Ready to sweat? The first full-field of the event is here and your Friday has just turned steamy! It’s great to have cut lines, even when your golfers fall on the wrong side of them.

This week’s email is packed with timely information that will expire in a few days. This will be the last time that I have to bang you over the head to get into OAD Leagues so thank you for bearing with my pleading.

Rick

PS — There are over 15,500 (!!) nerdy golf people who read this newsletter. You can join them by subscribing below.

🏆 Last Week’s Optimal Lineup

Chris Kirk: $6,800 | 163.0 PTS
Ben An: $6,800 | 146.5 PTS
Sahith Theegala: $7,600 | 144.5 PTS
Jordan Spieth: $8,800 | 143.5 PTS
Brian Harman: $9,300 | 135.5 PTS
Sungjae Im: $8,100 | 135.5 PTS
TOTAL: $47,400 | 868.5 PTS

🤒 More of The Same?

Statistically speaking, Scottie Scheffler’s putter (or lackthereof) has been the most compelling story of the last twelve months. There’s lots of ways to breakdown the good, the bad and the ugly but here’s a new one. Let’s compare his putting week to the winner:

What does this all mean? I don’t know. But here’s my opinion:

Neither made any bombs of 25’ or longer. Both were within similar ranges or small sample sized from 20’-25’, 15’-20’ and 10’-15’ (Scottie actually won this range).

The big discrepancies come from 3’-5’ and 4’-8’. Kirk was perfect from 3’-5’ hitting all ten of his putts while Scottie was 9/13 from that same range. Think about that — FOUR missed putts from 3’-5’.

On the TOUR, a 5’ putt is made 75% of the time. Scottie was 69.23% on those putts and shorter.

Moving back just a little farther, Scottie’s make rate (63.16%) from 4’-8’ is just abysmal. These are putts that (at worst) he’s a coin flip to make. Most of them, he’s a heavy favorite to make. Even if he bumped his expectation to TOUR average (74.67%), he would have made two more from this range.

Those are basically six strokes that could (should?) have been easily removed from his score. That doesn’t even include the 2’11” putt he missed.

He finished four shots off the lead.

💲The Cheap Date!

Priced at just $6,800, Chris Kirk becomes the first winner to come from the $6,000 range since Kurt Kitayama at last year’s API. Since the start of 2018, there have only been 12 winners to come from this price range — with Stewart Cink being both 1) the cheapest ($6,300) and 2) the only to accomplish the feat twice.

🦞 Different Island, Different Course

Last Week: 7,600 yards, par-73, 140 meter difference in elevation
This Week: 7,044 yards, par-70, 17 meter difference in elevation

These two courses are separated by just 104 miles and share the same state flag, but they don’t have much in common.

Waialae Country Club is one of the flattest courses on the schedule and significantly rewards off-the-tee prowess compared to its neighbor in Maui.

1. East Lake Golf Club

2. Muirfield Village Golf Club

3. Waialae Country Club

What do those three courses have in common? They are the three courses on schedule with the biggest missed fairway penalty. If you miss the fairway at Waialae, it’ll cost 0.15 strokes to the field.

Global One & Done Hosted on RunGoodGolf.com
My personal attempt to make a worldwide, OAD leaderboard with divisions, user profiles, full stat-tracking and more. It’s $39 for the season with an emphasis on universal ranking and not prizes (though, prizes do exist).
Current Signups: 971 (across 11 countries)

More Info & Signup: RunGoodGolf.com

U.S. Based ‘Big Money’ One & Done Host on SplashSports
This is a regulated contest, available in 41 different states. First place will be as high as $30,000 with payouts for the top 15% of the entrants. The buy-in is $150 and you can have up to five entries. This is limited to 2,200 users so please get your spots soon. This is being hosted on SplashSports, which we used for weekly contests and NFL Survivor.
Current Signups: 554

More Info & Signup: SplashSports.com

🐶 The Puppies Have Changed The Game

When I chose to partner up with Underdog Fantasy in 2024, I knew there were going to be some exciting format updates and it didn’t take long for those dreams to come to fruition.

Underdog Fantasy just released Season-Long Best Ball Leagues!

Let me be clear, Best Ball is probably the fastest growing sector of fantasy sports and for good reason. It is strictly the best part about playing fantasy (the drafts) without having to deal with the annoying stuff (setting lineups, free agency, trades). I’m absolutely stoked that Best Ball is available for golf now.

I’ll have a ton of in-depth information about this but here is the short of it:

• Runs from Phoenix Open to Open Championship

• You draft 10 players, no waivers, subs, traders, etc.

• Your best six scores are automatically counted as “starters”

• You advance through five rounds versus teams from your groups.

• $100,000 guaranteed, $10,000 to first, $10 entry

  • UPDATE: They just added a $3 and $100 contest

There is a lot of strategy involved in this and I’m working through all the details. I’ll have dedicated content each week and we will do plenty of live drafts throughout the next few weeks.

For now — here is a look at the schedule with events that will be included in each round. This is going to be the most critical aspect for drafting:

Please sign up at Underdog using the code “RICK” which will earn you up to a $100 deposit match.

📈 Newcomers To Watch

Jimmy Stanger: Great driver, 5th in Total Driving on KFT last year. Well-rounded — 35th in GIR, 20th in Putting Average, 10th in Birdie or Better. Talented but more volatile than some of his peers.

Norman Xiong: The ultimate boom-or-bust player — had (1) win, (1) runner-up and (9) missed cuts in 21 starts last year. Formally the Haskins Award winner with massive expectations. Earned his TOUR card from KFT.

Alejandro Tosti: Piled up (10) Top 10 finishes, with a win, in 23 starts last year. Bombs it off-the-tee, excellent putter and fills it up with birdies. Also served a suspension for misconduct. BUCKLE UP!

Adrien Dumont de Chassart (ADDC): Made 9/11 cuts last year with (6) Top 10 finishes. Started his season with a stretch of: WIN, T2, T8, T6, T7, T10 and hardly cooled off after that. One of the better ball-strikers on that circuit.

🤕 The Comeback Trail

After only a handful of starts in 2023, Will Zalatoris will be making his 2024 debut and I find him to be one of the most fascinating golfers for this week and every week after.

Don’t forget that Zalatoris was truly elite when he was firing on all cylinders. Over the last 100 rounds for every golfer in the world, there are only five who:

✅ Have gained at least 1.0 stroke/round
✅ Have 10+ Top 10 Finishes
✅ Have 1+ Win

👂Help Me, Help You!

In 2024, you’re going to see more content from me than ever — with an emphasis on this email newsletter. If there is a question you’ve always wondered, a problem you’ve been unable to solve, or a deep-dive into any golf topic you want — let me know! Hit reply and tell me how I can help.

😋 Give Me More Content!

• You can read more about the statistical profile of Waialae CC in my written preview on RickRunGood.com.

• Join me on Wednesday at 3PM ET for Sony Open Live Chat — where I’ll answer your questions and cover so much more.