Fantasy Golf: The Zurich Classic Preview

It's a quirky week with the two-man event in New Orleans which coincidentally is where I will be this weekend. I will not, however, see a single shot. Instead I'll be checking-out bands like Zigaboo Modeliste and the Funk Revue along with some guy named Chris Stapleton as part of my inaugural Jazz Fest experience. I'm really looking forward to bumping into Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele grooving-out to Fi Yi Yi & The Mandingo Warriors.

There will be no Historical Performance Chart this week because: (a) The field has been decimated by LIV defectors, and (b) I was too lazy to put it together. So we're going to do the memorial tribute here . . . and it's a big one for me.

Back in the late 60's, guitarist Forrest Richard "Dickey" Betts (1943 - 2024) collaborated with a guy named Duane Allman who had a brother named Greg and they formed a band. Duane died in 1971 but the band played on and Dickey wrote a few songs for them called Jessica, Ramblin' Man and Blue Sky. The latter being Dickey's vocal debut with the band as it was dedicated to his girlfriend Sandy "Bluesky" Wabegijig, a fact I learned five minutes ago.

At some point in the early 2000's, my two college roommates were living in Manhattan and invited me to come-up to see Dickey Betts and Great Southern at the B.B. King Blues Club in Times Square. They were playing two shows that night and someone in our party (not me) had the foresight to buy tickets to both of them. The same guy then had the additional wherewithal to grease the doorman who gave us the front row table for the second show. 

So for two and a half hours I got to watch and listen to the guy who wrote some of my favorite songs of all-time perform them while standing right in front of me. The whole show was spellbinding but the song that still to this day stands-out for me was Back Where it all Begins. Basically, from where I was sitting, it looked exactly like this.

I've always been a drummer guy and find myself mesmerized at concerts for entire songs by their skills. Dickie's band had two drummers so I was doubly mesmerized that night with my attention bouncing back and forth between them. As they closed-out the second show, with the whole room in a state of euphoria, Frankie Lombardi stood-up from behind his set and flipped one of his sticks into the crowd. And, as Neil Peart as my witness, I snatched the fucking thing right out of the air. Everyone just kind of stared for a second like "what the fuck just happened" before erupting again. Top ten memorable moment of my life . . . if not top five.   

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Apparently I'm not as close as I'd hoped to hearing my southern friends saying "yo I'd rather push a Tesla than drive a Rivian." 

Tesla is recalling all 3,878 Cybertrucks that it has shipped to date, due to a problem where the accelerator pedal can get stuck, putting drivers at risk of a crash https://t.co/Ldn34aXyTi

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) April 19, 2024

GOLF ANALYSIS

Speaking of Cantlay, if you inexplicably had faith and hung-in with the FGR during the recent dry spell, then you have been handsomely rewarded with nearly $5M in earnings over the past two weeks. Sure the rest of the gambling advice has been dreck but, as we like to say around these parts, "if you don't like it, go join Elkridge."  

The safest bet this week is obviously one of the aforementioned favorites who won here in 2022 and backed it up with a T4 last year. However, almost just as safe and with far better odds are the teams of Moore/NeSmith and Horschel/Whoever. The first pair has finished T4 each of the last two years and it doesn't seem to matter who Horschel plays with as he's gone 1st, T13, T4, 2nd, T11 over the past five years with Scott Piercy and Sam Burns. (Though this Tyson Alexander character might be a bit of a stretch). 

For a deep sleeper, take a look at the Coody brothers who have been spotty in the early stages of their careers but they did finish T6 and T13 in Puntacana last week. And don't underestimate both the power of two brothers playing together and how annoying two brothers playing together can be to their opponents. Trust me. I've been there. 

One and Done Pick: Matthew NeSmith

By picking NeSmith, we also get to 
feature this absolute fucking specimen.

Other Guy I'd Pick: Adam Hadwin

Sleeper Pick: Mark Hubbard

DraftKings Top Ten Values

Patrick Cantlay	$11,200
Sahith Theegala	$10,300
Nick Taylor	$9,200
Billy Horschel	$8,900
Andrew Novak	$8,100
Matthew NeSmith	$7,700
Nick Hardy	$7,500
Matti Schmid	$7,200
Mark Hubbard	$7,000
Parker Coody	$6,600

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