🦌 Nothing Runs Like It

📢 Fore, Please…

Programming Note this week — I am traveling again this week and my schedule is all screwed up. With that being said, the LIVE CHAT has already taken place and you can watch the replay here.

I realize that may be jarring for your creature of habit (I’m one of them) but I figured that was better than not doing one at all.

See you then
Rick

🏆 Last Weeks Optimal Lineup

$8,500: Viktor Hovland (144.0)
$9,200 Collin Morikawa (124.0)
$10,000: Matt Fitzpatrick (121.0)
$7,400: Akshay Bhatia (115.0)
$6,700: Corey Conners (114.5)
$7,900: JJ Spaun (113.0)
$49,700: 731.5 Pts

🔊 Listen When He Speak

Viktor Hovland never says nice things about his game. I believe he gave himself a 3/10 when he won the Valspar Championship last year. So when he does say something positive, it’s time to listen!

Hovland gave praise to his game after the second round of last week’s Travelers Championship. He described how he was hitting it much better in Canada and the U.S. Open but he was punished for one bad swing/bad result at Shinnecock Hills. He feels his game is getting tighter and the stats are backing that up.

He’s now gained strokes on approach in five straight starts and the results are following suit. Prior to the Canada Open, Hovland only had one top-10 finish this season — his first start of the year, a T10 in Phoenix.

He finished third in Canada and won last week.

🍩 Dink & Dunk

Not Harbour Town. Nor Pebble Beach. Not even TPC River Highlands. It’s TPC Deere Run that has seemingly let the shortest hitters run unfettered to the top of the podium.

This is only looking at one single position, first, but my goodness. What a collection of short and accurate winners.

Brian Campbell, Sepp Straka, JT Poston, Lucas Glover, Ryan Moore, Brian Harman, Zach Johnson, Steve Stricker (3x).

It makes sense with the cost of miss being +0.38, which is the 12th highest on the TOUR schedule. The other big thing to consider is that the Stickiness Rating is #3 — which means there are only two other courses on the schedule where course history matters more.

There are four golfers in the field for this week who have gained 2+ strokes per round in their TPC Deere Run Career (min three starts) — Davis Thompson, Emiliano Grillo, Michael Thorbjornsen, and Jordan Spieth.

🐣 The Youngins

This event has been a breeding ground for young stars thanks to two big reasons:

1) The tournament staff has actively tried to offer exemptions to up and coming talent, like Jordan Spieth, in hopes that they will return to this event yearly once they’ve “made it”. This has worked pretty well.

2) The timing of the event, after both the U.S. Open and collegiate season, is the perfect spot for the best amateurs to make their professional debuts. Let’s focus on some of the younger talent in this field.

Jackson Koivun — making his professional debut after being the number one amateur in the world. And I know what you’re thinking — “Rick, he’s just turning pro, I’ve seen him all over the place”. You have!

Koivun has played eight PGA TOUR events since the start of last year but I want to focus on his five most recent.

2025 John Deere: T11
2025 ISCO: T6
2025 Wyndham: T5
2025 Procore: T4
2026 US Open: T23

This kid … is a stud. That’s four top-11 finishes in his last five PGA TOUR starts. His worst finish was the T23 at the US Open where he gained strokes in all four categories.

Blades Brown — already a pro and has been for quite some time. He has a much more extensive professional record across the KFT and PGAT. He has three podium finishes across his last 11 starts. That record is highlighted by the third place finish he had in Puerto Rico earlier this year.

His short-game is a little weak but that shouldn’t be a detriment here. He’ll be asked to go back a bunch of birdies, which is something he is certainly capable of doing.

🏇 Giddy Up, Gotterup

I’m looking right at ya, Chris Gotterup. You can’t fool me.

Gotterup got off to a disastrous start last week in Cromwell. He was +4 thru his first ten holes and destined for the bottom of the leaderboard. Until … he wasn’t.

Gotterup caught fire

15 under on next 44 holes (thru three rounds)

Now he’s headed to TPC Deere Run, which on paper, doesn’t seem like the best venue in the world for him. However, he’s played here three times to the tune of T4 - MC - T21. He’s been dominant off-the-tee in those twelve rounds and he could very easily be the best player in the field this week.

🐋 $30,000 In Prizes

I have been getting my butt kicked in the tiers contests lately. But — that’s changing this week. I’m coming for blood. No mercy!

Pick 6 golfers, one from each tier.
Best 5 scores count.

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