🚀 Ready For Takeoff!
Travelers Review & Rocket Mortgage Preview | Stats, Trends & More!
Sights set on Motown this week as the Rocket Mortgage Classic boasts its best field in tournament history. Nearly 40 of the top 100 players in the world will tee it up this week in Detroit with only six weeks remaining in the regular season.
Sprinting to the finish line!
Good Luck
Rick
🏆 Last Week’s Optimal Lineup ☂️
Keegan Bradley: $7,800 | 146.5 Points
Zac Blair: $6,300 | 129.5 Points
Patrick Cantlay: $10,200 | 124.0 Points
Rory McIlroy: $10,900 | 123.5 Points
Brian Harman: $7,500 | 123.0 Points
Chez Reavie: $6,700 | 118.5 Points
TOTAL: $49,400 | 765.0 Points
6️⃣ Six Pack For Keegan
Keegan Bradley earned his sixth career TOUR win, his second victory in 17 starts and became the 7th winner priced under $8,000 on DraftKings this season. Here are the others:
His +7.04 strokes putting, shockingly, wasn’t the best putting performance of his career. He’s actually had five weeks better on the greens, resulting in (2) wins and (3) runner-up finishes.
😁 Scottie vs. Tiger 🐅
Unless you’re living under a rock, you have heard that Scottie Scheffler is on a historic run that currently stretches for 18 straight Top 12 finishes.
When someone is doing something this crazy but “only” has two wins, it’s hard to put into perspective how good it actually is. The only thing that catches people’s attention is Tiger Woods.
Scottie’s current heat check spans over 75 rounds.
During that run he’s gained 2.652 strokes per round:
18 events
2 wins
18 Top 12s
+2.652 SG/Round
The last time that Tiger Woods gained 2.65 strokes per round, over 75 rounds, it came from April 30, 2009 to July 4th, 2010. A run of:
20 events
5 wins
3 Runner-Up Finishes
17 Top 12s
+2.652 SG/Round
Same SG/Round but Tiger won three more times.
It’s also worth noting, this was during the infamous Thanksgiving car crash where Tiger didn’t play from November 2009 until April 2010.
When looking at just tee-to-green play, the scales tilt in favor of Scheffler even more. On a calendar year basis, Scheffler is doing something that we haven’t seen in at least 15 years.
My current database goes back to 2008 for all ShotLink data and it shows that Scheffler is having the best tee-to-green year on record, by a large margin. The following statements are all fair:
Scheffler is having the best tee-to-green year of any golfer since at least 2008.
His year is 0.51 strokes/round better than the second best year, which is the same gap from the second best year to the 14th best season.
He has the fewest wins (so far) for any of the nine best tee-to-green year.
📉Only One Way To Go From Here📈
I’m just the messenger, letting you know that Stephan Jaeger lost 7.46 strokes putting in the final round of the Travelers Championship last week.
That’s the worst putting round, by any golfer, this season.
The “good news” for Jaeger is that he’s actually a pretty average putter, losing just 0.09 strokes per round with the flatstick in his last 100 rounds. He should view this as an opportunity to bounceback.
❓ Trivia!
The Detroit Area Code provides the foundation for charitable giving at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. If specific scores are made on the 14th, 15th and 16th holes, anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 dollars is donated to the Rocket Mortgage Classic’s Changing the Course initiative.
If a golfer makes all three specific scores in a week, the “grand prize” is donated — also in a specific amount.
What is Detroit’s area code?
(Answer at bottom of the email)
🙊 Only Four Years of History
This event is one of the newest on the PGA TOUR schedule as this year will mark just the 5th edition. It’s a small sample size, but here are the best players in this field at Detroit GC — min eight rounds.
🔥Donald Ross ❄️
Donald Ross left his mark on the game, designing or re-designing over 400 courses between 1900 to 1948. That includes a handful that are still played on TOUR today, like Detroit GC.
Here are the best players on Donald Ross courses, since 2017 — min 20 rounds.
🤤 Yes, Another Scottie Stat
Scheffler is on the verge of breaking all types of records, including in the fantasy industry. He currently leads the TOUR in average fantasy points AND total fantasy points. That’s a feat, that as far as I can tell, has never been accomplished.
Usually the golfer with the most total fantasy points is an above average player who plays a lot of events. Scottie is bridging the divide between those types of volume golfers and the best golfers.
More: Those “10 Star” events mean that he’s finished inside the Top 10% of fantasy scoring in 10/14 weeks. He has zero “Scrub” weeks, meaning he’s never finished in the bottom 50% of fantasy scoring.
Trivia Answer:
313
The first golfer to go 3-1-3 (representing the Detroit area code) will have a $313,000 contribution made in his name towards the Rocket Giving Fund charities connected to digital access and Detroit’s digital divide.
In addition, all golfers can also achieve other charitable money by Rocket Mortgage on those specific holes.
• Each eagle at the par-5 14th results in a $5,000 donation
• Each ace at the par-3 15th results in a $25,000 donation
• Each birdie at the par-4 16th results in a $5,000 donation