East Lake
Well last week was definitely one for the books in many ways. First off the play throughout the whole week was incredible especially for Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Cantlay. That strong play continued into one of the most electrifying 6 hole sudden death playoffs. The playoff was about as drama filled as it could get. Between Bryson missing short birdie putts to win, to Cantlay making every putt he looked at, the trash talk and everything in between.
We are going to start with the playoff. That was one of the most intense sudden death playoffs the golf world has seen in awhile. Cantlay remained unphased by Bryson’s length and kept his stoic composure all day long. Bryson on the other hand seemed rattled. It was no secret that Bryson’s short range putting has been a struggle, he missed countless putts from six feet and closer which ultimately lead to his demise. Bryson had tons of chances to seal the deal and he couldn’t finish it off. It seemed like Bryson was struggling with his right to left breaking putts because he missed almost all of them on the low side of the hole which is unusual for Bryson. Then on the complete flip side you have Patrick Cantlay who led the event in strokes gained putting at +14 shots on the field. He also was 41/41 in putts inside 6 feet. That is exactly how you win golf tournaments, by making the putts when you need to. Cantlay made a long birdie putt on the 72 hole to get into a playoff and ultimately made a similar length putt to beat Bryson on the sixth playoff off. Hats off to Cantlay, he now is the only player with three wins this season heading into the final playoff event of the season, but before we get to East Lake there has yet again been more Bryson drama.
As of yesterday per Jay Monohan, PGA Tour commissioner, it is now against the spectator code of conduct to use the phrase “Brooksie” when referring to Bryson. This is one of the softer things the tour has done for a few reasons, players have been called all kinds of corny nicknames overtime and the majority of the time the players laughed or made jokes about it. The problem with this situation is the tour let it get out of hand. They had a chance to squash this before it started but they let it go because it was good for ratings. Now their hands are tied because Bryson is complaining and Brooks is laughing about it and giving away free beer to fans who yell “Brooksie” at Bryson. Talk to any tour player and they will tell you they have been called or heard some of the most outrageous things and honestly the majority are bothered. These guys know at the end of the day I’m inside the ropes making millions and you are just some drunk frat dude trying to be funny. It should be interesting to see what happens and if the tour follows through with their claims. Nevertheless we press on to East Lake.
The time has come we are down to the top 30 players and we are headed to East Lake. The coveted top 30 is a great place to be, not only for golf purposes but making it to that top 30 really helps your bank account as well. This year the prize money is outrageous, with the first place winner receiving $15 million and the last place finisher at East Lake leaves with $400,000. Not a bad pay day if you ask me. Money aside however, East Lake always brings the noise and the golf course is absolutely phenomenal. While the money is good, the format is much less attractive. Tyler is not a fan as well but there really isn’t another option. For those who don’t know or don’t understand the format for the Tour Championship grants the top players in the FedEx Cup ranking a starting handicap. For example Patrick Cantlay, the number 1 player in the points race starts the tournament at 10 under, followed by Tony Finau at 8 under, Bryson at 7 under and so on all the way down to 30th place where the players will start at even par. It is very corny but there needs to be some type of reward for the players that have consistently played well through the year. With that being said the options are limited. In years past you didn’t have to win the Tour Championship to win the FedEx Cup but now winning the Tour Championship wins you the FedEx Cup. While it is slightly complicated, by the same token it’s the least complicated out of all the options. Either way the Tour Championship and East Lake for that matter always provides fireworks down the stretch. (Mike)
The format for the Tour Championship at East Lake is a bit unnecessary for me. I understand the want and desire to do something different, but that does not mean I agree with it. I would rather them calculate points how they have all year and let the best player win that week. If he wins the FedEx Cup, then great. This is a golf tournament and should be treated as such and the FedEx Cup should be an addition to this, not dictate the starting score of each golfer. Maybe I am a traditionalist, but I prefer a normal tournament format to this goofiness.
Earlier this week Jay Monohan said that shouting “Brooksie” at Bryson is now grounds to be kicked out by the PGA and that this is something they will be enforcing going forward. I think this whole situation is stupid and way overblown, but the Tour’s reluctance to just let it go and stop talking about it means it will continue to be a problem. Even if you do get kicked out for shouting it, I think plenty of people will still say it for their few minutes of fame and because it clearly gets to Bryson. I am tired of talking about it, but as long as the Tour will continue to make it a story it has to be mentioned.
The Ryder Cup is getting closer and closer and as the team begins to really shake up it is hard to question if the USA has any chance to win with their current team chemistry. There are plenty of guys on the team that do not like each other, more often than years past and it is hard to imagine a scenario where that does not come back to hurt the American team at least a little bit. Steve Stricker still has a few weeks to shape his team, but there are plenty of question marks as the United States looks to avenge the embarrassment in Paris from 2018. (Tyler)
Pick’s of the Week:
Mike: With that being said my winning pick goes to John Rahm. Rahm has been the most consistent guy the past month. He contended at The Northern Trust, he played solid at the BMW this past week. He leads the tour in scoring, strokes gained off the tee, strokes gained total, and is second in greens in regulation. It’s safe to say that Rahm is in complete control of all aspects of his game right now and he is only four shots behind Cantlay at the start as well.
My come from behind winner is Jordan Spieth. I live and die for Jordan. I have the utmost confidence in him and his game. He’s coming off a nice final round 64 at the BMW last week and his putter is still feeling sharp. Jordan has been here before he knows how to win the big one when it counts. He also is only 6 shots off the lead to start and 6 shots over four days of golf is a very small gap to close. (Mike)
Tyler: My pick to win the Fedex Cup is Cam Smith. Cam Smith has been playing the best golf of his life over the last year or so and I expect him to finish that off by winning the FedEx cup. I think he will make up the shots he is down rather quickly. He is one of few players that are in contention to shoot low 60’s every time they tee off. He does not seem phased by the moment and often plays some of his best golf it seems when all eyes are on him. He is an easy guy to root for and I hope he is right in contention on Sunday afternoon.
Since this is the last event of the year and there are only 30 players that made it to East Lake there is no cut. My notable player to play poorly this week is Bryson. I think he has too many distractions around him and he does nothing to help his case for those to go away anytime soon. As we saw last week, he is a silly good golfer.I think he is much like Jon Rahm in the way that they cannot get over the mental aspect of golf. Both of them are some of the best players in the world, but they often let their emotions get the best of them on the course and it costs them. I think Bryson will have a few blow up holes this week and let that snowball out of control. (Tyler)