The First Tee: U.S. Open

Recap

Last week was a nice sweat for 2 out of the 4 guys I had in my core. We had Cink who was at the top of the leaderboard for most of the weekend, but had two bad holes on the back 9 during the final round and ended up finishing in a tie for 10^th. We also had Horschel who carded a nice 64 on Sunday to finish tied for 4^th. Unfortunately, I had mostly Piercy in my lineups and he ended up missing the cut. Overall, the mdf killed a lot of players and only 7% had 6/6 through for Sunday. I had 6/16 golfers either missing the cut or not making it to Sunday and I only won 2/10 h2hs and 0/3 in GPPs. Congrats to Berger on winning it back-to-back!

This Week

We are headed to Wisconsin for the U.S. Open at Erin Hills Golf Club. This is a new golf course, like a Chambers Bay, but much healthier. That's the one course I'm hearing a lot that is comparable to Erin Hills. At the end, no one really knows, we just know that it's long and the rough is thick. I've heard the yardage can be reached over 8,000 yards. It is the U.S. Open, so par will be your friend, so I won't be looking at the distance as much since the USGA loves to challenge guys with all aspects of their game. For stats, it's very similar to most weeks, however, I'm going to add a few more. I will be looking at B.O.B.%; G.I.R.; Proximity; Apex Height; SG: Off The Tee; and Bogey Avoidance.

Core

Jordan Spieth ($11,500) – At the top, you're going to have to make some tough decisions. I feel that a lot of people will be playing D.J. because they will see the yardage book and they will just pick him. For me, I'm going to Spieth to start of my core. It does feel that he has found something recently and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him contending this week. He's 2^nd in the field for B.O.B.% (2^nd); 3^rd in the field for G.I.R. (4^th); 1^st in the field for Proximity (1^st); 3^rd in the field for Bogey Avoidance (4^th); 51st in the field for Apex Height (107^th); 57^th in the field for SG: Off The Tee (109^th). He has made his last 2 cuts, which includes a 2^nd place finish at Dean & Deluca. If we're comparing Erin Hills to Chambers Bay, well, Spieth won the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay. There's nothing more you can say about that one.

Justin Rose ($9,800) – I feel like Rose won't get much attention this week. He's sandwiched between Rahm and Garcia and Brooks who I think will be more popular than Rose. He hasn't played in a couple weeks and his last tournament was the BMW, over in Europe, and he finished 12^th that week. For stats, he's one of the best. He's 6^th in the field for B.O.B.% (6^th); 11^th in the field for G.I.R. (16^th); 40^th in the field for Proximity (96^th); 14^th in the field for Apex Height (25^th); 5^th in the field for SG: Off The Tee (8^th); and 32^nd in the field for Bogey Avoidance (60^th). He actually won the U.S. Open back in 2013 and I think he would like some redemption for losing in a playoff to Garcia at The Masters this year. He's my pick to win this week.

Matt Kuchar ($7,600) – Kuchar at $7,600 is an excellent value for a guy who always seems to make the cut and somehow sneaks in a top 10 finish. With his track record at U.S. Opens, in his last 6, he has made all 6 cuts and has 3 top 15 finishes. He has also missed only 1 cut in his last 6 weeks and the other 3 starts, he finished inside the top 15 in all of them. For stats, Kuchar is consistent as they come. He is 64^th in the field for B.O.B.% (132^nd); 26^th in the field for G.I.R. (49^th); 25^th in the field for Proximity (40^th); 27^th in the field for SG: Off The Tee (46^th); 34^th in the field for Apex Height (76^th); and 10^th in the field for Bogey Avoidance (14^th).

Francesco Molinari ($7,000) – Molinari will be my dark horse for this week and here's a reason why. He has one of the better stats in the field. He's 10^th in the field for B.O.B. % (12^th); 19^th in the field for G.I.R. (40^th); 35^th in the field for Proximity (76^th); 17^th in the field for SG: Off The Tee (27^th); 36^th in the field for Apex (78^th); and 22^nd in the field for Bogey Avoidance (30^th). He has made all 4 of his starts in the last 6 weeks, which includes a 2^nd place finish at the BMW. Finally, he has finished inside the top 30 in 3 starts in the last 6 years at previous U.S. Opens. He could be a nice One and Done pick for the week.

Exposure

For this week, we are going normal exposure. If you like to play the 3 entry max GPPs, I would recommend choosing up to 15 golfers, including the core. For multi entry, I would choose around 20-25 with having the core anywhere between 40-60%. That way, if your core hits, then you will have a really good chance of having a nice payday! Which at the end of the day, is what we are all trying to achieve!

Good luck everyone!