📒 The Sticky Note Open

📢 Fore, Please…

I’ve been laying low for the past few weeks. Which really means that I’ve been nose down in my database at 3AM while watching golf played 5,000 miles away. But that’s all about to change!

I’m getting ready to embark on a stellar run which begins in Nashville next week. This will be the much anticipated round of golf with John Daly and the Splash Sports contest winners. I truly have no idea what to expect.

After that, back to Vegas for the Backstreet Boys at the Sphere. Okay, I’m not going to the show but Mina and her friends are so it gets added to the list.

Then finally back to Tennessee again, this time for the FedEx St. Jude in Memphis. I’ve never been to Nashville or Memphis so I’m really looking forward to checking them out.

I also realize that these are like three of the hottest places to be in August so I’m prepared to sweat like crazy. 🥵

Hopefully I have some cool stories to share soon.

Thanks as always,
Rick

🏅 Last Week’s Optimal Lineup

Scottie Scheffler: $14,200 | 130.0 PTS
Matt Fitzpatrick: $7,800 | 104.0 PTS
Chris Gotterup: $6,900 | 103.5 PTS
Harris English: $6,400 | 103.0 PTS
Wyndham Clark: $6,700 | 100.0 PTS
Haotong Li: $5,700 | 95.0 PTS
TOTAL: $47,700 | 635.5 PTS 

📙 History, Again.

Another Major Championship season in the books and for the first time since 2014-2015, we’ve had consecutive years with one golfer winning at least two Majors.

In 2014, Rory won twice before Jordan Spieth captured two in 2015.
Last year, Xander tallied two majors and Scottie earned two this year.

It feels “right” when the most deserving players win Majors. And when I say “deserving”, I mean statistically of course. Guys like Rory and Scottie aren’t owed majors but when you continually smash the fields, you should get a little hardware!

Scottie and Rory were #1 and #2 in total strokes gained this year and they took home three legs. Spaun was solid, making the cut at all four while capturing the U.S. Open. No arguments from me!

When you open up the window, the picture becomes more clear (or more depressing) about the correlation to consistent high-end play and Major wins.

Since the start of 2020, there are only 11 players who have gained an aggregate of 100+ strokes to the field. Of those 11, eight have etched their name into history and they account for 15 championships in total.

That leaves three — Viktor Hovland, Tommy Fleetwood, and Patrick Reed. They are the ones missing the trophies and probably wondering how they’ve played so well but haven’t crossed the finish line.

⏳ He’s On Pace To Do … WHAT?!

Every good sports bar conversation reaches the “but he’s on pace to do…” argument. So when Scottie Scheffler got his fourth major in the same number of starts (25) as Rory McIlroy and had the same number of days between #1 and #4 (1,197) as Tiger Woods — those conversations definitely got some fuel. So let’s play.

If Scottie…
never wins another: 4
stays on his career major rate (16%) for ten more years: 10.4
says on his 2022-2025 rate (25%) for ten more years: 14.0
wins at the same rate as 30-35 year old Tiger, then never again: 10.5
wins the same number as Rory from start 26+: 5
stays on his 2022-2025 rate (25%) until 2040: 19 (passing Jack)

👴 The Greatest 40-Year-Old Looking 29-Year-Old

We should probably be using “Age Season” more often considering we’ve got guys turning pro as teenagers and others going through PGA TOUR U, Korn Ferry, etc.

Rory McIlroy was 25 years old when he got his fourth major championship while Scottie just turned 29. You may be shocked to hear this, but Scottie is having the greatest 29-year old season in the modern game (since 1997).

His +2.72 strokes gained per round surpasses Tiger’s rate from his 29-year old season (2004) and Scottie has already doubled his win total.

Speaking of wins, there are only two other golfers to win four times in their 29-year old season. Rahm did it in 2023 while Patrick Cantlay did it in 2021 — though Cantlay was the beneficiary of Rahm’s Memorial COVID WD and this also includes both the BMW Championship and TOUR Championship. But hey! Who am I to re-write history?!

I’ve created a lot of Scottie stat graphics over the past few years and they keep getting more absurd by the week.

🏇 Full Gallop For Gotterup

After the Texas Open, Chris Gotterup was ranked 206th in the world. Now, just ten starts later, he’s the 27th best player in the rankings. What happened?!

Well, he’s only missed one cut and has finished inside the Top 30 in all of his made cuts during that stretch. But obviously, the last two weeks have changed the game.

Over the course of eight rounds, Chris Gotterup changed career trajectory. Winning the Scottish Open and finishing 3rd at The Open has propelled him into a lot of new territory and conversation. But here’s the thing — job’s not finished!

With only two weeks to go in the PGA TOUR regular season, Gotterup has a chance to do the unthinkable. He’s 23rd in the FedEx Cup standings and simply getting to East Lake (Top 30) will give you the best chance of winning the TOUR Championship since … ever? Remember there are no starting strokes this year. Enter the week in 29th and you begin at even-par like everyone else.

And if he does stay hot for a few more weeks, we’re going to have to have a serious Ryder Cup conversation. He’s 22nd in points right now, ahead of Jordan Spieth.

There’s not a better time in the world to get hot than right now. Have it at, Chris!

🏋️ Weaker Than Most!

Phew — take a breath. The last few weeks have been insane for professional golf and there are still a bunch of big weeks ahead. Many of the best players in the world have decided (and rightfully so) to take a little rest before Memphis.

This field, 276.03 via OWGR Field Points, will be the 11th weakest of the year including all the opposite events. It’ll fall right between the Farmers Insurance Open and the Canadian Open.

I didn’t realize that Jake Knapp has played so many weak events but he’s been a crusher. He’s one of just five in this field who are gaining 1.5+ strokes per round in these types of contests.

 🤑 Lean, Mean, & Green

Big congrats to “scdawg” who took down the RRG Listener League last week for a cool $15,000 with a lineup that was 71 (!!) under par. That was Scheffler, Fitzy, Rose, English, Clark, Nicolai, and Reitan — phew!

This week’s contest isn’t quite as big but the money is still green.

The game is very simple — pick six golfers (one from each tier) and your best five scores will count to your total.

🔗 Click Here To Join: www.SplashSports.com/RickRunGood

PS: Splash Sports released their big NFL Survivor for next year. The guarantee is a whopping $2,500,000 — so you better believe I’m pushing for a massive guarantee for our One & Done next year.

 👀 You Don’t See This Every Day!

If you have ever watched golf, listened to a golf podcast, or even used 1% of your brain — you’ve learned that Emiliano Grillo is a bad putter. That’s not breaking news. It’s so commonly accepted that there is really no reason to include it in this newsletter UNLESS I’m about to drop something contradictory on you.

There are only five courses in the world where Grillo has 1) played at least 5x and 2) is a positive putter. Guess what?! TPC Twin Cities (+0.49) is not only one of those courses but it’s his best course!