69 Guys Head To Crooked Stick For The BMW Championship (nice)
Quick turnaround for the guys this week. Monday, Rory wins in Boston to capture his first Tour title in over a year; Thursday, 69 guys tee it right back up (nice) at Crooked Stick in Indiana. Should be 70 but Stenson’s out with a knee injury.
Main thing you really need to know about Crooked Stick is that it’s where John Daly won his first major — the ’91 PGA — overhand fist-pumping his way down the 18th fairway. He got in as the 9th alternate.
It’s the third leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs. Tens of millions on the line. Ryder Cup spots on the line. This all has us very nervous, for the American bubble guys are kinda sucking D lately. Need them to heat up and need it fast. (Jimmy Furyk is already eliminated, for example. Probably a good thing tho).
Crooked Stick is sick. Let’s get it.
The Track
Over 7,500 yards. A 77.7 rating. A 148 slope. A Par 72. A PGA Championship. The 2012 BMW. A senior and a women’s U.S. Open. A Solheim Cup (chick’s Ryder Cup). A John Daly title. A Rory McIlroy title. Cooked Stick is legit, it hosts legit events, and it produces legit champs.
Notable Holes
6th, Par 3, 201 yards
The 6th is the signature hole and has all sorts of signature water everywhere. At over 2 bills and with said water, you can’t make a lazy swing. You’ll be snorkelin’ and staring down a double. It also has this cool red covered bridge.
8th, Par 4, 456 yards
Water left. Water right. 450+ yards. The 8th is the number one handicap hole and presents a shit ton of trouble. Swing and hope off the tee. Swing and hope on the approach. If it adds up to 4, sprint your ass to the 9th tee box.
18th, Par 4, 457 yards
Yes, once again, water. In several cases that’s the theme at Crooked Stick. It’s not always everywhere, but when it is you best miss it. The 18th is a hard dogleg right with the water hugging the entire right side. Your par becomes a lot easier the closer you get to it. When you bail out left, which many will, you’re forced to hack something out of the rough and (hopefully) up the front part of the green. Expect to see a lot of guys trying to finish their round with an up-and-down from short or left of this green.
The Field
The top 70 minus Henrik. The guys that have played the best, most consistent golf all year. There’s no cut and, after this weekend, we’re down to 30 for the Tour Championship. Also after this weekend, Davis Love III will make the first 3 of 4 captain’s picks for the Ryder Cup. The FedEx Cup champ receives a fun $10 million bonus and several spots behind that receive bonuses with way more zeroes than any of us have ever seen. There’s a lot to play for.
Top Dogs
Rory is obviously coming in HOT. After a minor putting tweak, the guy whose A-game is widely considered to be the game’s best came out on top in Boston. With a 66, 65 weekend — and as the BMW champ when it was lasted hosted here in 2012 — Rory’s a serious favorite this week. Don’t be shocked with back-to-backs.
I can’t quite get a grip on Jason Day. He’s in the hunt for player of the year even without a major. And he finished top-5 at the Barclays and top-15 at the Deutsche despite playing like absolute shit. Where’s his game at? I don’t know, but he can win at any moment.
America
The watch is on. The eyes are focused. The concern is high. Our boys NEED to be heading into Minny HOT, and they’re not. At least not top-to-bottom. Yes, Patrick Reed won a week ago in New York, but we were never worried about that cocky, plump bastard. He’s a Ryder Cup savage and that’s why we love him.
It’s the bubble boys that rattle us. It’s Furyk, Bubba, Holmes, Fowler, Kuch. The usual suspects that have let us down in the Ryder Cup are letting us down in the Ryder Cup lead-up. That’s not what we want. We want red, white and blue everywhere. We want Uncle Sam’s boys shoving fireworks up Europe’s ass. We want intimidation. We want electricity.
Instead we got Furyk and Bubba missing cuts. Holmes, Fowler and Kuch both finished under par and in the top-50 so hey, there’s hope.
Europe
Sucks.
Predictions
Last week
I went with -17 winning score, Jason Day winner, and Aaron Baddeley DFL. Jason Day did not win. -17 was not the winning score. Aaron Baddeley did not finish DFL. Instead, Rory won at -15 and Baddeley finished tied for 4th to last of the dudes that made the cut. Things were looking great when he broke his putter, but went downhill when he started draining putts with his fucking wedge.
Aaron Baddeley o como firmar +1 en 14 hoyos en el Deutsche Bank……pateando con un wedge https://t.co/IDfVpk2GB3 pic.twitter.com/7R2oesrPlU
— Mi Blog de Golf (@MyGolfTweet) September 7, 2016
Winning Score (-18)
John Daly was 12-under here in ’91. Rory was 20-under in 2012. I don’t think anyone will go that deep because I’m a believer in golf courses, but they’ll get close. 18 wins it.
Winner (Adam Scott)
Yes Adam Scott will win this week. Any other result is an impossibility. I usually lose $100 on my prediction every week, but this week’s different. Might even go 2 hundo. Adam’s finished 4th the last two weeks, hasn’t missed a cut all year, and is awesome. And hot. He takes it down; no one else has a shot.
DFL
This is probably a bad pick. It’s an emotional pick. But fuck it, Billy Horschel will finish DFL. He was 7-over and second to DFL last week. And we’ve hated him ever since he bitched about the greens at Chambers Bay. So fuck him, hope he shoots 90.
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Final Thoughts
Can’t come here in good faith, write about golf, and not write about sir Eldrick Woods. He announced his (maybe) return today. Fuck yes. Call me a fanboy. Call me a dreamer… I’m not the only one. Whispers of Tiger get me going like nothing else on earth. Therefore I will leave you with history’s greatest club-twirler. Nobody does golf like Tiger does golf.
