Final Round – Sunday AM Update:
My goodness! What else could happen? DJ wins in the Kingdom, even after being used as a sniper by the Saudi Crown Prince to eliminate a political opponent. Side note: He’s won 10 times since Jordan Spieth’s last win.
Then we have Spieth doing Spieth things and shooting a blistering 61 at the WMO and he’s not tied for the lead with Zander. What’s this world coming to?
Your Hack did ok yesterday winning Homa over Palmer and pushing Stanley over An. My outrights are not looking great though as Keopka is the only bet even close to the top. This tournament can be won from behind though, so I’m keeping the faith.
When I looked at the odds last night, Jordan was +220 to win (that’s $2.20 for every $1 bet Mr. Boteler). Your Hack took the bait and put 2 units on the Golden Child.
Saturday AM Update:
So I guess my relatively conservative play from yesterday was a mistake as Spieth’s eagle on the back nine put him ahead of Billy Ho by 1 shot – another booked loss.
Two (2) plays today: Homa (+100) over Palmer and Stanley (+100) over An for today’s round. Both for 1 unit.
Burns (T4), NeSmith (T8) and Keopka (T8) are currently in the Top 10 for my outright winner bets, but 6 of my guys missed the cut.
Friday AM Update:
I squeaked through yesterday winning the Fritelli 3-ball with him shooting only even par. Fortunately, I’d put a full unit on him as “Killer Kieth” Mitchell (0.5 units) shot +4 and was smoked by his 3-ball partners. Alas, no hit on my first round leader (FRL) bets this week. NeSmith and Hubbard (Hubb’s) tied for FRL at -8.
Only one (1) bet Friday – Horschel (+120) over Spieth/Pan. 1 Unit – should be a relatively conservative play.
Thursday AM Update: Today’s 3-Balls and Tournament Match-ups
Your Hack updated his betting card this morning putting 0.50 units on Norlander > List (-110), Straka > Knox (-110), and Redman > Moore (+115) in Tournament Match-ups. For today’s 3-Balls – 1 unit on Frittelli > Long/Merritt (+150) and 0.50 units on Mitchell > Zack Johnson/Poston (+220).
I also choose Webb Simpson Daniel Berger for my One and Done (OAD) contest this week. My OAD picks in the prior two (2) tournaments both missed the cut so take that for what it’s worth. I’m currently DFL in that contest!
Welcome to the “Greatest Show on Grass” in Arizona. This week’s Pheonix Open features a stronger field compared to past history and is even allowing about 5,000 fans to attend the event. The normal “shit show” on the par 3 16th stadium hole will not be as raucous, but it will be nice to see fans at a golf event again. Webb Simpson was the winner in 2020 and I like him to finish well again this week. I’m not betting him however as I think this is more of a bomber’s course. His putting may make me wish I’d bet him though. We’ll see.
Your Hack’s betting card is a little more extensive this week, as I am playing First Round Leaders for the first time this year. The last two (2) tournaments had players on multiple courses so I stayed away. Here’s the card.
First Round Leader Bets: 1.7 Units
| First Round Leader | Units | Odds |
| Berger | 0.30 | 2800 |
| Zalatoris | 0.30 | 3300 |
| Im | 0.30 | 3300 |
| Palmer | 0.30 | 3500 |
| Watson | 0.25 | 4000 |
| Dahmen | 0.10 | 11000 |
| Gordon | 0.10 | 15000 |
Outrights – Overall Winner: 2.7 Units
| Outrights | Units | Odds |
| Im | 0.40 | 3000 |
| Watson | 0.25 | 4000 |
| Brooks | 0.25 | 4000 |
| Zalatoris | 0.25 | 4500 |
| Connors | 0.15 | 6600 |
| Burns | 0.15 | 7000 |
| Homa | 0.20 | 8000 |
| Steele | 0.125 | 8000 |
| Kirk | 0.125 | 9000 |
| Norlander | 0.10 | 10000 |
| Fritelli | 0.10 | 12500 |
| Straka | 0.10 | 12500 |
| Clark | 0.10 | 12500 |
| Redman | 0.10 | 17500 |
| Higgs | 0.10 | 20000 |
| Holmes | 0.10 | 20000 |
| NeSmith | 0.10 | 22500 |
Top 5 – 10 – 20 Bets: 2.9 Units
| Top 5 | Units | Odds |
| Vanrner III | 0.30 | 4000 |
| Redman | 0.30 | 3300 |
| Kirk | 0.50 | 1800 |
| Norlander | 0.40 | 2000 |
| Top 10 | Units | Odds |
| Fowler | 0.40 | 400 |
| Reavie | 0.20 | 1300 |
| Top 20 | Units | Odds |
| Homa | 0.50 | 300 |
| Varner III | 0.30 | 650 |
I’ll be spending some time today researching tournament match-ups and Thursday 3-balls. The betting card will be updated later tonight or early Thursday before play begins.
The USGA and R&A issued some long awaited direction on the “distance debate” including a proposal to reduce the maximum driver shaft length from 48″ to 46″. Here is a summary of their proposals from Golf Digest if you are interested.
USGA/R&A get specific about a distance rollback, but no timeline yet
Strokes Gained Retired 