Fantasy Golf: The Genesis Scottish Open Preview

You know how sometimes you decide to do something that's probably a mediocre idea at best but you do it anyway because if you don't, you're worried that you'll regret not doing it for fear that it could have been great. Take for example the decision to pony-up a tidy sum for three tickets so you and two of your kids can go see France play Paraguay in a World Cup game at 5:00 p.m. in Philadelphia when the temperature is expected to be 102 degrees.    

I was still hedging until I found options in the club level so we would at least have the option to retreat into air conditioning if necessary. The first $20 beer amongst the mostly French crowd was pretty satisfying though you could feel a mild sense of dread in the room from the prospect of going outside, especially from the fools who brought little kids and, in one case of full-blown stupidity, a baby in a Bjorn in a move brought to you by the same country responsible for the Maginot Line and Jean van de Velde.  

Once we entered the arena, it felt like solar flares were reaching the seats which would immediately cause rational minds to wonder why the 5:00 p.m. start time in July. There was no night game scheduled on that date so they could have pushed it or just originally planned the kickoff for after sundown but I'm sure there is an offshore bank account or bag of unmarked bills somewhere that would explain the random start time.

Despite the heat, the opening ceremony and the adrenaline rush of the first few minutes may have made the whole experience worthwhile. However, that quickly gave way to Paraguay making it clear that their strategy against the superior French squad would be to park the bus and take the occasional shot downfield to their star player Julio Enciso. So for the better part of two hours we watched one team do lazy passing drills occasionally interrupted by a one man fast break. By the time it was over, France would complete 510 passes to Paraguay's 98 and outshoot them 6 to 1. I would describe it as more mesmerizing then riveting.

At about the fifteen minute mark, I was already sweating more than Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackey in the The Hurt Locker and it was about that time that I really took notice of the relentless Paraguayan drummer in the crowd above the endzone to my right. I would estimate he hit that fucking drum about ten times for every pass the French completed so I'll do the math for you . . . 10 x 510 = the onset of insanity. 

With about seven minutes to go, I asked my kids if they wanted to leave early and my daughter replied with an unequivocal "NO". I'm not sure I have ever simultaneously loved and hated anyone more in my life. By the time the referee tacked on an additional ten minutes, I think most of the crowd was hallucinating and the Paraguayan drummer was just wailing away on autopilot. When I looked at my hungover son his vacant stare indicated that his soul had left his body and was sitting on a beach in Aruba nipping on a Mai Tai.  

The escape from Philadelphia went pretty smoothly as if the universe had a conscious. That was until we ran into a wall of wind driving down 95 that covered the road with debris and probably would've delivered a flying cow if we had been in Oklahoma. We got rerouted through some backroads where we encountered a downed tree blocking our route and a shirtless man directing traffic back the way it came. When I suggested that I could drive around it, he didn't miss a beat and said "or you could just turn around and not drive on people's lawns." Two things I try not to argue with - logic and shirtless guys in the middle of nowhere.   

We finally made it home and I took what was at least an all-time top twenty shower if not a top ten. Now that the drumbeat in my head has almost subsided, I've been able to reflect on the experience and evaluate whether it was worth the time, money and effort. To quote my daughter, the answer is currently a "NO" but we'll give it a few years to ferment and maybe we'll get some laughs out of the memory to defray the cost. 

GOLF ANALYSIS

Rarely do trends converge as obviously as they do this week with defending Scottish Open champion Chris Gotterup coming-off a win at the John Deere Classic so we're obviously not picking him. Nothing against our favorite PGA Tour lax bro but we never recommend back-to-back winners, especially against a field as stacked as this one.

We've got the two best players in the world plus arguably the hottest in Matt Fitzpatrick along with the inclusion of Euro LIV stars like Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. The latter has a solid record on this track, is coming-off a T7 at the U.S. Open and a win in Spain so he's our guy. Frankly we miss our club tossing brother from another mother and hope we get to see more of him soon.

Beyond Fitz and Hatton, we like the Hojgaard brothers. They're a little streaky and we have no idea which one is which but they're both Ryder Cup caliber players who've had some good showings in Scotland so we like their upside. Not to mention, as the Zen philosopher Basho once wrote, a flute with no holes is not a flute and when in doubt, pick the Danish. 

Place	Player	Odds
Winner	Matt Fitzpatrick	+2100
Top 5	Tyrrell Hatton	+570
Top 10	Alex Fitzpatrick	+375
Top 10	Nicolai Hojgaard	+365
Top 20	Rasmus Hojgaard	+350

One and Done Pick: Tyrrell Hatton

We feel you and sometimes
channel you Tyrrell.

Other Guy I'd Pick: Matt Fitzpatrick 

Sleeper Pick: Rasmus Hojgaard 

DraftKings Top Ten Values

Rory McIlroy	$12,000
Matt Fitzpatrick	$9,900
Tommy Fleetwood	$9,400
Tyrrell Hatton	$8,900
Harris English	$8,300
Nicolai Hojgaard	$8,000
Alex Fitzpatrick	$7,900
Alex Smalley	$7,500
Corey Conners	$7,400
Rasmus Hojgaard	$7,100

In a classic episode of Cheers after Frazier Crane has been left at the altar by Diane, he tells Sam that in Italy when a soccer player attempts to kick the ball but misses and falls down in the process, it is now called a "Frazier." If said player knocks himself unconscious in the process, it's called a "Frazier Crane." Seems appropriate this week. 

THE U.S. MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM MEMORIAL

HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE CHART

The obvious omissions this week include 2024 champion Robert MacIntyre and Ludvig Aberg. Robbie Mac (as we like to call him) has been off his game a bit lately and I never get it right with Ludvig or any of the Swedes for that matter which is odd considering how much I have in common with tall blonde dudes. 

	DK Price	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021
Scottie Scheffler	$14,000	T8	DNP	T3	MC	T12
Rory McIlroy	$12,000	T2	T4	1st	DNP	MC
Jon Rahm	$11,500	DNP	DNP	DNP	T55	7th
Matt Fitzpatrick	$9,900	T4	T39	MC	T6	T2
Xander Schauffele	$9,800	T8	T15	T42	1st	T10
Ludvig Aberg	$9,600	T8	T4	MC	DNP	DNP
Tommy Fleetwood	$9,400	T34	T34	T6	T4	T26
Chris Gotterup	$9,300	1st	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP
Wyndham Clark	$9,200	T11	T10	T25	T16	DNP
Viktor Hovland	$9,100	T11	T46	T25	MC	DNP
Robert Macintyre	$9,000	T65	1st	2nd	MC	T18
Tyrrell Hatton	$8,900	DNP	DNP	T6	T24	T18
Patrick Cantlay	$8,800	DNP	DNP	MC	T4	DNP
Si Woo Kim	$8,700	T34	T26	DNP	MC	DNP
Justin Thomas	$8,600	T22	T62	T60	MC	T8
J.J. Spaun	$8,500	MC	DNP	DNP	T59	DNP
Kurt Kitayama	$8,400	DNP	T34	T54	2nd	MC
Harris English	$8,300	T22	T34	DNP	T49	DNP
Min Woo Lee	$8,200	DNP	73rd	T35	MC	1st
David Puig	$8,100	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Nicolai Hojgaard	$8,000	T4	T39	T6	MC	DNP
Brooks Koepka	$8,000	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Kristoffer Reitan	$7,900	T13	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Alex Fitzpatrick	$7,900	MC	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP
Adam Scott	$7,800	T17	2nd	MC	DNP	DNP
Aaron Rai	$7,800	T47	T4	MC	MC	T35
Shane Lowry	$7,800	DNP	DNP	T12	DNP	DNP
Jake Knapp	$7,700	T22	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Marco Penge	$7,700	T2	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Patrick Reed	$7,700	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Tom Kim	$7,600	T17	T15	T6	3rd	DNP
Bud Cauley	$7,600	T55	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Pierceson Coody	$7,600	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
E. Lopez-Chacarra	$7,600	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Alex Noren	$7,500	MC	T10	MC	T30	DNP
Alex Smalley	$7,500	T34	DNP	MC	T10	DNP
Ryan Gerard	$7,500	74th	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
M. Thorbjornsen	$7,500	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Corey Conners	$7,400	T47	T10	T19	T61	MC
Eric Cole	$7,400	DNP	T46	T60	DNP	DNP
Doug Ghim	$7,400	DNP	MC	MC	T16	DNP
Michael Brennan	$7,400	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
A. Ayora Fanegas	$7,400	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Ryan Fox	$7,300	T65	T57	T12	T47	T44
Harry Hall	$7,300	T17	DNP	T60	DNP	DNP
Brian Harman	$7,300	T50	T21	T12	MC	DNP
Matt Wallace	$7,300	T50	MC	T42	MC	T26
Sahith Theegala	$7,300	DNP	T4	MC	DNP	DNP
Sepp Straka	$7,200	7th	MC	DNP	MC	DNP
Max Greyserman	$7,200	MC	T21	DNP	DNP	DNP
Nick Taylor	$7,200	T22	T57	T19	T55	DNP
Rasmus Peterson	$7,200	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Tom McKibbin	$7,200	DNP	MC	T35	DNP	DNP
Mac Meissner	$7,200	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Rasmus Hojgaard	$7,100	MC	T21	MC	T10	MC
Sungjae Im	$7,100	MC	T4	MC	MC	DNP
Sam Stevens	$7,100	T75	T57	DNP	DNP	DNP
Jordan Smith	$7,100	T22	MC	T12	T24	MC
Victor Perez	$7,100	T43	T10	T35	MC	T59
Andrew Novak	$7,100	T13	T70	DNP	MC	DNP
Matt McCarty	$7,000	T22	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Michael Kim	$6,900	T34	DNP	MC	DNP	DNP
Kevin Yu	$6,900	T34	MC	MC	DNP	DNP
Hao-Tong Li	$6,900	DNP	T21	MC	T55	MC
Matti Schmid	$6,800	T17	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP
Thor Olesen	$6,700	T60	T39	T25	T30	T54
Daniel Brown	$6,700	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Billy Horschel	$6,600	DNP	MC	T65	MC	T54
Niklas Moller	$6,500	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Matthieu Pavon	$6,500	MC	MC	MC	T36	T12
Thriston Lawrence	$6,400	MC	MC	MC	T24	DNP
Matteo Manassero	$6,100	MC	T15	DNP	DNP	DNP

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