Tour News

The 7 most underrated players at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

Published

9 years ago

Aug 4, 2015

We commence one of the best two-week stretches on the PGA Tour on Thursday, with the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational before the pros travel to Whistling Straits for the year’s final major.

DraftKings has taken note of this week’s stellar field (48 of the top 50 in the world) and is offering a $400,000 contest. First place gets the usual $100,000, but runner-up takes home $20,000 and a bronze showing garners a whopping $10,000.

As usual, it’s a measly $3 entry fee. Enter HERE to play!

Next week’s PGA Championship is offering $1 million to the winner, so for this two-week stretch, it’s definitely time to dial in your fantasy picks and earn some big money.

Let’s start with my advice for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

The Course

firestonecountryclub.com

A par-70 that plays 7,400 yards, the South Course at Firestone Country Club is a long layout that some say tends to favor bombers. But the fairways here are tree-lined and the rough is no joke, so accurate drivers have been known to excel here, too.

Actually, combine those two and you see the long, accurate hitter really finds himself at a distinct advantage at Firestone. As Keegan Bradley noted, you have to hit a lot of drivers here and getting in the fairway is key.

Otherwise, Firestone has been characterized as a ball-striker’s layout, further promoting the idea of driving’s importance as well as trumpeting great iron play.

I created a five-year, top-10 sample at this event from 2010-2014 to check these assumptions, though.

What I found: Approach play and driving were paramount in the sample. Short game and putting mattered but not nearly to the same extent. Accurate hitters were advantaged, but short hitters fared just as well as bombers.

If you can hit it long and straight at Firestone, that’s still huge, but’s it certainly more important to be accurate than long.

This is indeed a ball-striking layout, where precision counts the most.

My Underrated Players

With the heightened and condensed field, the lowest DraftKings total for a given player is $7,000 — that figure is also inflated by this being a no-cut event. Consequently, I have several players in the $7,000s this week who I feel are underpriced.

With that caveat, here we go…

Keegan Bradley ($8,800)

Bradley had a miserable Open Championship (75-72 and a MC) but he had put together a great stretch previously.

He’s also a perfect course fit as one of the premier long, accurate drivers in the world with a robust approach game. Combine that with his results to show for it (1-T2-T4 in his past three Firestone starts) and he’s a no-brainer pick at any price this week.

Billy Horschel ($7,900)

The former Gator is a borderline long-hitter but commands outstanding accuracy. Horschel’s transformed into a great putter but he retains his roots as the precise tee-to-green player that the South Course favors.

Billy Ho has also put together an extended run of great golf since the Players Championship. All that’s missing from that run is a really high finish, and it’s time to capitalize on this week’s attractive layout.

Branden Grace ($7,800)

His play is all just too good right now to ignore; Grace has top-20s in five of his past seven starts, and at varied layouts as well. He should definitely be at a higher price given his form, we’re happily taking him here.

Ryan Moore ($7,600)

A T16-T23-T33-T8 slate at Firestone is honestly a pretty good one, but Moore should be better.

After all, he possesses a really accurate game tee-to-green that screams for Firestone. He really started to work off that in last year’s T8, but there’s still room to grow.

Moore’s play is up-and-down at the moment, but I have to go with a guy who’s bound to break out on this course quite soon. It should only help that Moore is overdue for a big performance this season.

J.B. Holmes ($7,500)

This is a total flyer pick. His course fit is pretty bad (not accurate and a poor approach player) and his last two events are CUT-MDF.

Holmes’ game was on point just last month, though, and when things have been clicking for him in 2015, the results have been wildly successful. I have a hunch his game returns this week. If it does, it will in a big way, enough to overcome poor course fit.

Shane Lowry ($7,500)

The Irishman really did have a good stretch going before a missed cut at the Open Championship.

And even then a fluke quadruple-bogey was really the only thing that stilted his week.

I just like the way he’s playing, which means I’ll gladly scoop him up here.

Ben Martin ($7,300)

The recent results (CUT-T64-T74) are misleading. Martin was near the halfway lead at the U.S. Open before faltering to T64 and was in line for a potential top-20 at the Open Championship before a final-day 77.

So he’s playing a lot better than you may think.

Martin’s first appearance at this event comes this week, but Firestone is the exact type of classic accuracy-based ball-striker’s course where his game excels.

Even if they’re buried, the positive signs for Martin at Firestone are overwhelming.

Don’t forget to enter the $400,000 contest here!

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Kevin Casey

Kevin's fascination with the game goes back as long as he can remember. He has written about the sport on the junior, college and professional levels and hopes to cover its proceedings in some capacity for as long as possible. His main area of expertise is the PGA Tour, which is his primary focus for GolfWRX. Kevin is currently a student at Northwestern University, but he will be out into the workforce soon enough. You can find his golf tidbits and other sports-related babble on Twitter @KevinCasey19. GolfWRX Writer of the Month: September 2014

9 Comments

Chris Eckes

Aug 5, 2015 at 3:27 pm

I went with Na/Willett/Leishman/Horschel/Koepka/Fowler

Reply Report comment
JD

Aug 5, 2015 at 11:51 am

KB….it’s over!

Reply Report comment
Christosterone

Aug 5, 2015 at 10:15 am

Ryan Moore is an assassin with a beautiful tempo…
It is befuddling why he has not done more on tour…while he has been solid, many of us thought he would take the tour by storm…
My only thought is that his wrist injury(very early in his pro career) sent him into a rabbit hole…we all remember when he decided to start his backswing at 3 o’clock for about half a season…
I am a huge fan of his and hope he can make a Ryder Cup at some point because Moore can curb stomp opponents in match play….
-Christosterone

Reply Report comment
- Christosterone
  
  Aug 5, 2015 at 5:13 pm
  
  Another solid post from the champ
  -Christosterone
  
  Reply Report comment
Pat M

Aug 4, 2015 at 8:16 pm

I cannot stand Keegan Bradley and his sidekick Pepsi. I do like the other guys especially JB Holmes.

Reply Report comment
- Christosterone
  
  Aug 5, 2015 at 5:12 pm
  
  I’m a Mountain Dew man myself
  -Christosterone
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Christosterone
    
    Aug 5, 2015 at 9:18 pm
    
    Mountain Dew is kinda gross…
    As the actual, original Christosterone, I love diet dr pepper…
    -Christosterone
    
    Reply Report comment
Martin

Aug 4, 2015 at 7:04 pm

Keegan underrated?

Probably the most overrated US pro the past couple of seasons, and painful to watch.

Reply Report comment
- Kevin Casey
  
  Aug 4, 2015 at 7:30 pm
  
  I’m not saying he’s underrated overall in the landscape of golf. I’m saying that he’s underrated for this week’s event. For Bradley, I think $8,800 or less is a pretty accurate price most weeks, but, like any player, if he really excels at a certain event, his value is worth a lot more than his average.
  
  I feel that is the case this week. Firestone is a really good course for him (and if you don’t take my word for it, he’s already said it’s his favorite Tour track) and his recent results here are, as I noted above, 1-T2-T4. This is a layout that really brings his game up, and thus his value for the week. While most weeks he plays like an $8,000-ish player, he’s generally competed like an $11,000-$12,000 player at the Bridgestone.
  
  So, that’s why I say Keegan is underrated at $8,800 this week. He’s underrated at $8,800 for the Bridgestone, historically his best event on the entire schedule. I’m only talking about his value and how it pertains to this event. Just wanted to clarify my point there. And yeah I agree with you on watching him play. Painful is definitely the right word there haha.
  
  Reply Report comment

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Equipment

Spotted: Putter roundup from the 2024 3M Open

Published

2 days ago

Jul 25, 2024

Brian Knudson

Every week we spot some really cool and custom putters out on the putting green and in tour players’ bags. This week is no slouch with some really interesting and beautiful putters being tested. Let’s take a look at some of the standouts we found.

Tyler Duncan: Scotty Cameron Phantom T-11.5

The Phantom 11 is a pretty wild putter by Scotty’s standards with a multi-material design that boosts MOI for more forgiveness. Duncan’s T-11.5. takes the stock model and moves the shaft to the center of the putter head. We don’t mean a center shafted version, but the shaft is installed in the center, behind the face as well. We don’t have any official details on this T-11.5 but it looks like that setup should create a putter where the face points towards the hole or target, similar to a L.A.B. putter.

Zac Blair: Scotty Cameron 009.M Cameron & Co. “Longneck”

Blair might be in possession of the largest Scotty collection on tour! It seems like every week he has something new, and flat-out gorgeous, that he is trying out. I have seen a lot of 009.M putters over the years, but never one with a long plumbers neck on it. This 009 is a Masterful that utilizes additional CNC machine work to reduce the amount of hand polishing needed to complete the putter. The long, or tall, neck on the putter usually is used to reduce the amount of toe hang and make the putter more face balanced. The face contains a very shallow milling while the sole features a tour truck, tour only, diamonds, and the rare Circle L stamp. The Circle L was made for Scotty’s close friends who lost matches or games and was meant to poke a little fun at their misfortune.

Paul Barjon: PXG Prototype

There are a lot of putters out there that become so widely used and popular that other manufacturers will borrow some of the design cues. The Spider is one of those putters and it looks like PXG has made a prototype putter for Barjon that has some similar features. This proto has a tapered mallet shape with twin wings that come out from either side of the rear. Twin movable weights sit in each wing on the sole and the sole features a plate that is bolted in place at the corners. The top contains a single siteline and the face uses PXG’s advanced pyramid face structure.

Odyssey Ai-One Cruiser Broomstick #7

More and more long, counterbalanced, and alternative putters seem to be showing up recently. The long, or broomstick, putter is making a comeback and more than a few players have joined Adam Scott in using that style. Odyssey has thrown its hat in the broomstick arena with a new Ai-One Cruiser model. The head shape is the very familiar #7 model, but with the shaft going into the center of the club head. An Ai-One face is there to help keep ball speed consistent on off-center hits and three white lines are on top for framing ball and aligning the putter.

TaylorMade Spider Tour S Broomstick

Another option in the long putter is TaylorMade’s Spider Tour S broomstick that we saw around the putting green. The head looks to be a little larger than the standard Tour S and that makes sense with the broomstick-style putters demanding heads near or over 400g. A TPU Pure Roll insert is installed in the face and the shaft is a more traditional double-bend design, just much longer! There isn’t the True Path alignment on top, just a full darker grey finish with a single siteline. Two moveable weights are out in the wings of the putter to dial in the specific weight a player might want.

Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 3M Open

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 3M Open

Published

3 days ago

Jul 23, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is on site this week at TPC Twin Cities for the 2024 3M Open for the penultimate event of the PGA Tour’s regular season.

The photos are flying in from Blaine, Minnesota. We’ve already assembled general galleries and a fresh Tony Finau WITB.

Check back throughout the week for more photos!

General Albums

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Pullout Albums

Chris Gotterup’s TM P-7CB irons – 2024 3M Open

See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.

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Equipment

Collin Morikawa’s pre-Open equipment adjustments

Published

1 week ago

Jul 18, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.

Three years later, Morikawa has once again changed his irons to deal with the unique Scottish turf.

Morikawa has been using TaylorMade P730 blade short irons (7-PW), P7MC mid irons (5-6) and a TaylorMade “Proto” 4-iron with a cavity-back construction this year.

However, he switched into a new set of TaylorMade P7CB irons (5-PW) before finishing T4 at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open, to go along with his familiar “Proto” 4-iron. TaylorMade’s P7CB irons are the finalized versions of the “Proto” 4-iron that Morikawa has been using, except they remain unreleased to retail.

According to TaylorMade, Morikawa switched into a full set of the new P7CB irons to aid with turf interaction, just like he did prior to his 2021 Open victory.

Morikawa is honing in on his winning formula overseas.

Morikawa also has switched from his usual TaylorMade Qi10 5-wood to a lower-launching TaylorMade P790 3-iron equipped with a Project X HZRDUS 105 Hybrid shaft. The loft of the club has been bent down to 19 degrees.

TaylorMade says that Morikawa switched into the new driving iron In order to “have an option to hit something lower that will roll out in the fairways.”

Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.

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