Xander:
Finished T-15 as the second highest-priced player, around 25th in DK points scored—a disappointing week by his lofty standards. At week’s end, around the greens and off-the-tee, aspects of his game were what let him down. Given how consistent he’s been all season, this should be looked at as a fluky one-off rather than a trend that will continue. X will get it back on track and perform well next week, but will he be worth paying for instead of the others in his price range? Ownership projections will likely tell a lot of that story, as Rory, Scottie, Bryson, and Morikawa are all likely to be popular at the Open Championship.
Tommy Fleetwood:
T-34 finished at a $9,900 salary, around 30th in DK points. While he did outperform his tournament finish with DK points finish, he was a major disappointment. The tee-to-green game was solid, not spectacular, but the putter let him down to the tune of losing almost three strokes on the week. Leading up to the Scottish, Tommy had, at worst, broken even on the greens and, in 3/5 previous events, had gained over three strokes for the week. A poorly timed dip in putting could have been caused by the slower greens, which will carry over to the British Open next week. With so many great players in his price range and Tommy Lad almost always garnering decently high ownership, he’ll likely be a stay away for me at the Open Championship.
JT:
What started off so promisingly and had me feeling smart ended with disappointment and trying to figure out whether JT will ever return to anything near his peak form. A sizzling bogey-free 62 featuring eight birdies started his week. He then made eight birdies total over the next three rounds, plummeting to a T-62 finish. Needless to say, this was a major disappointment, and it felt like another solidification that JT and his bestie Spieth are no longer anything special on tour. Especially when the salary is elevated, the trends are indicating more and more that JT is closer to being just a guy than he is to being the major championship contender and Ryder Cup mainstay that he was expected to be.
Aaron Rai:
The new Mr. Two Gloves on tour continued his torrid play with a T-4 finish. This resulted in him scoring the 9th most DK points at his $8,300 salary (100.5 for the week), making him a very solid play at his price. However, if you were deciding between him and Sungjae, the $200 extra would have been worth paying up for to get Im (107 DK Points). Digging deeper into the stats, Rai largely held things together due to a sharp around-the-green game and a hot putter. The approach play was well below his normal expectations, only gaining strokes on the final round, and that only being the .24 SG Approach. His off-the-tee game was up and down, with the final round being his best (+1.35). With Royal Troon being a very demanding test tee-to-green, I’ll be staying away from Rai even at his cheap price. It’s partly due to ownership, but this is a different test than what he’s performed well on of late. Risking it and banking on him finally cooling off.
Benny An:
This one was painful (I thought we were cool, Benny). Like the aforementioned JT, Benny An started off hot with a 65 in the PM wave of Thursday’s first round. I was feeling optimistic that he’d shoot a good score on Friday morning, but instead, he fell flat on his face with a +3 73 to miss the cut on the number. This one hurt, as he was in all three of my lineups. Inexplicably, An went from gaining 3.34 strokes on approach in round 1 to losing 3.07 in round 2. Given the calm conditions throughout the two days, this is an inexplicable flip in approach play. Looking more closely, it wasn’t a couple of very poor approaches but rather a consistent bleeding of strokes shot after shot. Did he have diarrhea? Did he pull an all-nighter and sleepwalk through his second round? Did he just want to get to Royal Troon to scout the course? Your guess is as good as mine, but I’ll be staying away after this.
Tom Hoge:
Tom never got it going, joining the growing list of recommended players who missed the cut on the number. Leading into the week, he had gained strokes both off the tee and on approach in seven consecutive weeks. What happened last week? Oh, he lost strokes in both aspects of his game. It’s a truly unpredictable aberration; I’m hoping this keeps the attention off of him at the Open Championship. I’m still high on him and believe his game can lead to him contending in a major championship such as the Open Championship. Maybe he and Benny An ate at the same restaurant that poisoned them and their golf games. Anyhoo, I’m not looking at this as a poor process, as the course fit was there. These guys are human, and bad weeks happen. We learn, and we move on.
Tom Mckibbon:
Typically sporting a fantastic approach game, the Northern Irishman lost over two strokes per round. Round two was particularly poor, losing 2.4 strokes to the field on approach. It could have been because he was firing at pins, pressing the issue to try to get within the cut line. He was still very good off the tee, and the around the greens game was also solid. I’m still interested in targeting him moving forward, potentially even at the Open, where his price has dipped to $6,500. If most others stay away, he could make a great pivot from the inevitably popular Adam Scott at $6,700. We’ll keep an eye on it.
Ben Griffin:
At $6,600, the T-39 finish would have typically been a good performance. However, this week, 28 players priced under $7,000 outscored Griffin in DK points (71.5). It was an absolutely crazy week of value in Scotland, and I don’t know how it could have possibly been predicted. Griffin gained over four strokes on approach for the week, keeping up the solid play there. He gained slightly off the tee but lost over 2.5 strokes on the greens for the week. While he’s probably a solid bet to make the cut at Troon, I will not be on him due to distance being a bigger factor at the course.
Seamus Power:
Well, he did make the cut. He did make some putts. That’s about where the positives end for Seamus on the week. Going back to the number of great value plays there were, Power was a poor play even at his price, finishing T-65 and amongst the worst of those who played the weekend. Seamus is still a guy I’ll target at the right type of setup when his game is trending. With the approach play being consistently poor at the Renaissance Club, that time may take a while to come. No bueno.
Matthew Jordan:
Usually, I’d be doing cartwheels in celebration if a player priced at $5,900 finished T-26. With the crazy performances from players priced under $6,000, this one barely moved the needle. I’m still pleased with the process that got us on Jordan, as he bounced back from a couple of abysmal putting performances to gain over 2.5 strokes on the greens for the week. Also strong were his off-the-tee and around-the-greens play, with approach play being the only aspect of his game that lost strokes. He’s in the field at the Open Championship and priced similarly. While I’m not likely to play him, he’s someone I’ll keep an eye on in the future.
