Friends in fore,
Commish spent a full 5 minutes searching for a photo... ANY photo... of Scottie Scheffler being something other than stoic or calmly happy.
I gave up.
We loaded up on the closest thing golf has to a machine, hoping he can go back-to-back (as both last week's winner AND last year's PLAYERS winner) and deliver us a $4.5M payday - the SZN's largest.
As of writing, he's T4 through two rounds (though six shots behind the flaming hot Wyndham Clark, who has a habit of going scorched Earth every 10 rounds or so).
Tons of big names lurk, in a leaderboard that finally feels... right.
FUN PICK STATS
These are highlights - cool/fun/interesting things I see in our pick data.
Scheff is the first golfer to surpass a 50% pick rate in YEYPO 2024.
If you're not yet VERY well acquainted with the Golden Spreadsheet, give that baby a click.
When you're strategizing future picks, the Golden Spreadsheet is your best friend. What % of your combatants have a certain guy still available?
Our most picked golfers in YEYPO 2024 so far:
- Scheff: 51.3%
- JT: 48.2%
- Homa: 43.7%
- Finau: 41.1%
- The Malfunctioning Power Tool (Cantlay): 40%
Hideki is at just 15% despite a great year so far. Brian Harman is at just 4.6%. Shane Lowry hasn't even crested 10% despite back-to-back top 5 finishes.
We were much heavier on the big guns in 100 Tier vs. YEYPO.
Commish has generally been surprised at how similar 100 Tier picking is vs. YEYPO... but this week had some notable differences.
Scheff got 26% of 100 Tier picks vs. 21.7% in YEYPO.
And the top 4 pick-getters (Scheff, Hideki, Willy Z, Hovland) combined for 62% of 100 Tier picks vs. just 52% in YEYPO.
As a result, 100 Tier also has some juicy skin opportunities - Cam Young, Theegala, Burns, and Fleetwood are ALL half skin oppos (picked by two people). And Harman and Aberg are full skin oppos. Wild.
In Top 10s, Scheff broke his previous record by garnering a 63.2% pick share.
The next highest guy (JT) is at 18.4%, as we liked his chances at a 3-point performance.
Scheffler has bagged 8 points so far in this pool (4 top 10 finishes, each worth 2 points), which is tied with Theegala and Russell Henley but NOT the most of any golfer.
That honor belongs to Tom Hoge, with a robust 9 points (3 top 10s each worth 3 points).
Tom Hoge deserves a song or something. (Scroll to the comments!)
Let's look at our weekly YEYPO skin opportunities.
- Full skin opportunities: Aaron Rai, Adam Scott, Ben Silverman, Brendon Todd, Cam Davis, Corey Conners, Eric Cole, Jake Knapp, Kevin Yu, Matthieu Pavon, Michael Kim, Rickie Fowler, Sungjae Im.
- Half skin oppos: Adam Hadwin, Andrew Novak, Andrew Putnam, Billy Horschel, Byeong Hun An, Emiliano Grillo, Erik van Rooyen, Justin Rose, Sepp Straka, Tom Kim.
Corey Conners, who has a great history in this event, is also T4 (tied with Scheff at 8-under) as of this writing.
Shout-out to our lone Ben Silverman picker. Commish loves the Moxie!
COMMENT AWARDS (THEME OF THE WEEK: DESIRED GOLF RULE CHANGE)
The 1-iron Moxie Award
Boldest pick (with a comment). You can't win a SZN competition without a little Moxie!
@GIZZ (Keegan Bradley): "'Shouldnt have left me off the RYDER CUP' -KB"
Commish says: GIZZ where have you been in the comments all SZN? Is this our first... player burner account? Do y'all drink Bud Light Lime in Boston, Keegs?!
John Daly's Pants Award
The best weekly comment (or three), because John Daly's pants always win.
@tracesheehan (Tom Hoge): "(In the style of Adam Sandler's Lunchlady Land)... Hoge's a grinder, Hoge's a grinder, Gravy Greens, Gravy Greens, Gravy Greens, Gravy Greens Hoge's a grinder, Hoge's a grinder... Gravy Greens, Gravy Greens, Sweet with the Sand Wedge He can roll, oh, he can roll. He can roll, oh, he can roll, He can roll, oh, he can roll. He can roll, oh, he can roll... "
Commish says: WHEN DOES THE TRACESHEEHAN WORLD TOUR START?
"Bryson Approves This Pick" Award
Most convincing. (There's logic, and then there's Bryson-level logic)
@Jsun13 (Scottie Scheffler): "If you don't fix your divots and pitch marks, straight to jail. Not raking the bunkers, believe it or not, also jail. Overcooked hotdogs at the clubhouse? Jail. Undercooked hotdogs, also jail. Charging too much for beers? Jail."
Commish says: Oh my god there are no golf course hot dog workers left. WHERE DID THEY ALL GO
Spieth's 89-degree Lob Wedge
Wildest take (like Spieth's wild short game)
@Eannarelli (Sepp Straka): "A golf round should be 12 holes. Fight me. Listen to me now and think about it later. I'd like to be home for lunch one time. Could I play golf every day? Sure, but it would need to be 12 holes. Also, every week is Fleet week. That one might be a little easier to pass. This is the week Tommy... but so is next week. I like the way that sounds. I'm out of space. "
Commish says: If we did a poll with only two options: 12-hole golf rounds or 24-hole golf rounds... which wins? It's too close to call in my view. But Tommy Fleets is voting 24-hole. You're now on the other side of your idol, Eannarelli. Are you OK?
MORE COMMENTS (THEME OF THE WEEK: DESIRED GOLF RULE CHANGE)
@Mcheavens13 (Scottie Scheffler): "Mandatory shotgun or nip for every birdie. Sure Rory can birdie every hole he plays, but can he do it after 8 Miller lattes and 4 nips? I’d sure love to find out"
Commish says: Miller latte? MILLER LATTE? Where do you think you're commenting?! Rory is shotgunning BLLs or NOTHING.
@HaveYouCheckedYourButthole (Will Zalatoris): "Gotta get rid of these guys having to hit out of other peoples divots. I mean, we want to watch the best golfers hitting the best shots, so you are going to punish a guy for striping a drive by making him hit out of some one else's skid mark? Terrible. As for a new rule, if you take longer than 10 seconds to address and hit your ball, the other caddy gets to full swing a reverse gripped driver to the back of your legs. Harman wouldn't be able to walk after hole 3, that guy has more twitches than a Florida meth head."
Commish says: THIS ESCALATED QUICKLY.
@Ficus (Tommy Fleetwood): "Roll the ball in the fairway. Let’s stop pretending to be ok with players hitting out of divots "
@Tauschek (Hideki Matsuyama): "Free relief from your ball if you are in the fairway in someone else’s divot."
@hockey3430 (Xander Schauffele): "Having to hit out of someone else's divot in the fairway is INSANE. GTFO. Free relief, no closer to the hole, and let's keep 'er moving. Congrats on the nice drive, the USGA no longer wants to bone you bc the golf gods sneezed in your direction. So grab a Bud Light Lime (or 6) from the cart girl and relieve your fear of being penalized for great drives!"
Commish says: CONSENSUS. About divots and BLLs. Not the "slashing Harman's legs" part.
@AldoRaine (Xander Schauffele): "The one rule in golf I’d change is for when someone says 'great putt' before the ball is in the hole and it misses, you’re entitled to take one full swing at that player with your putter anywhere below the neck. "
Commish says: This man's username is based on a movie character who encourages one of his soldiers to beat Nazis with a baseball bat. THIS TRACKS.
@bowser48 (Brian Harman): "Eliminating the 'QUIET PLEASE' paddles off the tee box will decrease the FIR and GIR percentages, resulting in more competition. FORE!"
Commish says: Honestly surprised more people didn't say some version of "BRING ON THE HECKLING"
@Sixers6thMan (Scottie Scheffler): "Golf rule change would have to be out of bounds. In what world are you returning to the tee to hit another ball without taking a club to the head to the foursome behind you? Take the stroke and move on!"
Commish says: Golf's OB rule is up there in terms of most penalizing rules across ALL sports. What was the original logic? Like, was it, "WE GOTTA PROTECT THESE HUGE HOUSES NEXT TO THE COURSE"?
@omahaviking (Will Zalatoris): "Re-tee from OB. F-that. Drive up, drop it like a lateral hazard, and take a stroke."
Commish says: HIRE US, GOLF RULES GODS!!
@Lambda_derg (Clark and Willy Z, Top 10s): "Eliminate out of bounds so that, you know, more strategic ways to navigate classic holes came into play. I think that would be interesting. For some of us."
Commish says: Phil and Bryson are both SUPER down for this rule change. Phil has probably proposed it for 30+ years now.
@Nova_nation (Sam Burns): "Let Tiger use a cart"
Commish says: Honest Q: Would Casey Martin be for or against this? I could see it both ways!
@Tee_Box_Tanner (Jason Day): "I would add a celebrity shot, you get one per round. Example: If you miss a putt and want a second chance with no stroke penalty, you can choose someone from the crowd to take a stab at it. "
Commish says: Next week's Comment of the Week Theme: Who would you have take your celebrity shot?
@mahatma19 (Min Woo Lee): "Last year, Min Woo Lee put up a top-10 in this tournament. He also has a top-20 performance in all four majors, except for the one in the U.K. where he maxed out at 21st. He's a real bully when it comes to tough courses. He bullied the course last year. I think it's time for... Woo Lee Bully! Woo Lee Bully! Woo Lee Bully! Woo Lee Bully!"
Commish says: Commish has been staring at this for 3 minutes and is still undecided on whether "Woo Lee Bully" (say it fast) could become the greatest golf chant in history.
@Jevans4 (Scottie Scheffler): "I love starting a rumor and it being absolutely 100% true. Rory sucks and Lowry can’t get it done. It’s Scottie vs The Field and will be for the foreseeable future."
Commish says: Don't shorten your own rumors. It's not "Rory sucks", Evans. It's "Rory sucks at golfing the ball." DO BETTER.
@rgordy (Rory McIlroy, 100 Tier): "Rake the sand."
Commish says: I am somehow relieved - given earlier comments - that this didn't continue with "and if you don't, RAKE SWING TO THE FACE"
@MintBagpipe (Justin Thomas): "My friend Jerry not get in trouble when he hammer-tosses his putter into traffic."
Commish says: Today I learned: Jerry has destroyed at least 17 windshields.
@Jmoodz (Will Zalatoris): "Willy 350-Z, got me more torqued than Need For Speed Underground 2."
Commish says: I wanted this to be a rap lyric. Can we try again next week?
@CaliforniaVoodoo (Scottie Scheffler): "Take it to the chicken shack, going Back 2 Back!"
Commish says: THERE'S a rap lyric!!
Yours in metal stick swinging,
The Commish