Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Fantasy Golf: The U.S. Open Preview

I was due for a stumble and, if you followed my advice last week, at least you didn't waste a Dustin Johnson or Brooks Koepka start. It must be noted, however, that I did pick Lucas Glover to win a golf tournament against professionals and for that my fantasy golf credentials were temporally suspended. Fortunately for all of us, my appeal will push that off until at least the week of the Olympics which will spare you having to hear me extol the virtues of Fabrizio Zanotti's short game. (It's sublime by the way).

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Apparently a bit of a scuffle broke-out at a Korn Ferry Tour qualifier this week. Suffice it to say that if I am Player A in this scenario, Player B's dad is going tail over teakettle right into a very deep greenside bunker right after he decides to run his fucking yap (you have been warned . . . help people look for their damn ball). 



GOLF ANALYSIS FOR THE EASILY DISTR . . . HEY DID YOU SEE THAT?

As fate would have it, I still have Jon Rahm at my disposal after much waffling prior to The Memorial between picking him, Patrick Cantlay or Collin Morikawa (I picked Cantlay in case you hadn't heard). I therefore believe that destiny is calling along with Rahm's recent five year run at the Farmers Insurance Open of 1st, T29, T5, 2nd and T7. He claims to not have hit any shots during his time in isolation like I claim that Friends isn't one of my favorite shows of all-time so I think he'll be ready.

Don't discount the California effect. Some guys dig it and some clearly don't as evidenced by the fact that four of the favorites, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, have combined to win one tour event there. ONE. (Spieth won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2017). Apparently the greens roll funny which is undoubtedly related to all of the goddamn socialist vegan homosexualism they encourage and foster.  

So who does play well in Libtardistan besides Rahm? Well the aforementioned Mr. Morikawa is from Los Angeles and won the PGA Championship in San Francisco. He's pretty good. And Xander Schauffele was born in San Diego, went to Long Beach State University and then transferred to San Diego State University which explains why he's always smiling. Oh yeah, he finished T2 here four months ago and no one in the history of golf has ever been more due to win a major considering he's finished top ten in eight of the sixteen he's entered.*  

Tony Finau and Patrick Reed have track records at Torrey Pines almost as impressive as Rahm's and they present an interesting dichotomy because one is a tall lanky athletic guy and the other is a complete douche. Goes to show that there's more than one way to do it.

I literally just reshuffled the entire middle of my line-up after a third glass of wine while listening to the Velvet Underground so you decide how you feel about Corey Conners, Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman being unceremoniously dumped for Paul Casey, Sam Burns and Max Homa. I feel pretty damn good about it at the moment. Meanwhile, Jason Kokrak is a lead-pipe lock for a quality showing (things only wine-buzzed people say about guys who've never finished better than T17 at a major). 

The sleeper crop is a little thin and by "a little thin" I mean "really fucking thin." I'm giving Ryan Palmer a slight nod over Kevin Streelman at the $7,100 level and Brendon Todd is the sub-$7,000 guy by default because I have no interest in the likes of Adam Hadwin (Canadian), Tom Hoge (name's too short) or Mackenzie Hughes (sounds like he plays the second footman on Downton Abbey). Maybe you could talk me into Martin Laird if I crack a second bottle of pinot noir. Maybe.

So that's the preview. Hopefully everyone who was annoyed by the recent lack of pop culture references and footnotes will now be satisfied and leave me alone. (I don't actually hope that).

One and Done Pick: Jon Rahm
In the PGA Tour's defense, he
should've been excused from
the tournament for this shirt.

Other Guy I'd Pick: Xander Schauffele

Sleeper Pick: Brendon Todd

DraftKings Top Ten Values

Jon Rahm

$11,200

Collin Morikawa

$9,500

Xander Schauffele

$9,300

Tony Finau

$8,900

Paul Casey

$7,900

Sam Burns

$7,700

Jason Kokrak

$7,600

Max Homa

$7,300

Ryan Palmer

$7,100

Brendon Todd

$6,900


                          HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE CHART (SORT OF)

I know this isn't technically a "historical performance chart" because (1) they play one of the Farmers Insurance Open rounds on the North Course, and (2) it's not setup for a U.S. Open in February but it's no coincidence that the one major Tiger won on a broken leg was at a place where he also won the regular tour event seven times. No way that overplayed drama goes down at Bethpage or Oakmont. Just sayin'.  

 

DK Price

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

Jon Rahm

$11,200

T7

2nd

T5

T29

1st

Jordan Spieth

$10,900

MC

T55

T35

DNP

DNP

Dustin Johnson

$10,700

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

MC

B. DeChambeau

$10,400

DNP

DNP

DNP

MC

MC

Brooks Koepka

$10,100

MC

DNP

DNP

DNP

MC

Rory McIlroy

$9,900

T16

T3

T5

DNP

DNP

Justin Thomas

$9,700

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Colin Morikawa

$9,500

DNP

T21

DNP

DNP

DNP

Xander Schauffele

$9,300

T2

MC

T25

MC

MC

Viktor Hovland

$9,200

T2

DNP

MC

DNP

DNP

Patrick Cantlay

$9,100

DNP

DNP

MC

T51

DNP

Patrick Reed

$9,000

1st

T6

T13

T23

DNP

Tony Finau

$8,900

T2

T6

T13

T6

T4

Hideki Matsuyama

$8,800

T53

T45

T3

T12

T33

Webb Simpson

$8,700

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Will Zalatoris

$8,600

T7

DNP

DNP

MC

DNP

Scottie Scheffler

$8,500

MC

MC

DNP

DNP

DNP

Daniel Berger

$8,400

DNP

DNP

MC

DNP

MC

Tyrrell Hatton

$8,300

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Corey Conners

$8,200

T37

DNP

DNP

T29

DNP

Louis Oosthuizen

$8,100

T29

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Cameron Smith

$8,000

MC

T64

T9

T20

T33

Justin Rose

$8,000

DNP

MC

1st

T8

T4

Abraham Ancer

$7,900

DNP

DNP

MC

T20

DNP

Paul Casey

$7,900

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

T28

Tommy Fleetwood

$7,800

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Matt Fitzpatrick

$7,800

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Sam Burns

$7,700

T18

T49

T40

MC

DNP

Phil Mickelson

$7,700

T53

MC

DNP

T45

T14

Sungjae Im

$7,600

T32

T36

T52

DNP

DNP

Jason Kokrak

$7,600

T29

T21

T20

DNP

MC

Shane Lowry

$7,600

DNP

DNP

DNP

MC

T33

Gary Woodland

$7,500

T48

MC

T9

T12

T20

Joaquin Niemann

$7,500

DNP

T49

T72

DNP

DNP

Sergio Garcia

$7,500

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Bubba Watson

$7,400

MC

T6

DNP

DNP

DNP

Adam Scott

$7,400

T10

DNP

2nd

DNP

DNP

Brian Harman

$7,400

DNP

DNP

MC

MC

T9

Harris English

$7,300

MC

T71

MC

T8

T14

Si Woo Kim

$7,300

MC

DNP

T29

T35

W/D

Marc Leishman

$7,300

T18

1st

T43

T8

T20

Billy Horschel

$7,300

MC

T68

8th

T54

T64

Max Homa

$7,300

T18

T9

DNP

DNP

MC

Lee Westwood

$7,300

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Matthew Wolff

$7,200

W/D

T21

DNP

DNP

DNP

Charley Hoffman

$7,200

W/D

T9

MC

T35

T54

C. Bezuidenhout

$7,200

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Branden Grace

$7,200

DNP

DNP

MC

DNP

DNP

Garrick Higgo

$7,200

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Stewart Cink

$7,200

DNP

T55

MC

MC

T20

Ryan Palmer

$7,100

T2

T21

T13

T2

DNP

F. Molinari

$7,100

T10

MC

DNP

T45

T14

Carlos Ortiz

$7,100

T29

MC

MC

DNP

DNP

Matt Kuchar

$7,100

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Matt Wallace

$7,100

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Kevin Streelman

$7,100

T37

T45

MC

T29

T67

Cameron Champ

$7,000

MC

T16

MC

DNP

DNP

Matt Jones

$7,000

T48

T73

T13

MC

DNP

Charl Schwartzel

$7,000

T18

DNP

MC

DNP

DNP

Kevin Na

$7,000

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Robert Macintyre

$7,000

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Ian Poulter

$7,000

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Russell Henley

$7,000

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Kevin Kisner

$6,900

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Zach Johnson

$6,900

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Brendon Todd

$6,900

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Dylan Frittelli

$6,800

T53

T73

MC

DNP

DNP

Lanto Griffin

$6,800

T7

MC

DNP

T12

DNP

Mackenzie Hughes

$6,700

MC

MC

T29

MC

T54

Adam Hadwin

$6,700

T18

DNP

DNP

T35

T49

Tom Hoge

$6,700

MC

5th

MC

T12

DNP

Martin Laird

$6,600

MC

T55

T43

MC

T74

Patrick Rodgers

$6,500

MC

T9

MC

MC

T4

Brendan Steele

$6,500

DNP

MC

MC

T29

T20

Jimmy Walker

$6,500

MC

T30

MC

T63

MC


Footnote

* Sometimes I write things that make movie scenes suddenly appear in my head (sometimes?) and that one inspired John Cleese leading the posse in Silverado with the indelible line "You idiot . . . he's hit everything he's aimed at!" Not exactly sure where Silverado sits in the pantheon of modern westerns because it's got a hint of cheese ball to it and Kevin Costner chews-up a lot of scenery even by his own standards. It's probably somewhere just above The Quick and the Dead but just below Tombstone. I'll take 3:10 to Yuma over all of them and, if you let Hell or Highwater slide into that category, . . . case closed.

Email the Fantasy Golf Report at fgr@fantasygolfreport.com

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