Friends in fore,

The Justin Thomas jokes wrote themselves last year.

Dude was on the fast track to being "the guy who made a career out of being Tiger's buddy".

Sure, he'd done some impressive things in his early 20s, but he hadn't won in forever and was so mediocre in 2023 that he missed the PGA Tour playoffs entirely.

Maybe he read Commish's 2023 Golf SZN emails? Maybe we lit a fire under him? WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR JT'S COMEBACK SZN.

He's a massive 31% pick in YEYPO - one of our biggest picks in Golf SZN history.

FUN PICK STATS

These are highlights - cool/fun/interesting things I see in our pick data.

JT's 31% YEYPO pick rate is our highest ever in a non-Major.

We took Brooks at 39.5% in last year's U.S. Open because Majors Brooksy, and also because we can't take him in non-Majors (LIV).

JT's 31% is the third highest YEYPO pick rate in SZN history, and crushes the previous non-Major mark of 25.7% (Tony Finau at last year's Mexico Open, which he won).

With Burns and Scheff both at 10%, our top 3 golfers accounted for more than half of YEYPO picks.

That's also a first in the non-Majors department.

Unsurprisingly given the above, our 48 golfers chosen is the lowest mark of the SZN thus far.
But it also seems to be something about the Phoenix Open. Last year, we picked just 47.

A whopping 61% took Scheff in the Top 10s pool.

JT came in at 40%, and nobody else was picked by more than 10% of that pool. Wild.

In 100 Tier, JT had a 25.5% pick rate.

Burns came in with a stronger 16%, and Byeong Hun An - who has quietly been very strong of late - took third position at 9%.

An got just 5% in YEYPO, which is the biggest 100 Tier vs. YEYPO gap of the year for a heavily picked guy.

Let's look at our weekly skin opportunities.

The $1,000 OAD skins pot is divided at the end of the year among all skin winners.

• Full skin: Being the ONLY person to pick that week's winner.
• Half skin: Being one of 2 people on the winner.

Here are our YEYPO skin picks:

• Full skin opportunities: Aaron Baddeley, Aaron Rai, Adam Schenk, Alex Noren, Chesson Hadley, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Gary Woodland, Jake Knapp, Jhonattan Vegas, Sam Ryder, Scott Stallings, Seamus Power, Taylor Montgomery, Tom Hoge.
• Half skin oppos: Erik van Rooyen, Mark Hubbard, Patrick Rodgers.

Jhonny Vegas up in the house!! He's currently threatening the lead midway through his second round.

COMMENT AWARDS

The 1-iron Moxie Award

Boldest pick (with a comment). You can't win a SZN competition without a little Moxie!

@4dwPicks (Mark Hubbard, YEYPO): "Gotta be a skin opportunity."
Commish says: The rare skin oppo prediction that is actually correct! And surprisingly at that, given Hubbard bagged a top 5 last week.

John Daly's Pants Award

The best weekly comment (or three), because John Daly's pants always win.

@BigFurryWookiee (Justin Thomas, YEYPO): "I played this week's venue - TPC Scottsdale Stadium course - back in early December. All the bleachers were up, but it would have been only a mediocre course without them casting a spectre of what the crowds would be like while standing eerily empty. Aside from the construction workers who would heckle for bad shots. Luckily I hit the green off the tee on 16. 15 was the best hole on the course by far. Anyway, if I can hack my way through it, then Mr. Thomas-on-a-Tear can, too. Airtight logic. Reminds me of that old saying amongst my people: Ggggrrrrggggggrgrgr
gggggggrrrrrrhhhhh!"
Commish says: Should we do PGA Tour golf course reviews, SZN style? Is that a rhetorical question? Should we make wookiee noises after each review? IS THAT ALSO A RHETORICAL QUESTION?

"Bryson Approves This Pick" Award

Most convincing. (There's logic, and then there's Bryson-level logic)

@Sixers6thMan (Wyndham and Hideki, All 30 OAD): "How about the Wynd keeps howling after a blistering 3rd round? And he should have a chip on his shoulder since nobody thinks he would've won if it wasn't shortened. And Hideki... well it's his best shot I believe this season from his form. "
Commish says: Is golf like basketball or football, where chips on shoulders actually seems to matter? Regardless of whether a guy named Wyndham Clark could actually have beef with... anything... I like this logic - the guy who is hot but still has a chip.

Spieth's 89-degree Lob Wedge

Wildest take (like Spieth's wild short game)

@YikesVikes (Grillo and Min Woo Lee, Top 10s): "Min Woo Lee hits it a mile off the tee, scrambles with the best of them and makes a ton of putts — no waste management here. TPC Scottsdale should align with his skillset as it allows players space off the tee to miss. With this in mind and his irons seemingly coming around, its a "MIN WOO LEE" YELL at 16! And Grillo loves the cactus so he'll be doing the MIN WOO LEE yell as well. "
Commish says: I'm just imagining the ass-drunk fans at 16 doing the WOO part like Ric Flair would. Also, can we please insert a "Grillo loves the cactus" line as randomly as possible into more pick comments? Thanks.

MORE COMMENTS

@Eannarelli (Beau Hossler, YEYPO): "Tommy Fleets isn't in the field!? Where could our man be? Perhaps he is taking The Rock's place at this year's Super Bowl where he takes the mic and gets the crowd hyped before kickoff. That actually sounds plausible and an excused absence."
Commish says: He's gonna be in a Super Bowl suite, with Taylor Swift, Jason, and Donna Kelce. I'd skip work for that too. To be clear, he's not gonna be there as a guest - just a random dude who snuck in, dressed exquisitely and with A+ flow.

@kbanaian (Cam Young and JT, All 30 OAD): "I wish I could go further down-list for the 2nd pick, but I'm very comfortable with CamY being my second guy. This JT Comeback Tour goes into high gear this week on the biggest stage. "
Commish says: The number of mentions of "JT Comeback Tour" and the like was HIGH this week. But, y'all, "Comeback SZN" - it's right there for the taking!

@Autovhanchilly (Hideki Matsuyama, YEYPO): "Just don't go to a playoff. The Super Bowl is way more important"
Commish says: Hey 2023 BIG Survivor big winner, maybe buy a second TV so you can watch Hideki's impending playoff victory? Put that SZN money to use!

@Mcheavens13 (Scheff and Aaron Rai, Top 10s): "2 gloves, 1 top ten."
Commish says: Aaron Rai needs to win something. Until then he's "two gloves guy".

@Ficus (Sahith Theegala, YEYPO): "I know everyone is excited about Min Woo Lee but don’t waste your pick. 2024 US Open Champion, Min Woo Lee"
Commish says: This is like if Babe Ruth calling his shot during Spring Training. @Ficus >>> The Great Bambino.

@mahatma19 (Tom Kim, YEYPO): "I don't pop Molly, I rock Tom Kim!"
Commish says: You know what, I was never a huge fan of that song. @mahatma19 >>> Hov!

@jrcondon (JT and Eric Cole, Top 10s): "OK, need a cool 5-pointer here to stay nice & relaxed in this comp. "
Commish says: HE'S STILL CALM AND COLLECTED, FOLKS. CHECK BACK NEXT WEEK.

@RotoJeff (J.T. Poston, YEYPO): "The Poston only wins twice. Wait, then why did I pick him? Just to force a silly pun? Yes."
Commish says: Jeff, I gotta admit, I didn't know you had the bad pun in you. WELCOME TO THE CLUB.

@StatCzar (Sam Burns, YEYPO): "Week of the Super Bowl with Usher performing, gotta let it Burn!"
Commish says: JEFF HAVE YOU MET STAT CZAR

@Jevans4 (Justin Thomas, Survivor): "JT is The People’s Open. The People’s Open is JT."
Commish says: DON'T LET US DOWN, TIGER'S BUDDY.

Yours in metal stick swinging,
The Commish