The Players Championship

Well fans last week was intense to say the least. The API never fails to entertain over the weekend. A dreary Saturday led to a very windy Sunday which kept the score much higher over the weekend. As to be expected Rory McIlroy imploded over the weekend and shot a miserable Sunday round 76 leaving him at just -3 for the event and dropped him down to a tie for 10th place. Other notables that struggled on Sunday were Jordan Spieth, Jordan couldn't seem to make a put of any length on Sunday en route to his final round 75. Although Spieth did manage to finish tied for 4th which marks yet another top 5 finish this year. The big man of the hour, literally and figuratively is Bryson DeChambeau. Bryson wound up winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational by one stroke over Lee Westwood after a final round 71. Bryson did some pretty incredible things all week off the tee. He carried the majority of the water on hole 6th, the iconic horseshoe hole. He carried his ball 370 yards+ over the weekend, finding himself only a wedge away from the green. However I think the biggest thing he did all week was make one putt in particular on Sunday that really helped propel him to victory. The putt came on the 11th hole a difficult hole through in through. Bryson pulled his tee shot left, fanned his second shot right into the greenside bunker where he ultimately was plugged. He managed to get out to about 50 feet. He then proceeds to hole a 50 foot slider for par. Putts like these are huge momentum shifters in a player's round, this not only helped him confidence, but saved him from dropping a shot and a potential three putt. As most of you know i'm really not a Bryson fan at all. I'm not sure if I like any part of his game, nevertheless that boy can play and his new approach to the game of golf could prove to be even more beneficial in the future. Bay Hill was fun last week, but this week at TPC Sawgrass for the Players Championship is going to be a week we won't forget. 

I'm sure it's hard to forget but this week was when the world decided to end. After the finish of Thursday's round last year for the 2020 Players Championship the PGA Tour decided to cancel the rest of the event due to Covid-19 concerns. It has now been one calendar year, we are still in this mess, however there is light. This year the Players Championship will continue to allow fans at the event this weekend some sense of normalcy will be in the air. I understand the world is struggling and people have felt unimaginable pain throughout this past year, but we cannot let it win. I'm really happy with the way the PGA Tour has been allowing fans and making sure everyone remains safe. All that aside, we will be able to watch some pretty spectacular golf this week as well. Sawgrass is primed and ready for an unforgettable week. As always the field is major-like this week and brings the best players from around the world all to one place. This week there will be tons of familiar faces, and a couple new ones as well. Before we get into the field I just wanted to touch on one of the most iconic holes in golf. The 17th at TPC Sawgrass otherwise known as the island green. This is probably one of the coolest, yet seemingly hardest par-3 on tour. It typically plays between 130-150 yards depending on tee placement and wind so most times players are only hitting some type of wedge and shockingly the majority of the field hits it into the water. Well at least on Thursday and Friday before they cut the field for the weekend. I just find it fascinating, although i’ve never played the hole before so when I eventually do get to that point in a pressure situation, thousands of fans watching i'm sure it could be pretty intimidating to say the least. Nevertheless make sure to tune into that hole this week, every year somebody does something noteworthy on that hole. 

While the course is incredible the field this week is that much better. Literally every player in the field is good but the most notables this week are Jordan Speith, Tony Finau, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Max Homa, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Sungjae Im, and the list goes on and on. We also have a new face this year, Will Zalatoris. This kid can play, and boy is he on a nice streak. Tune in to Will this week, he’s going to do something spectacular this week. We also however have one notable to miss the week, Brooks Koepka withdrew earlier this week due to his lingering knee injury. Brooks has been battling with this knee for about a year now. Although he won at the Waste Management, his knee has been a huge problem. We hope Brooks can figure it out and get back to being healthy. The insanely good field isn't the only jaw dropping thing about this week. This week the total purse is up to 15 million, and the 1st place winner is granted 2.6 million in first place earnings. With that being said there is a lot to play for this week to say the least. (Mike)

Big news…I am no longer a member of the Bryson hate club and I will never pick him to miss the cut again. I look like a fool for picking him to struggle last week. As I was watching Sunday’s coverage I had the realization that I do not dislike Bryson as much as I thought I did. There is still plenty that is cringe from him and some of his antics are a bit silly, but the guy genuinely loves golf and is always trying to find new ways to get better. Bryson is the kind of guy that will get non-golf fans interested in tuning in. I am not sure if I will ever flat out cheer for him (unless it’s a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup), but I can comfortably say that I am no longer a Bryson hater: 

It was fun to see Bryson and Lee Westwood battle it out down the stretch. Two players almost twenty years apart in age and playing two different styles of golf right now, but they both found themselves with a chance on Sunday afternoon. That is why I love golf so much. You can have so many different styles of play all be contending for a win. I think the best courses in the world are the ones where many different styles of play can win. It is not fun to watch only the long hitters have a chance because it takes so many guys out of the tournament. (Tyler)

Pick’s of the Week:

Mike: We’ve finally made it to the picks of the weeks and let me tell you I have struggled this week on deciding who to pick. Tyler and I have been going back and forth and I think I've finally come up with a few good picks. My winning pick this week goes to Xander Schauffele. Xander is currently ranked 4th in the world and he's due for a big breakout win. Through 9 events this year he’s already got 5 top 10’s under his belt. If that wasn’t a good indication that he was ready for a big win, he's ranked 3rd in scoring average, 3rd in total strokes gained, and 9th in strokes gained around the green across the entire PGA Tour. Now however there is one lingering stat that is not too strong and that's his scrambling stat. He ranked 126th in scrambling and at TPC Sawgrass you are going to need to scramble. Nevertheless Xander is primed to win this golf tournament. 

My notebales to miss the cut goes to Rickie Fowler and Justin Rose. Rickie has been playing just some bad golf as of late. He just can’t seem to find any type of rhythm. Last week at the API he came in last after the cut at +11 for the event. He just can’t seem to gain any momentum. However he has one here before so anything can happen. As for Justin Rose, he withdrew last week at the API after 40 holes due to back spasm, so I don't know if he's injured or just didn’t want to finish last week's event due to his making a 9 of his fourth hole in round 3. We will see what happens to Rose this week, he's a toss up for sure. 

Lastly my underdog, though I would hardly call anybody in the field an underdog, but my underdog pick of the week goes to Tommy Fleetwood. Like I said there are really no underdogs in this field but you could say Fleetwood is the closest to an underdog considering he has yet to win on the PGA Tour. He's got 1 top 10 already in just 7 events this year, and he's coming off a solid week at the API last week. It should be interesting to see how Fleetwood fairs this week in hopes of capturing his first PGA Tour Title. (Mike)

Tyler: My pick’s last week were not bad, as Max Homa got a back door top 10 and Jason Day has a really solid first three rounds before shooting +7 in his final round to finish T-31.  My pick for this week is Patrick Cantlay at 22-1. Every time I watch him play I always wonder how he has not won more out on the tour. The game is there and he has found himself in contention a lot more recently. Even though the field is STACKED this week, I have no doubt Cantlay will be right there on Sunday. I would personally love to see him and DJ go head to head on the back nine on Sunday. 

My sleeper pick is Joaquin Niemann at 50-1. He has had a strong start to this year and is honestly probably a bit unlucky to not have had a few wins this year. He is an elite ball striker and his short game has really looked improved this year. I am not sure he is quite ready to get over the hump and win a tournament quite as big as The Players yet, but it would not surprise me to see him battling for the win on Sunday afternoon. He is going to be a star on tour for many years to come. 

My notable to miss the cut is Jordan Spieth. I have loved seeing him play well lately, but even the best golfers in the world have weeks where they just do not play well and I think that will happen to Jordan this week. If he were to miss the cut that would not mean he lost his game or anything. I simply think he has played a ton of golf lately at an extremely high level and I think it catches up to him this week as he misses the cut. (Tyler)