🐦 Tried & Truist

📢 Fore, Please…

It’s an absolutely stacked week of golf. Two PGA TOUR events, DPWT is in Spain, LIV is in Virginia, and Rick is in Florida for the BetCast.

Let’s get to work.
Rick
PS And our pet’s heads are falling off!

🏆 Last Weeks Optimal Lineup

$10,200: Cameron Young (124.0)
$8,400: Adam Scott (102.5)
$8,000: Ben Griffin (98.5)
$9,200: Si Woo Kim (96.5)
$6,800: Matt McCarty (93.0)
$6,700: Matt Fitzpatrick (88.0)
$49,300: 602.5 Pts

🛶 Build An Arc

Often when a golfer finally breaks through for their first win, someone (maybe even myself) will say “and this will open the floodgates!”. It doesn’t really happen. Winning golf tournaments is really hard, so winning a bunch in a short period is exceedingly rare.

However! Cameron Young might have truly just opened the floodgates!

Below is a timeline of Cameron Young’s career. The first 93 starts, zero wins. The next 14 starts, three wins. It’ll be interesting to see how this is looking in another 100 starts.

It’s not just the wins, but how dominant he’s been in the wins that is really exciting. In his wins alone, he’s gaining +4.02 sg/round which is second behind only Scottie Scheffler in strokes gained per round as a winner.

Of all players with at least two wins since the start of 2025, he’s the second best putter during wins. The second best putter. Um, let me remind you that Cam Young is one of the best tee-to-green players on the planet. But he can ratchet up the putting to elite levels? Mercy.

🏇 In The Starting Gate

There are Course Horses and then there is Rory McIlroy at Quail Hollow. He’s dominated at this venue, gaining +2.58 strokes per round over 54 rounds. That includes four wins, and nine total top-10s.

While Rory has gained 2+ at five total PGA TOUR venues in his career, Quail Hollow is his best. There are only two international venues that rank higher which are Emirates GC (+3.0) and Abu Dhabi GC (+2.67).

The reason for his dominance is that Quail Hollow is the club that most accentuates Rory’s best weapon — his driver. He’s gained 1.37 strokes per round off-the-tee at Quail Hollow, the highest rate of any course in his career.

It’s also the highest Player/Course combo* in the ShotLink era, making Rory’s driver at Quail Hollow the best driver of any player at any course.

*min 10 starts

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Not The “Other” Fitz

The discourse around Alex Fitzpatrick is incredible. You’d think he was a Make-a-Wish kid that Matt felt sorry for and then handed him a PGA TOUR card. It’s wild.

Alex is so good at golf and was going to be on the PGA TOUR next year thanks to his great play on the DPWT. He’s just here seven months early because of his win at the Zurich.

Let me remind you that he rattled off four straight top-25s on the DPWT which culminated with his win at the Indian Open. Yes, the same Indian Open that Akshay Bhatia missed the cut.

By himself last week in Miami, he finished T9 and gained eight strokes from tee-to-green. He’s now played seven straight worldwide events where he’s gained strokes in both ball-striking categories.

The dude is legit and he’s here to stay.

 🪖 Weekend Warriors

Signature events are kind of weird. The guys who are really struggling would probably love a cut, be able to go get some practice in, before having to tee it up again. But that’s not an option. They just have to play it out.

But sometimes, somebody finds something that could spark them into the following week(s). Which is why I like to look at the best players on the previous weekend, particularly if they weren’t really “in contention”. From Miami:

+10.75: Adam Scott
+6.75 Sepp Straka
+5.75 Lowry, Noren
+4.75: Griffin, M. Kim

Adam Scott didn’t make a bogey on the weekend and was head and shoulders better than everyone else. He’s working with Trevor Immelman as an instructor and we got some insight from brother, Mark, on the Second Cut Podcast last week.

Apparently Scott and Trev have made some adjustments to Scott’s left arm while using the broomstick putter. It’s a slightly different position and a different feel.

Well, it’s working. Adam made nearly everything on the weekend. The rest of his game has already been stellar and this might be the one thing that unlocks his first win since the 2020 Genesis Invitational.

 🦁 Apex Predators

Despite having large greens, 6,500 square feet on average, Quail Hollow has some of the most difficult greens to hit on the TOUR schedule. This comes down to two main factors:

1) Longer shots coming in — QH has one of the longest average approach shots on the TOUR.
2) It’ll play firm and fast, when Mother Nature cooperates.

The longest players, who can hit it the highest, are going to have an easier time to hit these greens. I know what you’re thinking “okay, Rick — we get it. Who are the players?”. Well, here they are, sorted by Radar Measure Carry.

🐋 Make A Splash

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