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It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time to bet on some golf.
Here's what we've got for ya today:
Doin Lines: US Open
Your Latest LIV + PGAT Merger News.
Golf Shots Heard Round The World
Jay Monahan Medical Update
Golf Data
Golf Thing We'd Buy If We Weren't Broke
Doin Lines: The US Open
Another major is upon us: The 123rd US Open.
This time, it’s being hosted by LACC, which has not opened it’s doors to the PGAT in 75 years. It’s sort-of known as a stuffy, exclusive club, but it’s an architectural gem that the new management has decided to share with the golf world. We’re excited to see how it all plays out.
🚩 Location: Los Angeles Country Club
💰 Purse: $17.5M - Winner gets $3.1M
👑 Previous Winner: Matt Fitzpatrick
⛳️ Field: 156
👀 Watch On: Golf Channel, CBS, ESPN+, Paramount+
Let's Gamble
156 golfers, fast greens, long rough, deep bunkers, and 123 years of history will be on full display this week in LA.
You won’t find a stronger field in professional golf.
All of the media and many of the players have been complimentary of the course, with Rory saying “I think it’s going to be one of the best US Opens in a while.“
Sign us up.
The Course
There is no long term course data for LACC, obviously.
The one term that we keep see popping up is “half par holes”.
We’ll let Kyle Porter from CBS explain:
“You have the easy par-5 first hole buttressed by the difficult par-4 2nd. You have the short, 330-yard par-4 6th buttressed by the long 284-yard par-3 7th. It's like this throughout the entire course, which creates a roller coaster of emotions for players despite only the final score mattering. This is actually the beauty of par, a mostly worthless metric that is more or less simply used to let players and fans know where everybody stands relative to the tournament. It creates unnecessary emotional distraction for players who already have a thousand thoughts running through their minds. That's always true at U.S. Opens, and it may be more true than ever at this particular U.S. Open.”
The Data
Lacking course comps, we will have to dive into the data available to us. One factor to consider is recently play. The ole “what have you done for me lately” metric.
The last 10 US Open winners averaged +1.92 strokes gained per round in the three months prior to victory. Currently —
• Scheffler: +3.06
• Koepka: +2.48
• Schauffele: +2.36
• Cantlay: +2.32
• Hovland: +2.18
• McIlroy: +2.12
• Rahm: +2.12
• Hatton: +2.08
• Spieth: +1.98— Patrick McDonald (@AmateurStatus)
2:47 PM • Jun 10, 2023
Eight players rank top-25 in both SG: APP and SG: ARG: Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama, Tony Finau, Tommy Fleetwood, Rickie Fowler, Mito Pereira, and Harold Varner III.
Because its The US Open, we may want to consider shots gained in difficult conditions.
The top 10 in SG: TOT (Difficult Scoring Conditions) are: Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Wyndham Clark, Denny McCarthy, Tyrrell Hatton, and Collin Morikawa.
💰Shanks Picks💰
All the data would tell you that Scottie Scheffler can win any tournament he competes in and it feels almost wrong to think he wouldn’t win a major this year. He’s also the favorite at +700, which we usually stay away from.
Outright Winner: Although people say he comes up short in majors, Tony Finau get his first major this week in LA. +3500
Top Five: Viktor Hovland +360
Top Ten: Jordan Spieth +220
Top Twenty: Mito Pereira +250
Long Shots: Sahith Theegala +9000
Jay Monahan Medical Update
It was reported in the wee hours Tuesday, June 13, that PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan, was recovering from a “medical situation” and while there are no further details about what happened, we can assure you that you will sound like a douche for going on Twitter to make fun of him about it.
If we’re throwing guesses, I’m sure there really aren’t many people in the world right now who are as stressed out about their own life as Jay Monahan. Quite possibly the most divisive and hated man in sports behind Oakland Athletics owner/warden, John Fisher. Sell the team, btw.
But that’s no reason to low bridge a guy during an obvious medical situation. Ron Price, Chief Operating Officer, and Tyler Dennis, Executive Vice President & President, PGA TOUR, will lead the day-to-day operations of the PGA TOUR until Jay Monahan makes a full recovery.
Trying To Understand How Golf Changed Forever
If you’re the “golf person” in your group of friends, the “What’s up with this Tour stuff?” question is something that is going to be inescapable for a while. We’re still working through what we know and how to feel about everything, just like you probably are.
Hopefully, with the document below, you can feel somewhat prepared to discuss this topic (or at least have a link to forward to people). These answers are based on information we’ve gathered by reading everything we possibly can, and talking to people both on the record and on background over the past week (and year).
Golf Shots Heard Round The World
9 Things To Know: Nine things to know about LACC.
The One Hole: Everyone keeps talking about one hole at LACC…
The Time Is Now: With everything going haywire in the world of golf… Now is the time for Rory to get back to the aggression of his younger years.
Golf Data
Brooksie to make history?
⛳ Amazing-but-true golf factoid:
If Brooks Koepka wins the U.S. Open this week he'd incredibly tie Phil Mickelson all-time with six majors.
If that's not stunning enough, Koepka would have all six by age 33 - before Mickelson even won his first at age 34.
— Len Hochberg ⛳ (@LenHochberg)
1:45 PM • Jun 12, 2023
Golf Thing We'd Buy If We Weren't Broke
I’m just going to jump into this one because this year’s major collections from TaylorMade, Nike, Srixon, etc. would be insanely difficult for me to pick just 1. So I’m splitting this up between today and Friday’s newsletter.
Today we’ll talk about TaylorMade – The 2023 Summer Commemorative Collection is heavily inspired by graffiti and colors and my initial thought is, why isn’t this a thing more often? From the absurd Staff Bag($800) to the beautiful and matching fairway wood headcover ($80) it’s safe to say that this will be the loudest possible bag you will ever see probably. And to me, that just alright.
If you were wondering if there was a way to be unbearable at the course, you’re in luck! Thanks to Nike’s new Nike Air Max 1 Golf “US Open” ($170) you can kick things up a notch and let everyone know you have enough money buy all this crazy stuff and still not pay for lessons to fix your shank!
That's all folks! See you Friday.