Fantasy Golf: The Genesis Invitational Preview

We've memorialized a lot of funny people in the FGR over the past couple months but none that could really be described as a comedic genius until now. Because that's what Ivan Reitman was. From 1978 to 1984 he directed and/or produced Animal House, Meatballs, Stripes and Ghostbusters. During that run, he and Bill Murray were essentially George Martin and the Beatles. Or Bill Walsh and Joe Montana if you prefer your analogies a bit more sporty. 

For better or worse, I'm pretty sure John Winger was one of the greatest influences on me as an impending teenager and his relationship with Russell Ziskey defined my idea of what a friendship was supposed to look like. Mock the fools, don't take anything too seriously and look out for each other. Especially when invading Czechoslovakia with your girlfriends.** And Reitman made it happen. 

He would go on to produce Kindergarten Cop, Space Jam and, just when you thought he might have been turning into a lightweight, he had a hand in Private Parts* which should not have worked as a movie starring Howard Stern and his crew playing themselves with almost zero acting ability. But it did. Brilliantly.    

I could go on about these movies all day (and I do in the footnote) but this is ostensibly a golf blog so I'll leave it there. Thanks for the laughs that keep coming Ivan and for showing my generation that there was more to movies than just sharks, space ninjas and wrongfully accused New York City gangs fighting their way back to Coney Island while trying to clear their names. 

TWEET OF THE WEEK 

Those of you to whom this tweet is directed know who you are and it's really time for you to shut the fuck up. We're all living it and we're all sick of talking about it. With that being said, it's time for masks to go the way of the Dodo Bird and the undersized weak-ass cupholder that can't handle a full standard Yeti. No one wants their vodk . . . er, coffee spilling all over the place on the way to Timmy's soccer game.   

GOLF ANALYSIS WITH A POCKET FULL OF SHELLS

We've got the top ten players in the world including last week's winner Scottie Scheffler who jumped from 15th to 9th and is absolutely going to win a major this year (you heard it here first). Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Cameron Smith and Will Zalatoris are also playing so it's gonna be a hoot. Maybe not a topless beer-soaked bonanza, but a good time nonetheless.  

Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson used to be mortal locks at this event combining for six wins/runner-ups from 2014 through 2018. Since then, D.J. has remained relatively consistent with three top tens while Bubba has gone cold with a T15 followed by two missed cuts. I like D.J. again here and I don't dislike Bubba so much as there are three other guys in his price range that are more appealing. (Note the likelihood that I will be mocking myself for that forecast on Saturday when Bubba is leading by 2). 

My A1 pick this week, however, is Viktor Hovland. The goal of this exercise (I think) is to get your money in with the best hand which translates into picking a guy playing well on a course where he's played well before. Hovland has won three of his last six tournaments and he finished T5 here last year. I know he missed the cut last week but the TPC Scottsdale experience isn't fore everyone and that just means he got two extra days off after a couple weeks of raking-in oil money. 

The next four picks are rock solid with a couple of premier "ball strikers" to go with a pair of grinders who have figured-out Riviera. The latter, Max Homa and Cameron Smith, have the added benefit of being two of the most likeable guys out there at a time when the d-bags are hogging center stage so a win by either of them or Hovland would be quite refreshing.

You can't see it on the chart below (because it's not there) but Jason Kokrak finished T2 here in 2016 which makes sense because it's his kind of track. Kevin Na and Adam Hadwin have had similar success in the past. And that brings us to Patrick Rodgers who is ranked 221st in the world and is coming-off two missed cuts but seems to love this place having finished T30 or better five years in a row. If they played Riviera every week, he might be ranked as high as 157th. 

One and Done Pick: Viktor Hovland

And he's clearly a Ravens
fan. This kid is almost
too good to be true.

Other Guy I'd Pick: Dustin Johnson

Sleeper Pick: Patrick Rodgers 

DraftKings Top Ten Values

Dustin Johnson	$10,200
Viktor Hovland	$9,400
Cameron Smith	$9,100
Will Zalatoris	$8,800
Max Homa	$8,300
Matthew Fitzpatrick	$8,100
Jason Kokrak	$7,700
Kevin Na	$7,600
Adam Hadwin	$7,100
Patrick Rodgers	$6,500

One other thing on Ivan Reitman. He directed Draft Day which is another movie that probably looked ridiculous on paper but I dare you to watch it and tell me you didn't enjoy the experience right down to the gimmick he uses to tell you what city we're in. 

                                         THE IVAN REITMAN MEMORIAL

                                   HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE CHART

There's a lot of red meat on the chart this week (or in this case yellow, blue and green meat) as Riviera tends to bring-out the best in the best. You really can't go wrong with anyone from Rahm on down to Smith so go with your gut or whichever other part of your body you trust. My back-up sleeper is Wyndham Clark for what it's worth. 

	DK PRICE	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
Jon Rahm	$11,300	T5	T17	T9	DNP	DNP
Patrick Cantlay	$11,000	T15	T17	T15	T4	DNP
Justin Thomas	$10,700	MC	MC	2nd	T9	T39
Colin Morikawa	$10,400	T43	T26	DNP	DNP	DNP
Dustin Johnson	$10,200	T8	T10	T9	T16	1st
Xander Schauffele	$9,900	T15	T23	T15	T9	DNP
Rory McIlroy	$9,700	MC	T5	T4	T20	DNP
Viktor Hovland	$9,400	T5	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Hideki Matsuyama	$9,300	MC	T5	T9	DNP	MC
Scottie Scheffler	$9,200	T20	T30	DNP	MC	DNP
Cameron Smith	$9,100	4th	MC	T49	T6	T28
Brooks Koepka	$9,000	T38	T43	DNP	DNP	MC
Jordan Spieth	$8,900	T15	T59	T51	T9	T22
Will Zalatoris	$8,800	T15	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Sam Burns	$8,700	3rd	T23	MC	DNP	DNP
Sungjae Im	$8,600	DNP	MC	MC	DNP	DNP
Bubba Watson	$8,500	MC	MC	T15	1st	W/D
Tony Finau	$8,400	2nd	T51	T15	T2	MC
Max Homa	$8,300	1st	T5	T37	DNP	DNP
Adam Scott	$8,200	T38	1st	T7	T53	T11
Matthew Fitzpatrick	$8,100	T5	T30	DNP	DNP	DNP
Talor Gooch	$8,000	T12	T10	DNP	T20	DNP
Marc Leishman	$7,900	T32	T43	T4	MC	MC
Russell Henley	$7,900	T38	T17	T44	DNP	DNP
Joaquin Niemann	$7,800	T43	MC	T44	DNP	DNP
Sergio Garcia	$7,800	MC	T37	T37	DNP	T49
Abraham Ancer	$7,700	MC	T43	T44	T68	DNP
Jason Kokrak	$7,700	T32	MC	T37	T20	T22
Kevin Na	$7,600	T38	MC	T33	T2	T4
Paul Casey	$7,600	DNP	T37	T25	T49	T39
Alex Noren	$7,500	T12	T59	DNP	T16	DNP
Seamus Power	$7,500	DNP	DNP	T64	DNP	DNP
Tom Hoge	$7,500	T52	DNP	MC	T53	DNP
Luke List	$7,400	MC	T30	T15	T26	MC
Patrick Reed	$7,400	DNP	T57	DNP	DNP	T59
Thomas Pieters	$7,400	DNP	DNP	DNP	T68	T2
Cameron Tringale	$7,300	T26	T30	DNP	MC	T8
Corey Conners	$7,300	MC	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP
Sahith Theegala	$7,300	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Si Woo Kim	$7,300	MC	T37	3rd	MC	MC
Keegan Bradley	$7,200	T60	MC	T51	MC	T34
Lanto Griffin	$7,200	T26	T37	DNP	DNP	DNP
Maverick McNealy	$7,200	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Adam Hadwin	$7,100	T26	T26	75th	T6	T34
Harold Varner, III	$7,100	T62	T13	MC	T60	MC
Mackenzie Hughes	$7,100	T32	DNP	MC	DNP	MC
Carlos Ortiz	$7,000	MC	T26	T9	DNP	DNP
Francesco Molinari	$7,000	T8	MC	DNP	MC	MC
Ryan Palmer	$7,000	DNP	67th	DNP	DNP	T49
Andrew Putnam	$6,900	T32	MC	MC	DNP	DNP
K.H. Lee	$6,900	66th	T13	T25	DNP	DNP
Martin Laird	$6,900	MC	T43	MC	T9	T8
Matt Jones	$6,900	T8	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP
Troy Merritt	$6,900	MC	MC	DNP	T41	MC
Joel Dahmen	$6,800	MC	T5	MC	MC	DNP
Matt Kuchar	$6,800	MC	T2	T28	T26	T22
Pat Perez	$6,800	MC	T47	T56	T41	T28
Russell Knox	$6,800	MC	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP
Cameron Davis	$6,700	T43	DNP	MC	DNP	DNP
Branden Grace	$6,600	T20	MC	MC	T37	T22
Charley Hoffman	$6,600	T52	MC	MC	T41	T4
Rickie Fowler	$6,600	T20	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Doug Ghim	$6,500	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
James Hahn	$6,500	T15	T13	DNP	T14	T28
Patrick Rodgers	$6,500	T12	T30	T15	T26	T22
Scott Stallings	$6,500	DNP	MC	MC	T4	DNP
Wyndham Clark	$6,500	T8	T17	DNP	DNP	DNP

Footnote

* On the other hand, he also produced Stop, Or My Mom Will Shoot with Sylvester Stallone which probably should've been halted at the title conception stage. Roger Ebert described it as "so dimwitted, so utterly lacking in even the smallest morsel of redeeming value, that you stare at the screen in stunned disbelief." I'd say you should never make a movie that needs a comma in the title but Reitman went on to produce I Love You, Man and proved me wrong.

** This yielded one of the all-time great exchanges in movie history:

Winger: "It's Czechoslovakia. It's like going into Wisconsin."

Ziskey: "Well I got the shit kicked out of me in Wisconsin once. Forget it!"

That's it. I'm making my kids watch it tonight. Again.

Email the Fantasy Golf Report at fgr@fantasygolfreport.com.