Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Fantasy Golf: The Farmers Insurance Open Preview

Apparently we need to talk about NFL clock management again. Not because there's a chance in hell that it will ever get better as long as monuments to mediocrity like Mike McCarthy keep getting jobs and nerds like Mike McDaniel would rather burn a timeout than just run a damn play on 2nd and 6 in the third quarter. The coaches are a lost cause. And besides, we now we have a much bigger and more annoying problem.

The fucking announcers.

On Sunday evening the Dallas Cowboys got the ball on their own 6 yard line with 45 seconds left and no timeouts. They needed a touchdown to tie. And that is when Greg Olsen decided to load a giant word salad into a pumpkin chucker and let it rip.

An atomic physicist could explain nuclear fission to a caveman in fewer words than Olsen thought were necessary to tell us that the Cowboys needed to throw passes to the sidelines. Because that's how you make the clock stop in a football game when you don't have any timeouts. You run out of bounds. In other words, you take the ball and cross the line on the side of the field. Then the guy running the clock hits a button and makes it stop. But then it starts again on the next play. So you should run out of bounds to make the clock stop. Again. Your strategy on the next play should be to throw a pass near the sideline. So the guy who catches it has a better chance to run out of bounds. To make the clock stop. As you process all of this, don't forget that if you get tackled in bounds, the clock does not stop. So the goal is to get out of bounds. To make the clock stop. So the game doesn't end. And you lose. Shoot me.  

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Let's just say that this tweet hit very close to home after last Sunday when I tried to break through my writer's block with an herbal sledgehammer.  


GOLF ANALYSIS

Hey thanks for the heads-up that this tournament starts tomorrow. If you assumed that a guy who writes a fantasy golf blog would have known that, you must be new here. Welcome.

The good news is that Jon Rahm is the most obvious choice since Jared Leto auditioned to play Steve Prefontaine. He's been dominant at this event since 2017 and he even threw-in a U.S. Open title on the South Course in 2021 for good measure. If you haven't already used him this year (like I have 😉), then use him now or get what you deserve.

From there it gets interesting. Tony Finau was a FGR lock here for years until inflation hit his DraftKings price. He's still a great option but what kind of self-respecting fantasy golf site would this be if I just told you to pick the two favorites? (Don't answer that). Instead we'll go with last year's runner-up Will Zalatoris who also finished T7 here in 2021. He gets the slight nod over Xander Schauffele who's bad back seemed fine last week but sometimes that's just what bad backs want you to think. And then WHAMMO!!!

Here are a few more useful nuggets before we race this thing to the presses. 
  • It's California so you have to pick Max Homa and Maverick McNealy.
  • Scott Stallings had a win and a runner-up here in 2014 and 2015. 
  • You gotta ride Ryan Palmer's hustler swing on courses he likes.
  • We're on the Michael Thompson sleeper train until it derails.
One more thing. We know that a Taylor or Davis win is imminent (those are first names). The barbarians are at the gates but we're holding the line at Justins and Camerons. Some bridges are simply too far. (That all made sense after the fourth glass of wine). 

One and Done Pick: Will Zalatoris
The slender one is due
for this second win.

Other Guy I'd Pick: Jon Rahm

Sleeper Pick: Michael Thompson

DraftKings Top Ten Values

Jon Rahm

$11,600

Will Zalatoris

$9,700

Max Homa

$9,100

Maverick McNealy

$8,600

J.J. Spaun

$8,500

Justin Rose

$8,100

Scott Stallings

$7,700

Ryan Palmer

$7,500

Robby Shelton

$7,200

Michael Thompson

$6,800


This week's memorial was a close call with the recent passing of music icons Jeff Beck and David Crosby but, when we lose one of the greatest names in the history of sports, attention must be paid.

                                         THE SAL BANDO MEMORIAL
                                  HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE CHART 

The two most glaring omissions from our top ten list based on historical performance are defending champion Luke List and Jason Day. List may be worth a flyer but Day has gone eight straight tournaments without a W/D. Just sayin'. 

 

DK Price

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

Jon Rahm

$11,600

T3

T7

2nd

T5

T29

Tony Finau

$10,500

MC

T2

T6

T13

T6

Xander Schauffele

$10,300

T34

T2

MC

T25

MC

Colin Morikawa

$10,000

DNP

DNP

T21

DNP

DNP

Will Zalatoris

$9,700

2nd

T7

DNP

DNP

MC

Justin Thomas

$9,400

T20

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Sungjae Im

$9,300

T6

T32

T36

T52

DNP

T. Montgomery

$9,200

T11

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Max Homa

$9,100

MC

T18

T9

DNP

DNP

Hideki Matsuyama

$9,000

T30

T53

T45

T3

T12

Si Woo Kim

$8,900

T11

MC

DNP

T29

T35

Jason Day

$8,800

T3

MC

T16

T5

1st

Sahith Theegala

$8,700

T25

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Maverick McNealy

$8,600

T30

MC

15th

DNP

T29

J.J. Spaun

$8,500

T34

MC

T30

MC

T23

Cameron Davis

$8,400

T56

T32

T36

T57

T58

Keegan Bradley

$8,300

T65

DNP

T16

T35

5th

Adam Hadwin

$8,200

MC

T18

DNP

DNP

T35

Justin Rose

$8,100

T6

DNP

MC

1st

T8

Hayden Buckley

$8,000

MC

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Luke List

$8,000

1st

T10

T36

T40

T12

Taylor Pendrith

$7,900

T16

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Wyndham Clark

$7,900

T56

T32

MC

T35

DNP

Davis Thompson

$7,800

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Harris English

$7,800

DNP

MC

T71

MC

T8

Alex Smalley

$7,700

T56

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Scott Stallings

$7,700

T46

MC

T49

T43

MC

Kurt Kitayama

$7,600

MC

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Rickie Fowler

$7,600

MC

T53

MC

T66

MC

Ty Detry

$7,600

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Davis Riley

$7,500

MC

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Dean Burmeister

$7,500

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Ryan Palmer

$7,500

T16

T2

T21

T13

T2

Sebastian Munoz

$7,500

T39

DNP

MC

T72

DNP

Gary Woodland

$7,400

T39

T48

MC

T9

T12

Nick Hardy

$7,400

MC

DNP

DNP

MC

DNP

Trey Mullinax

$7,400

MC

DNP

78th

T25

MC

Will Gordon

$7,400

DNP

T42

T21

DNP

DNP

Beau Hossler

$7,300

MC

MC

T9

T57

T35

Ben Griffin

$7,300

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Brendan Steele

$7,300

DNP

DNP

MC

DNP

T29

Emiliano Grillo

$7,300

MC

MC

MC

T52

T12

Patrick Rodgers

$7,300

T62

MC

T9

MC

MC

Aaron Rai

$7,200

T6

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Adam Svensson

$7,200

79th

DNP

DNP

T35

DNP

Byeong Hun An

$7,200

DNP

T75

T68

DNP

DNP

Garrick Higgo

$7,200

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Robby Shelton

$7,200

DNP

T16

T36

DNP

DNP

Stephen Jaeger

$7,200

MC

DNP

DNP

T66

MC

Ben Taylor

$7,100

DNP

MC

T55

DNP

DNP

Cameron Champ

$7,100

T46

MC

T16

MC

DNP

Martin Laird

$7,100

T46

MC

T55

T43

MC

Matthew NeSmith

$7,100

T34

T48

T30

DNP

DNP

Patton Kizzire

$7,100

MC

DNP

MC

DNP

DNP

Aaron Baddeley

$7,000

DNP

MC

T64

DNP

MC

Jhonattan Vegas

$7,000

T39

MC

T30

MC

MC

Lee Hodges

$7,000

MC

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Charley Hoffman

$6,900

DNP

W/D

T9

MC

T35

Harry Higgs

$6,900

MC

T65

T9

DNP

DNP

Adam Long

$6,800

T65

DNP

DNP

MC

DNP

Doc Redman

$6,800

T25

MC

T64

DNP

DNP

Doug Ghim

$6,800

T34

T37

MC

T20

DNP

Kevin Streelman

$6,800

T39

T37

T45

MC

T29

M. Thompson

$6,800

T11

DNP

MC

T13

MC

Scott Piercy

$6,800

76th

DNP

DNP

DNP

DNP

Dylan Frittelli

$6,600

MC

T53

T73

MC

DNP

J.B. Holmes

$6,400

DNP

MC

T16

MC

4th

Rory Sabbatini

$6,400

T70

T10

T36

T70

T20

Peter Malnati

$6,300

T25

T10

MC

MC

MC


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