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BMW Championship 2021 DraftKings Picks

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Welcome to a new installment of DraftKings picks from staff writer and host of the Inside Golf Podcast, Andy Lack.

The PGA Tour travels to Owings Mills, Maryland, this week for the BMW Championship, the second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs. The top-70 players in the FedEx Cup standings will be in attendance this week at Caves Valley Golf Club, a course that has never hosted a PGA Tour event before.

Despite having zero data on Caves Valley to draw from, we can still gleam an understanding of the course through the hole by hole descriptions on the website and other PGA Tour courses designed by Tom Fazio. Caves Valley is a Par 72, measuring 7,542 yards.

I’ve alluded to the fact that the Baltimore area course is a Fazio design, and the famed modern designer has done design or re-design work on other PGA Tour courses such as Quail Hollow, Conway Farms, Congaree, Shadow Creek, and Kamusigaseki. With all players in the field seeing the course in competition for the first time, I will be leaning heavily on recent form and how players have performed on similar comp courses.

Last week, all five of my selections made it through to the weekend. Let’s keep the momentum going and dig into this week’s DraftKings slate!

$10,000 range

Brooks Koepka, $10,200 (Projected ownership: 4.82%)

For the second week in a row, I will be rostering Brooks Koepka in the $10,000 range. I have already discussed my love for Koepka in my betting column, so I promise not to belabor the point, but this ownership makes little sense to me. Yes, the four-time major champion shot back-to-back 74s over the weekend at Liberty National, but both of those rounds got off the rails extremely quickly and immediately removed him from contention. There’s an opportunity here for us to capitalize on recency bias and roster one of the best players in the world at sub-five percent ownership on a course that fits his game to a tee.

$9,000 range 

Viktor Hovland, $9,100 (Projected ownership: 11.62%)

Viktor Hovland was the last man out on my betting card, yet I will gladly roster him on DraftKings at an extremely fair price and reasonable ownership. There are a few things about Hovland this week that I really like. First of all, this course measures a robust 7,532 yards, and the two-time PGA Tour winner is number one in this field in weighted proximity from 175 yards plus.

Secondly, he enters the week with great ball-striking form, yet he is still flying slightly under the radar given his recent middle of the pack finishes, which were all due to a faulty short game and putter. Finally, Hovland played his college golf at Karsten Creek, another 7,400 yard plus, Bent-grass, Tom Fazio course, and he has performed admirably on other Fazio designs such as Quail Hollow, Shadow Creek, and Kasumigaseki.

$8,000 range

Sungjae Im, $8,000 (Projected ownership: 2.84%)

Similar to Koepka, let’s make it two weeks in a row for Sungjae Im. He was my favorite DraftKings play on the board last week, and I feel just as strongly about the former Honda Classic winner here as well. Im is coming off three starts in a row where he has gained over a stroke off the tee, and seven starts in a row where he has gained strokes on approach.

The ball-striking is definitively back for Im, and we are getting a massive ownership discount because the perception is that Caves Valley is not a “Sungjae Im course.” Calling Im a specialist who is only capable of competing on short, Bermuda courses in Florida is really selling him short. We are still talking about a player who finished runner-up at Augusta National, on Bent-grass, in his first appearance at the Masters. Im is really rounding into form right now, and I expect him to continue his momentum into East Lake.

$7,000 range

Shane Lowry, $7,900 (Projected ownership: 1.13%)

Once again, Shane Lowry is criminally under-owned. I played him last week at $7,500 and 7% ownership, and I will gladly roster him again at a slightly steeper price but even lower ownership. The former Open champion is coming off a week at the Northern Trust where he gained 7.2 strokes on approach, good for his best measured iron week of his career.

While I am not overlooking Lowry’s struggles off the tee, the fairways are so narrow at Caves Valley, that even the most accurate drivers will be missing them as well. In which case, I am getting one of the best iron players in the world from there on out.

$6,000 range 

Max Homa, $6,400 (Projected ownership: 11.62%)

In my opinion, Max Homa is the most mis-priced player on the entire slate. I cannot understand for the life of me, why a player who has already won this year, on a Fazio re-design nonetheless, is $1,200 cheaper than Harold Varner, and priced below the likes of Keith Mitchell and Emiliano Grillo. Homa is quite simply in a different tier from those aforementioned players, and once again, we can take advantage of recency bias and get a massive discount on a player that is quietly rounding into former.

The two-time PGA Tour winner gained 4.1 strokes ball-striking last week at the Northern Trust, which good for his best ball-striking week in over two months ago. The former winner at Quail Hollow now returns to another Tom Fazio course, where I expect him to continue to his string of success.

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19th Hole

‘It’s in the works’ – Sequel to Happy Gilmore is reportedly on the way

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In what will come as a pleasant surprise for many Adam Sandler fans, “Happy Gilmore 2” is reportedly in the works.

The original, “Happy Gilmore” is a hilarious movie about a former hockey player who becomes a professional golfer to get his elderly grandmother’s house back from the IRS.

While appearing on the The Ken Carman Show, Christopher McDonald, who’s better known as “Shooter McGavin” from the movie, said the sequel is in the works.

“I saw Adam about two weeks ago and he said, McDonald, you’re gonna love this. I said, ‘What is it?’ He said, ‘How about that?’ and he hands me the first draft of Happy Gilmore 2.”

“He showed me that and I thought, ‘Wow, that would be awesome’. It’s in the works. Fans demand it. I was very, very pleased when I saw that.”

It’s unclear which other original cast members will be returning but as long as Sandler (Happy Gilmore) and McDonald are in the movie, it should be a hit.

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Why Kevin Streelman sought USGA approval to use this equipment tool as he leads Valspar after round one

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The first round of this week’s Valspar Championship proved to be quite difficult and the first-round leader for the event was a bit surprising.

Kevin Streelman, who missed the cut in four of his past five events, including three in a row, made seven birdies and was bogey-free on his way to a 64 (-7).

“I knew today was going to be solid and then it’s going to be hold-onto-your-shorts here for the next few days,” Streelman said in his post-round press conference. “So trying to just keep a good attitude and have some fun.”

Interestingly, Streelman tried out a new ball marker this week that he had to seek USGA approval for prior to teeing it up.

“It’s kind of cool little new ball marker I’m using that is legal that can kind of give you some visual cues that I think is pretty helpful. I was using that today, which I think kind of helped, as well.”

The marker has a line on it that gave Streelman a visual cue prior to hitting the putt.

Through ten holes in round two, the 45-year-old is at -6 and holds a share of the lead.

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The wild reason why Mark Wahlberg was initially denied entry to an Australian golf club

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Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg is known for his love of golf but received a shock recently when he was initially denied entry to Sydney’s Elanora Country Club.

The reason? His socks. As first reported by the Australian Daily Telegraph, Wahlberg turned up to the club wearing black socks, which is against the Australian club’s all-white sock policy.

Speaking to the publication, the club’s general manager Cathy Neagle confirmed the reason for the denial, saying: “We have dress standards. They do include white socks.”

Taking to Instagram, Wahlberg mimiked an Australian accent to poke fun at the decision saying: “Socks not allowed on every golf course in Australia, believe it or not. Some courses require you to wear white socks. These are gym socks, man! What?!”

 

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A post shared by Mark Wahlberg (@markwahlberg)

However, all’s well that ends well, as Wahlberg was happy to change into white socks to play at the club. 

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