🎸 Rock N' Roll The Rock

👊 A Few Words:

My apologies for being a little late on getting this email out. I left Greensboro on Tuesday morning and didn’t have a chance to put the finishing touches on until right now.

It was really cool to get to meet a handful of you, it’s always special to feel the support in person. Thank you so much.

📢 Fore, Please:

• This Week’s Live Chat — will be Wednesday at 11:00AM ET. This will be an extended show that will also include as many Underdog Best Ball drafts as possible. I’m budgeting 90 minutes but we will see how it goes. You can head over to the room and drop your questions now!

• Our Listener League has fewer than 100 spots remaining. Pick one golfer from each of six tiers, drop the lowest score — fully guaranteed. Secure your spot now.

🏆 Last Week’s Optimal Lineup

Aaron Rai: $8,800 | 133.0 PTS
Max Greyserman: $7,600 | 132.5 PTS
JJ Spaun: $7,200 | 116.5 PTS
Luke Clanton: $8,600 | 114.5 PTS
Ryo Hisatsune: $6,800 | 112.5 PTS
Eric Cole: $7,700 | 103.0 PTS
TOTAL: $46,700 | 712.0 PTS

🔐 Unlocking The Code

Aaron Rai has gained strokes putting eight times this year. In those eight weeks, his worst finish is a T58 and he’s earned (7) Top 20s with (6) of those being Top 7 finishes.

Of course, the exclamation point was his win last week in Greensboro where he picked up 2.56 strokes on the putting surfaces. This newfound putting prowess is going a long way for Rai because of his built-in tee-to-green baseline. Over every golfer’s last 100 rounds, Rai has picked up 1.22 strokes/round from tee-to-green making him the 6th best player in that category.

1. Scottie Scheffler: +2.61

2. Xander Schauffele: +1.55

3. Rory McIlroy: +1.52

4. Hideki Matsuyama: +1.33

5. Collin Morikawa: +1.23

6. Aaron Rai: +1.22

7. Ludbig Aberg: +1.14

8. Corey Conners: 1.08

9. Tony Finau: +1.02

10. Russell Henley: +1.00

These are the only golfers who gained at least one stroke per round during that time frame.

🤬 Mad Max

The final six holes in Greensboro did not go the way Max Greyserman imagined and I think that’s putting it mildly. After holing out for eagle on no. 13 and extending a four shot lead, he made a quad on no. 14 and gave it all back. Throw a birdie and a double on his next two holes and Greyserman’s world must have been spinning fast. Lesson learned, scar tissue unlocked.

Since the U.S. Open there is no golfer in the world who has played as well as Greyserman in as many rounds. He’s picked up 1.83 strokes per round over 28 rounds. On a cumulative basis, that’s 51.26 strokes gained which is second to only Xander Schauffele.

⏰ Time To Shine (Playoff Edition)

If there was ever a time to get hot and pad your bank account, now’s the time! We’ve seen some evolution in the number of playoff events and the numbers of players in each event but one thing has remained the same since the inception of the FedEx Cup — big time cash!

These are the players who have had the most success in the playoffs during their careers, with no round minimums.

📝 My Playoff Plan

I’m a believer that the FedEx Cup Playoffs don’t really need to exist. If the goal is to determine which golfer had the best year, it wouldn’t require a three-event sprint with some questionable point allocations which then convert to some question stroke allocations.

My plan would be closer to a “World Championship” where points are allocated to the Top 20 finishers of events all year and only the Top 18 finishes for each golfer count towards their World Championship Points. The golfer with the most points at the end of the year, is the World Champ.

Do we really think that entering the TOUR Championship with a one-point lead and entering with a 3,000 point lead should both be worth a two-stroke starting advantage?

I’ll share more on the World Championship plan at some point in the future, but I do understand in the current economy with partnership commitments, that the FedEx Cup needs to exist. So how do we improve it?

My plan would be to turn the three-event playoffs into one event that is 216 holes long, with each competitor keeping their score to par throughout the playoffs. The advancement stages would remain the same, based on FedEx Cup Points. For example:

Scottie Scheffler goes 8-under in Memphis, 22-under in Colorado and 10-under at East Lake — his 216 hole score would be 40-under.

The pros:

• Cream rises to the top, but any golfer still has a chance.

• The TOUR Championship starting strokes are more on merit instead of arbitrarily decided before the season starts.

• FedEx Cup points still matter for the first two stages, since they pay a lot of money.

The cons:

• TOUR Championship would still be a staggered start.

• Could remove even more drama if someone is 20 shots ahead.

I always love hearing ways to try new things and improve the product. Do you have an idea? Hit reply and let me know.

💦 The One Constant Through All The Years

TPC Southwind has been a staple on the PGA TOUR schedule whether it’s been the host for the FedEx St. Jude Classic, the WGC FedEx St. Jude Championship or the FedEx St. Jude Championship (Playoff Event).

No matter the structure, the field, or the time of year — TPC Southwind has been the constant.

Above are the eight golfers, in this field, who have picked up at least one stroke per round at TPC Southwind in their career. The only caveat is that this requires eight minimum rounds.

📈 Trending Up

Billy Horschel — he enters off a T2 at The Open and T7 at the Wyndham Championship, gaining 11+ strokes on approach in those eight rounds. Has gained strokes putting in 7/9 measured events.

Tony Finau — has fixed the putter, now gaining at least 1.3 strokes in five straight starts. That has turned into (4) Top 12 finishes and he’s picked up 1.05 strokes/round on approach in his last 24 rounds, the third best mark in this field.

Wyndham Clark (?) — Outside of his opening round at The Olympics, he was awesome, putting together the best final three rounds of anyone in the field. While still volatile, he has (3) Top 14 finishes in his last four starts.

📉 Trending Down

Max Homa - Hasn’t cracked the Top 20 in any of his last seven starts. He’s lost strokes off-the-tee in nine straight and has lost with the putter in five of his last six.

Matt Fitzpatrick - Already struggling to find his game, Fitzpatrick withdrew with a lingering thumb injury after the third round of The Olympics. He has just one Top 10 since the Masters and has lost strokes from tee-to-green in four straight.

Cameron Young - was abysmal on Sunday in Greensboro, losing strokes to the field in both rounds he played. Struggling on the weekend or the final round has become a trend for him. He’s played here twice and has finished T31 both times.

🫵 Familiar Course, New Tour

LIV Golf heads to a familiar spot — The Greenbrier. It used to host a PGA TOUR event before becoming a spot on the schedule for the LIV circuit.

Joaquin Niemann won the TOUR event in 2019 and finished T5 in the year before, which is why you see him topping the chart here. But he’s not the only one with success on this track. There are six different LIV golfers who have gained at least one stroke per round at this course and that doesn’t even include defending champion Bryson DeChambeau who doesn’t have enough rounds to qualify.

🐶 Join Me In The Pup Cup

Best Ball is back for the FedEx Cup Playoffs! To me — this is the best version that Underdog has released yet. It’s only three rounds and they are consecutive so you don’t have to worry too much about future schedules or how golfers will be playing months from now.

I’ll be drafting teams live on Wednesday and I encourage you to join! You’ll have an advantage of seeing who I am likely to select before it happens and the more drafts that start, the better for everyone!

Draft your teams now: 
https://play.underdogfantasy.com/p-rick-run-good

⭐ Before You Go …

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