FedEx Cup Playoffs – BMW Championship

August 21, 2024 / mikeglasscott / Leave a comment

We're just getting started. #BMWCHAMPS pic.twitter.com/jdNEkc2dTN
— BMW Championship (@BMWchamps) August 21, 2024

I wish I was a headlight on a northbound train.

I’d shine my light through that cool, Colorado rain.

FedExCup Playoffs – BMW Championship

Event No. 2

Castle Pines Golf Club

Castle Rock, Colorado

Head to Golfbet for all our content each week.

Quick Links:

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

Mike Glasscott: BMW Championship tips

Win: Wyndham Clark (25/1), Patrick Cantlay (16/1)

Top 5: Tony Finau (9/2)

Top 10: Corey Conners (3/1), Nick Dunlap (15/4)

Top 20: Max Greyserman (29/20)

Bet365: Top of the Board

Scottie Scheffler (7/2): The only bogey on his radar is the man next on his list. Any result inside T4 will secure the top spot in the Starting Strokes next week at East Lake, regardless of any other results. Castle Pines provides a new canvas and another opportunity to win his first FedExCup Playoffs event, or at worst, secure the top spot for the big bonus payday.

Xander Schauffele (6/1): The only man who can take the lead from the World No. 1 is the World No. 2. The two-time major champion in 2024 closed with 63 last Sunday making Matsuyama earn it in Memphis. Cashing T2, the Californian knocked a chunk off Scheffler’s lead, but only a victory this week, plus some help from his Ryder Cup teammate, will result in him taking over the points lead.

Rory McIlroy (14/1): Finishing in the bottom three last week in Memphis, the Ulsterman did not do much of anything well. Dropping to fifth in the Playoffs standings, his place at East Lake is secured, but his desire to get back on the horse will be hotter than the forecast in the mountains. The three-time winner at East Lake also has the 2012 BWM Championship at Crooked Stick in 2012 on his mantle.

Collin Morikawa (14/1): Since his performance at the Masters, the two-time major champion has been in the weekly preview when entered. Not many hit more fairways, and that skill set travels. Previously a winner at Old Greenwood, Muirfield Village, and The Concession, I don’t have to sell his affinity for courses designed by the Golden Bear.

Patrick Cantlay (16/1): The only multiple BMW Championship winner in the field, the Californian will attempt to make it a hat trick of new venues where he has lifted the trophy. Balanced throughout the bag, he was one shot off last week of hitting the top 10 for the third time in four starts. Twice a winner at the Memorial, he also has an eye for Jack Nicklaus’ designs.

Hideki Matsuyama (18/1): Becoming the first Japanese player to win a FedExCup Playoffs event is another box checked off for the world superstar. Getting it over the finish line in Memphis last week without his regular caddy and coach should lift his confidence higher than the altitude this week. Nobody has won the first two Playoffs events since 2018.

Viktor Hovland (18/1): The defending champion at the event, the Norwegian picked up just his second top-10 payday of the year last week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Sitting six shots off the 54-hole lead, he posted his third consecutive round of 66 or better to share second. Only Cantlay has won consecutive BMW Championships.

Players to consider for Top 10 or Top 20 action:

Tony Finau (25/1): If a shootout breaks out, his putting must keep up. Growing up in Utah, playing at elevation won’t bother him.

Wyndham Clark (25/1): At media day earlier this year, the man who grew up in Denver and played out of Cherry Hills surmised he played over 25 rounds on this layout over the years. If there’s a home-state advantage, he owns it. Cashing T14 or better in four of his last five events on TOUR, including T7 last week, his story might already have been written.

Billy Horschel (40/1): The only player in this field to win a PGA TOUR event in Colorado, the Florida man has been racking up big finishes after his tough loss at The Open. His run of events in the top 10 hit three straight last week with T10 in Memphis.

Corey Conners (45/1): Sitting ninth in SG: Tee to Green and fifth SG: Approach I love him on unfamiliar greens.

Nick Dunlap (66/1): Won the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills last summer and played in the final group last week. Needing a par at the final hole to qualify for the BMW Championship, he held his nerve and cashed T5. The two-time winner plucked one of his victories at Old Greenwood, another Nicklaus course.

Max Greyserman (100/1): The 2023 winner at TPC Colorado at Heron Lakes, the runner-up at the 3M Open and Wyndham Championship, knocked out a KFT field last summer to punch his ticket to the PGA TOUR.

Castle Pines Golf Club

Opening in 1981, the Jack Nicklaus design 30 miles south of Denver hosted The INTERNATIONAL, a PGA TOUR stop in late summer from 1986-2006.

The 2006 edition tipped out at 7,619 yards and played to Par-72. For the 2024 BMW Championship, Nicklaus and Total Turf rebuilt all the tees and greens, and the new yardage on the scorecard is 8,130 yards.

Hosting the BMW Championship, or any FedExCup Playoffs event for the first time, the biggest ballpark used on TOUR EVER sits over 6,000 feet above sea level. Bent/Poa greens and Bent/Poa/Rye fairways and rough can survive the less-than-hospitable cold weather months.

The 77 bunkers, 10 water penalty areas, and four inches of Bluegrass/Fescue/Rye rough frames the fairways and putting surfaces. Over 400 feet of elevation changes and the altitude of Castle Pines will require committing to yardages and ball flights. The greens, 5,600 square feet on average, are tiered and are prepped to run at 13 feet on the Stimpmeter.

Only Adam Scott (2000) and Jason Day (2006) have played tournament golf at Castle Pines. Neither survived the cut to play the weekend, and the redesign should remove any memories of 18-plus years ago.

The ability to navigate elevation changes, uneven lies, and math conversions for yardages into greens, patience, experience, and execution from tee to green will be the key stats to follow this week.

NOW PLAYING: BMW Championship

Host Course	Castle Pines Golf Club
Yards (per official scorecard):	8,130.
Par:	72 (36-36).
Greens:	T1-Bentgrass/Poa annua; 5,600 square feet on average.
Stimpmeter:	13 feet and up.
Rough:	Bluegrass/Fescue/Rye at 4 inches.
Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play	77/10/10
Architect(s):	Jack Nicklaus (1981; 2006 and after).
Defending Champion (event):	Viktor Hovland.
Multiple Champion(s) Entered:	Patrick Cantlay (2022, 2021).
Multiple Champions (course):	None.
Fact of the Week:	At 8,130 yards, this is the longest course in the history of the PGA TOUR.

FedExCup Playoffs Event No. 2 – BMW Championship

The oldest non-major championship event on TOUR, the Western Open debuted in 1899 in Chicago.

The Playoffs began in 2007, and the Western Open evolved into the BMW Championship and continued rotating at courses throughout the Midwest and Mideast. The 2014 edition was played in the Denver suburbs at Cherry Hills Golf Club, the site of the famous 1960 U.S. Open. Billy Horschel won the event before winning the FedExCup Playoffs the following week at East Lake.

Viktor Hovland, the reigning event champion, won his first FedExCup Playoff event in 2023 at Olympia Fields North Course in the Chicago suburbs before winning the FedExCup Playoffs at East Lake.

Patrick Cantlay won the previous two editions at first-time host courses on the East Coast at Wilmington Country Club (Delaware) and Caves Valley Golf Club outside Baltimore.

Other BMW Championship winners in the field this week include Justin Thomas (2019, Medinah No. 3, Chicago), Keegan Bradley (2018, Aronimink, Philadelphia), Jason Day (2015, Conway Farms, Chicago), and Rory McIlroy (2012, Crooked Stick, Indianapolis).

The 50 players in the field this week will play all 72 holes (stroke play), and the top 30 after Sunday will qualify for The TOUR Championship at East Lake next week. All 50 players in the field have qualified for the eight Signature Events in 2025.

The winner will pocket $3.6 million of the $20 million prize pool plus 2,000 FedExCup points, quadruple the amount given to winners during the regular season. For the Playoffs, all point values are worth four times the amount awarded during the regular season.

Recent PGA TOUR 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	Robert MacIntyre (first time)
The 49^th Memorial Tournament	Scottie Scheffler (5)
124^th United States Open	Bryson DeChambeau
Travelers Championship	Scottie Scheffler (6)
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Cam Davis
John Deere Classic	Davis Thompson (first time)
Genesis Scottish Open	Robert MacIntyre (2)
152^nd Open Championship	Xander Schauffele (2)
3M Open	Jhonattan Vegas
2024 Paris Olympics	Scottie Scheffler
3M Open	Jhonattan Vegas
Wyndham Championship	Aaron Rai (first time)
FedEx St. Jude Championship	Hideki Matsuyama (2)

Recent Winners – BMW Championship

Italics – not entered/qualified this week.

Year	Winner	Notes
2023	Viktor Hovland	Stormed home with 61 on Sunday at Olympia Fields to erase a three-shot deficit entering the final round. First Playoffs victory.
2022	Patrick Cantlay (-14)	Successfully defended his 2021 championship at Wilmington CC.
2021	Patrick Cantlay (-27)	Needed six playoff holes to win and set the event tournament scoring record to par at Caves Valley GC.
2020	Jon Rahm (-4)	Defeated Dustin Johnson in a playoff at Olympia Fields.
2019	Justin Thomas (-25)	Destroyed the famous Medinah No. 3 and won by three over Cantlay.
2018	Keegan Bradley (-20)	Set the event scoring record total at Aronimink outside Philadelphia. Won in a playoff.

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
RBC Canadian Open	Mackenzie Hughes	295,316
49^th Memorial Tournament	Ben An	200,200
124^th United States Open	Xander Schauffele	639,289
Travelers Championship	Brian Harman	520,000
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Akshay Bhatia	616,400
John Deere Classic	Denny McCarthy	252,400
Genesis Scottish Open	Ludvig Aberg	330,750
152^nd Open Championship	Tommy Fleetwood	0
3M Open	Emiliano Grillo	61,695
Wyndham Championship	Sungjae Im	31,995
FedEx St. Jude Championship

Total Winnings:		10,574,677

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 – FedExCup Playoffs – FedEx St. Jude Championship

Two events left!

I’m playing Justin Thomas this week and Hideki Matsuyama next week.

No room for the Irishman Lowry or 2023 FedExCup Playoff champion Viktor Hovland.

TPC Southwind has produced an interesting list of winners over the years, both as a tune-up event before the U.S. Open (limited firepower fields) and in the five years as a WGC or FedExCup Playoff event.

Fortune favors the bold, and sadly those who have earned their places at the top of the heap. With no cut, all 70 players have a chance to pull an upset. I’d save the big hitters for ramping up next week into East Lake.

WHO WROTE THAT? WAS THAT ME???

Of my four choices left, I had the winner and T2 and went with the guy who cashed T30.

Yep, that’s me.

Again.

This Week – FedExCup Playoffs – BMW Championship

LAST CHANCE.

My choices, as of today, include:

Hideki Matsuyama (3)

Wyndham Clark (6) – Riding high with the hometown homey

Shane Lowry (11)

Robert MacIntyre (12)

Byeong Hun An (15)

Viktor Hovland (16)

Matthieu Pavon (20)

Aaron Rai (21)

OTHERS

Good luck!

FedEx Cup Playoffs – FedEx St. Jude Championship

August 14, 2024 / mikeglasscott / Leave a comment

FedExCup Playoffs – FedEx St. Jude Championship

Event No. 1

TPC Southwind

Memphis, Tennessee

Head to Golfbet for all our content each week.

Quick Links:

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

Mike Glasscott: FedExCup St. Jude Championship tips

Win: Sam Burns (40/1), Eric Cole (100/1)

Top 10: Hideki Matsuyama (9/4), Aaron Rai (16/5), Billy Horschel (16/5), Justin Thomas (16/5)

Top 20: Davis Thomspon (17/10), Adam Scott (3/2)

Bet365: Top of the Board

Scottie Scheffler (15/4): The only man in the field with a gold medal and six wins, he is still looking for his first top-10 payday in the land of Elvis. The Texan, ranked No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, is also hunting for his first Playoff title.

Xander Schauffele (8/1): The winner at East Lake in his rookie season of 2017, the two-time major champion is flying along this summer. Making his seventh start at TPC Southwind, his T6 from 2020 is the only finish inside the top 10. Only Scheffler has more top-10 results this season than the Californian.

Rory McIlroy (10/1): The summer of going close extended with T5 at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Close calls at the U.S. Open and Genesis Scottish Open suggest he’s honing in on another title. A big Sunday in 2023, posting 65 in the final, saw him miss the playoff by a shot and claim his best finish near the Big River. The three-time winner of the Playoffs knows this is a marathon, not a sprint. He’s never won the first event or at TPC Southwind.

Collin Morikawa (12/1): A winless 2024 sounds disappointing, but T23 or better since the second week in April paints a different picture. Arriving for the 2020 edition, he’s posted T26 or better, including T13-T5 over the last two editions, suggesting he’s comfortable in the heat and humidity of summer in West Tennessee. With some of the friendliest Champion Bermudagrass surfaces, he should be on the radar.

Ludvig Aberg (20/1): There’s no questioning his talent, but relying on the consistency to perform on the big stage event in and out might be weighing on him. Summers in Europe are different from the heat and humidity of the States.

Tommy Fleetwood (22/1): Did the silver medal performance in Paris spend the final gas in the tank? After missing the cut at The Open, the Englishman rode the wave of patriotism to the medal stand. Sitting at No. 32 in the Playoffs, a big result is not required this week. In four previous visits, he cashed T4 on debut in 2019 and missed the playoffs by a shot last year. Torn.

Patrick Cantlay (22/1): The 2021 FedExCup Playoffs winner returns to the scene of his 2023 playoff defeat by Lucas Glover (not qualified). Without a win on his ledger in 2024, the Californian flashed at Harbour Town (T3), another track with small greens, plus big paydays at Pinehurst No. 2 (T3) and TPC River Highlands (T5).

Hideki Matsuyama (25/1): Yet to win a Playoff event in his previous 10 years, last year was the first time the Japanese start did not make the top 30 at East Lake. Sitting eighth in the standings entering the week buoyed by a win at The Genesis Invitational at Riviera last winter, he will return to Georgia for the final in 2024. The bronze medal winner in Paris shared second after falling in a playoff in 2021.

Tom Kim (28/1): Finishing second in a playoff to his best friend Scheffler in Connecticut, the young Korean star has split time missing the cut or cashing inside the top 15 in his last four starts. A superb driver of the golf ball, his results of T24 last year and T13 suggest he’s comfortable in Memphis.

Players to consider for Top 10 or Top 20 action:

Billy Horschel (40/1): Nothing better than a front-row seat last week at Wyndham to inspire a big result on another course he plays well.

Justin Thomas (40/1): The winner here by three shots in 2020 has been playing himself into contention recently. Never worse than T26, the two-time major champion on Bermudagrass should feature this week.

Aaron Rai (40/1): The only blemish in his last five outings was playing the weekend and fading at The Open Championship. The first-time winner on TOUR last week in North Carolina will look to make it back-to-back titles. Anyone who hits that many fairways and greens cannot be omitted this week.

Sam Burns (50/1): The angle of picking apart a tee-to-green challenge won’t bother the two-time winner at Innisbrook. Knocked out in a playoff in 2021, I return to a guy with results on Bermudagrass.

Adam Scott (60/1): Ranked No. 46 entering the week, the Australian knows it is time to continue the form he found in Great Britain. Back-to-back top-10 paydays and a nice break will have him ready for the challenge this week.

Davis Thompson (70/1): The JDC winner knocked off the rust last week with T12 at Wyndham to register his 12^th top-25 payday of the season. Don’t tell anyone he is currently ninth in SG: Total!

Eric Cole (100/1): Sitting outside the top 50 (No. 54), the Florida man will look to add to his recent top-10 haul. Posting T7 or better in three of his last five events, including last weekend in Greensboro, he knows another big payday is required to continue in the Playoffs.

TPC Southwind

The 1998 design from Ron Prichard began a regular run on TOUR in 1989 and continues today. After graduating from a World Golf Championship event in the summer from 2019 through 2021, TPC Southwind will kick off the FedExCup Playoffs for the third consecutive year.

Like many courses in the hot and humid zone, TPC Southwind changed out Bentgrass greens to Champion Bermuda before the 2012 edition. The greens, on average spanning 4,200 square feet, are the third-smallest targets on TOUR annually and will run 12.5 and up on the Stimpmeter.

Tipping out at 7,243 yards and playing to Par-70, the test off the tee, into and around the greens is the challenge. Meyer Zoysiagrass fairways are framed by three inches of nest-y Bermuda rough and water penalty areas on 11 holes.

The Par-70 has one of the easiest pairs of Par-5 holes on TOUR. Last year, more than 53 percent of the field birdied the 579-yard challenge on the front and 530-yard shorty on the back. The four Par-3 holes didn’t provide much resistance either. With only one of the four playing over 200 yards, the quartet registered under par in 2023.

While most will score on the Par-3 and Par-5 holes, the dozen Par-4 chances will be the toughest test. Avoiding bogeys and keeping it between the lines on the four-shot chances provided parts of the winning formula in the last five seasons.

The average winning score over the last five editions, all limited field events, is 15.5 under par. The scoring average has been under par in all five tournaments.

Justin Rose signed for 61 in Round 3 last season, tying the course tournament record.

NOW PLAYING: FedEx St. Jude Championship

Host Course	TPC Southwind
Yards (per official scorecard):	7,243.
Par:	70 (30-35).
Greens:	Champion Bermuda; 4,300 square feet on average.
Stimpmeter:	12.5 feet and up.
Rough:	Bermuda at 2.5 inches and growing.
Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play	75/11/11.
Architect(s):	Ron Prichard (1988).
Defending Champion:	Lucas Glover (did not qualify)
Multiple Champion(s) Entered:	Will Zalatoris (2022).
Multiple Champions (course):	None.
Course Record:	61; Justin Rose (Round 3, 2023).
72 Hole Tournament Record:	264, (-16); last in 2021 (Abraham Ancer, not qualified).
Fact of the Week:	Only two of the five previous winners at TPC Southwind are in the field this week.

FedExCup Playoffs Event No. 1 – FedEx St. Jude Championship

Hosting for the first time in 1958, Memphis continues to be the home to a PGA TOUR event in 2024.

The Playoffs began in 2007 with a four-event series to determine the champion. Formally the Westchester Classic, the opening event of the Playoffs was contested on historic East Coast tracks until migrating to Memphis for the 2022 edition.

The first two winners of the Playoffs in Memphis featured fantastic ball-strikers Lucas Glover (not qualified) last year after Will Zalatoris won the first edition in 2022. Both winners needed a playoff to lift the trophy.

Justin Thomas, the winner of the World Golf Championship in 2020, is the only champion of three from that event entered this week.

The Playoff format changed with the 2023 edition. Only 70 players are eligible and that continues for the 2024 tournament.

The no-cut event guarantees four rounds of stroke play to push into the top 50 for The BMW Championship next week outside Denver.

Recent PGA TOUR 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	Robert MacIntyre (first time)
The 49^th Memorial Tournament	Scottie Scheffler (5)
124^th United States Open	Bryson DeChambeau
Travelers Championship	Scottie Scheffler (6)
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Cam Davis
John Deere Classic	Davis Thompson (first time)
Genesis Scottish Open	Robert MacIntyre (2)
152^nd Open Championship	Xander Schauffele (2)
3M Open	Jhonattan Vegas
2024 Paris Olympics	Scottie Scheffler
3M Open	Jhonattan Vegas
Wyndham Championship	Aaron Rai (first time)

Recent Winners – FedEx St. Jude Championship

Italics – not entered/qualified this week.

Year	Winner	Notes
2023	Lucas Glover (-15)	Needed a playoff to defeat Patrick Cantlay and win for the second consecutive week on TOUR. Did not qualify for the 2024 Playoffs.
2022	Will Zalatoris (-15)	Defeated Sepp Straka in a playoff to become just the second player to win for the first time on TOUR in the FedExCup Playoffs (Villegas, 2008 BMW).
2021	Abraham Ancer (-16)	Used extra holes to defeat Sam Burns and Hideki Matsuyama in the last edition of the WGC-FESJI.
2020	Justin Thomas (-13)	Winning by three shots, he was one of five players to post double digits under par for the event.
2019	Brooks Koepka (-16)	Won the first edition of the WGC-FESJC by three shots.

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
RBC Canadian Open	Mackenzie Hughes	295,316
49^th Memorial Tournament	Ben An	200,200
124^th United States Open	Xander Schauffele	639,289
Travelers Championship	Brian Harman	520,000
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Akshay Bhatia	616,400
John Deere Classic	Denny McCarthy	252,400
Genesis Scottish Open	Ludvig Aberg	330,750
152^nd Open Championship	Tommy Fleetwood	0
3M Open	Emiliano Grillo	61,695
Wyndham Championship	Sungjae Im	31,995

Total Winnings:		10,574,677

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 – Wyndham Championship

With just three weeks remaining, this is my favorite part of the season when I realize who I have forgotten to play.

I know I will have Justin Thomas, Viktor Hovland, and Hideki Matsuyama to choose from over the next two weeks. Oh, I didn’t use Shane Lowry, either. Banging.

Thankfully, Sungjae Im was not thrown to the wolves earlier in the season when he was floundering. It’s strange to have the betting favorite this late in the season, but I cannot complain.

You can’t win the last three events of the season if you don’t win the first one!

Sungjae Im (T41) – Big boy ran out of gas on the wonky schedule. Glad he waited for me to select him! Hope you used one of the selections below instead!

Others to consider

Billy Horschel – I’m not the biggest fan, and I have no idea how he will react after just missing out at Royal Troon, but he loves Sedgefield. Another top 10 finish (T7).

Shane Lowry – Fresh off his week in Paris, I’m glad I can wait. Posted 2-under and MC.

Si Woo Kim – One of the few, if any, former champions I would look at this week. Posted 2-OVER and MC.

May Greyserman – SOLO SECOND, Aaron Rai – WINNER, and Cam Davis – MC all deserve a look depending on your situation.

This Week – FedExCup Playoffs – FedEx St. Jude Championship

Two events left!

I’m playing Justin Thomas this week and Hideki Matsuyama next week.

No room for the Irishman Shane Lowry or 2023 FedExCup Playoff champion Viktor Hovland.

TPC Southwind has produced an interesting list of winners over the years both as a tune-up event before the U.S. Open (limited firepower fields) and in the five years as a WGC or FedExCup Playoff event.

Good luck!

Wyndham Championship

August 7, 2024 / mikeglasscott / Leave a comment

Wyndham Championship

Sedgefield Country Club

Greensboro, North Carolina

Head to Golfbet for all our content each week.

Quick Links:

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

Mike Glasscott: Wyndham Championship tips

Win: Cameron Young (30/1), Max Greyserman (100/1)

Top 10: Aaron Rai (4/1), Maverick McNealy (11/2)

Top 20: Matt Kuchar (14/2), Taylor Moore (3/1)

Top 40: Justin Suh (9/4), Webb Simpson (8/5)

Bet365: Top of the Board

Sungjae Im (12/1): Justifiably the favorite this week based on his recent form and course history alone. Cashing T12 or better in eight of his last 10 events, he’s racked up seven top-10 paydays for the season. In 20 rounds at Sedgefield, the Korean has signed for red numbers a whopping 19 times and adds three more finishes inside the top 10. Unafraid to make birdies, he checks all the boxes this week.

Shane Lowry (20/1): Forecasted wind and rain provide a familiar backdrop for the 2019 Open Champion. After picking up T19 at Pinehurst No. 2, he added top-10 results at TPC River Highlands and Royal Troon to cement his place throughout the FedExCup Playoffs (No. 10). Making his seventh start at Sedgefield, his best finish of T7 in 2017, the Irishman signed for T51 and T83 the last two years.

Si Woo Kim (22/1): The 2016 winner also has finished T2, T3, and fifth on the Par-70 layout. With only one top-10 paycheck this season, the Korean has cashed in 19 of 20 events based on the strength of his ball striking.

Billy Horschel (25/1): After holding the 54-hole lead at Royal Troon and finishing in a tie for second, the Floridian tees it up for the first time since coming close to winning his first major. Last year at the Wyndham Championship, he shot 62-63 in the middle two rounds to secure a spot in the final group. Posting 72 on Sunday, he faded to solo fourth, his fourth T11 start in his last five visits.

Cameron Young (30/1): One of a handful with Wake Forest University golf ties, the big hitter is the only player in the top choices without a victory on his resume. Making his first start at Sedgefield, his two best results of 2024 are both on Bermuda (2nd Valspar; T4 Cognizant Classic). With a win, he would become the third player in the last five years to win on debut.

Brian Harman (30/1): The second of two Claret Jug winners at the top of the board at Bet365.com, the Georgia native has only played the weekend four times from 10 starts in Greensboro. Returning to the event for the first time since T71 in 2022, the left-hander will find the sprinkler lines and look to run his streak of made cuts to 10 in a row.

Sedgefield Country Club

Located just 75 miles south of his home in Pinehurst, North Carolina, Donald Ross designed the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1926. Noted Ross restoration specialist Kris Spence returned the track to its original design before the PGA TOUR arrived in 2008.

Hosting for the 17th consecutive season, the Par-70 will play 7,131 yards for the fifth straight edition.

Providing targets of 6,000 square feet, on average, Champion Bermudagrass replaced the original Bentgrass greens before the 2012 tournament. The putting surfaces require a deft touch of mixing the proper speed with the right line. The winner this week will convert greens in regulation into birdies or better. Running 12 feet plus on the Stimpmeter, the putting surfaces are some of the most consistent and beloved Bermuda greens on TOUR.

The forecast of three inches of rain later in the week should result in thick, wet Bermuda rough off the fairways and surrounding the greens where closely mown areas do not feature. Sedgefield is the first tournament since Pinehurst No. 2 to feature Bermuda from tee to green.

The Par-70 provides two Par-5 chances, and neither stretches over 550 yards. The duo yielded birdies in 57 percent of the chances last season, one of the friendliest stops on TOUR.

The three meatiest Par-4 challenges reside on the inward nine. No. 11 is 486 yards, while No. 14 stretches to 504 before the final hole, the longest of the four-shotters tips at 507 yards.

The average winning score over the last eight years is 20-under-par, with seven champions posting 20-under or better. I’m looking for players who have no problem racking up GIR, holing birdie putts, and thriving in shoot-out conditions.

J.T. Poston matched the tournament scoring record with 22-under-par 258 in 2019. The North Carolina native did not record a bogey or worse for the week.

Brandt Snedeker, the only man to win the event at Forest Oaks (2007) and Sedgefield (2018) and the last man to win the event wire-to-wire, set the course record of 59 in Round 1 in 2018.

NOW PLAYING: Wyndham Championship

Host Course	Sedgefield Country Club
Yards (per official scorecard):	7,131.
Par:	70 (30-35).
Greens:	Champion Bermuda; 6,000 square feet on average.
Stimpmeter:	12.5 feet and up.
Rough:	Bermuda at 2.5 inches and growing.
Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play	52/5/6.
Architect(s):	Donald Ross (1926); Kris Spence (2007).
Defending Champion:	Lucas Glover, -20 (260).
Multiple Champion(s) Entered:	None.
Multiple Champions (event):	Brandt Snedeker (2018, 2007).
Course Record:	59; Brandt Snedeker, 2018 Round 1.
72 Hole Tournament Record:	258 (-22); last set by J.T. Poston in 2019.
Fact of the Week:	There are been no repeat winners or multiple winners at Sedgefield.
Fact of the Week II:	J.T. Poston did not register a bogey or worse in 2019.

Wyndham Championship

Since 1938, Greensboro, North Carolina, has hosted a PGA TOUR event, and the Wyndham Championship is the seventh-oldest tournament outside of the major championships.

Moving to Sedgefield Country Club from Forest Oaks in 2008, the event recognized 16 different champions from 16 tournaments, including six major champions.

The last eight winners featured six players 37 or older to lift the trophy, and the two youngest winners, 20-year-old Tom Kim in 2022 and 21-year-old Si Woo Kim in 2016.

Nine former champions are in the field this week

The FedExCup Playoffs have followed the event since its inception in 2007. Only three champions have played themselves into the Playoffs.

Led by 2023 winner Lucas Glover, the field consists of 156 players and features seven players from the Official World Golf Ranking top 30 and 21 players from the top 50.

After 36 holes, the field will be cut to the top 65 players and ties.

The winner will pocket $1.422 million of the $7.9 million prize pool plus 500 FedExCup points.

Recent PGA TOUR 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	Robert MacIntyre (first time)
The 49^th Memorial Tournament	Scottie Scheffler (5)
124^th United States Open	Bryson DeChambeau
Travelers Championship	Scottie Scheffler (6)
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Cam Davis
John Deere Classic	Davis Thompson (first time)
Genesis Scottish Open	Robert MacIntyre (2)
152^nd Open Championship	Xander Schauffele (2)
3M Open	Jhonattan Vegas
2024 Paris Olympics	Scottie Scheffler
3M Open	Jhonattan Vegas

Recent Winners – Wyndham Championship

Italics – not entered this week.

Year	Winner	Notes
2023	Lucas Glover (-20)	At 43, he became the sixth champion in the last eight to be 37 or older. One of three to win and get in the FedExCup Playoffs.
2022	Tom Kim (-20)	At 20 years old, the Korean became the youngest event winner.
2021	Kevin Kisner (-15)	Won a five-man playoff.
2020	Jim Herman (-21)	The 42-year-old held off Billy Horschel by a shot to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs.
2019	J.T. Poston (-22)	Tied the tournament scoring record and did not make a birdie recording his first victory on TOUR.
2018	Brandt Snedeker (-21)	Opened with 59 and won wire-to-wire.

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
RBC Canadian Open	Mackenzie Hughes	295,316
49^th Memorial Tournament	Ben An	200,200
124^th United States Open	Xander Schauffele	639,289
Travelers Championship	Brian Harman	520,000
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Akshay Bhatia	616,400
John Deere Classic	Denny McCarthy	252,400
Genesis Scottish Open	Ludvig Aberg	330,750
152^nd Open Championship	Tommy Fleetwood	0
3M Open	Emiliano Grillo	61,695

Total Winnings:		10,542,682

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 – No Game, No Recap

This Week – Wyndham Championship

With just three weeks remaining, this is my favorite part of the season when I realize who I have forgotten to play.

I know I will have Justin Thomas, Viktor Hovland, and Hideki Matsuyama to choose from over the next two weeks. Oh, I didn’t use Shane Lowry, either. Banging.

Thankfully, Sungjae Im was not thrown to the wolves earlier in the season when he was floundering. Having the betting favorite available this late in the season is odd, but I cannot complain.

You can’t win the last three events of the season if you don’t win the first one!

Others to consider

Billy Horschel – I’m not the biggest fan, and I have no idea how he will react after just missing out at Royal Troon, but he loves Sedgefield.

Shane Lowry – Fresh off his week in Paris, I’m glad I can wait.

Si Woo Kim – One of the few, if any, former champions I would look at this week.

May Greyserman, Aaron Rai, and Cam Davis deserve a look, depending on your situation and your game.

Good luck!

2024 Men’s Olympic Golf

July 31, 2024 / mikeglasscott / Leave a comment

Oui

Quatre!

Getting into the Olympic spirit 👏 pic.twitter.com/sZQqriDf7s
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 31, 2024

2024 Men’s Olympic Golf

Le Golf National

Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines, France

Head to Golfbet for all our content each week.

Quick Links:

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

Mike Glasscott: Olympics Tips

Win: Xander Schauffele (6/1), Jon Rahm (9/1)

Top 3: Collin Morikawa (4/1)

Top 5: Tommy Fleetwood (15/4), Alex Noren (9/2), Guido Migliozzi (11/1)

Top 10: Ryan Fox (4/1), Thorbjorn Olesen (4/1), CT Pan (7/1)

Bet365: Top of the Board

Scottie Scheffler (4/1): Don’t let the pictures on social media of the World Number 1 enjoying the events with his wife and child distract you. The Texan is always all business behind the scenes, but his only “struggles” this season have come on new courses to him. He posted T8, T41, and T7 during the three rotating majors, yet he posted all six wins on tracks he’s previously had success or reps. I’m running out of ways to express my disdain for playing the favorite!

Xander Schauffele (6/1): The reigning Olympics Men’s Golf champion, the Californian has plenty of winning stamps on his passport. The 2018 WGC-Champions winner in China has also won twice in Scotland, including the 2024 Open Championship. Other victories at The Sentry and East Lake against elite fields on difficult routings reinforce his class. If the lid is truly off, he will be the first player to win two gold medals in Men’s Golf.

Rory McIlroy (6/1): The only player from the top three choices to play this course in a tournament setting, the four-time major winner has unfinished business on this course and at this event. One of the seven men in the playoff for bronze in 2021, McIlroy has finished third and fourth in two visits to the Open de France and won the 2018 Ryder Cup.

Jon Rahm (9/1): Posting a top 10 in the final major of the season for the first time in 2024, the Spaniard is rounding into form. In two previous attempts at Le Golf National, the two-time major winner has cashed in the top 10 each visit. No longer bothered by a foot problem, he’s free to put the pedal to the metal and enjoy his first visit to the Olympic Games.

Collin Morikawa (11/1): One of the most demanding courses off the tee, the two-time major champion relishes the challenge. Not many hit it better off the peg, and his current form is of zero concern. Posting T16 or better in every event stretching back to the Masters, the only missing piece is a victory.

Ludvig Aberg (14/1): A season of firsts continues for the World Number 4. From The Sentry through THE PLAYERS and his first four major championships, I would not think another high-profile event would change his thought process or demeanor. All the players above him have more reps, but he has similar talent. Nobody will have an advantage on the greens this week; that won’t hurt his chances.

Players to consider for a medal or Top 10 action:

Tommy Fleetwood: Never having won in the USA or on the PGA TOUR, this would be the week for the breakthrough. A winner at the 2017 Open de France and 2018 Ryder Cup on this track, the Team Great Britain athlete is playing in his second Olympics.

Thorbjorn Olesen: One of five players from the victorious 2018 Ryder Cup team, the Dane has hit the top 10 four times in nine visits at Le Golf National, including T10 in 2023 and a runner-up payday on debut in 2010.

Alex Noren: Like Fleetwood, the Swede has not won on the PGA TOUR but has won in Europe and at this layout. The winner in 2018 returned two months later to help the European team win the Ryder Cup. Cashing T10 and T13 in his last two starts in Scotland, form isn’t an issue.

C.T. Pan: The Taiwanese star cashed T30 in Rio de Janeiro, fought off six others for bronze in Tokyo, and will make his third appearance.

Ryan Fox: One of four players to play in all three Olympics, the Kiwi has a pair of T18 or better paydays from five starts at Le Golf National in his memory bank. A big hitter, the putter covers this inaccuracy.

Guido Migliozzi: A winner seven weeks ago in Europe, he returns to the site of his 2022 victory. Cashing T4 and T14 in two visits to the U.S. Open suggests his game is designed for tough layouts.

NOW PLAYING: 2024 Men’s Olympic Golf

Host Course	Le Golf National
Yards (per official scorecard):	7,174.
Par:	71 (36-35).
Greens:	Creeping Bentgrass, Poa annua.
Stimpmeter:	“Olympic speed” per Kerry Haigh.
Rough:	Ryegrass, Fescue cut at three levels.
Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play	51/15/10
Architect(s):	Hubert Chesneau and Robert von Hagge (1990).
Defending Champion (event):	Xander Schauffele (2021, Tokyo Games).
Multiple Champion(s) Entered:	None.
Course Record:
72 Hole Tournament Record:
Fact of the Week:	Golf was not contested in the Olympics between 1904 and 2016.

Le Golf National

Designed in 1990 by architects Hubert Chesneau and Robert Von Hagge, the former pastureland in the southwest suburbs of Paris has served as the home of the Open de France since 1991.

The host of the 2018 Ryder Cup, the event will play 7,174 yards to Par-71 (36-35) for the Olympics.

The transformed farmland turned into rolling terrain with 10 water penalty areas. Trucked-in dirt from Paris created viewing areas, mounds, and slight elevation changes, especially around the greens. Narrow fairways are framed by three cuts of rough, the last layer of defense reaching four inches or better. Greens and fairways are protected by 51 bunkers plus water penalty areas spread over 10 holes.

Ball strikers who find the short grass off the tee will fire at flagsticks on the above-average green complexes. Creeping Bentgrass mixed with Poa annua is a familiar surface, and the greens average between 6,500 and 8,600 square feet. Those playing from off the fairways will have chances to recover. The greens will be rolling at “Olympic Speed” but I’ll remind you that the Women’s Olympic Golf tournament is slated to be played on this same course next week.

The powerful finish, a four-hole stretch featuring two island greens and two of the three longest Par-4 holes, Nos. 17 and 18 playing 480 and 471, respectively.

Since the 2016 renovation for the Ryder Cup, the winning score for the Open de France, the annual championship contested on the DP World Tour, has averaged just a shade over 12-under-par.

Guido Migliozzi, in the field this week, produced the lowest winning total, 16-under 268, during his 2022 victory.

Alex Noren, also in the field this week, produced the highest winning total, seven-under 277 when he won in 2018.

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	Robert MacIntyre (first time)
The 49^th Memorial Tournament	Scottie Scheffler (5)
124^th United States Open	Bryson DeChambeau
Travelers Championship	Scottie Scheffler (6)
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Cam Davis
John Deere Classic	Davis Thompson (first time)
Genesis Scottish Open	Robert MacIntyre (2)
152^nd Open Championship	Xander Schauffele (2)
3M Open	Jhonattan Vegas

Men’s Olympic Golf

Golf was abandoned after the 1904 edition in St. Lous but returned for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, won by Justin Rose (not entered).

The 2020 edition was postponed to 2021 to allow a safer environment in Tokyo. Xander Schauffele outlasted the field to win the gold medal at Kasumigaseki Country Club, and C.T. Pan won a seven-man playoff for the bronze medal.

Three former winners of the Open de France entered. Led by 2022 winner Guido Migliozzi, the field includes 2017 champion Tommy Fleetwood plus 2018 winner Alexander Noren.

The field consists of 60 players from 32 countries. The loaded event features the top seven players and ten of the top 15 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

All 60 players will play 72 holes of stroke play. There is no cut.

Schauffele and Pan are the only players in the field that have previously won a medal.

Any ties for medal consideration will be broken via playoff. From the International Golf Federation:

“If two athletes are tied for the lead after 72 holes, a hole-by-hole playoff will be conducted to determine the gold and silver medals, or if three or more athletes are tied for the first position, a playoff will be conducted to determine the gold, silver and bronze medals. If two or more athletes are tied for the second position, a playoff will be conducted to determine the silver and bronze medals. If two or more athletes are tied for the third position, a playoff will be conducted for the bronze medal. In any case, only one gold, one silver, and one bronze medal will be awarded.”

The gold medal winner will receive Official World Ranking Points, entry into all four major championships in 2025, and a spot in THE PLAYERS Championship. If a member of the PGA TOUR, the winner will be eligible for The Sentry in January.

Recent Winners – Men’s Olympic Golf

Italics – not entered this week.

Year	Winner	Notes
2021	Xander Schauffele	Became the second gold medal winner of the modern era winning in the homeland of his mother in Japan.
2016	Justin Rose	The Englishman held off Henrik Stenson and Matt Kuchar to win the first gold medal awarded in the sport since 1904.

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
RBC Canadian Open	Mackenzie Hughes	295,316
49^th Memorial Tournament	Ben An	200,200
124^th United States Open	Xander Schauffele	639,289
Travelers Championship	Brian Harman	520,000
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Akshay Bhatia	616,400
John Deere Classic	Denny McCarthy	252,400
Genesis Scottish Open	Ludvig Aberg	330,750
152^nd Open Championship	Tommy Fleetwood	0
3M Open	Emiliano Grillo	61,695

Total Winnings:		10,542,682

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 – 3M Open

Emiliano Grillo: Only Finau has more cache here. Vamos!

Others to consider:

Cam Davis, Taylor Pendrith, Luke Clanton (!), Tom Hoge, Mac Meissner.

Good luck and watch out for the mosquitos, the official state bird of Minnesota!

At some point, I will return to fading myself and guess better.

Cam Davis – T19

Taylor Pendrith – 5^th

Luke Clanton – MC

Tom Hoge – MC

Mac Meissner – T59

This Week – The Olympics

A week of rest, reflection, and regrets for a miserable season!

Back at it next week for the Wyndham Championship!

3M Open Preview

July 24, 2024 / mikeglasscott / Leave a comment

3M Open

TPC Twin Cities

Blaine, Minnesota

Head to Golfbet for all our content each week.

Quick Links:

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

Mike Glasscott: 3M Open Tips

Win: Cam Davis (33/1), Emiliano Grillo (50/1)

Top 10: Tom Hoge (19/5), Taylor Pendrith (19/5)

Top 20: JT Poston (8/5), Chan Kim (13/5), Rico Hoey (11/4)

Top 40: Henrik Norlander (2/1), Troy Merritt (23/10)

NOW PLAYING: 3M Open

Host Course	TPC Twin Cities
Yards (per official scorecard):	7,431
Par:	71 (35-36).
Greens:	Bentgrass; 6,500 square feet.
Stimpmeter:	12 feet plus.
Rough:	Bluegrass and Fescue at 4 inches.
Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play	75/27/15
Architect(s):	Arnold Palmer (2000); Steve Wenzloff (2018).
Defending Champion:	Lee Hodges (-24).
Multiple Champion(s) Entered:	None.
Course Record (last set):	62; Beau Hossler, Round 4, 2023.
72 Hole Tournament Record:	260; Lee Hodges, 2023.
Facts of the Week:	All winners are American.

TPC Twin Cities

The Arnold Palmer design from 2000 was brought up to PGA TOUR standards by Steve Wenzloff in 2018 before the inaugural event in 2019.

The former home of a PGA TOUR Champions event, the 2019 edition played Par-71 to 7,468 yards before changing to 7,431 yards for the subsequent four editions.

The 35-36 layout is a stock Par-71 with three Par-5 and four Par-3 holes. The Par-3 holes ranked under par (2.99) in 2023 and were one of the easiest quartets on TOUR. The Par-5 holes ranked T38, and the Par-4 holes came in at 4.01, T31 on TOUR.

The greenside bunkers and closely mown areas provide a worthy challenge for approach shots that miss the generous targets. TPC Twin Cities ranked 6th in Proximity From the Sand and 9th in Scrambling. Large Bentgrass greens averaging over 6,500 feet and running at 12 feet and beyond will test the matchup of line and speed with the flat stick.

Finding Fairways and GIR is the starting point to racking up circles on the card. The five winners have all posted four rounds in the 60s, and not many rounds above par end up in the top 10 after Sunday’s round is over. Warm and humid air makes the ball fly further and should put attacking clubs in the hands of the contenders.

2023 champion Lee Hodges set the tournament scoring record on 24-under 260. His seven-shot win produced the biggest margin of victory in history.

Beau Hossler posted 62 in Round 4 in 2023 to become the latest player to match the course record. Scott Piercy, also in the field this week, posted 62 in the first round of the first event in 2019.

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	Robert MacIntyre (first time)
The 49^th Memorial Tournament	Scottie Scheffler (5)
124^th United States Open	Bryson DeChambeau
Travelers Championship	Scottie Scheffler (6)
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Cam Davis
John Deere Classic	Davis Thompson (first time)
Genesis Scottish Open	Robert MacIntyre (2)
152^nd Open Championship	Xander Schauffele (2)

The 3M Open

Breaking on to the scene over the 4^th of July weekend in 2019, this will be the sixth edition at TPC Twin Cities, the only host of the event.

The field of 156 players includes nine of the top 50 from the Official World Golf Rankings.

Cutting the field to the top 65 and ties after 36 holes, the 2023 edition set the mark for the lowest cut at 4-under 138. The 2022 tournament is the only event with an over-par cut line(1-over).

Americans have won all five tournaments. The next international champion will be the first.

Hodges, Tony Finau, and Cameron Champ are the three previous winners in the field this week.

The previous five winners registered in the top 3 in Par-4 Scoring.

Three of the five winners led the event in SG: Tee to Green.

The winner will take home 500 FedExCup points plus $1.458 million from the $8.1 million purse.

The top 70 players at the end of play in two weeks (Wyndham Championship) will qualify for the 2024 FedExCup Playoffs.

Recent Winners – 3M Open

Italics – not entered this week.

Year	Winner	Notes
2023	Lee Hodges (-24)	Set the tournament scoring record and margin of victory mark. First TOUR victory.
2022	Tony Finau (-17)	Won by two shots over Emiliano Grillo.
2021	Cameron Champ (-15)	Posted the highest winning score in tournament history.
2020	Michael Thompson (-19)	Won by two shots over Adam Long and three over Tony Finau and Emiliano Grillo.
2019	Matthew Wolff (-21)	At 20, he’s the youngest champion in history.

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
RBC Canadian Open	Mackenzie Hughes	295,316
49^th Memorial Tournament	Ben An	200,200
124^th United States Open	Xander Schauffele	639,289
Travelers Championship	Brian Harman	520,000
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Akshay Bhatia	616,400
John Deere Classic	Denny McCarthy	252,400
Genesis Scottish Open	Ludvig Aberg	330,750

Total Winnings:		10,480,987

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 – Genesis Scottish Open

Another bad beat. Aberg was cruising along until the SUNDAY SCARIES knocked him back, again, this time to T4.

Guess I should have used MacIntyre!

Sad!

I have cashed $200k or more over the last *SEVEN WEEKS and have gone nowhere.

RBC Canadian Open	Mackenzie Hughes	295,316
49^th Memorial Tournament	Ben An	200,200
124^th United States Open	Xander Schauffele	639,289
Travelers Championship	Brian Harman	520,000
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Akshay Bhatia	616,400
John Deere Classic	Denny McCarthy	252,400
Genesis Scottish Open	Ludvig Aberg	330,750

What a format!

Last Week – The Open Championship

The weather, the links, the wind, the bad breaks, the pot bunkers, the draw, the haggis, what a show!

I have it down to Bryson DeChambeau, Tommy Fleetwood, and Tyrrell Hatton. I can make the case for all easily so this will come down to preference.

MY CHOICE: Tommy Fleetwood – MC

The pain. The suffering. The shouts of “C’mon Tommy lad”. I’m here for it.

Oh, and he’s on the wrong side of the draw as of this writing.

CAUTION IS THROWN TO THE WIND.

And the wind blew Tommy and my pick away.

Others to Consider (from who I have available):

Rose? After Rob Bolton telling me a top 5 here would not surprise him in the least bit… Nah

Horschel? Never fires in the majors. T2.

Rahm? Nah. Why do that! T7.

Lowry? Because I’m an absolute moron? T7.

Sungjae Im? Only his 403840834803^rd top 12 finish in the last 3 months.

Adam Scott? Another oldie but goodie!

Thankfully I played Schauffele at the U.S. Open, the only major of the season’s final three HE DIDN’T WIN.

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED???

This Week – 3M Open

Emiliano Grillo: Only Finau has more cache here. Vamos!

Others to consider:

Cam Davis, Taylor Pendrith, Luke Clanton (!), Tom Hoge, Mac Meissner.

Good luck and watch out for the mosquitos, the official state bird of Minnesota!

152nd Open Championship

July 17, 2024 / mikeglasscott / Leave a comment

Buckle up, have fun, and good luck!

Links rough is a key element in the battle between player and nature. pic.twitter.com/jjTwiDVQcT
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 17, 2024

152^nd Open Championship

Royal Troon Golf Club

Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland

Head to Golfbet for all our content each week.

Quick Links:

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

Head-to-Head Matchups

(projected winner in bold)

Cameron Young (even) v Sungjae Im

With three cuts made in the first three major championships of the season and top-ten paydays in his last two TOUR starts, I’ll gladly accept even money in this match-up. Young is making his third start in the last three years at golf’s oldest major championship and never cashed outside a share of eighth place. While the Korean, Im, is on fire, his heat has not translated to the three majors (0-3) this season or The Open (T20, best finish in 2023). This environment favors big players tee-to-green, especially if the weather joins the party.

Xander Schauffele (4/5) v Ludvig Aberg

Playing the favorite in this match-up is an easy decision for me. Cashing 26 times from 29 starts, the 2024 PGA Championship winner has cashed in the top 25 in 22 events with seven finishes in the top five. The Swedish star is playing in his fourth major in his career. Leading after 54 holes at the Genesis Scottish Open last week, the World Number 4 faded on Sunday. Schauffele, cashing T15, only made one bogey for the week.

Brian Harman (5/6) v Jordan Spieth

The immovable object versus the irresistible force! After missing the cut in four straight events, the left-handed Georgian played his T21-T6 trend into a victory at Royal Liverpool last year and joined the Texan as a Champion Golfer. Spieth has never missed the weekend in ten previous attempts, yet he has not fired on his favorite tracks in 2024. Harman’s steely determination and newly found links mastery should carry on after T21 last week and cashing in eight consecutive weekends. In his previous 11 rounds, the Texan, father of now two, has not posted anything better than T26.

Rory McIlroy (6/5) v Scottie Scheffler

Making his 15^th start on the links of the United Kingdom, the Northern Irishman owns the experience advantage. The 2014 winner at Royal Liverpool, the four-time major winner getting plus-money on his home continent resonates. Scheffler, making his third appearance at The Open, has a major championship under his belt already this season, a new baby, and an insurmountable lead in the FedExCup Playoffs. I know which of the two has the motivation and the crowd support.

NOW PLAYING: 152^nd Open Championship

Host Course	Royal Troon
Yards (per official scorecard):	7,385
Par:	71 (36-35).
Greens:	Fine Fescue.
Stimpmeter:	11 feet.
Rough:	Tall Fescue, Gorse.
Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play	Penal pot bunkers. Links course.
Architect(s):	James Braid (1922).
Defending Champion (course):	Henrik Stenson (-20; 264), 2016.
Defending Champion (event):	Brian Harman Royal Liverpool.
Multiple Champion(s) Entered:	Tiger Woods (3), Ernie Els (2), Padraig Harrington (2).
Course Record:	63; Henrik Stenson (Round 4, 2016) and Phil Mickelson (Round 1, 2016).
72 Hole Tournament Record:	264; Henrik Stenson (lowest Open total; T-lowest in relation to par).
Facts of the Week:	Two of the last three Opens set scoring records at the host course. Cam Smith -20 at St Andrews (2022) and Collin Morikawa -15 at St George’s (2021).

Royal Troon

George Strath and Willie Fernie expanded the original five holes to 18 holes in 1888. The five-time Open Champion, James Braid, redesigned the holes of the “old course” to prepare it for the 1923 Open Championship.

Royal Troon is hosting The Open for the 10th edition and for the first time since 2016. The track has added 195 yards to the scorecard and will play as the third-longest track in event history. The course features the longest Par-5 hole (No. 6, 623 yards) and shortest Par-3 hole (No. 8, 123 yards) in the Open Rota.

After ranking in the top five of most difficult courses played in 2004 (2^nd) and 2016 (4^th), the Par-71 (36-35) now extends to 7,385 yards.

The outward nine, with seven holes overlooking the Firth of Clyde, provides the scoring chances. The inward nine, nestled between the inland dunes and mounds, usually plays into the teeth of the northerly breeze and requires players to execute in difficult conditions.

The winners in 2016 (Henrik Stenson) and 2004 (Todd Hamilton – not entered) registered at the top of the standings in Fairways, GIR, and Bogey Avoidance.

Shaping shots in the weather and wind while avoiding pot bunkers and gorse, which frame the links, will be the key to success this week.

The last time The Open was at Royal Troon, Henrik Stenson posted 20-under-par 264 to set the tournament scoring record. Closing with a course-record tying-63 (10 birdies, two bogeys), he won by three shots over Phil Mickelson, who set the course record in Round 1. Remarkably, third place was 11 shots adrift of second, and there were only 17 players who broke par.

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	Robert MacIntyre (first time)
The 49^th Memorial Tournament	Scottie Scheffler (5)
124^th United States Open	Bryson DeChambeau
Travelers Championship	Scottie Scheffler (6)
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Cam Davis
John Deere Classic	Davis Thompson (first time)
Genesis Scottish Open	Robert MacIntyre (2)

The 152nd Open Championship

Dating back to 1860, Prestwick’s 12-hole course and a field of eight golfers began the journey to establish the oldest major championship in history.

The 2024 edition features a field of 158 players, thanks to the return of Justin Leonard (1997 winner) and Todd Hamilton (2004 winner at Royal Troon).

There are 19 previous winners competing this week, tied for the most since 2015 at St. Andrews.

All 50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking are entered and are joined by 12 amateurs, the most from the ranks of the non-professionals since 1987.

The field will be cut to the top SEVENTY and ties after 36 holes. The cut for the 2016 event was 4-over 146 while the cut for the 2004 edition was 3-over 145.

Since Ernie Els won his second Open title in 2012, all the winners to follow have won The Open for the first time.

Phil Mickelson won the 2013 Scottish Open and is the last winner to be victorious the following week at The Open Championship. Robert MacIntyre, the winner last week at the Genesis Scottish Open, will look to join this club.

The Last Time:

To win the week before a major championship and go on to win: Rory McIlroy at the 2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational followed by the 2014 PGA Championship.
To win consecutive majors in the same season: Jordan Spieth at the 2015 Masters followed by the U.S. Open.
To win The Open plus another major championship in the same season: McIlroy in 2014.
To win two majors in the same season: Brooks Koepka in 2018.
Bobby Jones is the last amateur to win The Open, 1930.

The winner will take home 750 FedExCup points plus $3.1 million from the $17 million purse.

Recent Winners – The Open

Italics – not entered this week.

Year	Winner	Notes
2023	Brian Harman (-13)	Won his first major championship cruising home by six shots.
2022	Cameron Smith (-20)	Won his first major championship by setting the tournament record at St Andrews.
2021	Collin Morikawa (-15)	For the second time in his career, he won a major championship on his first attempt. Also set the tournament scoring record at St George’s.
2020	No Event
2019	Shane Lowry (-15)	Won his first major championship by six shots at Royal Portrush in terrible weather.
2018	Francesco Molinari (-8)	Won his first major championship by two shots over Xander Schauffele, Justin Rose, and Rory McIlroy at Carnoustie.
2017	Jordan Spieth (-12)	Won his THIRD major and first Open at Royal Birkdale.

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
RBC Canadian Open	Mackenzie Hughes	295,316
49^th Memorial Tournament	Ben An	200,200
124^th United States Open	Xander Schauffele	639,289
Travelers Championship	Brian Harman	520,000
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Akshay Bhatia	616,400
John Deere Classic	Denny McCarthy	252,400
Genesis Scottish Open	Ludvig Aberg	330,750

Total Winnings:		10,480,987

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 – Genesis Scottish Open

Another bad beat. Aberg was cruising along until the SUNDAY SCARIES knocked him back, again this time, to T4.

Guess I should have used MacIntyre!

Sad!

I have cashed $200k or more over the last *SEVEN WEEKS and have gone nowhere.

RBC Canadian Open	Mackenzie Hughes	295,316
49^th Memorial Tournament	Ben An	200,200
124^th United States Open	Xander Schauffele	639,289
Travelers Championship	Brian Harman	520,000
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Akshay Bhatia	616,400
John Deere Classic	Denny McCarthy	252,400
Genesis Scottish Open	Ludvig Aberg	330,750

What a format!

MY CHOICE: Ludvig Aberg – T4

Not many hit it better tee-to-green and not many are in the field. One of the very few at the top of the tops who does not have anything to prove, I’m hoping his natural ability to knock the cover off the ball overwhelms this seaside track at only 7,237 yards.

Others to Consider (from who I have available):

Tommy Fleetwood: Nice record around here, tough laydown, but he is probably in the top spot next week. It could have been worse. I could have rostered T34!

Viktor Hovland: Or maybe it will be him next week. T46 with all four rounds under par.

Tom Kim: In two trips to East Gullane, he’s played in the final group, cashed T6, and was solo third in 2022 on debut. T15 doesn’t stink. He’s hot and hopefully is in the field at Sedgefield.

Hideki Matsuyama: If he wasn’t making his tournament debut, I’d be more inclined. I really hope he’s in the field on the way back at 3M in Minneapolis. MC.

Justin Thomas: He could be the TPC Southwind savior. T62. I’ll remind you his best finish at The Open is T11 with nothing else inside T40.

Aaron Rai: A wonderful backdoor top 10 with 63 in the final round. T4.

Robert MacIntyre: Maybe it will HIM next week! Well, shit, it was THIS week! WINNER

Sungjae Im: No wonder why I suck! Oh, wait, my last six weeks have all hit the top 15. NOT. GOOD. ENOUGH. Another week, another T12 or better, this time T4. He’s missed the cut at every major this season and has nothing better than T20 from three previous Opens.

Wyndham Clark: I guess I should have struck while the iron was hotter earlier in the season. I’ll save the home game in Denver for him. Speaking of backdoor top-10 paydays, Clark went one better than Rai, 62, to sneak into T10.

This Week – The Open Championship

The weather, the links, the wind, the bad breaks, the pot bunkers, the draw, the haggis, what a show!

I have it down to Bryson DeChambeau, Tommy Fleetwood, and Tyrrell Hatton. I can make the case for all easily so this will come down to preference.

MY CHOICE: Tommy Fleetwood

The pain. The suffering. The shouts of “C’mon Tommy lad”. I’m here for it.

Oh, and he’s on the wrong side of the draw as of this writing.

CAUTION IS THROWN TO THE WIND.

Others to Consider (from who I have available):

The list from above didn’t change.

I’d point out that the prize pools for the FedExCup Playoffs are bigger than the $17 million on offer this week.

The unpredictability of this event and its penchant for interesting winners makes it the most difficult to handicap.

Have fun, good luck, and set your alarm!

42nd Genesis Scottish Open

July 10, 2024 / mikeglasscott / Leave a comment

Genesis Scottish Open

The Renaissance Club

North Berwick, Scotland

Head to Golfbet for all our content each week.

Quick Links:

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

Mike Glasscott: Genesis Scottish Open Tips

Win: Aaron Rai (45/1), Ludvig Aberg (18/1)

Top 10: Tom Kim (3/1), Tommy Fleetwood (12/5)

Top 20: Jordan Smith (4/1), Tom McKibbin (3/1)

Top 40: Grant Forrest (33/10), Victor Perez (7/4)

NOW PLAYING: 42^nd Genesis Scottish Open

Host Course	The Renaissance Club
Yards (per official scorecard):	7,237
Par:	70 (35-35).
Greens:	Fine Fescue
Stimpmeter:	11 feet.
Rough:	Tall Fescue.
Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play	Links course.
Architect(s):	Tom Doak (2008).
Defending Champion:	Rory McIlroy (-15).
Multiple Champion(s) Entered:	None at The Renaissance Club.
Course Record	61; Byeong Hun An (Round 1, 2023; not entered 2024).
72 Hole Tournament Record:	262; Bernd Wiesberger (2019, -22 as Par-71).
Facts of the Week:	The Par-70 routing has five Par-3 holes and three Par-5 holes yet still plays 35-35.

The Renaissance Club

Built by Tom Doak in 2008, The Renaissance Club took over hosting duties for the 2019 tournament.

The links adjacent to the famous Muirfield on the Firth of Forth, originally played as a Par-71 at 7,138 yards. The 2024 tournament will play 7,237 yards for the third straight event.

The 35-35 layout features five Par-3 holes and three Par-5 holes. The inward nine contains three Par-3 holes and two Par-5 holes but still plays to 35 on the card.

With slightly over 61 feet of putts made per round, The Renaissance Club ranked No. 1 on TOUR in 2023.

Only Torrey Pines was stingier from inside 10 feet on the greens.

Large, fine fescue putting surfaces make it difficult to get approach shots close. Averaging just over 44 feet in regulation, The Renaissance Club ranked No. 1 on TOUR in 2023 in Proximity and was No. 2 in Proximity from the Fairway and Proximity from the rough.

The key to any links course is keeping the ball out of the tall fescue and bunkers. With large landing areas off the tee, and massive green complexes, errant shots will be punished, and bogeys will accumulate.

If the wind does not howl and the rain stays away, the Par-70 can be had. Last year, Byeong Hun An matched the course record of 61 in the first round. Bernd Wiesberger was the first to achieve 61 on his way to victory in the first edition at The Renaissance Club in 2019. The Austrian also holds the tournament scoring record (-22; 262).

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	Robert MacIntyre (first time)
The 49^th Memorial Tournament	Scottie Scheffler (5)
124^th United States Open	Bryson DeChambeau
Travelers Championship	Scottie Scheffler (6)
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Cam Davis
John Deere Classic	Davis Thompson (first time)

The 42nd Genesis Scottish Open

The event, dating back to the early 1970s, has provided a tune-up before The Open Championship since 1997. Since 2022 the tournament has featured a partnership with the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR.

The field of 156 players included 75 from the DP World Tour, three players from the KPGA, and six sponsor’s exemptions. The rest of the places are filled by the PGA TOUR.

Entered this week from the Official World Golf Ranking are six of the top seven players and 13 of the top 20.

The field will be cut to the top 65 and ties after 36 holes. The highest cut in the previous five events was five-under-par 139 in the first playing at The Renaissance Club in 2019.

The five previous winners have represented five different countries. None of the champions are from Scotland and all have previously won a professional event.

There are eight past champions in the field, including all five from The Renaissance Club.

The previous five winners registered in the top four of SG: Tee to Green.

Phil Mickelson won the 2013 Scottish Open and is the last winner to be victorious the following week at The Open Championship.

The winner will take home 500 FedExCup points plus $1.62 million from the $9 million purse.

The top THREE players not already qualified will qualify for the 152^nd Open Championship at Royal Troon.

Recent Winners – Genesis Scottish Open

Italics – not entered this week.

Year	Winner	Notes
2023	Rory McIlroy (-15)	Led by two after 54 holes but needed a 2-iron to 11 feet, plus the birdie putt, to avoid a playoff with Scotsman Robert MacIntyre.
2022	Xander Schauffele (-7)	Posting 65-66 in the middle two rounds, the Californian posted 70 in the final round to win by a shot over Kurt Kitayama.
2021	Min Woo Lee (-18)	Knocked out Thomas Detry and Matt Fitzpatrick in a playoff to win for the first time outside his native Australia.
2020	Aaron Rai (-11)	Defeated Tommy Fleetwood in a playoff in the only October event.
2019	Bernd Wiesberger (-22)	Opening with 61, the Austrian set the tournament scoring record on 22-under and won by a shot.

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
RBC Canadian Open	Mackenzie Hughes	295,316
49^th Memorial Tournament	Ben An	200,200
124^th United States Open	Xander Schauffele	639,289
Travelers Championship	Brian Harman	520,000
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Akshay Bhatia	616,400
John Deere Classic	Denny McCarthy	252,400

Total Winnings:		9,897,837

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 – John Deere Classic

Bit of a dog’s breakfast this week with only six players from the top 50 OWGR in the event.

If you’re taking a risk, you will have plenty of choices!

Eight of the last ten winners were 30 or younger, but veterans Lucas Glover and Ryan Moore also regained form.

MY CHOICE: Denny McCarthy – T7

For the first time in three years, he did not finish T6 on 16-under-par!

This time, he signed for 21-under and finished WORSE!

Oh John Deere Classic, you rascal, NEVER CHANGE!

Others to Consider (from who I have available):

Davis Thompson – If I had a dollar for every time I’ve guessed wrong, I’d have at least two dollars. Smoked the field by four and set a new tournament record (-28) after cashing T2 in Detroit. Nice fortnight!

Adam Schenk – Adds another “nothing” to his all-or-nothing at TPC Deere Run. MC

Aaron Rai – The former champion at The Renaissance Club comes in hot after T2 at Detroit was followed by T7 at JDC. CONVERGING TRENDS!

Eric Cole – I wrote two weeks ago I thought he was heating up. He followed T6 at Detroit with T7 at JDC.

Sam Stevens – Cashing in nine of his last 10, I couldn’t find another T10 to add (T34).

Patrick Rodgers – Another Midwesterner who didn’t fire in his own backyard. T34.

This Week – Genesis Scottish Open

The OWGR Top 50 has 33 players represented. This game only has six more weeks remaining. Time to start shooting off the big fireworks!

With two enormous names winning the previous two editions, I’ll remind you that The Open and the two FedExCup Playoff events provide the biggest three paydays.

Insightful, I know.

With no chance of winning or even hitting the money, I am throwing caution AND rationale to the wind.

Some might say, “what’s the difference from the last 28 weeks?”

I have cashed $200k or more over the last SIX WEEKS and have gone nowhere.

RBC Canadian Open	Mackenzie Hughes	295,316
49^th Memorial Tournament	Ben An	200,200
124^th United States Open	Xander Schauffele	639,289
Travelers Championship	Brian Harman	520,000
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Akshay Bhatia	616,400
John Deere Classic	Denny McCarthy	252,400

What a format!

MY CHOICE: Ludvig Aberg

Not many hit it better tee-to-green and not many are in the field. One of the few at the top of the tops who does not have anything to prove, I’m hoping his natural ability to knock the cover off the ball overwhelms this seaside track at only 7,237 yards.

Others to Consider (from who I have available):

Tommy Fleetwood: A nice record around here, he’s a tough laydown, but he is probably in the top spot next week. Maybe.

Viktor Hovland: Or maybe it will be him next week.

Tom Kim: In two trips to East Gullane, he’s played in the final group, cashed T6, and was solo third in 2022 on debut.

Hideki Matsuyama: I would be more inclined if he was not debuting this week. I hope he’s in the field on the way to the USA at 3M Open in Minneapolis.

Justin Thomas: He could be the TPC Southwind savior.

Aaron Rai: See above.

Robert MacIntyre: Maybe it will HIM next week!

Sungjae Im: No wonder why I suck! Oh, wait, my last six weeks have all hit the top 15. NOT. GOOD. ENOUGH.

Wyndham Clark: I should have struck while the iron was hotter earlier in the season. I’ll save the home game in Denver for him.

John Deere Classic Preview

July 3, 2024 / mikeglasscott / Leave a comment

Setting the scene in Silvis ⛳️ pic.twitter.com/Xm6quqGd8K
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 2, 2024

John Deere Classic

TPC Deere Run

Silvis, Illinois

Head to Golfbet for all our content each week.

Quick Links:

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

Mike Glasscott: John Deere Classic Tips

Win: Denny McCarthy (20/1), Davis Thompson (25/1)

Top 10: Adam Schenk (25/4), Seamus Power (47/10), Maverick McNealy (3/1)

Top 20: Sam Stevens (9/4), Patton Kizzire (10/3)

Top 40: Zach Johnson (9/5)

NOW PLAYING: John Deere Classic

Host Course	TPC Deere Run
Yards (per official scorecard):	7,289
Par:	71 (35-36).
Greens:	L93 Bentgrass; 5,500 square feet.
Stimpmeter:	12 feet and up.
Rough:	Kentucky Bluegrass and Fescue at four inches and growing.
Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play	78/3/3
Architect(s):	D.A. Weibring (1999).
Defending Champion:	Sepp Straka.
Multiple Champion(s) Entered:	Jordan Spieth (2013, 2015).
Course Record	59; Paul Goydos (Round 1, 2010).
72 Hole Tournament Record:	257; Michael Kim (27-under).
Facts of the Week:	The winning score has been 16-under or lower in the previous 23 editions.

TPC Deere Run

TPC Deere Run assumed hosting duties for the 2000 edition of the John Deere Classic. Designed by three-time winner and Illinois native D.A. Weibring, the Par-71 will play 7,289 yards for the third consecutive season.

The 35-36 layout features two Par-5 holes on the inward nine.

The Par-3 holes, four in total, played under par (2.99) for the 2023 edition.

The Par-4 holes also played under par (3.99) last season.

The winning score over the last 14 editions has been 18-under-par or lower.

Defending the wide fairways are four inches of Kentucky Bluegrass and Fescue. The 5,500 square foot greens are L-93 Bentgrass and are some of the most receptive and true-rolling on TOUR. Plenty of birdie putts will be holed this week.

Avoiding the 78 bunkers, ravines, and three water penalty areas will make for a successful week if the putter is hot.

Paul Goydos set the course record with an opening round 59 in 2010. Plenty of low rounds, weather permitting, could be in play again this week. The last three winners have all shared or owned the lowest round of the week.

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	Robert MacIntyre (first time)
The 49^th Memorial Tournament	Scottie Scheffler (5)
124^th United States Open	Bryson DeChambeau
Travelers Championship	Scottie Scheffler (6)
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Cam Davis

John Deere Classic

The PGA TOUR remains in the Midwest for the 53^rd edition of the John Deere Classic.

Over the last decade, eight of the last ten winners have been 30 years old or younger, including five of the previous six.

After three consecutive weeks of Signature Event-Major Championship-Signature Event, the field of 156 players includes just six of the 50 in the Official World Golf rankings, led by No. 24 and defending champion Sepp Straka.

The field will be cut to the top 65 and ties after 36 holes. The highest cut in the previous five events is three-under par 139.

Sepp Straka was just the fifth international champion to be crowned in 23 previous events.

Frittelli and 2018 tournament record-setter Michael Kim are the last two players to break their maiden at this event on the PGA TOUR.

JT Poston, the champion in 2022, was the first player in 30 years to go wire-to-wire.

There are nine past champions in the field.

In the last decade, eight winners have ranked in the top six in Ball Striking, and seven have ranked in the top seven in Putting: Birdie or Better Conversion Percentage. The more fairways and greens, the more birdies or better!

Jordan Spieth (2015, 2013) joins Steve Stricker (not entered; 2009-2011) as the only multiple winners at TPC Deere Run. Playing this week, he has not entered since winning the 2015 event.

The winner will take home 500 FedExCup points plus $1.454 million from the $8 million purse.

The top two players not already qualified will qualify for the 152^nd Open Championship at Royal Troon.

There are only five weeks left to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs!

Recent Winners – John Deere Classic

Italics – not entered this week.

Year	Winner	Notes
2023	Sepp Straka (-21)	Posted 62 in the final round with a double bogey on the final hole to win by two.
2022	J.T. Poston (-21)	Opened 62-65 and was never bothered.
2021	Lucas Glover (-19)	Began the final round T12 and four shots back. Posted 64 on Sunday and won by two.
2020	No event
2019	Dylan Frittelli (-21)	Signed for one bogey in his first TOUR victory.
2018	Michael Kim (-27)	Led the field in Ball Striking and SG: Putting to set the tournament scoring record in his first TOUR victory.

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
RBC Canadian Open	Mackenzie Hughes	295,316
49^th Memorial Tournament	Ben An	200,200
124^th United States Open	Xander Schauffele	639,289
Travelers Championship	Brian Harman	520,000
Rocket Mortgage Classic	Akshay Bhatia	616,400

Total Winnings:		9,897,837

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 – Rocket Mortgage Classic

MY CHOICE: Akshay Bhatia – T2

Trending perfectly upon arrival, the winner at Valero is probably playing his last event until The Open Championship. Posting three rounds or better of 65 at the Travelers, he’s ready for another shoot-out this week. Banging fairways and greens is his foundation and that always plays in a low-scoring affair. Circling 22 birdies and an eagle last week, that is the recipe again for the RMC.

The first-round leader had the best of it for most of the first 63 holes. Needing a birdie from less than 10 feet on the penultimate hole would have given him the lead. Needing a par from fewer than six feet on the final hole would have forced a playoff. Picking the wrong time to three-putt for the first time all week, none of the above happened.

Adding insult to injury, he shared second place with THREE OTHERS, reducing the podium return.

I hate this game.

Others to Consider (from who I have available):

Tom Kim: The Korean did everything but win last week. Splitting hairs, but I’ll take the additional power this week with 500 more yards of golf course. MC

Cameron Young: In his only appearance in 2022 he finished tied for second and posted 63 in Round 2. Firing 59 last week and holing putts should have plenty of attention on him this time. Let’s see, he broke his shaft on his driver on the back nine, missed five putts inside 10 feet, and still finished T6.

Stephan Jaeger: The German is the safest play on the board this week. With a pair of top-10 paydays over the last two seasons, I won’t talk you out of him. Steady spaghetti. Another who missed the cut, opening with 75 was a quick, painless death.

Taylor Pendrith/Davis Thompson: Big sticks and solid putters. The Canadian didn’t break 70, but the Georgia man posted the lowest score on the weekend (134) and shared second.

This Week – John Deere Classic

Bit of a dog’s breakfast this week with only six players from the top 50 OWGR in the event.

Plenty of choices for the risk-takers this week!

Eight of the last ten winners were 30 or younger, but veterans Lucas Glover and Ryan Moore also regained form.

MY CHOICE: Denny McCarthy

Others to Consider (from who I have available):

Davis Thompson

Adam Schenk

Aaron Rai

Eric Cole

Sam Stevens

Patrick Rodgers

Rocket Mortgage Classic Preview

June 26, 2024 / mikeglasscott / Leave a comment

There indeed is only one way… TO ROCK

Rocket Mortgage Classic

Detroit Golf Club

Detroit, Michigan

Head to Golfbet for all our content each week.

Quick Links:

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

Mike Glasscott: Rocket Mortgage Classic Tips

Win: Akshay Bhatia (20/1), Taylor Pendrith (28/1)

Top 10: Aaron Rai (15/4), Matt Wallace (11/2), Stephan Jaeger (16/5)

Top 20: Chandler Phillips (17/4), Troy Merritt (19/4), Jackson Koivun (11/2)

Mike Glasscott: Rocket Mortgage Classic Tips

Win: Akshay Bhatia (20/1), Taylor Pendrith (28/1)

Top 10: Aaron Rai (15/4), Matt Wallace (11/2), Stephan Jaeger (16/5)

Top 20: Chandler Phillips (17/4), Troy Merritt (19/4), Jackson Koivun (11/2)

NOW PLAYING: Rocket Mortgage Classic

Host Course	Detroit Golf Club
Yards (per official scorecard):	7,370
Par:	72 (36-36).
Greens:	Bent/Poa at 5,150 square feet on average.
Stimpmeter:	Pushing 12 feet.
Rough:	Kentucky Bluegrass at four inches and growing.
Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play	87/1/1.
Architect(s):	Donald Ross (1916).
Defending Champion:	Rickie Fowler
Multiple Champion(s) Entered:	None.
Course Record	63; Multiple players. Stephan Jaeger Round 4 2023.
72 Hole Tournament Record:	262; Tony Finau (-26, 2022).
Facts of the Week:	Second of four Donald Ross designs used on TOUR for 2024.

Detroit Golf Club

The Donald Ross design from 1916 has survived the test of time but will be restored after the tournament ends next summer. Using 17 holes from the North Course and just one from the South Course, the composite course, a standard Par-72, plays 7,370 yards and has been turned over in four of five previous editions.

Previous Winners	Score	Par	Yards	Rank	Avg
2023 Rickie Fowler*	-24	72	7,370	49	69.919
2022 Tony Finau	-26	72	7,370	38	70.397
2021 Cam Davis*	-18	72	7,370	40	70.551
2020 Bryson DeChambeau	-23	72	7,340	40	70.051
2019 Nate Lashley	-25	72	7,340	42	70.113

Winner in a playoff is indicated with * – Italics = not entered this week

When the wind doesn’t blow, the soft, receptive greens, sloped from back to front in classic Ross style, can be had putting from below the hole.

Last year, the Par-5 holes produced birdies just over 50 percent of the time.

Half of the Par-4 holes measure less than 425 yards and can be attacked with wedges.

Only two of the four Par-3 holes measure over 200 yards. The other two are less than 175 yards.

The major defense is rough, four inches and growing of lush, wet, Kentucky Bluegrass, and any wind that will stymie iron play into the Bent/Poa mixed greens, smallish on average at 5,150 square feet.

There is only one water penalty area, and 87 bunkers slow down the scoring.

The course record is 63, last set in 2023 by Stephan Jaeger in Round 4. He is one of nine players to share the lowest round. 2019 winner Nate Lashley posted 63 twice during his march to a six-shot win.

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	Robert MacIntyre (first time)
The 49^th Memorial Tournament	Scottie Scheffler (5)
124^th United States Open	Bryson DeChambeau
Travelers Championship	Scottie Scheffler (6)

Rocket Mortgage Classic

The sixth consecutive event at Detroit Golf Club, three of the five previous winners are teeing it up this week.

Five previous tournaments have crowned five different winners and two were 100-1 or better before the event.

After three consecutive weeks of Signature Event-Major Championship-Signature Event, the field of 156 players includes just 10 of the 50 in the Official World Golf rankings, led by No. 16 Tom Kim.

The field will be cut to the top 65 and ties after 36 holes. The highest cut in the previous five events is three-under par 141.

Australian Cam Davis is the only international winner.

All five winners have ranked in the top 5 in Par-5 scoring and posted 23 or more birdies.

First-time winners include Davis and Lashley.

The winner will take home 500 FedExCup points plus $1.656 million from the $9.2 million purse.

There are only six weeks left to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs!

Recent Winners – Rocket Mortgage Classic

Italics – not entered this week.

Year	Winner	Notes
2023	Rickie Fowler (-24*)	Defeated Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa, both not entered, in a playoff to win for the first time in four years.
2022	Tony Finau (-26)	Winning by five shots, he set the tournament scoring record and won for the second consecutive week on TOUR.
2021	Cam Davis (-18*)	Defeated Troy Merritt and Joaquin Niemann in a playoff to win for the first time on TOUR.
2020	Bryson DeChambeau (-23)	Won by three shots and was five clear of Kevin Kisner in third place.
2019	Nate Lashley (-25)	Set the course record of 63 twice, in Rounds 1 and 3, and won by six.

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
RBC Canadian Open	Mackenzie Hughes	295,316
49^th Memorial Tournament	Ben An	200,200
124^th United States Open	Xander Schauffele	639,289
Travelers Championship	Brian Harman	520,000

Total Winnings:		9,281,437

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 – Travelers Championship

The final Signature Event!

MY CHOICE: Brian Harman – T9

When you are as bad as I am, you play the SAFEST play, not the guy you believe will win.

I hate this game.

There are two theories this week. Play the hot guys or play guys who didn’t have to grind all four rounds in 90-plus-degree temperatures at Pinehurst.

To reinforce how low one must go at Travelers, Harman posted all four rounds in the 60s, played the weekend 65-62, and barely hit the top 10. His round of 62 on Sunday was not even the lowest recorded. Sepp Straka took that honor with 61.

Here are the winners from the Signature Events:

Chris Kirks (Sentry)

Wyndham Clark (Pebble Beach)

Hideki Matsuyama (Genesis)

Scottie Scheffler (Arnold Palmer)

Scottie Scheffler (RBC Heritage)

Rory McIlroy (Wells Fargo)

Scottie Scheffler (Memorial)

Scottie Scheffler (Travelers)

Pretty dominant by the OWGR No. 1

Others to Consider (from who I have available):

Hideki Matsuyama: I can’t argue his form or course form. Last time he played three weeks in a row he cashed T71. The fourth week in a row? He won The Genesis Invitational. Posting all four rounds in the 60s was good enough for T23.

Ludvig Aberg: At some point, I’ll pull the trigger. Some will argue it should be this week. I’m pointing to the demanding TPC Southwind in the first round of the FedExCup Playoffs. The ol’ 62-71 weekend ain’t gonna cut it here. T27.

Justin Thomas: Saving him for the hottest dog days of summer. One shot better than Harman and almost $200 grand wealthier. Sad! T5.

Tommy Fleetwood: Passport events only. All four rounds of 67 or better was good enough for 15^th.

Keegan Bradley: The defending champion usually plays well in this part of the world. I will not talk you out of playing him, but nobody has defended the title here since Mickelson in 2001-02. T39 and Mickelson is the only player to successfully defend the title this century.

Sepp Straka: Too many good results in too many big events. All he needed was 61 on Sunday to crack the top 25! T23.

This Week – Rocket Mortgage Classic

Welcome back to the rank and file!

Those not eligible for the Signature Events or did not qualify for the U.S. Open have had three weeks off to tune up their games for the six-week run-in that starts in Detroit.

Remember, only the top 70 qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs.

MY CHOICE: Akshay Bhatia

Trending perfectly upon arrival, the winner at Valero is probably playing his last event until The Open Championship. Posting three rounds or better of 65 at the Travelers, he’s ready for another shoot-out this week. Banging fairways and greens is his foundation, which always plays in a low-scoring affair. Circling 22 birdies and an eagle last week, that is the recipe again for the RMC.

Others to Consider (from who I have available):

Tom Kim: The Korean did everything but win last week. I’m splitting hairs, but I’ll take the additional power this week with 500 more yards of golf course.

Cameron Young: In his only appearance in 2022 he finished tied for second and posted 63 in Round 2. Firing 59 last week and holing putts should have plenty of attention on him this time.

Stephan Jaeger: The German is the safest play on the board this week. With a pair of top-10 paydays over the last two seasons, I won’t talk you out of him. Steady spaghetti.

Taylor Pendrith/Davis Thompson: Big sticks and solid putters.

Travelers Championship Preview

June 19, 2024 / mikeglasscott / Leave a comment

73^rd Travelers Championship

TPC River Highlands

Cromwell, Connecticut

Head to Golfbet for all our content each week.

Quick Links:

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

Mike Glasscott: Travelers Championship Tips

Win: Patrick Cantlay (18/1), Tony Finau (25/1)

Top 10: Brian Harman (14/5), Corey Conners (14/5)

Top 20: Keegan Bradley (13/10), Ben Griffin (23/10)

Tony Finau (-138) v Wyndham Clark

This matchup is a story of two players going in two different directions. Finau has rattled off seven consecutive cuts, including five paydays of T18 or better. After watching his on-course interview during the round on Saturday, he seems at peace with his life and game.

Clark became the first player since 2009 (Lucas Glover) to win the U.S. Open the first time he made the cut (third attempt). The defending champion has a win this season at Pebble Beach but has missed the cut in three of his last five events, including both majors and last week at Memorial. Tossing in the responsibilities of being the defending champion and the extra duties that come with all the requests before the event starts doesn’t leave much time to tune up the golf game.

Sepp Straka (-110) v Jason Day

If this was Jason Day circa 2014, I would be all over the Australian and his chances. Cashing five times in the top 10 from his first six attempts, the 2015 PGA Champion has only made two cuts in his last five starts at this major. His fantastic short game will get plenty of opportunities this week.

Straka is hotter than a match. Back-to-back T5 paydays at two of the most demanding tracks on TOUR, Muirfield Village, and Colonial added to his streak of T16 or better finishes since St. Patrick’s Day. The Austrian has not been bothered by big fields or difficult tracks and has a more well-rounded bag.

Matt Fitzpatrick (-125) v Max Homa

I’m keeping this one simple: I’m riding with the 2022 champion at The Country Club because he’s the better driver of the golf ball and it’s not close. Ranking ninth in Total Driving to Homa’s 90^th, I’ll lean on the guy who can reduce stress off the tee. The U.S. Open is not an event to spray the ball everywhere off the tee is conducive to contending. In nine previous attempts, the Englishman has played the weekend. Homa, making his fifth start, has played the weekend once (T47) and owns at 73.92 scoring average.

Bet365: Top of the Board

Scottie Scheffler (7/2): At least it is something new and different this week! The last time the Texan finished outside the top 25 (T41 at Pinehurst) was last summer at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in the first FedExCup Playoffs event. Cashing T31, he returned the following week at The BMW Championship outside Chicago and finished T2. Last week, the books claimed their revenge for the first time since January. Our reward is getting him at the same price if we choose to play. Finishing in a share of fourth place last year, the five-time winner this season posted his best result from four visits.

Xander Schauffele (7/1): In 14 events this season, the PGA Championship winner has taken home money in the top 10 in all but three events. The 2022 champion at TPC River Highlands has never finished outside T20 in four events where he has played the weekend. With top-10 finishes in the two events after winning his first major, he does not appear distracted or satisfied.

Collin Morikawa (11/1): Returning to the event where he made his professional debut in 2019, that edition is the only one from three where he played the weekend. He won’t have to worry about the weekend this year since it’s a no-cut event, and he can focus on continuing his excellent play since the Masters. I’d expect his iron game to recalibrate and for him to contend.

Ludvig Aberg (12/1): The first two steps in a tournament that requires a low number to win are finding fairways and pinning GIR. He sits in the top 15 in SG: Tee to Green and is familiar with the track. Making his second start as a professional here last year, he cashed T24 after three rounds in the 60s.

Viktor Hovland (18/1): The Norwegian is getting closer, but missing the cut with 78-68 last week still has me scratching my head. Inconsistent iron play leads to having to scramble, and that’s not his strength. After hitting just 19 of 36 GIR last week, I’d expect a turnaround in a parkland setting.

Patrick Cantlay (18/1): Converging trends! An excellent week on approach at Pinehurst produced his best U.S. Open finish (T3) and should translate to TPC River Highlands. Last year, he cashed T4, his sixth consecutive T15 or better, yet a first top-10.

Hideki Matsuyama (25/1): The Japanese star closed 64-65-66 on debut last year for T13. Entering the week off back-to-back top-10 paydays on two difficult courses, his excellent 2024 rolls on.

Tony Finau (25/1): Over the last four events, his trend is T18-T17-T8-T3. The next step is returning to the winner’s circle. TPC River Highlands has produced up-and-down results, but as well as he is currently hitting it, I’d be surprised if he finished outside the top 10.

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

Brian Harman (35/1): The 2023 runner-up picked up his sixth top-10 payday from his last nine starts. He’s the course horse this week.

Corey Conners (35/1): Last year, 17-under BARELY returned top-10 money (T9). The Canadian has had an excellent late spring and will represent his country in Paris at the Summer Olympics. Cashing in 17 straight this season, his last three (T9-T20-T6) contain both of his top-10 paydays.

Keegan Bradley (50/1): The last two winners have posted T19 in defense. The home game for the Vermont native should produce another big finish.

Cameron Young (70/1): The Westchester, New York, native will have plenty of fans in Cromwell. A home game plus a birdie fest should fire him up.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout (80/1): Sitting 13^th SG: Total, he also makes plenty of birdies on Par-4 holes. Making his debut through the Aon Next 10, his form is what brought him to town.

Ben Griffin (100/1): The all-or-nothing results over his last six events explain the big number. Like Bezuidenhout, he’s an excellent putter and sits 10^th in both Par-3 and Par-4 scoring.

NOW PLAYING: Travelers Championship

Host Course	TPC River Highlands
Yards (per official scorecard):	6,835.
Par:	70 (35-35).
Greens:	Bent/Poa at 5,000 square feet on average.
Stimpmeter:	Pushing 12 feet.
Rough:	Kentucky Bluegrass and Fescue at four inches and growing.
Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play	69/4/5.
Architect(s):	Ross & Kearney (1928); Pete Dye (1984); Bobby Weed (1989).
Defending Champion:	Keegan Bradley.
Multiple Champion(s) Entered:	None.
Course Record	58; Jim Furyk (Round 4, 2016).
72 Hole Tournament Record:	257; 23-under; Keegan Bradley (2023).
Facts of the Week:	Only one international winner (Russell Knox) since 2013.

TPC River Highlands

Since 1984, TPC River Highlands has provided the backdrop for the only annual PGA TOUR event contested in New England. Designed by Pete Dye and updated by Bobby Weed in 1989, the course underwent improvements before the 2016 edition and will have changes for 2024.

After being run over by Keegan Bradley last year, reaching 26-under-par with six holes to go before setting the tournament record at 23-under-par, the course has added features to crank up the difficulty.

The Par-5 holes, one on each nine, have added fescue-filled mounds off the fairway to challenge tee shots and approaches. Fairways have also been pinched in landing areas to reward more accurate tee shots. The tee box at No. 9 has shifted to bring the dog leg into play. The hole will play 17 yards shorter, and the square footage of the green shrank. On the back nine, Holes Nos. 11, 12, and 13 have toughened up to halt the scoring chances. The green at No. 11 has narrowed. The fairway at No. 12 now ends at 300 yards, forcing a decision. Like Hole No. 6 on the front, the Par-5 13th also has a narrowed fairway landing area and added mounds behind the bunkers to penalize wayward tee shots. The field of 156 players for the 2023 edition averaged 68.400, the easiest in history.

The last event with a winner posting single digits under par was in 1993.

Overlooking the Connecticut River, the parkland design plays up and down to only 6,835 yards. Port Royal Golf Course in Bermuda is the only track that is shorter.

The stock Par-70 features Bent/Poa mixed greens. Averaging just 5,000 square feet, only Pebble Beach and Harbour Town provide smaller targets on approach.

The return to Kentucky Bluegrass and Fescue rough at four inches and growing, plus water penalty areas on five holes, will provide different challenges than Pinehurst No. 2.

Jim Furyk set the PGA TOUR and course record of 58 in Round 4 of the 2016 event. He finished in a tie for fifth place.

Patrick Cantlay (2011), Mackenzie Hughes (2020), Denny McCarthy (2023), and Rickie Fowler (2023) have all posted rounds of 60.

Cantlay also posted 61 last year.

Bradley bested Kenny Perry’s mark of 22-under-par 258 by a shot last year.

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	Robert MacIntyre (first time)
The 49^th Memorial Tournament	Scottie Scheffler (5)
124^th United States Open	Bryson DeChambeau

Travelers Championship

The Travelers Championship dates to 1952 and will play for the 73^rd time this week.

Four former champions are playing this week. Bradley, Schauffele, Harris English, and Jordan Spieth have all won one title.

The invitational field of 72 players includes 43 of the 50 in the Official World Golf rankings, led by No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.

There is no cut in the eighth and final Signature Event.

There has not been an international winner since Russell Knox (not entered) in 2016.

Nine of the last 10 winners have ranked in the top 10 in SG: Tee to Green and Par-4 Scoring Average.

Ken Duke, the winner in 2013, was the last first-time winner on TOUR, completing a streak of four consecutive first-time winners from 2010 through 2013.

Jordan Spieth, champion of 2017 in a playoff, is the last player to win on debut. He is also one of two players this century to go wire-to-wire.

Usually played in June, the 2016 event was moved to August to accommodate the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

The winner will take home 700 FedExCup points plus $3.6 million from the $20 million purse.

Recent Winners – Travelers Championship

Italics – not entered this week.

Year	Winner	Notes
2023	Keegan Bradley (-23)	Sets the tournament scoring record and 54-hole record.
2022	Xander Schauffele (-19)	Held off best friend Patrick Cantlay in the final pairing to win by two.
2021	Harris English (-13*)	Defeated Kramer Hickok in a playoff.
2020	Dustin Johnson (-19)	Won by a shot over Kevin Streelman.
2019	Chez Reavie (-17)	Followed up his 3^rd place finish at the U.S. Open with a victory.
2018	Bubba Watson (-17)	Won for the third time; won by three shots.
2017	Jordan Spieth (-12*)	Holed a bunker shot in a playoff to beat Daniel Berger.

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
RBC Canadian Open	Mackenzie Hughes	295,316
49^th Memorial Tournament	Ben An	200,200
124^th United States Open	Xander Schauffele	639,289

Total Winnings:		8,761,437

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 – 124^th United States Open

No need to save guys anymore.

MY CHOICE: Xander Schauffele – T7

The plan from the start of the season was to use him at Pinehurst and here we are.

With a win already under his belt and a MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP on the mantle, he should be free to go about his business and run down Scheffler.

His amazing run of eight straight championship finishes of T14 or better continues.

I did not believe DeChambeau could bomb-and-gouge through the sandy areas, wiregrass, and repellant greens.

I was wrong.

Others to Consider:

Scottie Scheffler – T41. I’m sorry to all of you who saved this selection for Pinehurst. Amazing it was his first finish outside T17 this season. Unlucky.

Collin Morikawa – T14. Unable to string two rounds together, another big finish, but not big enough.

Brooks Koepka – The wrong LIV guy.

Matt Fitzpatrick – The ol’ 79-69 weekend never works out.

Hideki Matsuyama – Solo sixth, excellent job.

Tommy Fleetwood – Another top 20 in a major championship. Another major championship where he did not contend.

This Week – Travelers Championship

The final Signature Event!

MY CHOICE: Brian Harman

When you are as bad as I am, you play the SAFEST play, not the guy you believe will win.

I hate this game.

There are two theories this week. Play the hot guys or play guys who didn’t have to grind all four rounds in 90-plus-degree temperatures at Pinehurst.

Here are the winners from the first seven Signature Events:

Chris Kirks (Sentry)

Wyndham Clark (Pebble Beach)

Hideki Matsuyama (Genesis)

Scottie Scheffler (Arnold Palmer)

Scottie Scheffler (RBC Heritage)

Rory McIlroy (Wells Fargo)

Scottie Scheffler (Memorial)

Pretty thicc.

Others to Consider (from who I have available):

Hideki Matsuyama: I can’t argue his form or course form. The last time he played three weeks in a row he cashed T71. The fourth week in a row? He won The Genesis Invitational.

Ludvig Aberg: At some point, I’ll pull the trigger. Some will argue it should be this week. I’m pointing to the demanding TPC Southwind in the first round of the FedExCup Playoffs.

Justin Thomas: Saving him for the hottest dog days of summer.

Tommy Fleetwood: Passport events only.

Keegan Bradley: The defending champion usually plays well in this part of the world. I will not talk you out of playing him, but nobody has defended the title here since Mickelson in 2001-02.

Sepp Straka: Too many good results in too many big events.

Glass Houses

Fantasy Golf Only

FedEx Cup Playoffs – BMW Championship

FedExCup Playoffs – BMW Championship

Recent PGA TOUR Winners

One and Done

Recapping Last Week – FedExCup Playoffs – FedEx St. Jude Championship

This Week – FedExCup Playoffs – BMW Championship

FedEx Cup Playoffs – FedEx St. Jude Championship

FedExCup Playoffs – FedEx St. Jude Championship

Wyndham Championship

2024 Men’s Olympic Golf

3M Open Preview

3M Open

152nd Open Championship

42nd Genesis Scottish Open

John Deere Classic Preview

John Deere Classic

Rocket Mortgage Classic Preview

Rocket Mortgage Classic

Travelers Championship Preview

73^rd Travelers Championship

FedExCup Playoffs – BMW Championship

Recent PGA TOUR Winners

One and Done

Recapping Last Week – FedExCup Playoffs – FedEx St. Jude Championship

This Week – FedExCup Playoffs – BMW Championship

FedExCup Playoffs – FedEx St. Jude Championship

3M Open

John Deere Classic

Rocket Mortgage Classic

73rd Travelers Championship

73^rd Travelers Championship