Willllyyyyyyyy. Zalatoris pulled it off and took home his first ever win. Despite it sounding like absolute bullshit, I was actually so close to taking Zalatoris but I panicked with the firing of the caddie and backed out. No more second guessing our picks this week and this time it’s time to deliver our fourth winner of the year. The clock is ticking so it’s time to step up and close the year out on a high note.
In a quick recap of the weekend, we were on the verge of getting as boring of a winner as possible. I was so close to having to sit here telling you that Sepp Straka is kind of a cool guy or that Brian Harman low key does have swag despite wearing baggie khakis and black shoes. Luckily, our guy Willy Z stepped up and took care of business in an extremely intense playoff. He earned every shot and proved that he can putt despite what everyone says and even let everyone know when he hit his putt on 18, hitting us all with the ‘what are they gonna say now!’
After Sepp just barely missed his putt on 18 to win it all, they went to one of the craziest playoffs I have seen in a while. I don’t think words can do justice to the drama that unfolded on the third playoff hole so I will give the highlights below. Personally, I still can’t understand the physics of how Zalatoris’ ball could have stayed on that rock nor can I EVER understand why Sepp thought he should go pin seeking after seeing where his ball was. It was truly insanity and I think all of our hearts were racing thinking Zalatoris was gonna try to hit the ball prior to taking the drop.
Overall, a pretty crazy weekend and great finish to the first week of the playoffs. The board absolutely ATE this weekend as we swept the mortal locks, including the Warden picking Willy Z as his lock. We are now down to the final 70 (where we should have started in the first place) and should have a great weekend ahead of us at the BMW Championship. But before I get there, let’s go ahead and cover our other favorite tour.
LIVin for the Drama
That title is still in the works but I just thought of it and almost laughed so it should be a good start. Last I left you all, we were heading into trial to see if Gooch and the boys would be allowed to play in the playoffs. Well, prior to the trial, we all woke up to quite the radio interview from Cameron Percy, who if we’re being honest, I didn’t know existed until last week. He came out and said that Cam Smith and Marc Leishman were out on the PGA and heading over to LIV. To be honest, not a surprise at all as it had all been rumored but Cam continues to deny providing any answer. When asked, he said he was there to win the FedEx Cup which is where we still stand. There was obviously also the drama of the two stroke penalty Cam received which I guess is a rule and fine but the timing was some bullshit. PGA really does need to realize that when you push people to gamble on your sport, that means you can’t really pull that kind of crap but I guess it is what it is. Cam has also since withdrawn from the BMW due to a hip injury which is definitely random but I guess he’s just gearing up to play the FedEx and likely LIV the week after.
We followed this up with the court case where LIV went with the bold strategy of hiring a lawyer that doesn’t seem to play nor watch golf. Some of his arguments ranged from saying the prize money at LIV is actually a draw from their signing bonuses (still very unclear on this one), not knowing the Arnold Palmer Invitational was in Florida and saying Ohio and my personal favorite, calling the FedEx Playoffs bigger than the Superbowl and World Series combined. I didn’t actually get a chance to get in on the stream but from all the highlights I read, it sounded like an absolute roller coaster. Overall, the judge eventually ruled with the PGA Tour and decided that Gooch, Jones and Swafford wouldn’t be allowed to play. Personally, I was rooting for LIV to win this so that the coexisting could start right away but that’s clearly getting delayed so guess for now we will continue with our two separate tours. Now that we covered all of that, let’s move on to the weekend.
Recap of Last Year
In one of the craziest tournaments of the year, Cantlay pulled off the victory in a six hole playoff against Bryson. It was an absolute war but eventually Cantlay ended it after leaving the door open for Bryson plenty of times. This led to Cantlay’s eventual FedEx Championship, sealing his incredible season.
Odds for the Weekend
Things I’m Looking At:
- There is zero experience on this course so we really don’t have much data to go off of
- Biggest things to know are that the course is long, the rough is long and the greens are big so we’re looking for someone that can hit it far and putt it well
- Rory is once again our favorite and I can’t tell if this is deserved or not. Part of me says he could easily win and part of me says he can easily come in last, guess we’ll find out soon enough
- Rahm has snuck back into being the second favorite of the tournament, as he won this tourney back in 2020. He proved he still has it last week and showed some potential for the first time in a while.
- For the first time in months, it looks like Sam Burns has finally earned a little bit of respect as he has the fourth lowest odds at +1800
- Spieth has become the new one disrespected as his odds on Draftkings are +4000
- Course fits Cam Young’s style a bit here and can see that in his odds despite a pretty average week last week as he’s now +2200
THE PICKS
Winner – Tony Finau +1600
At some point you have to respect the hot hand and Finau has been on absolute fire. Over his last 13 rounds, he only has one score over 68, which was a 69 on Saturday. The guy is playing out of his mind and with that kind of streak, I think he should be the favorite coming in. Tony has no problem hitting it far and as long as he can keep his putter in line I think he can definitely pull one out here for his third win in five tournaments and put himself in a very strong position to win the FedEx Cup.
Longshot – Keegan Bradley +8000
For my longshot, I’m just looking for a guy that can putt the lights out and sometimes Keegan can do just that. He is someone that can hit each fairway to avoid dealing with the rough and sometimes the wedges and putter can just be on fire. We have seen him show some potential throughout the year and has been so close to getting his win this year and maybe this is the one. He also has experience winning this tournament so I don’t expect nerves to be anything to worry about here.
Matchup of the Week – Max Homa over Shane Lowry -120
Since there’s no cut this week, we’re going with a matchup. I just think that Homa has proven that be a very consistent player and is going to ensure that he gets that top 30 spot in the Tour Championship. Max has been red hot this year and I really think that he can give himself a chance to win here but for right now I feel very comfortable in him taking down Lowry.
Scottie Sprinkles – Scottie to Win +1600
This is starting to get a bit costly if I’m being honest but maybe we can finally pull one off. Scottie was a bit of a wreck last week between the stepping in Cam’s line and then screaming bloody murder at his putter. Despite all of that, Scottie is the number one player in the world for a reason and you can never count him out of a tournament. He can hit it far, he has insane wedges and he can putt better than anyone in the world so I will still be sprinkling here.
MORTAL LOCK – Cam Young Top 20 +100
I think last week there were a lot of distractions for Cam as the heavy rumors came in regarding him joining LIV. I have no idea how much truth there is to that but I think he has had the week to tame those rumors and focus himself on getting back in the game. This course and field should give a bit of a major vibe which Cam has thrived in all year so I feel very confident in him locking this top 20 in. The course fits his style and the rookie more than deserves his first win of the year.
Three Putt Bogeys 