Opinion & Analysis

Dustin Johnson: The Burning Questions Heading into 2015

Published

9 years ago

Jan 5, 2015

It’s been nearly five months since this happened. And then this. And then this. Oh, we can’t forget about that. Or this (unverified rumor, to be clear). And of course this.

Yep, a strange few months for Dustin Johnson and golf.

That initial period of hectic rumor-mongering is over though, and the American’s stay on his leave of absence (or whatever you believe it to be) is nearing its conclusion.

How do we unravel this power-hitting puzzle? Here is a breakdown of the most tantalizing questions about Johnson, maybe golf’s greatest enigma, heading into 2015.

When will Johnson return to competition?

For those of you who haven’t followed the 30-year-old’s whereabouts following his shocking July announcement, Tim Rosaforte has provided us the answer…or at least a well-educated guess.

The veteran golf scribe spoke with members of Johnson’s team (manager, coach and trainer) and was able to obtain that the American is planning to return to golf tentatively at the Farmers Insurance Open, which starts Feb. 5.

Tentative is the operative word. Schedules can change, and these reports also state Johnson iterating that he will wait until his fiance Paulina Gretzky gives birth to the couples’ first child before he competes again. We do not know the due date, so his return date could easily be pushed back.

When he returns, how will Johnson address the questions about his sabbatical?

Johnson has never been an expansive guy in interviews, and there’s nothing wrong with that, especially in today’s hypersensitive media age. Those are just the facts.

I assume he will start out with a statement of his own, and when it comes to media questions, I expect vague answers. Of course, he will likely get direct questions about whether he was suspended, prior drug use, etc.

Before Johnson’s leave of absence, his agent had once answered questions about whether his client had ever been suspended by the PGA Tour with a swift “no.” That response hasn’t changed, nor will it to queries on any of the topics in question.

If you expect real, meaty answers here, disappointment will ensue.

Will the players welcome him back?

Gary Van Sickle already covered this one, and I agree with his assessment. There have never been any reports of players disliking Johnson, and the PGA Tour pros tend not to be too judgmental about a colleague’s problems. I’m doubtful Johnson will receive many cold shoulders in his return.

Does Johnson appear ready to return to competition?

Well, he’s keeping his whereabouts a secret, and is by proxy seen by few people. Because of that, our only source material here is the members of team Johnson that I noted above. Clearly this is a biased group whose encouraging words must be taken with several grains of salt.

That being said, even adjusting for this healthy skepticism, the reports on Johnson’s offseason are positive.

Apparently he put up his sticks for eight weeks and then furiously got to work. According to his people, Johnson is committing to his physique like never before, completing a heavy amount of biking along with strenuous two-a-day workouts. And his practice sessions have been quite focused and pristine as well.

His course-record-setting round of 61 at Sherwood Country Club, if true, is a good touch, too. Butch Harmon, who once called out Johnson as a guy who was outworked by everybody else in the top 10, says he’s cautiously optimistic about Johnson.

Trust what you want to trust, but it doesn’t appear Johnson is lollygagging in his absence.

If Johnson slips up significantly in 2015, will sponsors treat him like a landmine as they did for Tiger in 2010?

If you remember, the 2010 season wasn’t a fond one for Woods. Three sponsors — Gatorade, Accenture and AT&T — kicked him to the curb outright within months of the scandal’s beginning. Three more would drop or mutually split with Woods by the end of 2011.

But the circumstances around Woods were just too singular for Johnson to be hit with the same exodus.

That being said, I’d keep an eye on Johnson and TaylorMade.

The two have been together since the American’s pro debut, but company CEO Ben Sharpe admitted last month that TaylorMade and Johnson have had exactly zero contact since the news of Johnson’s “leave of absence” broke.

Sharpe’s quotes don’t convey any annoyance, but being mum with a long-term main sponsor that stood by you in turbulent times isn’t exactly a recipe for a satisfied employer.

TaylorMade’s contract with Johnson ends at the close of 2015. With the deadline looming so near, wouldn’t a particularly poor on-course season or a clear lack of personal growth from Johnson at least tempt the equipment giant into axing its long-bombing bad boy?

I’m not saying a split here is probable or even that likely. It’s just something to think about considering the context of Johnson’s absence, his lack of communication and the specter of his expiring contract.

What should we expect from Johnson on-course in 2015?

Year-to-year, however, the 30-year-old is remarkably similar in performance. In his six full PGA Tour seasons following his rookie year, Johnson has averaged 1.1 wins, 6.7 top-10s and 10.2 top-25s per year, with a 82 percent made cut rate.

And basically every single year, his numbers cling close to those averages. His wins have fluctuated between 1 and 2 per season, his top-10s between 5 and 9, his top-25s between 8 and 12 and his made cut rate between 73 and 89 percent.

Those are remarkably small ranges.

My point? I know the story of a catastrophic downfall in performance or a rise to superstardom in the wake of scandal are sexy angles, but Johnson’s on-course results will probably fall somewhere in that mitigated range.

Yes, the scouting reports on Johnson’s offseason progress are excellent. But again, these comments come courtesy of a PR filter, and how often do you hear healthy athletes say, “Yeah, I only feel so-so about this upcoming season”?

On the other side, a long break from golf is least likely to hinder a guy like Johnson, a total feel player who already has one extended professional vacation on record (that 11-week hiatus in 2012).

Sorry to be boring here, but I expect a quintessential Dustin Johnson season in 2015.

Is This a Professional Crossroads Year for Dustin Johnson?

It’s tempting to label this season as one where the back half of Johnson’s career is firmly at stake, with any failures sabotaging a strong ending. His lack of major championships looms large, but remember: HE’S ONLY 30 YEARS OLD.

Although we can’t always accurately predict the effects of aging on any one golfer, the average pro tends to have a near decade of prime years from age 30 on. According to the norm, we are really at the front end of Johnson’s prime.

You can see why I’m skeptical about this “crossroads” thing then. A bad season for a 30-year-old is just that: A bad season. It’s difficult to envision a downward spiral when Johnson’s physical talent is near the peak and likely not set to decline for a couple of presidential election cycles.

Short of Johnson suddenly gaining 10 years in age in the next month, crossroads is an inaccurate way to describe his professional status in 2015.

Will Johnson finally win a major championship this season?

I actually like his odds here. As I already mentioned, I don’t think Johnson will really be hindered at all by his extended absence. His chances at a major won’t be dinged then by a drop in performance.

And the set of courses at the final three majors of 2015 suits him extremely well.

For the U.S. Open, Chambers Bay is expected to be a track with wide landing areas on the drive, and at 7,585 yards, it is a long one too. It seems that big hitters and great approach players, both of which describe Johnson, are especially encouraged to excel there. And those same profiles mesh with players most attractive to St. Andrews for the British Open and Whistling Straits for the PGA (if you don’t trust me, the 21st century major champion winners at these venues are Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Louis Oosthuizen and Martin Kaymer, all of whom fit the longer hitter-approach player profile).

The caveat for some is that a major championship is the next step in Johnson’s evolution as a golfer, and he isn’t ready for that leap. But we’re misplacing the “next step” concept. Not to diminish the difficulty of winning a major, but all that entails is getting hot at a big event with a great field. The 30-year-old already did that twice in the FedEx Cup Playoffs and another time in winning a World Golf Championships last year. He’s actually done it at majors too, with the victory crown barely eluding him. Those crunch time major championship moments are likely to turn in his favor at least once at some point.

Johnson’s real next step is consistently putting together multiple-win, double digit top-10 seasons. As lovely as it is to put up his current averages year-after-year, he seems to be stuck on those numbers.

All in all then, I’m optimistic that Johnson finally bags that elusive major in 2015. Such a victory doesn’t imply that his season will be above his norm or that the American has finally transformed into the golfer we believe his talent merits.

If he wins one of the Big Four, he remains the same old Dustin. And the old Dustin should triumph at a major in 2015.

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Opinion & Analysis

The Wedge Guy: What really makes a wedge work? Part 2

Published

19 hours ago

May 9, 2024

Terry Koehler

In my last post, I explained the basic performance dynamics of “smash factor” and “gear effect” as they apply to your wedges and your wedge play success. If you missed that post, you can read it here.

At the end of that post, I promised “part 2” of this discussion of what makes a wedge work the way it does. So, let’s dive into the other two components of any wedge – the shaft and the grip.

It’s long been said that the shaft is “the engine of the golf club.” The shaft (and grip) are your only connection to all the technologies that are packed into the head of any golf club, whether it be a driver, fairway, hybrid, iron, wedge or even putter.

And you cannot ignore those two components of your wedges if your goal is optimizing your performance.

I’ve long been an advocate of what I call a “seamless transition” from your irons into your wedges, so that the feel and performance do not disconnect when you choose a gap wedge, for example, instead of your iron-set-matching “P-club.” In today’s golf equipment marketplace, more and more golfers are making the investment of time and money to experience an iron fitting, going through trial and error and launch monitor measuring to get just the right shaft in their irons.

But then so many of those same golfers just go into a store and choose wedges off the retail display, with no similar science involved at all. And that’s why I see so many golfers with a huge disconnect between their custom-fitted irons, often with lighter and/or softer graphite or light steel shafts . . . and their off-the-rack wedges with the stock stiff steel ‘wedge flex’ shaft common to those stock offerings.

If your wedge shafts are significantly heavier and stiffer than the shafts in your irons, it is physically impossible for you to make the same swing. Period.

To quickly improve your wedge play, one of the first things you can do is have your wedges re-shafted with the same or similar shaft that is in your irons.

There’s another side of that shaft weight equation; if you don’t have the forearm and hand strength of a PGA Tour professional, you simply cannot “handle” the same weight shaft that those guys play to master the myriad of ‘touch shots’ around the greens.

Now, let’s move on to the third and other key component of your wedges – the grips. If those are not similar in shape and feel to the grips on your irons, you have another disconnect. Have your grips checked by a qualified golf club professionals to make sure you are in sync there.

The one caveat to that advice is that I am a proponent of a reduced taper in your wedge grips – putting two to four more layers of tape under the lower hand, or selecting one of the many reduced taper grips on the market. That accomplishes two goals for your scoring.

First, it helps reduce overactive hands in your full and near-full wedge swings. Quiet hands are key to good wedge shots.

And secondly, it provides a more consistent feel of the wedge in your hands as you grip down for those shorter and more delicate shots around the greens. And you should always grip down as you get into those touch shots. I call it “getting closer to your work.”

So, if you will spend as much time selecting the shafts and grips for your wedges as you do choosing the brand, model, and loft of them, your scoring range performance will get better.

Vincenzi’s 2024 Wells Fargo Championship betting preview: Tommy Fleetwood ready to finally land maiden PGA Tour title

Published

3 days ago

May 6, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

The PGA Tour season ramps back up this week for another “signature event,” as golf fans look forward to the year’s second major championship next week.

After two weaker-field events in the Zurich Classic and the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, most of the best players in the world will head to historic Quail Hollow for one of the best non-major tournaments of the year.

Last season, Wyndham Clark won the event by four shots.

Quail Hollow is a par-71 measuring 7,521 yards that features Bermudagrass greens. The tree-lined, parkland style course can play quite difficult and features one of the most difficult three-hole stretches in golf known as “The Green Mile,” which makes up holes 16-18: two mammoth par 4s and a 221-yard par 3. All three holes have an average score over par, and water is in play in each of the last five holes on the course.

The field is excellent this week with 68 golfers teeing it up without a cut. All of the golfers who’ve qualified are set to tee it up, with the exception of Scottie Scheffler, who is expecting the birth of his first child.

Past Winners at Quail Hollow

2023: Wyndham Clark (-19)
2022: Max Homa (-8)
2021: Rory McIlroy (-10)
2019: Max Homa (-15)
2018: Jason Day (-12)
2017: Justin Thomas (-8) (PGA Championship)
2016: James Hahn (-9)
2015: Rory McIlroy (-21)

Key Stats For Quail Hollow

Strokes Gained: Approach

Strokes gained: Approach will be extremely important this week as second shots at Quail Hollow can be very difficult.

Total SG: Approach Over Past 24 Rounds

Akshay Bhatia (+1.16)
Tom Hoge (+1.12)
Corey Conners (+1.01)
Shane Lowry (+0.93)
Austin Eckroat (+0.82)

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee

Quail Hollow is a long course on which it is important to play from the fairway. Both distance and accuracy are important, as shorter tee shots will result in approach shots from 200 or more yards. With most of the holes heavily tree lined, errant drives will create some real trouble for the players.

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee Past 24 Rounds:

Ludvig Aberg (+0.73)
Rory McIlroy (+0.69)
Xander Schauffele (+0.62)
Viktor Hovland (+0.58)
Chris Kirk (+0.52)

Proximity: 175-200

The 175-200 range is key at Quail Hollow. Players who can hit their long irons well will rise to the top of the leaderboard.

Proximity: 175-200+ over past 24 rounds:

Cameron Young (28’2″)
Akshay Bhatia (29’6″)
Ludvig Aberg (+30’6″)
Sam Burns (+30’6″)
Collin Morikawa (+30’9″)

SG: Total on Tom Fazio Designs

Players who thrive on Tom Fazio designs get a bump for me at Quail Hollow this week.

SG: Total on Tom Fazio Designs over past 36 rounds:

Patrick Cantlay (+2.10)
Rory McIlroy (+1.95)
Tommy Fleetwood (+1.68)
Austin Eckroat (+1.60)
Will Zalatoris (+1.57)

Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermudagrass)

Strokes Gained: Putting has historically graded out as the most important statistic at Quail Hollow. While it isn’t always predictable, I do want to have it in the model to bump up golfers who prefer to putt on Bermudagrass.

Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermudagrass) Over Past 24 Rounds:

Taylor Moore (+0.82)
Nick Dunlap (+.76)
Wyndham Clark (+.69)
Emiliano Grillo (+.64)
Cam Davis (+.61)

Course History

This stat will incorporate players that have played well in the past at Quail Hollow.

Course History over past 36 rounds (per round):

Rory McIlroy (+2.50)
Justin Thomas (+1.96)
Jason Day (+1.92)
Rickie Fowler (+1.83)
Viktor Hovland (+1.78)

Wells Fargo Championship Model Rankings

Below, I’ve compiled overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed — SG: Approach (27%), SG: Off the Tee (23%), SG: Total on Fazio designs (12%), Proximity: 175-200 (12%), SG: Putting Bermuda grass (12%), and Course History (14%).

Wyndham Clark
Rory McIlroy
Xander Schauffele
Shane Lowry
Hideki Matsuyama
Viktor Hovland
Cameron Young
Austin Eckroat
Byeong Hun An
Justin Thomas

2024 Wells Fargo Championship Picks

Tommy Fleetwood +2500 (DraftKings)

I know many out there have Tommy fatigue when it comes to betting, which is completely understandable given his lack of ability to win on the PGA Tour thus far in his career. However, history has shown us that players with Fleetwood’s talent eventually break though, and I believe for Tommy, it’s just a matter of time.

Fleetwood has been excellent on Tom Fazio designs. Over his past 36 rounds, he ranks 3rd in the field in Strokes Gained: Total on Fazio tracks. He’s also been incredibly reliable off the tee this season. He’s gained strokes in the category in eight of his past nine starts, including at The Masters, the PLAYERS and the three “signature events” of the season. Tommy is a golfer built for tougher courses and can grind it out in difficult conditions.

Last year, Fleetwood was the first-round leader at this event, firing a Thursday 65. He finished the event in a tie for 5th place.

For those worried about Fleetwood’s disappointing start his last time out at Harbour Town, he’s bounced back nicely after plenty of poor outings this season. His T7 at the Valero Texas Open was after a MC and T35 in his prior two starts and his win at the Dubai Invitational came after a T47 at the Sentry.

I expect Tommy to bounce back this week and contend at Quail Hollow.

Justin Thomas +3000 (DraftKings)

It’s been a rough couple of years for Justin Thomas, but I don’t believe things are quite as bad as they seem for JT. He got caught in the bad side of the draw at Augusta for last month’s Masters and has gained strokes on approach in seven of his nine starts in 2024.

Thomas may have found something in his most recent start at the RBC Heritage. He finished T5 at a course that he isn’t the best fit for on paper. He also finally got the putter working and ranked 15th in Strokes Gained: Putting for the week.

The two-time PGA champion captured the first of his two major championships at Quail Hollow back in 2017, and some good vibes from the course may be enough to get JT out of his slump.

Thomas hasn’t won an event in just about two years. However, I still believe that will change soon as he’s been one of the most prolific winners throughout his PGA Tour career. Since 2015, he has 15 PGA Tour wins.

Course history is pretty sticky at Quail Hollow, with players who like the course playing well there on a regular basis. In addition to JT’s PGA Championship win in 2017, he went 4-1 at the 2022 Presidents Cup and finished T14 at the event last year despite being in poor form. Thomas can return as one of the top players on the PGA Tour with a win at a “signature event” this week.

Cameron Young +3500 (DraftKings)

For many golf bettors, it’s been frustrating backing Cam Young this season. His talent is undeniable, and one of the best and most consistent performers on the PGA Tour. He just hasn’t broken through with a victory yet. Quail Hollow has been a great place for elite players to get their first victory. Rory McIlroy, Anthony Kim, Rickie Fowler and Wyndham Clark all notched their first PGA Tour win at Quail.

Throughout Cam Young’s career, he has thrived at tougher courses with strong fields. This season, he finished T16 at Riviera and T9 at Augusta National, demonstrating his preference of a tough test. His ability to hit the ball long and straight off the tee make him an ideal fit for Quail Hollow, despite playing pretty poorly his first time out in 2023 (T59). Young should be comfortable playing in the region as he played his college golf at Wake Forest, which is about an hour’s drive from Quail Hollow.

The 26-year-old has played well at Tom Fazio designs in the past and ranks 8th in the field in Strokes Gained: Total on those courses in his last 36 rounds. Perhaps most importantly, this season, Young is the best player on the PGA Tour in terms of proximity from 175-200 in the fairway, which is where a plurality and many crucial shots will come from this week.

Young is an elite talent and Quail Hollow has been kind to players of his ilk who’ve yet to win on Tour.

Byeong Hun An +5000 (FanDuel)

Byeong Hun An missed some opportunities last weekend at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. He finished T4 and played some outstanding golf, but a couple of missed short putts prevented him from getting to the winning score of -23. Despite not getting the win, it’s hard to view An’s performance as anything other than an overwhelming success. It was An’s fourth top-ten finish of the season.

Last week, An gained 6.5 strokes ball striking, which was 7th in the field. He also ranked 12th for Strokes Gained: Approach and 13th for Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. The South Korean has been hitting the ball so well from tee to green all season long and he now heads to a golf course that should reward his precision.

An’s driver and long irons are absolute weapons. At Quail Hollow, players will see plenty of approach shots from the 175-200 range as well as some from 200+. In his past 24 rounds, Ben ranks 3rd in the field in proximity from 175-200 and 12th in proximity from 200+. Playing in an event that will not end up being a “birdie” fest should help An, who can separate from the field with his strong tee to green play. The putter may not always cooperate but getting to -15 is much easier than getting to -23 for elite ball strikers who tend to struggle on the greens.

Winning a “signature event” feels like a tall task for An this week with so many elite players in the field. However, he’s finished T16 at the Genesis Invitational, T16 at The Masters and T8 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The 32-year-old’s game has improved drastically this season and I believe he’s ready to get the biggest win of his career.

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s LIV Golf Singapore betting preview: Course specialist ready to thrive once again

Published

1 week ago

Apr 30, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

After another strong showing in Australia, LIV Golf will head to Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore looking to build off of what was undoubtedly their best event to date.

Sentosa Golf Club sits on the southern tip of Singapore and is one of the most beautiful courses in the world. The course is more than just incredible scenically; it was also rated 55th in Golf Digest’s top-100 courses in 2022-2023 and has been consistently regarded as one of the best courses in Asia. Prior to being part of the LIV rotation, the course hosted the Singapore Open every year since 2005.

Sentosa Golf Club is a par 71 measuring 7,406 yards. The course will require precise ball striking and some length off the tee. It’s possible to go low due to the pristine conditions, but there are also plenty of hazards and difficult spots on the course that can bring double bogey into play in a hurry. The Bermudagrass greens are perfectly manicured, and the course has spent millions on the sub-air system to keep the greens rolling fast. I spoke to Asian Tour player, Travis Smyth, who described the greens as “the best [he’s] ever played.”

Davis Love III, who competed in a Singapore Open in 2019, also gushed over the condition of the golf course.

“I love the greens. They are fabulous,” the 21-time PGA Tour winner said.

Love III also spoke about other aspects of the golf course.

“The greens are great; the fairways are perfect. It is a wonderful course, and it’s tricky off the tee.”

“It’s a long golf course, and you get some long iron shots. It takes somebody hitting it great to hit every green even though they are big.”

As Love III said, the course can be difficult off the tee due to the length of the course and the trouble looming around every corner. It will take a terrific ball striking week to win at Sentosa Golf Club.

In his pre-tournament press conference last season, Phil Mickelson echoed many of the same sentiments.

“To play Sentosa effectively, you’re going to have a lot of shots from 160 to 210, a lot of full 6-, 7-, 8-iron shots, and you need to hit those really well and you need to drive the ball well.”

Golfers who excel from tee to green and can dial in their longer irons will have a massive advantage this week.

Stat Leaders at LIV Golf Adelaide:

Fairways Hit

1.) Louis Oosthuizen

2.) Anirban Lahiri

3.) Jon Rahm

4.) Brendan Steele

5.) Cameron Tringale

Greens in Regulation

1.) Brooks Koepka

2.) Brendan Steele

3.) Dean Burmester

4.) Cameron Tringale

5.) Anirban Lahiri

Birdies Made

1.) Brendan Steele

2.) Dean Burmester

3.) Thomas Pieters

4.) Patrick Reed

5.) Carlos Ortiz

LIV Golf Individual Standings:

1.) Joaquin Niemann

2.) Jon Rahm

3.) Dean Burmester

4.) Louis Oosthuizen

5.) Abraham Ancer

LIV Golf Team Standings:

1.) Crushers

2.) Legion XIII

3.) Torque

4.) Stinger GC

5.) Ripper GC

LIV Golf Singapore Picks

Sergio Garcia +3000 (DraftKings)

Sergio Garcia is no stranger to Sentosa Golf Club. The Spaniard won the Singapore Open in 2018 by five strokes and lost in a playoff at LIV Singapore last year to scorching hot Talor Gooch. Looking at the course setup, it’s no surprise that a player like Sergio has played incredible golf here. He’s long off the tee and is one of the better long iron players in the world when he’s in form. Garcia is also statistically a much better putter on Bermudagrass than he is on other putting surfaces. He’s putt extremely well on Sentosa’s incredibly pure green complexes.

This season, Garcia has two runner-up finishes, both of them being playoff losses. Both El Camaleon and Doral are courses he’s had success at in his career. The Spaniard is a player who plays well at his tracks, and Sentosa is one of them. I believe Sergio will get himself in the mix this week. Hopefully the third time is a charm in Singapore.

Paul Casey +3300 (FanDuel)

Paul Casey is in the midst of one of his best seasons in the five years or so. The results recently have been up and down, but he’s shown that when he’s on a golf course that suits his game, he’s amongst the contenders.

This season, Casey has finishes of T5 (LIV Las Vegas), T2 (LIV Hong Kong), and a 6th at the Singapore Classic on the DP World Tour. At his best, the Englishman is one of the best long iron players in the world, which makes him a strong fit for Sentosa. Despite being in poor form last season, he was able to fire a Sunday 63, which shows he can low here at the course.

It’s been three years since Casey has won a tournament (Omega Dubai Desert Classic in 2021), but he’s been one of the top players on LIV this season and I think he can get it done at some point this season.

Mito Pereira +5000 (Bet365)

Since Mito Pereira’s unfortunate demise at the 2022 PGA Championship, he’s been extremely inconsistent. However, over the past few months, the Chilean has played well on the International Series as well as his most recent LIV start. Mito finished 8th at LIV Adelaide, which was his best LIV finish this season.

Last year, Pereira finished 5th at LIV Singapore, shooting fantastic rounds of 67-66-66. It makes sense why Mito would like Sentosa, as preeminent ball strikers tend to rise to the challenge of the golf course. He’s a great long iron player who is long and straight off the tee.

Mito has some experience playing in Asia and is one of the most talented players on LIV who’s yet to get in the winner’s circle. I have questions about whether or not he can come through once in contention, but if he gets there, I’m happy to roll the dice.

Andy Ogletree +15000 (DraftKings)

Andy Ogletree is a player I expected to have a strong 2024 but struggled early in his first full season on LIV. After failing to crack the top-25 in any LIV event this year, the former U.S. Amateur champion finally figured things out, finished in a tie for 3rd at LIV Adelaide.

Ogletree should be incredible comfortable playing in Singapore. He won the International Series Qatar last year and finished T3 at the International Series Singapore. The 26-year-old was arguably the best player on the Asian Tour in 2023 and has been fantastic in the continent over the past 18 months.

If Ogletree has indeed found form, he looks to be an amazing value at triple-digit odds.

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