), while Hale Irwin, 48 in 1994, is the oldest winner.

There is no cut.

The winner will take home 700 FedExCup points and $3.6 million of the $20 million purse.

Recent Winners – RBC Heritage

Italics – not entered this week.

Year	Winner	Notes
2023	Matt Fitzpatrick (-17)*	Defeated 2022 winner Jordan Spieth in a playoff.
2022	Jordan Spieth (-12)*	Defeated Patrick Cantlay in a playoff.
2021	Stewart Cink (-19)	Blew away the field by four shots at age 47 for his third title at Harbour Town.
2020	Webb Simpson (-22)	Perfect June weather and a perfect golf course allowed Simpson to set the record.
2019	C.T. Pan (-12)	Closed with 67 to lap Shane Lowry and Dustin Johnson.

One and Done

I’ll be joining Spotter’s game again this season. Now, where did I put my checkbook…

35 events.

1 player per event (plus a backup pick if your guy gets kidnapped on Wednesday night and doesn’t make it to the first tee Thursday).

1 use per year.

Add up the total money and Spotter is yer uncle!

Event	Selection	Earnings
The Sentry	Collin Morikawa	690,500
Sony Open in Hawaii	Corey Conners	18,592
The American Express	Adam Hadwin	310,800
Farmers Insurance Open	Jason Day	0
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am	Jordan Spieth	70,125
WM Phoenix Open	Matt Fitzpatrick	156,200
The Genesis Invitational	Max Homa	329,000
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Tony Finau	145,125
Cognizant Classic	Russell Henley	32,850
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Scottie Scheffler	4,000,000
THE PLAYERS Championship	Will Zalatoris	0
Valspar Championship	Sam Burns	0
Texas Children’s Houston Open	Wyndham Clark	54,418
Valero Texas Open	C Bezuidenhout	67,735
88^th Masters Tournament	Rory McIlroy	175,500

Total Winnings:		6,050,845

His game has more fun stuff to it. Reach out @A340Spotter on Twitter or A340Spotter@frontier.com for more details and to join.

Recapping Last Week – 888^th Masters Tournament

MY CHOICE: Rory McIlroy – T22

Didn’t expect him to fall apart in the stiff breezes of Friday, but here we are. Those of you who are saving him for Valhalla, the site of his last major championship almost 10 years ago, congratulations, he might have it fixed by then.

It took Sergio Garcia 19 tries to win the Masters, the most ever. McIlroy will try for the 17^th time next year.

Whatever.

Other to Consider:

Xander Schauffele: Never wins enough, does he? Fantastic 2024 form, minus a trophy. A errant tee shot on the 72^nd hole cost his investors a few bucks, but otherwise solid top-10 payday. Solo eighth.

Scottie Scheffler: If you believe in the numbers, you save him for down the road. If you have watched him play, I don’t see how you can. WINNER. I’ve never been happier to play him at a Signature Event and win more money hahahahha.

Hideki Matsuyama: Stay healthy, my friend! T38

Brooks Koepka: Limited chances in this game to use him. Didn’t match or break par in four rounds. NOW HE WILL BE REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY MAD defending his PGA Championship. Lots of bluster, not many decent golf shots. T45.

Jon Rahm: See above with Scheffler and Koepka. After having not being lauded and loved on property this week, he moped to T45. What did you think was going to happen? You sat here last year and told everyone you weren’t going anywhere. Hahahahaha. Give me a break, Mr. Sensitive! You took the money. Now, run!

Jordan Spieth: He’s home. Sadly, they changed the locks. MC.

This Week – RBC Heritage

MY CHOICE: Patrick Cantlay

With an immaculate record here, sans victory, I’m trying to catch him on the UP. I won’t play him at Valhalla or Pinehurst, so it’s this week or Memorial, another loaded field. Loading up on a guy whose WORST payday here is T7 should be easy.

SHOULD BE.

Others to Consider:

Matt Fitzpatrick: Other than what I wrote above, this is his spiritual home on TOUR.

Scottie Scheffler: Save your money for the majors or Augusta North (Muirfield Village Golf Club).

Jordan Spieth: Colonial instead.

Shane Lowry: Please, fire away.

Cameron Davis: I cannot get off him this week so fade accordingly.