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Best Ball-Strikers (Part 1): Tommy Bolt and Moe Norman

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I was asked by the editorial staff of GolfWRX to write about some of the “names” I’ve played with during my 40 years in the golf industry. Initially, I declined. I was uncomfortable, because it sounded like an excuse to name drop. They told me if I wrote it they would give their review and if it didn’t sound right they wouldn’t run it.

So as I proceed, I don’t know whether this story will publish or not.

Editor’s Note: Who wouldn’t have published this? Read on. 

To start, one doesn’t enter the golf equipment industry with dreams of playing a lot. I have known a few salesmen who always found time to play, and they also found jobs outside the industry. Personally speaking, for the better part of 10 years, I averaged less than 5-to-6 rounds a year. At my skill level this meant ceremonial golf, an occasional decent shot and no overall quality.

I have come up with a foursome I played with in a variety of situations over the years and they each left a lasting impression for different reasons. I’ll start with a disclaimer: I did not include Arnold Palmer, who I have played with 5-to-6 times. It’s because he is Arnold Palmer, the King of my era and my personal golf hero. I was so enthralled by the opportunity to play with him that it wasn’t really golf. All I can remember is being in his presence and that was enough.

So in alphabetical order, here it goes.

Tommy Bolt

WalkerInmanJr2

Tommy Bolt won 15 times on the PGA Tour, including the 1958 U.S. Open.

Prior to the annual PGA Merchandise Show in Florida, my good friend Jim Achenbach of Golfweek would contact me and Bob Cantin from Ping to set up a game with Bolt at Black Diamond, a 36-hole facility in Lecanto, Fla., about 90 minutes northwest of Orlando. My weak memory would place this in the late 90’s when Bolt was older than 80.

When I flash back, I always have the same memory and that was his swing. Bolt didn’t so much as swing the club back as he placed it in a perfect position at the top. There was no unnecessary movement, just this magnificent swing that produced a shot quality I could only dream about. I remember asking him if he minded my standing behind him because I just wanted to watch every detail of that swing. He was a joy to play with, told us stories… I’ll never forget that swing.

Moe Norman

Moe-2

Moe Norman won 55 times on the Canadian Tour and in other Canadian golf events.

Back in the 90’s, there was a club in Titusville, Fla., called Royal Oak Golf Club and it was owned at the time by the Canadian PGA. As such, Moe had access and it became his winter headquarters. My mom lived adjacent to the 13th hole, and with Titusville being about 40 miles from Orlando I made it a point to go to the PGAM Show early (and sometimes stay) so I could hang out with her and two of my brothers who lived nearby. The driving range was a short walk from her house and there was Moe.

Moe has been described as autistic and a savant, but neither is correct. If you’re interested in his life I suggest you secure a copy of “Moe and Me” by the excellent Canadian writer Lorne Rubenstein.

I believe there are two kinds of ball strikers, related but slightly different. The first is the player on the course envisioning and hitting one shot, then moving to a completely different shot. The second is the guy on the range who hits tens, maybe hundreds of shots at a target with the same club. Obviously there is a relationship, as Moe was a great on-course player, but on the range he was otherworldly. We used to play nine holes in the late evening and he would play two balls, worst ball and break par — and he wasn’t a great putter. I say “we” played, but half the time I don’t think he realized I was there. Still, I never missed the chance.

I see his name used on the Internet as exemplifying some kind of mythical golf swing that, if emulated, would be “the answer.”

I made Moe’s clubs. If a standard swing weight is D2, his would have been F-something and the grips were jumbo plus. You see, Moe was strong and I mean freaky strong. It was as if his body was protecting the damage done in his childhood sleighing accident. He could grab you by the upper arm and with seemingly little effort take you to your knees. So for all those Moe Norman aficionados, I suggest starting with clubs four times heavier than normal and being abnormally strong.

There are a million ball-hitting stories, and I’ll give you a few.

Moe was at a different range, Jonathan’s Landing, and I happened to be there. He was hitting drivers off the deck and would announce draw or fade and how high. He always told me he played by height! Now, I’m not saying when he called for a slight draw at 40 feet it went exactly that height, but it drew and it was about twice as high as the one he called at 20 feet and this was off the deck!

When Moe hit drivers off a tee, he would literally hit a bucket and never move the tee. Like all great ball strikers, his shots had a different, quiet sound. Maybe my favorite happened one evening at Royal Oak. It was dusk and he was there alone hitting little pitches at a flag stuck in the ground (the place was not plush). I was the only other person and as he hit shots he talked to me, as he often did while hitting balls. 

“I play by height,” he said. “This one 4 feet, this one 8 feet.”

He hit shots from very mediocre lies to this flagstick in the dusk. He hit maybe 30 or 40 balls and 11 hit the flag and I thought another 20 were going to. It was incredible, and I’ll never forget it. 

Moe had a few great lines, and one afternoon he said one of the wisest things about practice I’ve ever heard. It was probably the mid 90’s, PGAM Show time, and I’d talked the Haney Ranch gang — all the instructors and Hank — into coming over to Titusville to watch Moe hit balls. I was the club fitter at Haney Ranch at the time. 

Moe was hitting 6 irons, just one perfect shot after another, and then hit one a bit fat. He was rapid fire, so when one of the instructors, Tracy Philips, asked him about what he thought about the fat shot, it was two or three balls later. Moe stopped, took a swig of his ever present Coke and said:

“What did I think?” Moe said. “That was a bad shot. I don’t think about bad shots. I only think about good shots.”

He put down the Coke and went on with perfection.

He actually repeated himself, as was his syntax in those days, but I’ll never forget the words. How many of us get tied up analyzing our bad shots and don’t learn from the good ones.

Thanks, Moe!

Related: Best Ball-Strikers (Part 2): Lee Trevino and Tom Watson. 

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Barney Adams is the founder of Adams Golf and the inventor of the iconic "Tight Lies" fairway wood. He served as Chairman of the Board for Adams until 2012, when the company was purchased by TaylorMade-Adidas. Adams is one of golf's most distinguished entrepreneurs, receiving honors such as Manufacturing Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young in 1999 and the 2010 Ernie Sabayrac Award for lifetime contribution to the golf industry by the PGA of America. His journey in the golf industry started as as a club fitter, however, and has the epoxy filled shirts as a testimony to his days as an assembler. Have an equipment question? Adams holds seven patents on club design and has conducted research on every club in the bag. He welcomes your equipment questions through email at [email protected] Adams is now retired from the golf equipment industry, but his passion for the game endures through his writing. He is the author of "The WOW Factor," a book published in 2008 that offers an insider's view of the golf industry and business advice to entrepreneurs, and he continues to contribute articles to outlets like GolfWRX that offer his solutions to grow the game of golf.

56 Comments

56 Comments

  1. Brian

    Mar 16, 2015 at 6:47 pm

    I remember following the final group, which included Moe, at the 1977 or 1978 (can’t remember which, it was a long time ago) Quebec Open. On one of the final holes, a par 4 or 5, there was a lengthy wait for the landing area to clear and the 3 players in the final group were just standing on the tee, chatting, the spectators milling about and waiting for play to begin.

    While the players were waiting on the tee, Moe started to bounce his ball off his driver, and chatting. Bounce, bounce, bounce… I think they must have waited 5 minutes, Moe just chatting away, and bounce, bounce bouncing his ball off the face of his driver (for those of you who remember, the old tiny, persimmon type). At one point, everyone, players and spectators alike, just went silent watching Moe, seemingly in his own world, just chatting away, and bounce, bounce, bouncing the ball off the face of his driver – and he was the only person of the thousand or so standing on that tee that was seemingly not even aware of what he was doing. he was not paying attention at all, just reflex and subconscious controlling his actions.

    I’ve been playing golf for 50 years, have been inside the ropes at multiple PGA Tour events and a President’s Cup, but I’ve never seen anything like that. Totally otherworldly…

  2. Tony Cassimatis

    Mar 5, 2015 at 1:57 pm

    Dear Mr Adams,
    Great article on Moe Norman. A friend of mine told me about the swing back in 2008 when I was about to give away golf. The swing resurrected my game and I fully believe in the Physics of the swing. I also don’t suffer from bad back problems now. I may not get distance like conventional but I sure as heck have had a massive reduction in bad shots and an increase in more accurate shots. So here’s to Moe a true golfing legend….

  3. Jeff

    Mar 1, 2015 at 6:03 pm

    Thanks Mr. Adams. The only folks who didn’t love reading that story have spent money on Todd Graves Moe Norman scams. Great story, fascinating.

    • Larry

      Mar 1, 2015 at 10:49 pm

      I loved the story and the Todd Graves scam has me playing the best golf ever….once you under stand what the Graves is giving you the fairways and greens are all yours…just learn to putt. In 25 years never found an eaiser way to play golf.

      • Barney Adams

        Mar 1, 2015 at 11:54 pm

        I do not know Todd Graves or his teaching methods. The story was strictly on my experience with Moe and absolutely he was unnaturally strong and played heavy clubs when I made them. I was not a fan of Natural Golf but as I understand that isn’t the Graves program. Just a general FYI.

    • Randel

      Mar 7, 2015 at 1:05 am

      Been doing the Graves Moe Norman type swing years now….11 handicap 59 years of age..it works so well for us older guys that have a hard time moving all the parts at the right time in the normal golf swing… distance is no problem you just move your arms faster and us older guys can still do that..

  4. Jw

    Mar 1, 2015 at 1:08 am

    this is the type of article that keeps me checking back on golfwrx on occasion

  5. Mini Smizzle

    Feb 27, 2015 at 8:15 pm

    There’s a guy in my neighborhood named moe norman
    He don’t look like goldmember tho

  6. Jay

    Feb 27, 2015 at 3:22 am

    Barney, I’ve read the book you mentioned about Moe and have taken single plain golf lessons at Graves Golf Academy. The book and the lessons were a wonderful experience. While I was at Graves Academy taking lessons from Todd Graves, he (Todd) would tell stories about Moe. I could tell that Todd really liked Moe and above all, respected him. I’ve never met Moe personally, but, wish that I’d had the opportunity. Your article is another wonderful story about Moe that I enjoyed very much. Everything that I’ve ever heard about Moe from people that have met him and spend time with him have all be positive. Thanks Barney for your story. I would love to hear/read more about your experiences with Moe.

  7. CairnsRock

    Feb 26, 2015 at 11:05 pm

    I asked Moe why he used such huge oversized grips?

    Answer…Control, control.

    He says everything twice.

  8. Trevino Smizzle

    Feb 26, 2015 at 7:18 pm

    I’ll say this about moe…he proves what I believe in
    It’s not got to be pretty, it’s got to be repeatable
    I’ll take the guys that win over the guys that should win anyday. I heard Butch Harmon on TV say “a good shot comes from a good swing, I don’t care what it looks like”

  9. Tiger Smizzle

    Feb 26, 2015 at 7:12 pm

    Moe could activate his glutes better than any other golfer ever

  10. Moe Smizzle

    Feb 26, 2015 at 7:11 pm

    The real key to hitting it straight is to just top it real bad. Catch it as low on the face as possible. It’ll only go about 40 yards at best but it’ll be the straightest ball you ever see

  11. Barney Smizzle

    Feb 26, 2015 at 7:05 pm

    I remeber moe telling me one time..
    Popularity is like toothpaste, it’s overrated

  12. Barney Smizzle

    Feb 26, 2015 at 7:04 pm

    I remember moe telling me one time…
    Popularity is like toothpaste, it’s overrated

  13. Greg V

    Feb 26, 2015 at 11:48 am

    Tom,
    Before the 1956 Masters, Moe had just come down from Canada where he had been setting pins at a bowling alley all winter. He had hardly enough time to practice, and setting pins is tough on the back.

    I am not saying that Moe was the best ball-striker of all time; there were some other guys who were really great in their day like Hogan and Byron Nelson. But one would have to agree that Moe was very accomplished.

  14. Roosterredneck

    Feb 26, 2015 at 8:34 am

    I liked the story.Consider that Moe slept in sand traps at times because he had no money. Dare say how well we could play after sleeping in a sand trap.. I would like to read more about Moe.

  15. RG

    Feb 26, 2015 at 2:27 am

    Great article Barney. You are sorely missed running you company, but at least I got some good reads out of it. Keep up the good work!

  16. RG

    Feb 26, 2015 at 2:25 am

    Takes one to know one.

  17. Robert

    Feb 26, 2015 at 1:18 am

    In 1992 I was 16 and worked at a golf course in Saskatchewan , Canada. Moe was doing a tour at the time, doing exhibitions across the country, and he did our course one evening passing through. I was fortunate to meet him and had the pleasure of picking the range that night after his deal.
    I’ll never forget he hit every club in his bag to the 150 yard sign, every shot from every club was all over it. There was 50-100 balls in a 10′ radius around that sign when I was shagging that evening. Incredible and something you never forget.

  18. Mark H

    Feb 26, 2015 at 12:12 am

    Thanks for the great article, Barney!
    Sad to read so many mean spirited comments about Moe, but I guess everybody is entitled to their own opinion. In the year 2015, such a high functioning person who suffers from aspergers would be celebrated, not relegated as a “weirdo”. As far as Sam Snead “getting in to Moe’s head so bad”… They played golf together for decades after that, and Snead openly referred to Moe as the best ball striker in the world.
    Ask Lee Trevino about Moe.
    Why did Tour pros line up on the driving range to watch Moe hit balls?
    Anyway, Those who know don’t need an explanation, those who don’t know will always be skeptical

  19. jon

    Feb 25, 2015 at 11:13 pm

    that is a great story Barney!! Thank you for sharing. Great story telling. I have sent this to a few buddies and that rarely happens.

    • Barney Adams

      Feb 25, 2015 at 11:39 pm

      To Robby Wille above; I wrote one The Wow Factor which was the story of Adams Golf. I’m mulling doing another one I’m not a professional writer ( wrote the first one no ghost involved) it’s difficult and I’m old and lazy

  20. Christian

    Feb 25, 2015 at 7:15 pm

    So if Moe was not autistic, then what was wrong with him? He obviously was mentally ill or retarded then? Not brushing you teeth, the constant ego-tripping talking?

    • Barney Adams

      Feb 27, 2015 at 12:47 am

      Best to read Moe and Me for the answer. In 1995 Wally Uilhein CEO of Titleist put Moe on staff ( no strings) 5k a month for life Really a class move and testimony to how highly regarded Moe was in the industry.

  21. Ken

    Feb 25, 2015 at 7:08 pm

    That was an enjoyable read. Thank you, Barney.

  22. Ritch

    Feb 25, 2015 at 6:44 pm

    I grew up in Michigan across the river from Canada. I played a lot of golf in Canada and during the sixties and early seventies heard many stories about his “odd swing” and unerring accuracy. In later life, I read mores stories of his “eccentricities”. I never had the chance to see him play. As I recall, Titleist put him on staff in his last years and paid him a monthly stipend to help him make expenses. I thought that was a nice gesture.

    • Barney Adams

      Feb 27, 2015 at 12:23 am

      Wally Uihlein the President of Titleist put Moe on staff 5 k/ mo in 1995 No Strings of any kind Moe had played Titleist balls for years . Purely a class move and testimony to how highly regarded Moe was within the industry.

  23. barney adams

    Feb 25, 2015 at 6:04 pm

    I started to take off on the anti Moe comments and then figured why bother. I repeat; if you are really interested read Moe and Me.

  24. farmer

    Feb 25, 2015 at 4:15 pm

    Liked the article. I remember back in the day, Tommy Bolt was judged to have the best swing in the game.

  25. Steve

    Feb 25, 2015 at 3:53 pm

    I love moe. Caddy tells Moe that the hole is just a driver- wedge. Moe hits wedge off the tee, driver from fairway makes birdie.

  26. Tom

    Feb 25, 2015 at 3:03 pm

    At the 1956 Masters, Snead got into Moe’s head so bad, Norman never set foot on US soil again, competitively. He can ‘supposedly’ hit all the great balls he wants on the range (as a professional who can’t do that – seen tiger right?) but if you can’t even compete with guys who are supposed to be your contemporaries who cares? I’ve seen the video(s) where Moe’s hitting all these shots but I’m thinking “who gives a crap”? seriously… if i have 40 years where all i do is sit on the range, live in my car, forget to brush my teeth, etc., and hit balls all day long, then go to florida for the winter months, i had better be able to hit a golf ball. that’s what he did… Snead, and all the others, beat the pants off of Norman. The current day hack looks to youtube and thinks he’s some demigod? like he knew something they could learn from? no thanks.

    • lance

      Feb 25, 2015 at 3:53 pm

      Moe Norman: 55 Canadian Pga wins, 17 holes in one, 33 course records and 3 59’s. Snead said he was the greatest ballstriker ever! The current day youtube hack like yourself isn’t smart enough to see the perfect biomechanics of Moe’s swing. The modern swing has legs pushing up and torso moving down to be able to compensate for the distance from the ball. BACK PROBLEMS see Tiger. Being farther away from the ball allows the hips to stabilize the swing so the torso can stay down and through the shot. Lesson learned Tom now go make your game better learning from Moe’s perfect swing.

      • Tom

        Feb 25, 2015 at 4:01 pm

        hey lance-i-baby… look at snead’s record, then look at norman’s. done. who cares about tiger… norman is a “what could hvae been” story where snead is a “look at what he did” story. go back to your canadian dreams.

        • Jay

          Feb 25, 2015 at 5:52 pm

          Tom – if you knew anything about golf history then you would know why Moe had the record he did. His record, or lack of, still does not diminish his skills.

    • Rich

      Feb 25, 2015 at 7:43 pm

      Wow, who got out of the wrong side of bed this morning? You must remember to take your happy pills before commenting.

    • Philip

      Feb 25, 2015 at 10:34 pm

      Snead tried to give Moe a valid tip for long irons. Unfortunately he could never of expected Moe to try and ingrain the change that day and end up blistering his hands raw after practicing into the dark night. He would have expected Moe to consider the tip after the Master’s not make a swing change on the spot and get stuck between two swings.

      In addition, Moe did play again a second time at the Masters and for a little while on the PGA tour so you may want to validate your information first.

  27. Greg V

    Feb 25, 2015 at 2:40 pm

    CJ Bell – smooth.

    Thanks.

  28. Rob

    Feb 25, 2015 at 1:45 pm

    Moe was one of a kind for sure. “Maybe I should take up fishing.” is the thought that goes through most peoples heads if they watched him hit balls. It was a completely different level.

  29. Jeffrey

    Feb 25, 2015 at 1:24 pm

    Hey Barney how did you get Moe’s club that heavy on the swing weight scale? If Moe had fat grips (which is widely known), it would be ESPECIALLY difficult to get clubs that heavy! How did you do it?? Thank you for your article –

    • barney adams

      Feb 25, 2015 at 6:01 pm

      lead tape and lead powder after I had the supplier set aside the heaviest heads he could find , the out of spec stuff.

      • Barney Adams

        Feb 25, 2015 at 11:36 pm

        Full disclosure I never put them on the SW scale just got them to where Moe was happy. I do remember thinking ” I could never sell clubs like these”

        • b-wall

          Jun 15, 2015 at 3:20 pm

          Mr. Adams,

          There seems to have been an ongoing debate for years if Moe used single length clubs for his irons in his major playing days. When you built clubs for Moe, were they all one standard lie angle to promote this, or was the single length clubs just a myth?

  30. J.R.

    Feb 25, 2015 at 12:59 pm

    Lorne Rubenstein’s “Moe and Me” is really a great read. I also have the audible version. I loved the story of Moe hitting full iron shots off the Practice Green at Augusta National and freaking out members. Picking them clean and leaving no blemish on the greens. It makes me smile every time. First quote that comes to mind is. Question to Moe at clinic – “Moe, can you talk a little about hitting draws or fades?” Moe’s response – “Yeah, I can hit those shots, but why would I? I can hit it straight.”
    It went something like that.

    Here’s a video of Moe hitting to a pin from about 70yds or so.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHmq4xhS_bI

    • MHendon

      Feb 26, 2015 at 12:43 am

      Watched the video, no doubt that’s good ball striking but it’s not that impressive considering he had quite the back stop behind the pin that kept bringing his long shots back to the pin.

      • Rich

        Feb 26, 2015 at 4:16 am

        Really? Let’s see your video if it’s not that impressive.

  31. Scott

    Feb 25, 2015 at 12:08 pm

    Thanks Barney for the article. I love hearing stories about Moe.
    Not to derail the article, but I will, like some posters. I have played single axis for over 20 years now and am a low single digit handicap. I do not think that you need to be freakishly strong to swing single axis. I think that Moe’s swing, or parts of it, would work for all golfers. For example, Tiger Woods was convinced to change the placement of his left hand by Hank Haney, based on Moe. When you break down the few differences between single axis and the conventional swing there is very little to argue about. Most people think that single axis has to look like a 70 year old Moe. There are a few places that you can check out the Moe of his 20s and 30s. You would be hard pressed to find differences in his swing vs. a conventional swing.

    • barney adams

      Feb 25, 2015 at 6:08 pm

      actually I agree here when I first saw film of early Moe I saw a great looking swing.

      • Barney Adams

        Feb 25, 2015 at 8:59 pm

        To comment further I was aiming at Kukyendall and Natural Golf which I felt did Moe a disservice.

        • Scott

          Feb 26, 2015 at 5:52 pm

          Unfortunately, you are right. They also did single axis a disservice. However, I guess that we can thank Jack for increasing Moe’s popularity.

  32. Tommy

    Feb 25, 2015 at 11:52 am

    Great insight to your treasury of experiences, Mr Adams. Please don’t deprive us of more.

  33. Don M

    Feb 25, 2015 at 11:23 am

    Loved the article! I am a big fan of Moe. His swing works for amateurs, especially those who struggle with inconsistency and big misses. If you have more good stories about Moe, please write a Part 2.

  34. Larry

    Feb 25, 2015 at 11:06 am

    I switched to the “Moe type swing” just used the Graves DVD’s for about a month then took a lesson form one of the “Graves Golf” guys, which was very key as I got over “Moeish” just whatching the DVDs. This action works excellent for me (Over 65) and I now hit my driver in play and for the first time ever I can hit a hybrid without hooking it off the course. One note if you try and learn this type swing use a grass range for irons.

  35. CJ Bell

    Feb 25, 2015 at 11:01 am

  36. Greg V

    Feb 25, 2015 at 10:41 am

    Great article! Thanks for sharing some memories.

    Now, if only I could find a video of Tommy Bolt. I actually had the pleasure of saying hello to him one time in an elevator at Pinehurst. Fortunately, I recognized him from pictures.

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 Valspar Championship betting preview: Elite ballstrikers to thrive at Copperhead

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The PGA TOUR will stay in Florida this week for the 2024 Valspar Championship.

The Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort is a par 71 measuring 7,340 yards and features Bermudagrass greens overseeded with POA. Infamous for its difficulty, the track will be a tough test for golfers as trouble lurks all over the place. Holes 16, 17 and 18 — also known as the “Snake Pit” — make up one of the toughest three-hole stretches in golf and should lead to a captivating finish on Sunday.

The field is comprised of 156 golfers teeing it up. The field this week is solid and is a major improvement over last year’s field that felt the impact of players skipping due to a handful of “signature events” in a short span of time. 

Past Winners at Valspar Championship

  • 2023: Taylor Moore (-10)
  • 2022: Sam Burns (-17)
  • 2021: Sam Burns (-17)
  • 2019: Paul Casey (-8)
  • 2018: Paul Casey (-10)
  • 2017: Adam Hadwin (-14)
  • 2016: Charl Schwartzel (-7)
  • 2015: Jordan Spieth (-10)

In this article and going forward, I’ll be using the Rabbit Hole by Betsperts Golf data engine to develop my custom model. If you want to build your own model or check out all of the detailed stats, you can sign up using promo code: MATTVIN for 25% off any subscription package (yearly is best value). 

Key Stats For Copperhead

1. Strokes Gained: Approach

Strokes Gained: Approach grades out as the most important statistic once again this week. Copperhead really can’t be overpowered and is a second-shot golf course.

Total SG: Approach Over Past 24 Rounds (per round)

  1. Tony Finau (+.90)
  2. Nick Taylor (+.81)
  3. Justin Thomas (+.77)
  4. Greyson Sigg (+.69)
  5. Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+.67)

2. Good Drive %

The long hitters can be a bit limited here due to the tree-lined fairways and penal rough. Playing from the fairways will be important, but laying back too far will cause some difficult approaches with firm greens that may not hold shots from long irons.

Golfers who have a good balance of distance and accuracy have the best chance this week.

Good Drive % Over Past 24 Rounds

  1. Brice Garnett (+91.3%) 
  2. Zach Johnson (+91.1%)
  3. Sam Ryder (+90.5%)
  4. Ryan Moore (+90.4%)
  5. Aaron Rai (+89.7%)

3. Strokes Gained: Ball Striking

Adding ball-striking puts even more of a premium on tee-to-green prowess in the statistical model this week. Golfers who rank highly in ball-striking are in total control of the golf ball which is exceedingly important at Copperhead.

SG: Ball Striking Over Past 24 Rounds:

  1. Xander Schauffele (+1.32)
  2. Keith Mitchell (+1.29)
  3. Tony Finau (+1.24)
  4. Cameron Young (+1.17) 
  5. Doug Ghim (+.95)

4. Bogey Avoidance

With the conditions likely to be difficult, avoiding bogeys will be crucial this week. In a challenging event like the Valspar, oftentimes the golfer who is best at avoiding mistakes ends up on top.

Gritty golfers who can grind out difficult pars have a much better chance in an event like this than a low-scoring birdie-fest.

Bogey Avoidance Over Past 24 Rounds

  1. Brice Garnett (+9.0)
  2. Xander Schauffele (+9.3)
  3. Austin Cook (+9.7) 
  4. Chesson Hadley (+10.0)
  5. Greyson Sigg (+10.2)

5. Strokes Gained: Total in Difficult Conditions

Conditions will be tough this week at Copperhead. I am looking for golfers who can rise to the occasion if the course plays as difficult as it has in the past.

Strokes Gained: Total in Difficult Conditions Over Past 24 rounds

  1. Xander Schauffele (+1,71) 
  2. Min Woo Lee (+1.39)
  3. Cameron Young (+1.27)
  4. Jordan Spieth (+1.08)
  5. Justin Suh (+.94)

6. Course History

That statistic will tell us which players have played well at Copperhead in the past.

Course History Over Past 24 rounds

  1. Patrick Cantlay (+3.75) 
  2. Sam Burns (+2.49)
  3. Davis Riley (+2.33)
  4. Matt NeSmith (+2.22)
  5. Jordan Spieth (+2.04)

The Valspar Championship Model Rankings

Below, I’ve compiled overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed — SG: Approach (27%), Good Drive % (15%), SG: BS (20%), Bogeys Avoided (13%), Course History (13%) Strokes Gained: Total in Difficult Conditions (12%).

  1. Xander Schauffele
  2. Doug Ghim
  3. Victor Perez
  4. Greyson Sigg
  5. Ryan Moore
  6. Tony Finau
  7. Justin Thomas
  8. Sam Ryder
  9. Sam Burns
  10. Lucas Glover

2024 Valspar Championship Picks

Justin Thomas +1400 (DraftKings)

Justin Thomas will be disappointed with his finish at last week’s PLAYERS Championship, as the past champion missed the cut despite being in some decent form heading into the event. Despite the missed cut, JT hit the ball really well. In his two rounds, the two-time major champion led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach per round.

Thomas has been up and down this season. He’s missed the cut in two “signature events” but also has finishes of T12 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, T12 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, T6 at the Pebble Beach AT&T Pro-Am and T3 at the American Express. In his past 24 rounds, he ranks 3rd in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach and 6th in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking in the field.

Thomas loves Copperhead. In his last three tries at the course, he’s finished T13, T3 and T10. Thomas would have loved to get a win at a big event early in the season, but avoidable mistakes and a balky putter have cost him dearly. I believe a trip to a course he loves in a field he should be able to capitalize on is the right recipe for JT to right the ship.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout +6000 (FanDuel)

Christiaan Bezuidenhout is playing spectacular golf in the 2024 season. He finished 2nd at the American Express, T20 at Pebble Beach and T24 at the Genesis Invitational before finishing T13 at last week’s PLAYERS Championship.

In his past 24 rounds, the South African ranks 3rd in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach and 26th in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking. Bezuidenhout managed to work his way around TPC Sawgrass last week with minimal damage. He only made five bogeys in the entire week, which is a great sign heading into a difficult Copperhead this week.

Bezuidenhout is winless in his PGA Tour career, but certainly has the talent to win on Tour. His recent iron play tells me that this week could be a breakthrough for the 35-year-old who has eyes on the President’s Cup.

Doug Ghim +8000 (FanDuel)

Doug Ghim has finished in the top-16 of his past five starts. Most recently, Ghim finished T16 at The PLAYERS Championship in a loaded field.

In his past 24 rounds, Ghim ranks 8th in Strokes Gained: Approach and 5th in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking. In terms of his fit for Copperhead, the 27-year-old ranks 12th in Bogey Avoidance and 7th in Strokes Gained: Total in Difficult Conditions, making him a great fit for the course.

Ghim has yet to win on Tour, but at one point he was the top ranked Amateur golfer in the world and played in the 2017 Arnold Palmer Cup and 2017 Walker Cup. He then won the Ben Hogan award for the best male college golfer in 2018. He certainly has the talent, and there are signals aplenty that his talent in ready to take him to the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour.

Sepp Straka +8000 (BetRivers)

Sepp Straka is a player who’s shown he has the type of game that can translate to a difficult Florida golf course. The former Presidents Cup participant won the 2022 Honda Classic in tough conditions and should thrive with a similar test at Copperhead.

It’s been a slow 2024 for Straka, but his performance last week at the PLAYERS Championship surely provides some optimism. He gained 5.4 strokes on approach as well as 1.88 strokes off the tee. The tee-to-green game Straka showed on a course with plenty of danger demonstrates that he can stay in control of his golf ball this week.

It’s possible that the strong performance last week was an outlier, but I’m willing to bet on a proven winner in a weaker field at a great number.

Victor Perez +12000 (FanDuel)

Victor Perez is no stranger to success in professional golf. The Frenchman has three DP World Tour wins including a Rolex Series event. He won the 2019 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, as well as the 2023 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, which are some big events.

Perez earned his PGA Tour card this season and enters the week playing some fantastic golf. He finished in a tie for 16th in Florida at the Cognizant Classic and then tied for third in his most recent start at the Puerto Rico Open.

In his past 24 rounds in the field, Perez ranks 11th in Strokes Gained: Approach, 1oth in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking, 6th in Good Drive % and 15th in Bogey Avoidance.

Perez comes in as a perfect fit for Copperhead and offers serious value at triple-digit odds.

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Opinion & Analysis

Myrtle Beach, Explored: February in South Carolina

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As I gain in experience and age, and familiarity breeds neither contempt nor disdain, I understand why people return to a place. A destination like Myrtle Beach offers a sizable supply and diversity of restaurants, entertainment venues, and shops that are predicated on the tenets of the service industry. Greet your customers with a smile and a kind word, and they will find comfort and assurance. Provide them with a memorable experience and they will suggest your place of business to others.

My first tour of Myrtle Beach took place in the mid-1980s, and consisted of one course: Gator Hole. I don’t remember much from that day, and since Gator Hole closed a decade later, I cannot revisit it to recollect what I’d lost. Since then, I’ve come to the Grand Strand a few times, and been fortunate to never place a course more than once. I’ve seen the Strantz courses to the south and dipped my toe in the North Carolina courses of Calabash. I’ve been to many in the middle, including Dunes, Pine Lakes, Grande Dunes among them.

2024 brought a quartet of new courses, including two at the Barefoot Resort. I’d heard about the North Myrtle Beach four-pack of courses that highlight the Barefoot property, including layouts from Pete Dye, Tom Fazio, Davis Love III, and Greg Norman. I had the opportunity to play and shoot the Dye and Fazio tracks, which means that I’ll have to return to see the other two. Sandwiched between them were the TPC-Myrtle Beach course, also from Tom Fazio, and the Pawley’s Plantation trace, by the hand of Jack Nicklaus. I anticipated a bit of the heroic, and bit of the strategic, and plenty of eye candy. None of those architects would ever be considered a minimalist, so there would be plenty of in-play and out-of-play bunkers and mounds to tantalize the senses.

My nephew arrived a few days early, to screen a few more courses. As a result, you the reader will have an extra quarter of mini-reviews, bringing the total of courses in this piece to eight. It was inconceivable that CJR would play four courses that I had never played nor photographed, but that was the case. His words appear at the end of this piece. We hope that you enjoy the tour.

Main Feature: Two Barefoots, a TPC, and Pawley’s Plantation

Barefoot Dye

What Paul “Pete” Dye brought back from his trips to the United Kingdom, hearkened back to what C.B. MacDonal did, some 65 years prior. There is a way of finding bunkers and fairways, and even green sites, that does not require major industrial work. The Dye course at Barefoot Resorts takes you on a journey over the rumpled terrain of distant places. If there’s one element missing, it’s the creased and turbulent fairways, so often found in England and Ireland. The one tenet of playing a Dye course, is to always aim away from temptation, from where your eyes draw you. Find the safe side of the target, and you’ll probably find your ball. It then stands that you will have a shot for your next attempt. Cut the corner, and you might have need to reload. The Barefoot course begins gently, in terms of distance, but challenges with visual deception. After two brief 4s and a 3, the real work begins. The course is exposed enough, to allow the coastal winds to dance along the fairways. Be ready to keep the ball low and take an extra club or two.

TPC-Myrtle Beach

If memory serves, TPCMB is my first trek around a TPC-branded course. It had all the trappings of a tour course, from the welcome, through the clubhouse, to the practice facilities and, of course, the course. TPC-Myrtle Beach is a Tom Fazio design, and if you never visit Augusta National, you’ll now have an idea of what it is like. You play Augusta’s 16th hole twice at TPCMB, and you enjoy it both times. Fazio really likes the pond-left, green-angle-around par three hole, and his two iterations of it are memorable.

You’ll also see those Augusta bunkers, the ones with the manicured edges that drop into a modestly-circular form. What distinguishes these sand pits is the manner in which they rise from the surrounding ground. They are unique in that they don’t resemble the geometric bunkering of a Seth Raynor, nor the organic pits found in origin courses. They are built, make no mistake, and recovery from them is manageable for all levels of bunker wizardry.

Barefoot Fazio

If you have the opportunity to play the two Tom Fazio courses back to back, you’ll notice a marked difference in styling. Let me digress for a moment, then circle back with an explanation. It was written that the NLE World Woods course designed by Fazio, Pine Barrens, was an homage to Pine Valley, the legendary, New Jersey club where Fazio is both a member and the architect on retainer. The Pine Barrens course was plowed under in 2022, so the homage no longer exists. At least, I didn’t think that it existed, until I played his Barefoot Resort course in North Myrtle Beach.

Pine Valley might be described as an aesthetic of scrub and sand. There are mighty, forced carries to travers, along with sempiternal, sandy lairs to avoid. Barefoot Fazio is quite similar. If you’re not faced with a forced carry, you’ll certainly contend with a fairway border or greenside necklace of sand. When you reach the 13th tee, you’ll face a drive into a fairway, and you might see a distant green, with a notable absence: flagstick. The 13th is the icing on the homage cake, a callout of the 8th hole at Pine Valley. Numero Ocho at the OG has two greens, side by side, and they change the manner in which the hole plays (so they say.) At Barefoot Fazio, the right-side green is a traditional approach, with an unimpeded run of fairway to putting surface. The left-side green (the one that I was fortunate to play) demands a pitch shot over a wasteland. It’s a fitting tribute for the rest of us to play.

Be certain to parrot the starter, Leon’s, advice, and play up a deck of tees. Barefoot Fazio offers five par-three holes, so the fours and fives play that much longer. Remember, too, that you are on vacation. Why not treat yourself to some birdie looks?

Pawley’s Plantation

The Jack Nicklaus course at Pawley’s Plantation emerged from a period of hibernation in 2024. The greens were torn up and their original contours were restored. Work was overseen by Troy Vincent, a member of the Nicklaus Architecture team. In addition, the putting corridors were reseeded with a hardier, dwarf bermuda that has experienced great success, all along the Grand Strand that is Myrtle Beach.

My visit allowed me to see the inward half first, and I understand why the resort wishes to conclude your day on those holes. The front nine of Pawley’s Plantation works its way through familiar, low country trees and wetlands. The back nine begins in similar fashion, then makes its way east, toward the marsh that separates mainland from Pawley’s Island. Recalling the powerful sun of that Wednesday morning, any round beginning on the second nine would face collateral damage from the warming star. Much better to hit holes 11 to close when the sun is higher in the sky.

The marshland holes (12 through 17) are spectacular in their raw, unprotected nature. The winds off the Atlantic are unrelenting and unforgiving, and the twin, par-three holes will remain in your memory banks for time’s march. In typical Golden Bear fashion, a majority of his putting targets are smallish in nature, reflecting his appreciation for accurate approach shots. Be sure to find the forgiving side of each green, and err to that portion. You’ll be grateful.

Bonus Coverage: Myrtlewood, Beechwood, Arrowhead, and King’s North

Arrowhead (Raymond Floyd and Tom Jackson)

A course built in the middle of a community, water threatens on most every hole. The Cypress 9 provides a few holes forcing a carried drive then challenge you with water surrounding the green. On Waterway, a drivable 2nd hole will tempt most, so make sure the group ahead has cleared the green.

Myrtlewood (Edmund Alt and Arthur Hills) and Beechwood (Gene Hamm)

A middle of the winter New Englander’s paradise. Wide open fairways, zero blind shots and light rough allow for shaking off the rust and plenty of forgiveness. A plethora of dog legs cause one to be cautious with every tee shot. Won’t break the bank nor the scorecard.

King’s North @ Myrtle Beach National (Arnold Palmer)

A signature Arnold Palmer course, waste areas, island greens and daring tee shots. Highlighted by the 4th hole Par 5 Gambler hole, if you can hit the smaller fairway on the left you are rewarded with a short approach to get to the green in 2. The back 9 is highlighted by an island green par 3 and a finisher with over 40 bunkers spread throughout. A challenge for any golfer.
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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 Players Championship betting preview: Pete Dye specialists ready to pass tough TPC Sawgrass test

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The PGA Tour heads to TPC Sawgrass to play in one of the most prestigious and important events of the season: THE PLAYERS Championship. Often referred to as the fifth major, the importance of a PLAYERS victory to the legacy of a golfer can’t be overlooked.

TPC Sawgrass is a par-72 measuring 7,245 yards and featuring Bermudagrass greens. Golfers must be patient in attacking this Pete Dye course.

With trouble lurking at every turn, the strokes can add up quickly. With a par-5 16th that is a true risk-reward hole and the famous par-3 17th island green, the only safe bet at TPC Sawgrass is a bet on an exciting finish.

THE PLAYERS Championship field is often referred to as the strongest field of the year — and with good reason. There are 144 in the field, including 43 of the world’s top 50 players in the OWGR. Tiger Woods will not be playing in the event.

THE PLAYERS is an exceptionally volatile event that has never seen a back-to-back winner.

Past Winners at TPC Sawgrass

  • 2023: Scottie Scheffler (-17)
  • 2022: Cameron Smith (-13)
  • 2021: Justin Thomas (-14)
  • 2019: Rory McIlroy (-16)
  • 2018: Webb Simpson (-18)
  • 2017: Si-Woo Kim (-10)
  • 2016: Jason Day (-15)
  • 2015: Rickie Fowler (-12)In this article and going forward, I’ll be using the Rabbit Hole by Betsperts Golf data engine to develop my custom model. If you want to build your own model or check out all of the detailed stats, you can sign up using promo code: MATTVIN for 25% off any subscription package (yearly is best value). 

5 Key Stats for TPC Sawgrass

Let’s take a look at five metrics key for TPC Sawgrass to determine which golfers boast top marks in each category over their last 24 rounds.

1. Strokes Gained: Approach

Strokes Gained: Approach has historically been far and away the most important and predictive stat at THE PLAYERS Championship. With water everywhere, golfers can’t afford to be wild with their iron shots. Not only is it essential to avoid the water, but it will also be as important to go after pins and make birdies because scores can get relatively low.

Total SG: Approach Over Past 24 Rounds

  1. Tom Hoge (+1.37) 
  2. Scottie Scheffler (+1.20)
  3. Tony Finau (+0.99)
  4. Jake Knapp (+0.83)
  5. Shane Lowry (+0.80)

2. Total Driving

This statistic is perfect for TPC Sawgrass. Historically, driving distance hasn’t been a major factor, but since the date switch to March, it’s a bit more significant. During this time of year, the ball won’t carry quite as far, and the runout is also shorter.

Driving accuracy is also crucial due to all of the trouble golfers can get into off of the tee. Therefore, players who are gaining on the field with Total Driving will put themselves in an ideal spot this week.

Total Driving Over Past 24 Rounds

  1. Rory McIlroy (22)
  2. Akshay Bhatia (25)
  3. Keith Mitchell (25) 
  4. Adam Hadwin (34)
  5. Sam Burns (+39)

3. Strokes Gained: Total at Pete Dye Designs

TPC Sawgrass may be Pete Dye’s most famous design, and for good reason. The course features Dye’s typical shaved runoff areas and tricky green complexes.  Pete Dye specialists love TPC Sawgrass and should have a major advantage this week.

SG: Total (Pete Dye) per round over past 36 rounds:

  1. Patrick Cantlay (+2.02)
  2. Scottie Scheffler (+1.90)
  3. Min Woo Lee (+1.77) 
  4. Sungjae Im (+1.72)
  5. Brian Harman (+1.62) 

4. Strokes Gained: Ball Striking

Prototypical ball-strikers have dominated TPC Sawgrass. With past winners like Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Webb Simpson, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, it’s evident that golfers must be striking it pure to contend at THE PLAYERS.

SG: Ball Striking Over Past 24 Rounds

  1. Scottie Scheffler (+2.02)
  2. Tony Finau (+1.51)
  3. Tom Hoge (+1.48)
  4. Keith Mitchell (+1.38)
  5. Will Zalatoris (+1.18)

5. Par 5 Average

Par-5 average is extremely important at TPC Sawgrass. With all four of the Par-5s under 575 yards, and three of them under 540 yards, a good amount of the scoring needs to come from these holes collectively.

Par 5 Average Over Past 24 Rounds

  1. Scottie Schefler (+4.31)
  2. Erik Van Rooyen (+4.35)
  3. Doug Ghim (+4.34)
  4. Wyndham Clark (+4.34)
  5. Matt Fitzpatrick (+4.31)

6. Strokes Gained: Florida

We’ve used this statistic over the past few weeks, and I’d like to incorporate some players who do well in Florida into this week’s model as well. 

Strokes Gained: Florida over past 30 rounds:

  1. Scottie Schefler (+2.43)
  2. Erik Van Rooyen (+1.78)
  3. Doug Ghim (+1.78)
  4. Wyndham Clark (+1.73)
  5. Matt Fitzpatrick (+1.69)

7. Strokes Gained: Total on Courses with High Water Danger

With water everywhere at TPC Sawgrass, the blow-up potential is high. It can’t hurt to factor in some players who’ve avoided the “eject” button most often in the past. 

Strokes Gained: Total on Courses with High Water Danger over past 30 rounds:

  1. Scottie Schefler (+2.08)
  2. Rory McIlroy (+1.82)
  3. Tony Finau (+1.62)
  4. Patrick Cantlay (+1.51)
  5. Will Zalatoris (+1.49)

THE PLAYERS Championship Model Rankings

Below, I’ve compiled overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed — SG: Approach (25%), Total Driving (20%), SG: Total Pete Dye (14%), SG: Ball-striking (15%) SG: Par 5 (8%), SG: Florida (10%) and SG: High Water (8%).

  1. Scottie Scheffler 
  2. Shane Lowry 
  3. Tony Finau 
  4. Corey Conners
  5. Keith Mitchell
  6. Justin Thomas
  7. Will Zalatoris
  8. Xander Schauffele
  9. Cameron Young
  10. Doug Ghim
  11. Sam Burns 
  12. Chris Kirk
  13. Collin Morikawa
  14. Si Woo Kim
  15. Wyndham Clark

2024 THE PLAYERS Championship Picks

(All odds at the time of writing)

Patrick Cantlay +2500 (DraftKings):

Patrick Cantlay is winless since the 2022 BMW Championship but is undoubtedly one of the most talented players on the PGA Tour. Since the win at Wilmington Country Club, the 31-year-old has twelve top-10 finishes on Tour and is starting to round into form for the 2024 season.

Cantlay has done well in the most recent “signature” events this season, finishing 4th at Riviera for the Genesis Invitational and 12th at Bay Hill for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The former Tour Championship winner resides in Jupiter, Florida and has played some good golf in the state, including finishing in a tie for 4th at the 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational. His history at TPC Sawgrass has been up and down, but his best career start at The PLAYERS came last year when he finished in a tie for 19th.

Cantlay absolutely loves Pete Dye designed courses and ranks 1st in the field in Strokes Gained: Total on Dye tracks in his past 36 rounds. In recent years, he’s been excellent at both the RBC Heritage and the Travelers Championship. TPC Sawgrass is a place where players will have to be dialed in with their irons and distance off the tee won’t be quite as important. In his past 24, rounds, Cantlay ranks in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach.

Despite being winless in recent years, I still believe Cantlay is capable of winning big tournaments. As one of the only United States players to bring their best game to Marco Simone for the Ryder Cup, I have conviction that the former top amateur in the world can deliver when stakes are high.

Will Zalatoris +3000 (FanDuel):

In order to win at TPC Sawgrass, players will need to be in total control of their golf ball. At the moment, Will Zalatoris is hitting it as well as almost anyone and finally has the putter cooperating with his new switch to the broomstick style.

Zalatoris is coming off back-to-back starts where he absolutely striped the ball. He finished 2nd at the Genesis Invitational and 4th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational where his statistics were eye opening. For the week at Bay Hill, Zal gained 5.0 strokes on approach and 5.44 strokes off the tee.

Throughout the early part of his career, Zalatoris has established himself by playing his best golf in the strongest fields with the most difficult conditions. A tough test will allow him to separate himself this week and breakthrough for a PLAYERS Championship victory.

Shane Lowry +4000 (DraftKings):

History has shown us that players need to be in good form to win the PLAYERS Championship and it’s hard to find anyone not named Scottie Scheffler who’s in better form that Shane Lowry at the moment. He finished T4 at the Cognizant Classic followed by a solo third place finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The fact that the Irishman contended at Bay Hill is a great sign considering he’s really struggled there throughout his career. He will now head to a different style of course in Florida where he’s had a good deal of success. He finished 8th at TPC Sawgrass in 2021 and 13th in 2022. 

Lowry ranks 6th in the field in approach in his past 24 rounds, 7th in Strokes Gained: Total at Pete Dye designed courses in his last 30 rounds, 8th in par 5 scoring this season, and 4th in Strokes Gained: Total in Florida over his past 36 rounds.

Lowry is a player who’s capable of winning big events. He’s a major champion and won another premier event at Wentworth as well as a WGC at Firestone. He’s also a form player, when he wins it’s typically when he’s contended in recent starts. He’s been terrific thus far in Florida and he should get into contention once again this week.

Brian Harman +8000 (DraftKings):

(Note: Since writing this Harman’s odds have plummeted to 50-1. I would not advise betting the 50).

Brian Harman showed us last season that if the course isn’t extremely long, he has the accuracy both off the tee and with his irons to compete with anyone in the world. Last week at Bay Hill and was third in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach, gaining 5.54 strokes on the field in the category.

In addition to the strong iron play, Harman also gained strokes off the tee in three of four rounds. He’s also had success at Pete Dye tracks recently. He finished 2nd at last year’s Travelers Championship and 7th at the RBC Heritage.

It would be a magnificent feat for Harman to win both the Open Championship and PLAYERS in a short time frame, but the reality is the PGA Tour isn’t quite as strong as it once was. Harman is a player who shows up for the biggest events and his odds seem way too long for his recent track record.

Tony Finau +6500 (FanDuel):

A few weeks ago, at the Genesis Invitational, I bet Hideki Matsuyama because I believed it to be a “bet the number” play at 80-1. I feel similarly about Finau this week. While he’s not having the season many people expected of him, he is playing better than these odds would indicate.

This season, Tony has a tied for 6th place finish at Torrey Pines, a tied for 19th at Riviera and tied for 13th at the Mexico Open. He’s also hitting the ball extremely well. In the field in his past 24 rounds, he ranks 3rd in Strokes Gained: Approach, 3rd in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking, 6th in Par 5 average and 15th in Total Driving.

Finau’s problem has been with the putter, which has been undeniably horrific. However, this week he will see a putting surface similar to the POA at TPC Scottsdale and PGA West, which he’s had a great deal of success on. It’s worth taking a stab at this price to see if he can have a mediocre week with the flat stick.

Sungjae Im +9000 (FanDuel):

It’s been a lackluster eighteen months for Sungjae, who once appeared to be a certain star. While his ceiling is absolutely still there, it’s been a while since we’ve seen Im play the type of golf expected of a player with his talent.

Despite the obvious concerns, the South Korean showed glimpses of a return to form last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He tied for 18th place and gained strokes off the tee, on approach, around the green and with the putter. When at his best, Im is a perfect course fit for TPC Sawgrass. He has remarkable precision off the tee, can get dialed in with his irons on shorter courses and can get up and down with the best players on Tour.

This number has gotten to the point where I feel comfortable taking a shot on it.

Billy Horschel +20000 (FanDuel):

Billy Horschel is a great fit on paper for TPC Sawgrass. He can get dialed in with his irons and his lack of distance off the tee won’t be a major detriment at the course. “Bermuda Billy” does his best work putting on Bermudagrass greens and he appears to be rounding into form just in time to compete at The PLAYERS.

In his most recent start, Billy finished in a tie for 9th at the Cognizant Classic and hit the ball extremely well. The former Florida Gator gained 3.32 strokes on approach and 2.04 strokes off the tee. If Horschel brings that type of ball striking to TPC Sawgrass, he has the type of putter who can win a golf tournament.

Horschel has been great on Pete Dye designed courses, with four of his seven career PGA Tour wins coming on Dye tracks.

In a season that has seen multiple long shots win big events, the 37-year-old is worth a stab considering his knack for playing in Florida and winning big events.

 

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