Friends in fore,

It's such a Texas thing, right?

"Oh, they're the Houston Open?" [last week's event] ... "Cool. We're gonna be the Texas Open."

Can't wait for the "America Open (played in Texas)" 2026. Hopefully the two damn tours will be back together again by that point.

We're big on Corey Conners to defend his 2023 Valero Texas Open title this week. AND THE MASTERS TEES OFF IN 6 DAYS. Get hyped, y'all.

FUN PICK STATS

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

91% of Corey Conners picks this ENTIRE SZN came in this event.

Commish will aim to calculate this stat at the end of the SZN - which guys had the highest rate of their SZN picks in a single event.

Of course Conners' % will drop as the SZN goes on and he gets more picks... but unless he wins again and gets a ton more picks from here forward, he's gonna be tough to catch in this department.

For comparision, Theegala got 344 picks last week, and that's still just 64% of his SZN pick total to this point.

Last year's 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place guys got just 22 picks COMBINED.

I get that Sam Stevens, Sam Ryder, and Matt Kuchar isn't exactly a Murderers' Row of current top golfers... but if we're picking strongly based on recent history in this event, is there really THAT MUCH of a gap between the guy who won and the guys who finished literally 1 or 2 shots back?

Kuchar, who is more of a household name, got 18 picks. Ryder got 3, and Stevens (who was runner-up last year) got 1.

Commish hasn't looked up the relative predictiveness of finishing 2nd or 3rd last year vs. finishing 1st... but I'd love to know. Any of you want to take that on and email me?

100 Tier made Hideki the top pick, instead.

By a sizable margin, too.

Hideki got 20%, Conners got 15%, and Aberg 14.5%.

This is 100 Tier's biggest departure at the top (from YEYPO) all SZN. Does the 100 Tier crowd know something the rest of us don't?

After Round 1, Hideki is at 1-over while Conners is at 2-under.

We have 25 skin opportunities in YEYPO this week.

• Full skin opportunities: Adam Schenk, Alejandro Tosti, Brandt Snedeker, Brendon Todd, Bud Cauley, Chandler Phillips, Davis Riley, Greyson Sigg, Harry Hall, Jimmy Stanger, Kevin Chappell, Martin Laird, Nate Lashley, Patrick Rodgers, Ryo Hisatsune, Sam Stevens, Taylor Montgomery, Wilson Furr.
• Half skin oppos: Andrew Novak, Andrew Putnam, Chan Kim, Grayson Murray, Joel Dahmen, Nico Echavarria, Séamus Power.

WILSON FURR IN THE HOUSE!!!

COMMENT AWARDS (THEME OF THE WEEK: BEST CURRENT GOLFER WHO LIKELY WON'T WIN A MAJOR)

The 1-iron Moxie Award

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

@mahatma19 (Jimmy Stanger): "#StangerDanger"
Commish says: If you'd have told me before the SZN that we'd have TWO picks on a dude apparently named Jimmy Stanger, I would have asked if we'd scrapped Golf SZN for The Bachelorette SZN.

John Daly's Pants Award

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

@Eannarelli (Hideki Matsuyama): "I'm not sure what to think of these "Theme of the Week" questions. I just feel like it is a direct shot at Sir Tommy Lad. Let's stop with the passive aggressive questions. I'll need the names of the individuals who even considered putting Tommy's name in here. I don't need Tommy catching strays with Master's week almost amongst us. Brace yourselves, it's Fleetwood Week. I'm out of space. "
Commish says: You should... probably not read the rest of these comments. PRESERVE YOUR TOMMY ILLUSION (condition? complex?) AT ALL COSTS

"Bryson Approves This Pick" Award

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

@jrcondon (Akshay Bhatia): "Lefty is having his breakthrough win this week. Best player who will never be a major winner is... Xander and Mr. Goldman Sachs. I hope Xander wins a few... probably would stop watching if David Duval 2.0 was clearly going to win one."
Commish says: In retrospect, Bhatia (Round 1 leader by 3) looks like an obvious value pick. His last 7 rounds are likely top 10 on TOUR over that window. He's got four top 20s this year. He's won before. And yet... 9 picks!

Spieth's 89-degree Lob Wedge

Wildest take (like Spieth's wild short game)

@UnclePP (Denny McCarthy): "MAN, I F***ING SUCK AT SURVIVOR OR MAYBE THE GOLFERS SUCK"
Commish says: YOU JUST EXORCISED DEMONS FROM YOUR GOLF PICKING SOUL YOUR HOT STREAK STARTS NOW!

MORE COMMENTS (THEME OF THE WEEK: BEST CURRENT GOLFER WHO LIKELY WON'T WIN A MAJOR)

@FreddyGoBlue (Alex Noren): "Tommy Fleets is in the lead until he proves otherwise"
Commish says: @Eannarelli, have you covered your eyes yet? It's about to get worse.

@AldoRaine (Sam Ryder): "It’s probably Tommy Fleetwood unfortunately, but to save some semblance of my relationship with @Eannarelli i’ll go with Sungjae Im; mainly because I’ve bet him to win a whole lot and will probably continue. "
Commish says: Is this an incredible gesture to save a friendship, or is this a diabolical dig disguised as generosity?

@Jevans4 (Tom Kim): "Tommy Fleetwood. Dude is a stud but his odds of winning a major are as long as his hair."
Commish says: Perhaps Tommy's legions of fans boosting his ego have resulted in a severe case of megalomania. Like, does Tommy even know he's never won a major (or ANY event on U.S. soil)? Or does he think he's won like 10 given the constant adoration from people like @Eannarelli?

@Awuwert (Ludvig Åberg): "Last week's round 1 leader, Mr Wilson Furr. If you can play out your ass for 1 round, then disappear, you’ll never win a major. Also all these guys are great players since they’d whoop my ass even pounding 24 BLLs."
Commish says: How the PGA and BLL haven't partnered up yet is beyond me. Imagine you're surfing your local stores trying to find the Limited Edition Max Homa BLL can to complete your collection? Wilson Furr, with lime?!? WHO DOESN'T WIN? The campaign's success will be so vast, it will lure Jon Rahm back from LIV and begin the great reunification.

@kbanaian (Byeong Hun An): "I know everyone is on Conners for the track record, but here's a guy we won't get to use all the time, who is dreaming of getting a major. Hopefully won't start dreaming on the back 9 tomorrow. Best current guy who will never win a major? Hope I'm wrong, but it's gotta be Rickie."
Commish says: In honor of his first major, a limited edition ORANGE can of Rickie Fowler Lime!!!

@Lambda_derg (Corey Conners): "Choosing to ride the course advantage thread from the sleeper picks article because I am hosting my dad at my home course this weekend for the first time, and I am just all in on the home course advantage thing being in the air this week. "
Commish says: How many strokes a side will you be giving your old man to compensate for your familiarity with the course? Or are you trying to get back at him for all the times he never showed you golfing mercy?

@Shrip (Rory McIlroy): "Tony Finau will never win a major."
Commish says: You speak this with such certainty I'm now a little worried you'd order a mob hit to ensure it remains true. Tony is really nice. Don't do that to Tony.

@Jason_Days_Vertigo (Alex Noren, 100 Tier): "Russel Henley… "
Commish says: ... IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO BE ON THIS LIST, VERTIGO.

@YikesVikes (Conners and Noren, Top 10s): "Corey Conners won last year and once before that, and Alex Noren will win this year. Greg Norman built this course just for them so I can get 6 points this week and keep the squad on top. It's the Alamo, @thenige1. "
Commish says: Five years ago I would have laughed at this. But now I'm convinced Greg Norman built courses for certain guys so he could sell that betting information to the Saudis. WHO ARE YOUR CONNECTIONS, YIKESVIKES?!

@Tee_Box_Tanner (Grayson Murray): "Hmmm let’s go with Aaron Rodgers."
Commish says: He'd definitely blow the U.S. Open playoff to Jordan Love. No doubt.

@Ficus (Christiaan Bezuidenhout): "Ctrl+C Ctrl+V @Eannarelli’s response."
Commish says: THIS WAS UNFORTUNATELY NOT ENOUGH TO SAVE TOMMY.

@suckitspanos (Billy Horschel, 100 Tier): "My heart wanted to pick old man Hoffman to honor his 500th start but... Oh Billy Billy Billy Billy Billy... he’s so hot right now "
Commish says: Head versus heart. Choosing head always goes well right? RIGHT?!

@brodstefan (Nico Echavarria): "I just have a feeling"
Commish says: YOU HAVE A FEELING THAT NICO HAS A FEELING?

@StatCzar (Matt Fitzpatrick): "Happy Gilmore. But he did win a gold jacket."
Commish says: WHAT IS THIS BLASPHEMY, STATCZAR. Happy already won a major.

@Autovhanchilly (Jordan Spieth, Survivor #2): "This ain't Texas..."
Commish says: No, it's bigger than Texas. It's about life. The whole universe. IMMORTALITY.

Yours in metal stick swinging,
The Commish