The First Tee – Tournament of Champions

Well it’s finally here, the official start of the 2016-2017 PGA Tour season. After an exciting Hero World Challenge where the ‘Big Cat’ returned to action, and Hideki Matsuyama maintained his incredible form, can you really bet against him right now? Let’s see if any of our pros were high on him.

DraftKing Pro Results:

JAE686- Well, our top player from last year took the week off. I asked him about it and he said he’s not a big fan of no-cut small field events. We might see him take this week off as well.

SaahilSud – Well, Justin Rose was part of his core 4, so that didn’t help the results.

• Results:
  • 4 Dollar Entries: 150
    • Best Finish: Did not have the winning line up.
  • 33 Entries:70
    • Best Finish: Did not have a lineup in the top 25
  • 300, 333 or 400 Entries:
    • Best Finish: Did not have a lineup in the top 25
  • Golfer’s Used: 17
    • Henrik Stenson- 100%
    • Bubba Watson- 79%
    • Justin Rose- 69%
    • Zach Johnson-47%
    • Jordan Spieth-40%
    • Rickie Fowler-40%
    • DJ-35%
    • Matt Kuchar/Grill/Oost-30%
  • Players Used & Ownership-
    • Average Core 4 Ownership Total: 295%/400%
    • Average number of players Used: 28
    • Average High Ownership: 90

Jetblackx –Our one resident pro that believed in Tiger.  Let’s see if it helped his results:

• Results:
  • 4 dollar Entries: 70
    • Best Finish: Did not have the winning line up.
  • 33 Entries: 70
    • Best Finish: 11^th
  • 300, 333 or 400 Entries: 2
    • Best Finish: Did not have a lineup in the top 25
  • Golfer’s Used: 17
    • Tiger Woods- 86%
    • Henrik Stenson-70%
    • Rickie Fowler-67%
    • Spieth-63%
    • Koepka-47%
    • Knox-41.4%
    • Matsuyama-36%
    • Jimmy Walker-32.9%
  • Players Used & Ownership-
    • Average Core 4 Ownership Total: 286%/400%
    • Average number of players Used: 40
    • Average High Ownership: 63

FlavorFlav-  I suspect this user was opting out of the tourney for the same reason as the first user.

Sesar Palachey: We’ve seen this user come and go a few times. He was one of few to max out the gpps. Let’s take a look at the results:

• Results:
  • 4 dollar Entries: 70
    • Best Finish: Did not have the winning line up.
  • 33 Entries:70
    • Best Finish: Did not have a lineup in the top 25
  • 300, 333 or 400 Entries:2
    • Best Finish: 7^th
  • Golfer’s Used: 17
    • Stenson-60%
    • Spieth-50%
    • Matsuyama-46%
    • Knox/Fowler/Snedker-43%
    • DJ & Koepka-38%
    • Grillo-37%
    • Watson/Kuchar-32%
  • Players Used & Ownership-
    • Average Core 4 Ownership Total: 203%/400%
    • Average number of players Used: 40
    • Average High Ownership: 63

SoulChild– One of only 3 players to max the dogleg. A new ‘username’ to the “pro” list. Let’s check out his strategy:

• Results:
  • 4 dollar Entries: 150
    • Best Finish: Did not have the winning line up.
  • 33 Entries:70
    • Best Finish: Did not have a lineup in the top 25
  • 300, 333 or 400 Entries: 2
    • Best Finish: Did not have a lineup in the top 25
  • Golfer’s Used: 17
    • Grillo-68%
    • Koepka-60%
    • Knox/Matsuyama-57%
    • Watson-49%
    • Spieth-47%
    • Stenson-37%
    • Fowler-34%
    • Rose/ZJ-33%
  • Players Used & Ownership-
    • Average Core 4 Ownership Total: 250%/400%
    • Average number of players Used: *NA
    • Average High Ownership: *NA

 

Tournament of Champions Stats & Trends

As you guys know I try and provide useful information on the upcoming course, and try to identify golfers through their game who might be a good fit for the course. I’ll also try and identify any trends from each course if they have them.

Stats:

• Birdie or Better*- An absolute must:
  • Matusyama, J.Thomas, J.Day, Jordan Spieth, Pat Perez
• Tee 2 Green- I love this stat I think it’s a really good indication where a golfer’s game stands.
  • Vegas, DJ, Watson, Matsuyama, Perez
• Strokes Gained Approach to Green-
  • Matsuyama, V.Taylor, Walker, Berger, DJ
• Strokes Gained Putting-
  • Day, Spieth, Baddeley, Hurley, McGirt
• <100 Yard Approach Shots-
  • Matsuyama, Walker, Reed, V.Taylor, DJ

Trends

• Average Winning Score- -24
• Average Cut Score- N/A
• Stats from last year’s winner- Birdie or Better/ Strokes Gained Putting

 Player Focus:  Each week I try and provide a few players I am focused on. Below are my results. We will start the tally fresh.

• Percentage of Picks that Made the Cut – N/A
• Number of Winners Picked – N/A
• Number of Weeks with a Top 10 Picked – N/A

Players: With no cut events, I will always give my top 6 players. It may or may not be a usable lineup.

• Matsuyama- $11,000 Seriously you can’t bet against this guy right now. He’s basically won everything he’s played in the last 2 months, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to stop anytime soon. Oh, and he placed third in his only start here.
• Justin Thomas- $8,900 He has definitely been the most vocal on Twitter in expressing his love for Hawaii and being at this tournament. A win @ the CIMB already under his belt, I think the monster season for Thomas kicks into high gear this week.
• Brandt Snedeker- $8,700 After a very nice showing in the Bahamas placing 6^th and a couple third place finishes here @ Kapula already, I’d like Sneds to get off to a hot start in 2017.
• Pat Perez- $7,100 The last time we saw Mr. Perez it was down in Mexico where he earned his way back to Kapula by winning the OHL Classic. He’s played here in Maui once in 2010 and he placed 10^th. I like this value play here.
• Fabian Gomez- $6,600 I highlighted him in my brief writing last week, but he seems to absolutely love Hawaii, so I’m going to yet again hop on the Gomez Train.
• Vaughn Taylor- $6,500 Low priced guy that showed up in multiple stats above, throw that in with a No Cut, sure why not he’ll earn a few spots in my lineups.

 

Fades: As you guys know you can’t play everyone 100%. So, here’s who I’m fading this week:

Russel Knox- $8,200 placed 27^th here last year, and coming off a less than stellar performance in the Bahamas, I’m getting off the train at Knox station.

 James Hahn- $6,800 purely on the fact that he finished DFL last year, I’m going to avoid him. Maybe he likes the island a little too much.

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