2018 PGA Championship

[mr. synellinden]

Glory's Last Last Shot?

The season's final (final for the last time) major is upon us. Lots of interesting story lines here - just a few:

Justin Thomas looking to defend after cruising to a victory at the WGC last week.

Rory McIlroy seems to be playing his most consistent golf in a while and is looking to break a four year major drought since he won back to back majors at The Open and the PGA in 2014.

Tiger - is he healthy after a horrible weekend at Firestone and how will he hold up through another back-to-back (no pun intended) week?

Jordan Spieth can complete the career grand slam but looks totally out of whack. I think he is in a precarious place mentally after blowing two Sunday major leads in the past few years - and almost blowing a third at last year's Open. If he's in contention on Sunday or in the lead - how mentally tough can he be?

Can Rickie Fowler finally win a major?

There are many others. I'm always excited for major week - even if it is the lowly PGA .

I'm happy to organize the same major pool as we've done all season. You know the rules, and if you don't, I'm happy to repost them. Here is the current OWGR

[rasputin]

I'll be there for Thursday's round. Looking forward to it. I hope the weather cooperates.

[Bob Green]

Somebody has to go first so here is Team Green:

Jordan Spieth (6)
Rickie Fowler (6)
Jason Day (6)
Bubba Watson (5)
Matt Kuchar (3)
Kevin Na (2)
Zach Johnson (2)

Total: 30 points

Tiebreaker: Winning score will be -8.

[curtis325]

Rickie Fowler - 6
Tommy Fleetwood - 6
Bubba Watson - 5
Henrik Stenson - 4
Sergio Garcia - 4
Matt Kuchar - 3
Tiger Woods - 2

Your mission: Don't stink!

Score -15

[mr. synellinden]

Rose - 8
Day - 6
Fowler - 6
Cantlay - 3
Finau - 3
R. Moore - 2
T. Olesen -2

Winning Score: -14

[Rich]

Justin Thomas - 9
Rickie Fowler - 6
Tommy Fleetwood - 6
Jason Day - 6
Tony Finau - 3

Score = -12

[nmduke2001]

Glory's Last Last Shot?

The season's final (final for the last time) major is upon us. Lots of interesting story lines here - just a few:

Justin Thomas looking to defend after cruising to a victory at the WGC last week.

Rory McIlroy seems to be playing his most consistent golf in a while and is looking to break a four year major drought since he won back to back majors at The Open and the PGA in 2014.

Tiger - is he healthy after a horrible weekend at Firestone and how will he hold up through another back-to-back (no pun intended) week?

Jordan Spieth can complete the career grand slam but looks totally out of whack. I think he is in a precarious place mentally after blowing two Sunday major leads in the past few years - and almost blowing a third at last year's Open. If he's in contention on Sunday or in the lead - how mentally tough can he be?

Can Rickie Fowler finally win a major?

There are many others. I'm always excited for major week - even if it is the lowly PGA .

I'm happy to organize the same major pool as we've done all season. You know the rules, and if you don't, I'm happy to repost them. Here is the current OWGR

I’m sorry, can you please post the rules again? Thanks.

[mr. synellinden]

I’m sorry, can you please post the rules again? Thanks.

Here you go:

1. You have thirty OWGR "points" to spend on picking a team.
2. You can pick any player in the field - it's not a draft, so in theory you could have the exact same team as someone else.
3. You can pick up to 10 players, not more.
4. Each player's "cost" is their OWGR points total rounded down. So, Dustin Johnson "costs" 10; Justin Thomas - 8; Bubba Watson - 5; etc.
5. Anyone whose OWGR points is less than 2, costs 2. In other words, no player in the field costs less than 2.
6. Your final score is based on a total of the money won by all the players on your team. If one of your players misses the cut, you get 0 for that player.
7. As a tiebreaker, you also pick the winning score relative to par (e.g., -12).

11 pm ET Wednesday deadline for submitting picks.

[cato]

So, the contest aside, what do people think is going to happen? Another first time major winner seems a good bet these days.

[mr. synellinden]

So, the contest aside, what do people think is going to happen? Another first time major winner seems a good bet these days.

Great question - to me it seems like there is a great argument on both sides. So many of the hot players have won majors already: DJ, Rose, Rory, Thomas, Koepka, Day. Throw in Tiger too who has put himself in contending position almost every tournament of late.

On the other hand, there is a lot of great young talent that seems ready to break through: Finau, Fleetwood, Rahm, Schauffele, Cantlay, Fowler.

Tough call, but if I had to bet on repeat vs. newbie at even odds, I think I'd bet on a repeat.

[Rich]

Here you go:

1. You have thirty OWGR "points" to spend on picking a team.
2. You can pick any player in the field - it's not a draft, so in theory you could have the exact same team as someone else.
3. You can pick up to 10 players, not more.
4. Each player's "cost" is their OWGR points total rounded down. So, Dustin Johnson "costs" 10; Justin Thomas - 9; Bubba Watson - 5; etc.
5. Anyone whose OWGR points is less than 2, costs 2. In other words, no player in the field costs less than 2.
6. Your final score is based on a total of the money won by all the players on your team. If one of your players misses the cut, you get 0 for that player.
7. As a tiebreaker, you also pick the winning score relative to par (e.g., -12).

11 pm ET Wednesday deadline for submitting picks.

FIFY (JT now costs 9 with his Bridgestone win)

[mr. synellinden]

FIFY (JT now costs 9 with his Bridgestone win)

Thanks. And a good reminder to check the current OWGR rankings to be sure of each player’s “cost”.

[rasputin]

Team rasputin:

Koepka 7
Fowler 6
Cantlay 3
Kisner 3
Kuchar 3
Finau 3
Poulter 3
Fitzpatrick 2

[mr. synellinden]

Team rasputin:

Koepka 7
Fowler 6
Cantlay 3
Kisner 3
Kuchar 3
Finau 3
Poulter 3
Fitzpatrick 2

Winning score?

[rasputin]

Winning score?

Oops, and thanks for the prompt.

Team rasputin:

Team rasputin:

Koepka 7
Fowler 6
Cantlay 3
Kisner 3
Kuchar 3
Finau 3
Poulter 3
Fitzpatrick 2

-14

[Mal]

I'm going to keep trying different strategies until I win one of these things:

Thomas - 9
Koepka - 7
Day - 6
Lieshman - 4
Finau - 3

Leaving a point on the table, I guess, to go top heavy. Winning score -13.

[left_hook_lacey]

Rory Mcllroy 7
Ricky Fowler 6
Jordan Speith 6
Patrick Cantlay 3
Ian Poulter 3
Tony Finau 3
Tiger Woods 2


Winning Score: -12

[nmduke2001]

JT (9)
Mickelson (4)
Fowler (6)
Cantlay (3)
Perez (2)
Olesen (2)
Kevin Na (2)
Z.Johnson (2)

Total: 30 points

Tiebreaker: Winning score will be -11

[killerleft]

Bookend Johnsons.

Dustin Johnson-10
Jordan Spieth -6
Rickie Fowler -6
Phil Mickelson -4
Tiger Woods -2
Zach Johnson -2

Tiebreaker -13

[mkirsh]

So, the contest aside, what do people think is going to happen? Another first time major winner seems a good bet these days.

I think bombers who can go low will do well here. I like DJ to win after the way he played the weekend in Akron with the new putter, or someone like Finau to break through. I like JT but think it will be hard to win back to back PGAs and back to back weeks (you're welcome anyone who picked JT for the reverse jinx). So I'm taking:

DJ - 10
Rory - 7
Fleetwood - 6
Finau - 3
Tiger - 2
Aaron Wise - 2

Winning score - 17