Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Fantasy Golf: The CJ Cup Preview

I had an interesting weekend in the life of a father of two male college students. On Saturday the freshman was scheduled to fly home at what we now realize was the preposterously unreasonable hour of 6:20 a.m. I called him the evening before to review his departure plan, asked three questions and got the same "yeah, yeah, yeah" answer to each one. At that point I placed his odds of making the flight at 8 to 5. 

Fast forward to Saturday morning when I called him at 6:00 a.m. to make sure he was boarding the plane and got a decidedly different answer that went more like, "[groggy] hello . . . dad? . . . OH SHIT! [unintelligible cursing]" He would ultimately arrive 2,000 Southwest points and eleven hours later. Hopefully a valuable lesson was learned by someone but I doubt it.

On Sunday evening as I was leaving the golf course with the freshman, I looked at my phone and saw 16 texts from the junior who is studying abroad which last weekend meant watching Harry Kane and Neymar each score goals on two separate days in two different cities. I'd like to say I'm living vicariously through him but I think even that would kill a man my age. 

Somewhere amongst the texts was the fact that he had booked a flight out of the wrong airport and he would either have to (a) walk from midnight to dawn to get there on time which didn't seem prudent under the circumstances, or (b) get a French Uber which apparently is less reliable than the Maginot Line . . . HEYOOOO!!!

We eventually got it worked-out and he is now safely back in Italy studying cultures in the early stages of fascism. The lesson here, to the extent there is one, is send your kids to the local community college and then buy them a laundromat.    

TWEET OF THE WEEK

I try to avoid comparing myself to Larry David because frankly, it's more than a little too on the nose. I mean a bald, cantankerous character with a knack for getting under people's skin and a complete inability to avoid conflict? Come on. 

I did, however, find this clip too compelling to pass-up. Larry takes mocks prayer (ahem) and the notion that people join country clubs out of a longing for a sense of community (AHEM). The bald reference at the end is just a dinner mint by that point.     


GOLF ANALYSIS

The roaming CJ Cup heads to Congaree in South Carolina which has hosted just one other PGA Tour event with a B- lineup headlined by Dustin Johnson (miss you buddy) who lost to Garrick Higgo by three shots. This week's field, however, is more loaded than a montage of Miami Vice guest stars with Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas and Scottie Scheffler along with waves of intriguing next level players ranging from Max Homa to Tom Kim. I've offered some suggestions below but you can't go wrong and really, all I'm rooting for is an intriguing Sunday finish to distract me from another unwatchable Ravens 4th quarter. 

The biggest surprise of the week has already happened and that's the fact that Matt Kuchar is still eligible for this event. As recently as June he was tied with Webb Simpson for the player most likely to join LIVGolf and I find myself struggling to understand why he hasn't made the jump. The only explanation I can come-up with is that LIVGolf reportedly treats the caddies like gold and maybe that's a deal breaker for Kuch. You almost have to admire his refusal to compromise his core beliefs. 

One and Done Pick: Jon Rahm

Other Guy I'd Pick: Viktor Hovland
Relax big boy. The FGR curse
appears to be hibernating this fall.

Sleeper Pick: Matt Kuchar 

DraftKings Top Ten Values

Jon Rahm

$10,900

Justin Thomas

$10,200

Viktor Hovland

$9,200

Jordan Spieth

$8,800

Cameron Young

$8,600

Billy Horschel

$8,000

Si Woo Kim

$7,800

Rickie Fowler

$7,400

Scott Stallings

$7,200

Matt Kuchar

$6,900


Email the Fantasy Golf Report here.

No comments: