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Try it for a week. Uh, let us prove it to you. All right. Coming up on this podcast, we're bringing on a new voice, a new guest, Will doctor, uh, who, you know, has recommended his podcast by a friend. Uh, and I thought it was excellent. He works for pregame.com amongst other endeavors. Uh, and he's a really sharp guy. I was really impressed by what I heard and I wanted to, uh,
to bring him on to talk some golf. So without further ado, let's bring on Will. All right, Will Doctor is here. I found this podcast last week via a friend. He was doing the solo pod for the Olympics for pregame.com. We were just talking before we went hot about how
The solo pod, in my opinion, is one of the hardest to execute in the content game in terms of holding people's attention for 30 to 45 minutes talking about golf, of all things. And I thought you did an excellent job. So I wanted to talk further with you and have you on the podcast. So I'm so honored to be joined by you today. And thank you for joining me.
Andy, thanks for having me on. Exciting time in the world of golf. The Olympics was A-plus as far as...
you know, the product and, you know, we're, we're approaching the FedEx cup playoffs here with one regular season event to go. And I appreciate the kind words on the, the, the solo podcast efforts, you know, uh, as we talked about before the show, I, my opinion is golf is the hardest sport to talk about. You have to be efficient. Uh, you have to keep a listener's ear. It's a, it's, it's a tough task, but one that we are up for.
So let's talk about the Olympics a little bit. Did you catch, uh, did you catch much of the action this week? Yeah. Yeah. I am referring to the Sunday Olympics as hurricane Scheffler and it's been a good year for me. Last week, uh, was catastrophic. Uh, you know, I had ROM, uh, at 11 to one, I had Xander plus 700 and I had Fleetwood at 22 to one, uh,
I had a similar outcome. I was, um,
I had the Hideki outright. I didn't have Fleetwood or Xander like you or Rom, but I was pretty heavily exposed to Rom, Fleetwood, and Hideki in Daily Fantasy, with Rom and Fleetwood being at the core of...
a pretty exciting lineup that had had some good lucks heading into Sunday. So I was kind of essentially in a position where Hideki would be the best outcome. Rom or Fleetwood would also be an awesome outcome. And Sheldon,
then Scheffler would have been the death blow. So I also paid the price to the Piper on Scheffler this week. And I got to say, heading into the week, I'm curious about your thoughts, but it almost felt like
Certainly not that Scheffler was flying under the radar, but coming off the Open Championship, it felt like Xander had closed the gap. The Player of the Year debate was on. There were some Twitter polls that were asking who should win Player of the Year, who's the better player. It felt like with that second Major of the Year, Xander had really closed the gap on Scheffler. And this felt like the re-announcement of...
No, guys, I'm still the guy. And he did it in such emphatic fashion, almost in the way that Xander just took that tournament on the back nine at the Open Championship. I think those two back nines in succession from Xander and Scottie
Maybe you could throw Rory at Wells Fargo. I'm sure there are a couple other candidates, but two of the more emphatic back nines that I'll remember from this golf season that really proved why these guys are the ones that are seemingly at the top week in and week out. Yeah, I think Xander became the first player this year to post two sub Sunday 63s in a major. He's the only other player to do that, I believe,
other than Jack Nicholas. And I thought it was very important last week to, as someone who is making picks, I had to take an opinion. World number one, Scotty Scheffler, versus world number two, Xander Shoffley. For me, it came down to the fact that I thought that
Sheffler had not proven enough as far as putting across the pond. You look at a lot of his opens, a lot of the fair take. Yeah. You know, the putter,
The putter, he's lost shots on the greens, and I believe every major championship he's played, and every open championship. My apologies. Now, I said before last week that if Zander could take, if he could defend gold at La National, I believe that a PGA championship,
open championship and defending gold might compete with six wins. That's if Scotty didn't win anymore this season. Yeah. I believe that, you know, obviously, you know, getting to six wins in a season for Scheffler incredible, but I thought if Xander brought home gold, uh,
I felt like Scheffler would almost have to sweep the playoffs and get to nine wins in order to combat Zanders, want to make her clear it and a possible gold defense that I
That clearly did not happen. Scheffler picks up his seventh. Andy, I think, you know, nine seemed like a fairy tale at the beginning of the season. We've only seen Tiger and Vijay do that since 2000. Tiger in 2009 wins Vijay in 2004. But I think it is, I think Scheffler is fully capable of winning two more, winning two or three playoff events, possibly. A lot of other angles we're going to look at as far as, you know, you know,
I said this before last week. I think everyone going into the Olympics wanted it to come down between Scotty and Xander. The percentages that you know of that happening in a golf tournament are extremely low.
But I think Scottie's going to have a great chance to win at Castle Pines for the BMW. You know, Eastlake has always set up well for him. But as you said, Scottie has the player of the year locked up with seven wins at this point in the season. I think so, too. I agree with you, by the way. I think if Zander had won gold, it would have at least been decided by Eastlake, right? I think that if Zander had...
an Olympic gold medal in two majors versus a master's, a player and four other signature events. I think you could at least make the argument that if Xander won the FedEx cup as well, then again, he would at least have an argument at this point. Gosh, even if Xander won the FedEx cup, I still think it's Sheffler. Do you agree? Let's say, um,
Let's say Xander, I mean, which is still an incredible achievement, but let's say Xander wins maybe either Castle Pines or Memphis and the FedEx Cup and finishes with two majors and the FedEx Cup, four wins on the season, including Eastlake versus a gold medal, the Masters, the players.
And four other signature events. I think I still give the edge to Sheffler there. I'm giving it to Sheffler, Andy. I think the Olympics, the Washington Post, SB Nation, they can say what they want about what they thought about Olympic golf. I thought it was the best Sunday I've watched of the year when Sheffler chipped in on two. I got that tingling, sweaty sensation in my fingertips that I have not felt since a Tiger back nine in the mid-2000s.
I thought the Olympics was, if it did come down to Scottie versus Xander, which in a sense it did. I mean, Xander fell off big on Sunday. No one wants to talk about it, but he fell off big time. It didn't come down to those two on the back nine, but certainly at the start of Sunday, at the start of the event, you know, whoever won gold, if it was Scottie or Xander, to me, that solidified the player of the year. What'd you make of the ROM collapse on the back nine?
I had a four shot lead. You know, he's a minus 600 favorite with nine holes to go. He's actually, uh, he was actually six shots ahead of Scheffler with nine holes to play. I can't remember the last time I, the, the only other time that comes to mind for me was, I want to say Justin Thomas at the PGA championship at Southern Hills had a similar barrier where he was like,
He was six strokes behind heading into the back nine of Mito, but it's rare. It does not happen too often.
I think about, uh, Akshay Bhatia versus Denny McCarthy. Yeah. It's another one. Valero this year. Um, you know, I had actually at 65 to one and Denny, I mean, that felt the same way that felt the exact same way where Denny kept making a ton of birdies. Akshay couldn't make a putt there. Valero ended up making the big putt in the big moment on the first playoff hole, uh,
I thought we were going to get something like that. I did not think that ROM would fall. Oh, I mean, tied for fifth, you know, he dropped that far out of a metal. I thought is Sheffler inch closer. Um,
I thought the last two holes of Rahm's Sunday would matter. It came down to Fleetwood and his bogey on 17. But now to answer your question on Rahm, listen, he's been a good enough closer in his career. Green Jacket, US Open. I'm not going to get on Rahm as much as
I want to get on Zander for his performance on Sunday. Zander's three for 10 now. I'm sorry, two for 10 in converting 54 whole leads. That is shocking. I know he, you know, want to make her clear it. Great years. Zander's having, I love his, the Catholic approach to golf tournaments, but I thought Zander's,
Even though Rahm had six ahead of Sheffield with nine to go, I was a little more disappointed in Xander than I was with Jon Rahm not holding on to that lead. I know Olympics, big moment for Rahm, big moment for Spain. Coming off seventh at the Open in a win at Live UK, he was primed up and ready to roll. I'm not going to be as hard on Rahm.
You know, as as to me, Xander Shoffley was the more disappointing ticket that lost on Sunday for me. Yeah, I think that's fair. I think you think about the five and I could be forgetting something. So correct me if there was another tournament this year. But I think about the five tournaments that Xander had a legitimate chance to win, both, you know, heading into Sunday and really in the thick of the battle on Sunday, heading into that back nine.
Uh, quail hollow Wells Fargo, which he, he did not convert. Um, I don't know how much he lost that versus Rory just had his best nine holes of the season, but regardless, he didn't get it done. The player's championship, which, um, he deserves some blame for. I mean, he left, uh, he left a birdie putt short on 16. Didn't get one to the hole on 17 again, uh,
Your mileage may vary on how much Xander lost that one versus Sheffield went out and took it. But at the end of the day, Xander was in prime position to get that one done and he didn't convert. And then he kind of makes up for it also with, you know, two of the best back nines that we've seen in the last five years at the open championship and Valhalla at the PGA championship as well. And then kind of reverts back to, you know, the Xander that we know and love prior to those two major victories, uh,
I think two for five and five of the biggest events of the year is, you know, getting the conversion on, on probably the two bigger of the five is a, is a, is a massive step forward for him. Right. I think he, at the very least has, uh,
Close the door on I mean coming out of the players just in I'm sure you heard a bit of this as well in the gambling community But I mean he was really he was really getting killed for for you know Probably being the best player from a statistical standpoint, and I'm sure you know this as well diving into the numbers I mean he'd gotten to the point where it was very difficult to run a model without Xander being at the top and it was getting hard to understand
How many times he would continue to put himself in the mix without really closing the door. I think he silenced a lot of those critics with the two major victories this year, but I don't necessarily think that like all those demons are done with. I don't, I don't think that Xander is going to go down and continue to be the most prolific closer of our time over the next five years, but,
I think he got the monkey off of his back in a major way, but I think we're going to see this out of, out of Xander and, and, and a lot of, a lot of players in the future, right? I mean, this it's just golf and it happens. And just because Xander had those two giant major victories, there's still going to be Sundays where he doesn't have his best stop. A hundred percent. And you're right. The, the Sundays of all the Sunday of all Hall and the Sunday at Troon, you know, once again, you know,
Andy, did he shoot 62 or 63 on Sunday at Valhalla? I can, I can effort that in a second, but I want to say that it was 63. The scoring was pretty damn low that day. And, uh, but I know that he, at least, yeah, he shot, he shot 62 on Sunday because, or sorry, he shot, um, what was it? What was the par? It was a, uh, it was a 71, right? Yeah.
He shot, oh no, that was Royal Troon. He shot 65 on Royal Troon on Sunday. And then Valhalla, gosh, Valhalla was a 63. You're right. Or Valhalla was a 64. Excuse me. Okay, so I said this a couple minutes ago, and this is from PGATour.com.
Zander is the only player to have more than one sub-Sunday 65 final round at a major. Only other play to do that is Jack Nicklaus. So that in itself, I agree with you, Andy. That solidifies as far as the whole narrative at the beginning of this year. Zander can't get the job done in the big moment. Obviously, he's closed the door on that based off the Sunday performance at Valhalla and Troon.
Any closing thoughts from the Olympics at large before we dive into Wyndham? What were maybe your expectations heading into the event and how, as we continue to get more context, because this event was absent from the golf world for 100 years, how do you think that the Olympics in golf will age going forward?
Well, I think, I think number one, you look at the first two Olympic golf tournaments in the modern era, 2016, mostly alternate field with the Zika, uh,
Tokyo, you had the COVID there. Paris was this perfect storm, Andy, where you not only get the best field possible, but course matters to the product so much. And Le National is just a gem. The reason the French Open is one of the best golf tournaments on the DP World Tour schedule every year. We saw it host a phenomenal Ryder Cup.
And I'm, you know, closing the door on that. I was, I was infuriated Saturday morning, waking up and seeing John fine. Seeing the Washington post basically call for Olympic golf to be off the Olympic schedule. Did he really do that? He's one of the, for listeners that, that may be of a younger generation. He's, he's a, a great, uh, your, your mileage may vary on great, but he is a, uh,
a notable sports writer, golf writer. He's written, he's written a number of books, a good walk split. I've, I've, I've read a number of his books, but I must, I miss that one. That's a, that's surprising. Yeah. He wrote Faraday's book. Excellent writer. I mean, obviously, you know, for a publication like the Washington post, they're not hiring average shows. So, but it was a crazy take considering, you know, if you look at the lead, what the, you know, the leaderboard, the field, the atmosphere, the national, the fans, um,
Uh, you had a couple other publications calling for a little bit of a different format. I would tell people, you know, if you want to watch, uh, if you want to watch, you know, team golf, you know, you got the rider cup, you got the president's cup, you got the Walker cup.
U.S. amateur in that kind of format where it goes... Live in some cases. But I think, I don't know if you agree, but I think the field, when you look at the Americans have four players, it would be top-heavy if it turned into a team format to a certain extent. Maybe not in Europe. In a hypothetical situation, like if you had Scheffler and Zander versus Hoegaard and Olesen,
you know, nine times out of 10, I'm taking Scheffler and Zander, but it could be a different case at La National. You know, the Europeans have been much more successful there. I thought the Olympics was a plus and the fact that we're going to Riviera in 2028 for the next Olympics. Uh, and then is it Brisbane in 2032 in Australia? I don't know what course, I don't know if they've announced the course yet, but I know that that Olympics is in Australia.
Yeah, so I thought... I don't think the Olympic golf in Paris could have gone any better. You know, you had...
And, you know, Scotty Scheffler, the face of golf in the United States, Hideki Matsuyama meddling. He is, you know, he matters more as far as international golf. I think more than a lot of people know. Yeah. Agreed. Fleetwood, you know, great to see him on the stand. That was frustrating for me. I didn't like the 22 to one number before the week started. I gave him the benefit of the doubt based off the course history. Yeah. Um,
And, you know, for him to bogey the 17th, you know, not give him not give himself a chance when you've been playing fantastic all week. Clutch birdie on 16 shot five or five under on Sunday. Tommy, no one's going to complain about that. But that as far as maybe the most painful thing about the Olympics for him.
33 year old Tommy Fleetwood to, to miss out on the big moment once again, um, at a course where you just feel, you know, what other courses are there for him? Yeah. I mean, where are they going to go where he's played that well, as far as major, I know this is not a major championship, but, uh, man, that seemed like the perfect storm for Tommy going into last week.
Yeah. And I think to put a bow on the Olympics, I think seeing how much it meant to Sheffler, the emotion that, I mean, Sheffler showed more emotion winning the Olympic gold medal than he did winning the masters. Right. And I think that can't really be manufactured. And when players care, then inherently there's a trickle down effect and we're going to care. Right. So, yeah.
It suffers a little bit from the scarcity. Like, this feels big and momentous now. The fact that, you know, we don't get it again for four years is, like, it's almost like the Ryder Cup is the perfect amount of time. You want competitive starvation. I don't think the Ryder Cup would work if we had the Ryder Cup every six months or every year. I worry if four years is almost too far in the other direction where it's going to take so long for, you know,
we're going to forget about it. But overall, I think, you know, there, there's, there's no other way to contextualize it other than this is an event that is going to continue to grow in our steam as, as golf fans. And, um, I'm psyched for rev. I'm psyched for rev. Yeah. 2028 is going to be fantastic. And I think last thing, you know, with, with the closing comments from the players, uh,
you know, Rory said that there was something to there not being any money involved in the Olympics. I don't think it's so much money, but I do think it's more so representing your country, number one, at a fantastic golf course. I think it's as simple as that. I don't really look at
money being on the, I mean, when Bryson and Rory were coming down the stretch at Pinehurst, it didn't feel like all they were thinking about was money. You know, it was the fact that they were all together in the case of the Olympics. You can feel the passion they have for their countries and what it means to add to that gold medal count. And number three, you know, and Andy, I know you, you are a guru when it comes to the golf course architecture, but
Um, I cannot speak enough about how much the course matters to the viewing product of a golf tournament. You do a whole, yeah, we do a whole podcast on that. Yeah. I I'm, I'm with you entirely. And I think that is a commonality for many of the biggest events in golf, right? Is that if you get the venue correct, then it, then it elevates everything around it.
A hundred percent. A hundred percent. Let's do some wind to Mandy. Yeah, let's do some wind them. Um, it's the final event of the regular season. So we're monitoring the bubble this week with the top 70 advancing to, uh, to Memphis. We've got some pretty notable, uh, names hanging around that bubble. I don't know. Where do you stand on?
needing to get in to, to where do you stand on playing? Well, a player's ability to get in this week and stamp their ticket based on, uh,
their spot around the bubble and how much that's playing a factor into your handicap this week. Yeah. I would love to get into the mind of, of the, of Victor Perez sitting at 71, Nicola Hodge guard sitting at 80, Harry Hall sitting in 83. Does the playoffs matter? Are they, and the reason I say that is because the,
Those three players also have status on the DP World Tour. Their playoffs are in the fall. I know clearly the money's on the PGA Tour. They would like to stay here and get in. But as far as, you know, your question on the want to get into the playoffs, how much it matters, I'm sure it does. I mean, I'm sure Victor Perez, you know, he'd be pissed.
I'm sure he doesn't want to miss out on the playoffs, have to wait, you know, was it two, three months until the DP world tour playoffs? Is that, I believe that's accurate, but you know, as far as Americans and I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't want to, you know, say that,
the motivation between the two is different, but we have seen players like Thomas Peters come over to the PGA tour play for a few years and really not like being away from Europe, you know, and I know that's a, you know, interesting stretch angle. I do like, you know, as far as, um, you know, there, there's just some interesting stories when you, when you look right outside that bubble Davis Riley, you know, 72 to 50 to one this week, um,
a winner of colonial who has literally not done a thing this year outside of winning in Fort worth. Is he really going to miss the playoffs? Um, you know, uh, Nicola Hodge guard. He's been, I mean, he's been a, a favorite, uh,
for a long time amongst many fans here in the States, the Danny's he'd won this, the, this week fan duel draft Kings, Bovada and Caesars has him at 50 to one finished seventh, the finished seventh at the Olympics, you know, Gus coming to Greensboro on Thursday and Friday, uh,
you know, he, he, you know, Hodge guard has not rolled it. Great. Six of the last seven events. I think putting, uh, is a huge factor this week. When you talk about the possibility of getting to that 20 under number, I'm trying to hear your take on how Sedgefield will react as far as rain this weekend. Yeah. It looks like Andy, it looks like Gus coming in up to like 35, uh, not 35, uh,
what was that huge Gus coming on Thursday and Friday in Greensboro after that rain. So I'm curious how the, some of these European guys might not be the best putters. Cam young is another one. You know, can he get to that 20 under number in a PGA tour event? I don't know, but how does the weather impact the player like Cam young this week, who has played so well in some brutal conditions overseas at the open and
A lot to play with this week, Andy. Yeah, my whole thing with the bubble, I think there's a reason why teams in must-win situations in the NFL have a losing against the spread record. I don't think that...
If a player wanted to turn it on, they would, right? Like I don't, I don't think that players can just flip a switch. A lot of the players that are on the bubble this week are in that position because they haven't played great this year. And if they had the ability to just start playing great, I don't know if they would have saved it to the last event. Now, does that mean that one of some of the guys in the seventies or the eighties are certainly there is every year, there's gonna be a couple of guys that
that are outside the top 70 that play great and stamp their ticket in my whole thing is
I'm not really necessarily using it as part of my handicap this week. I'm not necessarily saying, oh, this guy's not really a great course fit, but he's 72nd in the FedEx Cup standings, so he's got to play well, so he will play well. Because every year, that's just not necessarily what happens at all. We see guys that are at 70 on the bubble at the window, miss the cut all the time, just like we see guys who are at 84th play amazing and get their way in. So I'm not really like...
looking too deeply into their position in the FedEx Cup standing as a means for how I'm handicapping this tournament. With that being said, you mentioned the weather. I'm seeing a lot of rainfall. That's typically not an area of... I went to college in North Carolina. It's typically like
When it's pretty dry that time of year, the golf course can play pretty firm and fast. And we've seen this golf course play firmer and faster the last couple of years. Like it hasn't gotten a ton of rainfall. And the golf course is so darn short that even if it plays firmer and faster, that's
just about the biggest test that you can get outside of the unpredictability of the Bermuda rough and guys are still usually able to get to 15 to 20 under I played a little bit it usually plays between 0.6 and 1.5 under par depending on the firmness so
When I look at a lot of rainfall leading into the tournament, to me, that speaks to the possibility. I understand strong winds can offset that. But if there's a lot of rainfall on this golf course, what that's going to do is it's going to make the fairways play wider. It's going to make the greens be far more receptive. It's going to increase the greens and regulation percentage.
And it's just going to turn even more so into a putting contest inside 15 feet because the golf course is so short that even if there's less rollout in the fairways, guys are still going to have a tremendous amount of wedges in, right? Maybe those wedge shots are from 120 yards versus 110 yards. But via the rain, I'm seeing that the only thing I would change is that the golf course potentially plays even easier than years past. That makes sense, Andy. Well done.
I certainly, as far as course, this is a – I love the Donald Ross undulating bull-shaped green setup. I think as far as when you talk about wind, how much –
When you see chances of Gus on Thursday and Friday, how do you offset that with the chance that, like you just said, if it rains tomorrow up until Friday, and this is a question, will the course just be so soft that what's going on as far as Max Wynn, Gus, that doesn't really matter, does it?
Well, I wouldn't, you know, wind even on in soft conditions is going to affect scoring. Right. And I I'm looking at it right now. Gosh, I don't know how they get this in by Sunday. I'm looking at rain pretty consistently through Thursday. Right.
rain pretty consistently through Friday as well as Saturday. And then it kind of clears up on Sunday. I'm not seeing those 35 mile per hour, Gus, but I am seeing stuff up to 2022, which is not nothing. And typically more wind than we've seen in this tournament in the past. I think my biggest concern would be there's. You're right. Other than Thursday. Really? Yeah. I mean, Thursday, I'm seeing Gus up to 36, uh,
average six average 11 to 16. That's about the max for the week, Andy. So you're pretty spot on in the sense that it's really just going to be wet. Yeah, I just, I I'm concerned about potential delays and them getting this in, uh, based on the amount of rain that I'm seeing. But I think in terms of like my breakdown on the golf course,
We've got a ton of data on this golf course, right? I mean, it, it plays, we see somewhat fairly similar, uh, conditions every single year, even if they, even if this golf course plays on the wetter side, um, we've had years like that in the past, the golf course hasn't really changed. There hasn't been any major renovations, restorations, um,
where they fiddled around with the whole lengths or redid any of the greens or changed any of the bunkering. And I think kind of what you see is what you get at Wyndham. I've talked extensively about the golf course already this week and some of my other articles. So before we get into the odds board, talking about some of the players that we like, anything that you want to add on the golf course in terms of the types of players that you think it will favor and who you're looking for this week?
I want a as far as Wyndham Championship the player that I'm looking for obviously I want a sharp iron player as far as putting though that these are the two things I'm looking at personally a flusher as far as the irons I
I would like a putter. He doesn't have to be all-world career-wise with the putter. Of course, we saw Lucas Clover pull out the long putter for a couple tournaments at the end of last year and get hot. I'm willing to look at some players who are surging with the putter as of late, but ideally, I'd want someone last three, four events, strong approach numbers, and strong numbers on the greens.
Let's dive into the odds board. So, um, I'm looking at, uh, I've got odds checker pulled up here, which gives kind of the, uh, the best number from all the books and how, how the odds vary. And, uh, I'm seeing Sung JM as the, uh, the favorite, the overwhelming favorite at 14 to one, um, then, then not a single other player, um, at most major books are, are below that 20 to one threshold. Um, but let's kind of
Let's kind of talk through the top of the board, all of these guys below, like, let's say 30 to one. So your Sung Jays, your Billy Horschel is your Shane Lowry's your, your Siwoo Kim's your Brian Harmon's all the way up to Cameron Young. Anyone piquing your interest at the top here?
I would say, listen, we can start with Sungjae at 16-1. I mean, why wouldn't listeners have the green light on him? Seventh or better in three of his last four events, tied for seventh at the Open. He's performed well in all five appearances as the Wyndham. I mean, I think if you're a fan of the Prince, as Wilcox calls him,
why wouldn't you have the green light on Sungjae at 60-1? I won't have him on my card, but I think Sungjae, if you like him, solid option. Siwoo at 25-1, William Hill, FanDuel DraftKings, BetOnline, MGM, Caesars, 2017 winner. He's put together three other top five finishes at Sedgefield.
His iron play, you know, immaculate as always. I'm not, I think 25 to one is a good number on Siwoo. I'm not on him this week. You know, I, I think, you know, this is stock Andy, but I,
I thought Brian Harmon at 33 to one is a pretty damn good number considering, you know, I know as a pro, his course history has maybe not been up to expectation at Sedgefield. He did win the 2003 and 2004 Wyndham Jr. Invitational.
But, you know, I, I, yeah, it's surprising, you know, Harmon only has two finishes of six or better and 10 pro starts here. But I think what's really changed with Brian Harmon is, you know, 2024 has actually been a better year with the approach, uh, statistically for Brian Harmon, the 2023. And he says it's because that one yard cut that the late great Jack Lumpkin always wanted to wanted him to hit. He's finally got that dialed in this year, fully ingrained, uh,
I think that that could change things for him and his pro resume at Sedgefield this week. My guess was 26 to one on Brian Harmon before the odds came out 33 to one on William Hill. You know, I won't be taking him outright. I think Brian Harmon over Shane Lowry, even money for our friends across the pond at bet. Three, six, five is a great ticket.
I bet Harmon 35 to one. So I'm right there with you. I actually started things off with, um, with Siwoo at 28 and Harmon at 35, who you both mentioned, those numbers have, um,
came down a little bit. I still don't mind Siwoo at the 25 number. And I think Harmon's still widely available at 33, which surprised me as well. I thought that there would be not that Sungjae is undeserving of the separation. I thought there would be a little bit less separation. I mean, we have become so accustomed and used to seeing Scheffler at four to one in these tournaments and then three other guys below 16 to one, um,
I was a little surprised that we actually got Sungjae leading off the odds on some books at 16 to one and then not another guy into the, before we got to 25. So I actually, I like you, I thought the Siwoo and Brian Harmon numbers were a lot better than I expected. And those were the two guys that I took the plunge on below 35.
Yeah, I'm out on Shane Lowry at 28 to one on MGM coming off the big week at the Olympics. Got there early to be the flag bearer for Ireland. You know, Billy Horschel at 25 to one. My guess, Andy, was 29 to one. I do love the work. I love that he's back with Todd Anderson, the coach that brought him to world number four back in the mid 2010s. I know he withdrew from 3M, you know, off the quick turnaround off the open, but
I I'm having trouble remembering, was he just tired or was there some kind of injury involved there? Do you remember? He, he, yeah, he cited a, I think it was a, a back concern, but you know, these guys say that stuff all the time. I don't think he expected to finish runner up at the open. And I, and I, I, I think that week probably took a lot out of him, uh,
emotionally and mentally and physically as well. Those were the toughest physical conditions that they played in all year. So listen, Billy didn't make the cut for me either. Um, I don't know if I would be worried about an injury per se, however. Okay. Let me ask you about cam young, uh, opened at 30 to one. This is tough. Andy, my guess was 60 to one. Was that out of line for me? Yeah. I just think the pedigree, I, I,
Listen, from a golf course fit standpoint, Cam Young barely cracked the top 50 in my model. Now, my model is never going to be perfectly correlated with the odds board because it's taking into account a lot more pure data and course fit, as well as recent form, of course, which has an impact on the odds board. But a player like Cam Young with his pedigree who's finished top five at three different majors, I think four different majors actually,
is always going to get some semblance of respect
on the odds board. My issue with Cam Young at this particular golf course is I think it neutralizes his greatest weapon just a bit. This is not necessarily a golf course that can be bomb and gouged or has been kind to the power hitter. If you go back and look across like the correlation across leaderboards for guys that hit the ball a long way versus guys that find the fairway consistently, there's a much higher correlation at this particular golf course in terms of accuracy
accuracy than there is distance. Not to mention the fact it's a golf course that has one of the higher greens and regulation percentage on tour. And what happens when you have a super high greens and regulation percentage, it's harder to separate with your ball striking, right? You're going to have to make a lot of putts to compete at another area of cam young's game. That is not the strongest. So listen, I understand with, with 60 to one, your numbers, that's probably maybe should be as odds based on course fed, but,
But I knew he'd get the respect based on pedigree. 30-1 is a no thanks for me, though. Now, I'm out on Cam Young as well. Let's talk about one more favorite, Andy, in case you got a couple, unless you got a couple more. Jordan Spieth, 35-1. I think 2013 was all of our favorite Wyndham championships. A young Spieth versus a Patrick Reed with a Justine still on the bag.
But interesting in two starts, you know, since 2013, Spieth has not finished better than 72nd. And this is the way I've felt on Spieth the last month is it just seems every event, it's a different piece of his game falling apart. You know, he gets the driver together and then the irons, you know, regret what irons have been an issue all year for him, but it's been, it's been a seesaw as far as his statistical denominations week to week, uh,
and impossible to get a read on Spieth. But obviously he is a guy in this field who has a much better resume than any other player.
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He's shown signs like he surprisingly had one of his best ball striking performances of the season at Pinehurst. I thought that speech was coming back. I bet him to win the Scottish Open after what I saw at Pinehurst. And he completely reverted to what he has been all season, which is.
kind of a model of inconsistency, right? Where it's like playing whack-a-mole with his strokes game categories. There's, there are signs of life, but he's never quite able to match them up altogether in the same week. Um,
I think I'm out until I see further signs of consistency for him. I do think there is a lot to play for him this week. I don't think he's going to bomb out and miss the cut. I do think that he may possibly put together one of his better finishes of the year. This is the first guy that we've talked about that
you know, is kind of around that bubble. Like he's not had a good year and, and completely outside of the FedEx cup. Forget that. I still think even if, you know, if, and if he doesn't play that well this year, he'll be able to qualify, uh,
Um, he's like right on that bubble for a president's cup selection too. And I, I, I do think that we will see a strong effort from speed coming down the stretch, but as far as winning the golf tournament, um, it's, it's, it's hard to make a case for him right now, based on what we're seeing from some of the other players in this odds range. Yeah. I mean, so as far as this back and forth, as far as different pieces of his game, um,
seeming to drop week to week. 63rd at Travelers was bad off the tee and around the greens. At the deer, he gets his driver together, but didn't chip well once again. As you know, the Scottish, he fixed the chipping, but his iron play and putting disappeared at Renaissance. Impossible to get a feel on the guy right now. I'm out on Spieth as well this week. Just wanted your take there.
So as we dive a little bit deeper into this mid-tier, who are your favorites? And like the, once we get past 30 and get into this 30 to 100 range, who
Big range of the odds board, but who are kind of the guys that have your attention in the middle tier? Yeah, I'm really thinking, and once again, I have not gotten my card completely together, but I'm really thinking hard about Rico Hoey at 125-1. You find him to win on Caesars, Bovada, BetOnline, and William Hill at 125-1 right now. I look at his last four starts besides the 3M matchup.
Uh, you know, six, the rocket 26 to deer second at the Isco eighth at the Barracuda, a little regression at three M 67 there, but his ball striking has been phenomenal. And so is his putting until Minnesota, you know, average tournament score last five events for how he's been 16 under, um, 108th on FedEx. So, um,
Yeah, one of these guys that needs a big week. I like Rico Hoey at 125 to one. That's something I'm contemplating. I'm also thinking about Max Gracerman at 75%.
75 to one on bet online and bet three, six, five, your guy, Johnny Vegas, uh, who I think you're the only golf handicapper in the world that had Vegas to win it. Uh, Hey, Graceman showed some massive chops stretch at TPC twin cities that, that, uh, you know, that was at 17, that three would, he curved around the tree. Was it 18? Yeah, I was driving. Um, I had played golf that morning in, in upstate New York and I was,
I was driving back into New York City and I stopped at a gas station. I stopped at a Whittle gas station slash Dunkin' Donuts and pulled out my computer to stream the back nine because I didn't expect it to be this much of a sweat.
I, Grayson would terrified me like that. That kid has absolute stones. And I did not think for any second until the very last minute that Vegas had it, um, watching that guy make a ton of birdies on that back nine down the stretch.
Yeah, Johnny's stretch between nine and 13 were a whirlwind. You know, not he bogeyed nine. He shot, you know, fell on a cop's arm, you know, on 12 bogey 13 and
Yeah. His composure is second time. I know that's not anything that we can measure, but just as a human being, um, you know, the, the, his, uh, Johnny's ability to breathe, his ability to smile on the golf course, stay composed. Um, I'm thrilled that he was able to get over that, that shoulder injury. He, I think he had two shoulder surgeries in a matter of two years. Yeah. Three months ago, he could barely hit a driver. Um,
And, um, impressive when, you know, back to subject as far as outrights, um, you know, Graysterman, you know, it wasn't just the three M, you know, he played very well at the Barracuda. Um, he's typically a phenomenal putter who, you know, his iron play has now come around last four events, three of his last four events picked up shots with the irons, uh,
Um, right now, my two outrights that I like are max grace from in a 75 to one and Rico Hoey to 125 to one. Um, I'll let you comment there. I also like Matthew knee Smith a little bit this week. We can talk about him as well. You're you're, you're even going a little more bold than I am. I have a compact, I have a compact five pack in the, uh, in the 25 to 100 zone. And, um,
The next guys that I would mention that are on my card, one guy at 70-1 and one guy at 80-1. Eric Cole is the first player that I would mention. Back-to-back top 10 finishes at the John Deere and Rocket Mortgage. He had a bit of a slow stretch towards the middle of the season and then rebounded strongly with those two top 10 finishes at golf courses that
I would not say are perfect comps to Sedgefield. I think both of those golf courses are actually a little bit more lenient from tee to green than Sedgefield. But I trust Eric Cole's putter, something you talked about earlier and something you mentioned. I think that the two main, and this will tie into my second selection in Ben Griffin, and you're breaking down the golf course the same way from my understanding, is
You have to either spike with the putter or on approach to win the window, right? Or you need to be like plus four with the putter plus four on approach, right? But a lot of these times throughout the years, like you look at Lucas Glover, he just went absolutely nuclear with his irons. He led the field and approach play. He hit over 90% of his greens and regulation. The prior year, Tom came good with his irons, but he completely blacked out on the greens, right? He gained over eight strokes putting. He led the field and putting.
That's how you win the window, right? You need one of those two things to be effective.
so, so elite. And we generally see the winner at this tournament spike in either one of the two or, you know, be top five to top 10 in both. And an Eric Cole and Ben Griffin, I'm getting two players where that are, that's, that's their best skillset, right? Neither of them are great driver of the ball, great drivers of the ball. Both of them actually do have pretty good short games. Um, but when Eric Cole and Ben Griffin are at their best,
They're great approach players, particularly inside 175 yards. And they can be great putters, particularly on Bermuda grass greens. So those were kind of the two guys outside of Siwu and Harmon that I have highlighted this week. Andy, what about Cam Davis? You know, he won in Detroit, was really closer than the scorecard, you know,
was really closer than his scorecard said in, in Minnesota, you know, basically double bogeyed the 18th hole to fall from, I think a tie for ninth to a tie for 19th. Um,
I'm sure people have questions about his putting, lost strokes to the field on the greens at Renaissance and at the 3M after his win in Detroit. Looking back at his course history, though, Cam Davis has picked up shots on the greens in all three starts at the Wyndham. He's played very well there over the years.
I'm going to have him in a matchup over Minwoo Lee, who's, you know, off a quick turnaround, uh, off the Paris Olympics and Minwoo's lost shots with the irons in each of his last four events. But what do you think about Cam Davis at 45 to one? I don't think he's going to win again this soon. Um, I, I, I just, he's an incredibly volatile player with a ton of upside and that's why I'm picking myself that I wasn't there for him with the rocket mortgage win. Um,
I love Cam Davis. I think he's incredibly talented. I don't think I'll get there this week, not necessarily because I don't think it's a good golf course for him. He's played really well here in the past. I believe he's got three top 25 finishes in all of his starts. He actually is one of those guys kind of
So semi conversely to Cameron Young, I suppose Cameron Young's played well at the heritage before, but Cam Davis actually, despite being an incredibly long driver of the ball plays really well on shorter positional club down golf courses. Like he's had a lot of success on some of these shorter golf courses that actually take driver out of your hands. So I'm not super concerned about that.
I just don't know if Cam Davis can make enough putts to win, you know, two events and four starts. I don't know if he's that guy. I don't think 45 to one's a terrible number. And now as far as, as far as, you know, as far as, so you're, what are your, your, your, your outrights for.
You got Eric Cole. I'm on Eric Cole, Ben Griffin, Siwoo, and Harmon. I got one more, actually. I got one more guy at 100-1. I bet Adam Svensson, too. But that's the squad this week, yeah. How is Stinson putting as of late? Fine. He's 100-1 for a reason. He's putted very well at the Wyndham in the past, so that's kind of what I'm hoping for. He is almost like the B-minus version of...
C. Woo in a lot of ways, right? Where the same concern with C. Woo is the putter as well. Like, I think there's very valid concerns with C. Woo's putters. Well, I think that's like a very fair counter argument to not be on C. Woo this week, as well as that you don't think that he can make enough putts to win this tournament, even though he's done so in the past.
Adam Svensson is of a similar ilk, right? The putter is the biggest concern. He's an incredibly accurate driver of the ball. He's a great middle iron approach player. And he's won on similar golf courses, right? He's won the CI. He's won at Sea Island. He's won the RSM at Sea Island. It's another Bermuda golf course that's shorter positional, a lot of middle irons.
Huge emphasis on putting. Played great at the Wyndham last year, finished seventh. He's probably 100-1 because we don't really know if the putter is totally going to cooperate. I'll be exposed to him, and I don't know who he's matched up against, but I'll be exposed to him in the top 20 market as well.
Okay. So help me out with Matthew Neesmith. I would love to pull the trigger on Neesmith, the top 20 at plus 650. You know, I took a hard look at him. He's playing very well going into this week. He has a horrible course history as a pro at the Wyndham, but he did win the Wyndham junior back in 2012. Now,
His play going into the Wyndham has looked a lot different the last three years, you know, missed four or five cuts rolling into the Wyndham in 2020 and
Didn't finish better than 50th and three starts leading to the wind him in 2021. Same kind of situation in 2022 was not playing well, rolling into the wind them. Oh, this year, you know, he made a run at a keen trace at the ISCO, uh, did miss the cut at the Barracuda then ninth and his last start at the three M once again, has never done anything as a pro at Sedgefield. What's your take on knee Smith this week?
I have the same concerns as I do for many of the other players in this range. The form has been pretty volatile. He's been a lot better recently. Obviously struggles on the greens, but if you look at, and the course history here has been like a lot different.
It's been a lot worse than I would have expected for a player that has kind of the requisite skill set for this golf course. Like when Neesmith is at his best, he's a great approach player. And he's actually played pretty well at a lot of these club down golf courses. I can't really, he's gone miscut 40 second miscut 36, 60 second.
I don't hate that. I don't hate the top 20 number on him. What'd you say? Plus six 50. Yeah. Plus six 50 right now. Do you ever bet the top 40 market? I do. I, I do. I had a couple top forties in mind. Uh, what's your thoughts on, on the quick turnaround for Victor Perez top 40 plus one 10. He's number 71. Andy. Now, uh, quick, I'm sure you saw this from Kevin price. It's actually going to be the, it's actually be the top 71, uh,
i'm sorry yes yes well it's going to be 70 players but number 71 will get in with grayson murray
Here is the quote from Kevin Price. Official PGA Tour FedExCup standings include the late Grayson Murray, whose position will not count toward the top 70 who qualify for the FedExCup playoffs. Number 71 on the official standings after the Wyndham will receive final playoff berth. Right now, that would be Victor Perez. What are your thoughts? Top 40 plus 110.
I actually think I like the guy right below him in the standings a little bit more. No, Brendan Todd, who I think is 70. I have some concerns about some of the guys that were in the heat of the battle in Paris. I don't know about you. I'm not really...
I kind of do my best to stay out of unquantifiable narratives in terms of things that I'm heavily influenced. I've made my career on the data, and I do quite well at interpreting data. So I try and stay away from like, is this guy going to be jet lagged? Is there an emotional letdown coming off of what seemingly was a pretty...
one of probably one of the bigger weeks of Victor Perez's life, you know, representing his country in Paris. A hundred percent. I think, do you trust and do you trust a Victor Perez? Now, Victor playing the best out of these, these three names, but as far as turnaround, you know, it's one week. I'd have to check if, I don't think Victor played the week before the open. Victor did play. So he's going, he missed the cut though. Yeah. Okay.
Okay. Um, okay. So probably, you know, Victor is the, is the one guy, like I'm out on Lowry after the Olympics, I'm out on Ryan Fox after the Olympics, um,
You know, Perez interests me with the above average iron play and he's a great putter. I feel like he's a well-seasoned, uh, DP world veteran can do the travel a little bit. But if that, if we're out on Victor to top 40, what do you think about Harry Hall to top 40 plus one 25? I listen, I will tell you just diving into Perez a little bit more. I
I am not totally out on that mainly because I think this guy can go absolutely nuclear on the greens. Like you look at, you look at a player's pathway, like Victor Perez is at this tournament. Gosh, he gained like gain almost 10 strokes putting at LaGolf National. He finished third at the Canadian open, which is another, you know, short positional golf course that emphasizes accuracy off the tee. He gained like,
gosh, over eight strokes putting there. So again, like I do think, and, and Harry Hall, the next guy that you mentioned kind of has a similar thing going for him in the sense that if you, you need to be an elite putter or an elite approach player. And if you're not elite at either one of those two skill sets, I think you're a cross off for me. And both of those guys in Harry Hall and Victor Perez are,
We've seen them go unconscious before on the green. I mean, Harry Hall is a pretty good iron player in his own right as well. But I think that's a strong skill set to look at. I think for value, both of those players have kind of
the combination of approach play and putting that I'm looking for this week. Yeah. One thing with hall, he's been spraying it with the driver, lost shots with the driver in his last four starts. Is that where you had said? Yeah, I guess the hope would be that he clubs down, right? Like I, I don't think this is a golf course where you need to hit driver. Um, and we've seen longer, I mean, Henrik Stenson won this tournament in 2016 without carrying a driver. Um, it's not a golf course where you need to hit driver. Um, in fact, it's, it's, it's,
driver is not actually hitting driver often is not necessarily a conducive strategy on a lot of the holes here. A lot of the holes like measure under 450 yards with the way that these guys hit, you know, there are two irons and there are three woods off the tee, a 450 yard golf call. You don't have to hit driver and you still have wedge in a lot of the time for a lot of these players. So I do think actually to, to be honest with you, like,
Off the tee is something I'm looking at far less than approach play and putting, because I think a lot of players that are very inaccurate with their driver could be bailed out by the fact that they don't need to rely on that club as much as they would need to do it. You know, a more driver heavy, longer golf course.
Yeah. So, I mean, as far as, you know, those, those would be the two top forties that I'm looking at this week. Maybe, maybe I'd fall back on a knee Smith top 40. And, and I think you're right as far as a FedEx cup bubble incentive. I think you made a much better point on that than I did. Listen, if you're not playing well, rolling into this week, uh,
Um, you know, don't expect, you know, Daniel Berger at 141, Alejandro toasty at 127, nothing much is going to change for them this week, but Harry Hall and Victor Perez, uh, for me, Perez at 71 on FedEx plus one 10 top 40. And then Harry Hall 83rd on the money list and plus one 25 at top 40, uh,
If I had to take two guys that are on that, and it's irrelevant to the pick, but are close enough to that bubble and getting into Memphis, I think Perez and Hall would be my two guys. Andrew Novak at 84. He's lost shots with the putter in the last two events. Has lost strokes with the putter in his lone two starts at Sedgefield. Who else? Ben Coles.
You know, 24th at the 3M, lost shots with the Irons in Minnesota. And he's lost shots with the Irons in all three appearances at Sedgefield. Coles is 125-1 at 81st on the standings. What about, and I don't want to keep you too long, Kittayama at 74, tied for 6 in Minnesota.
Man, the loss jokes with the putter in six of his last eight events. That's not good. Yeah, he's another one of those players where I just, I want to play him on driver-heavy golf courses that emphasize power. And I don't think Sedgefield is...
I don't think Sedgefield is one of those golf courses. I mean, you look at the players that have played well here historically over the years, like it's a lot of Brendan Todd's and Russell Henley's and Webb Simpson's and Kevin Kister's, right? And I think you want to play. I mean, the two golf courses that Kurt Kitayama has had,
Two of his best results out in his career that come to mind. Oh, kill an Arnold Palmer invitational. Those are two 7,400 yard plus golf courses with narrow fairways and thick rough where accuracy is actually diminished because nobody can hit the fairway. And it all just comes down to power off the T and long iron play. Sedgefield kind of is, is the inverse of that, right? Sedgefield is, is a golf course, uh,
That actually takes driver out of your hands and emphasizes accuracy off the tee and short to middle iron play. It's a ton of wedge shots, ton of short iron approaches. Can he play well here? Of course, right? I mean, they're professional golfers that play well at golf courses that diminish their greatest skill set all the freaking time. But I'm still probably looking for players more in
The historically Webb Simpson, Russell Henley, like I said with Brendan Todd and Eric Cole and Ben Griffin, those types of players, elite wedge players and elite Bermuda putters are kind of the guys I'm going for this week. All right, Andy, we got anything else?
No, sir. What do you got to plug? Anything you got going on this week that the listeners should check out? Yeah, my full preview each and every week all the way through the fall. I go January to December every Tuesday. Probably just go ahead and follow me on Twitter at DRMedia59. The podcast comes out on pregame, but I post it every Tuesday on Tuesdays.
on my Twitter. And it's that, that's, that's, that's where you can find me as far as the world of golf gambling. Um, you can see a couple of my articles biweekly on PGA tour.com. Um,
And keep a lookout for the 2024 Spirit International Amateur. I know we can't gamble on it. It's amateur golf. But as far as a mixed team event, you know, all you riders, that's what you wanted for the Olympics. You know, you wanted a mixed team event. That happens November 11th through the 17th at Whispering Pines Golf Club, the best club in Texas. And Andy, I'm going to send you an invitation for Media Day on September 16th. Hope to see you there. And I appreciate you having me on.
Please do. Yeah. So, so it's just real quick on, on the spirit. So it's a mixed team amateur event. It's happening November 16th.
What's kind of the qualification? Who are the types of players that play in an amateur event? Yeah, it's an amateur event. So, I mean, the United States brings one and two. Scotty Scheffler represented the United States in 2013. Jordan Spieth represented the United States in 2009. The 2021 team was Sam Bennett, James Pyatt, Rose Zhang, and Rachel Heck.
Fred Propol of the USGA was on site at Whispering Pines for the tournament in 2021 to present Rose Zhang with her third McCormick medal. This is a world-class event, but it is only, this is the 11th edition of the event. So it doesn't have the depth that the Western has in the Northeast. I want to moisten it.
It needs some years to pick up some steam and it's by it's a, it's biannual. It switches off with the world amateur game. So it is tough to keep that momentum going. Uh, but you will see the top four amateurs, uh, from the 20 best countries in the world playing as a team, uh,
There is a, there's a, there's a team men's leaderboard team, women's leaderboard mixed leaderboard, and then an individual leaderboard that really doesn't have that much relevance. It's just kind of keeping track just so they can see from an individual perspective. But, uh, the key is on the team format, um, and the mixed aspect of it. So, uh, not to get too far off track in amateur golf. Uh, but if you follow me on DR media five, nine on X, uh,
Um, you know, you, you'll stay up to date as far as, uh, the spirit is concerned a couple articles for PGA tour.com. And then you'll see my picks preview podcast every Tuesday. So who are we sending? Are we sending Clanton? Are the teams, are the teams set yet? But was it Clanton and Sargent are probably the two best amps we got right now.
I would say so, but you look at 2009 and you had a kid named Jordan Spieth when the U.S. Junior that year. He was not the one or two best-ranked amateurs in the world. So some of this is feel.
I cannot say who the captain is yet, but this is an individual that has a great feel of the world of amateur golf. If I'll go ahead and say it, he's the captain of the 2025 Walker Cup team. Okay.
And so if you want to go look that up, who it is, we'll have a press release that comes out in a week. There is a, there is a captain for the U S team. Um, 2019, it was Stacy Lewis. Um, it'll be Nathan Smith this year. What the heck? I'll go ahead and say, yeah, no, I was looking at it. I was, I was looking it up right away.
Four-time U.S. Amateur Champion, and he's going to captain the Walker Cup team, and we're really happy with that because he's going to have just an incredible feel on who the four best, two best men, two best women amateurs are in the U.S. That's awesome. That's awesome. All right, Will, this was a pleasure. We'll do it again soon, and good luck with the picks this week. Thanks for coming on. Thank you, Andy. You as well.
All right, that's it for the podcast. Special thanks to Will. Special thanks to Run Pure Sports. Special thanks to Bettsburg's Golf. Apologies for the no Sunday pods the last two weeks. I've been traveling out of town on the weekends, but we will be back.
this Saturday evening with the full, uh, full solo breakdown of the first event of the FedEx cup playoffs and, uh, all the way through till the end of the season. So enjoy the golf this week. Um, best of luck with your bets and we will see you back here next week. Cheers.
Between the viaducts of your dream Where mobile steel rooms crack And the debts and the back roads stop
