Hogan's Takes Segment Lead - Wins 4th at Deutsche Bank

It was a bold statement last week on the part of Hogan’s Heros as the Spring Segment Champion has sent a message to the league to let them know he’s not done yet. It’s still a neck and neck race to the finish between Hogan’s, Night Putting and Tomte but with his performance last week at the Deutsche Bank Championship Hogan’s gave himself some breathing room. He started to pull away over the weekend and began pouring it on with his 3 stags – Hoffman, Stenson and Fowler. By Sunday he had all but assured himself a breakaway victory as he began to see that he would garner bonus points from all top 3 finishers. Kikakee Tees was giving chase but goose eggs on his roster in the final 3 rounds prevented him from mounting any meaningful charge. By the time all was said and done Hogan’s had secured himself a 23 point victory.

Rickie and Henrik shake hands on 18th green at TPC Boston 

Hogan’s made 4 subs throughout the week at the TPC Boston and all after the first round. This of course meant that he went wholesale with the new squad as he moved all his starters to the bench, replacing them with the top 3 finishers and 22^nd place finisher Zach Johnson. As things began to tighten up on the sun soaked course in Norton, MA Hogan’s wasn’t sweating. He was one of the few players to have both Fowler and Stenson as they dueled it out over 18 holes on Sunday. With Stenson leading by 1 stroke after 16 holes they both approached the par 3 17^th and quickly underwent a 2 stroke swing as Henrik plunged one into the murky waters surrounding the green. A huge mistake that would end up costing him the lead and ultimately the tournament. Fowler held on and snagged his 2^nd win of the season and gave Hogan’s Heros his 4^th win of 2015. It also marks his 2^nd win in 3 weeks after he won at the Wyndham Championship and has secured victories in all 3 Segments. With this win he took the Summer Segment lead by 35 points over Tomte and Night Putting. Still a close margin by any standard with 2 weeks to go so he better not get too comfortable. This is Hogan’s 18^th Top 10 and 10^th Top 3 this year. He wasn’t able to make up significant ground on the Season frontrunner Gophers as it was a dropped score for The Gophers in Boston. He is still 66 points off the pace so it would take a miracle for him to catch up with just two weeks left. It’s been a hell of season for Hogan’s and at the moment he leads the league in earnings at $90 with more to come once the Season wraps up in Atlanta. Congrats Hogan’s Heros.

It was yet another solid performance from heavy hitting Kikakee Tees as he snagged his 4^th Top 3 and first runner-up of the Season. He’s already shared a win this Summer at the RBC Canadian Open which marked his 2^nd win in what certainly is a successful rookie season. The Tees slugged away at the TPC Boston with the likes of Fowler and Stenson but it was the zeros he put up in the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th rounds that would come back to bite him. Still, Kikakee showed that he’s got the mettle to compete on Fantasy Tour and has no intention of making a transition to the Champion’s Fantasy Tour any time soon. His Season earnings do not reflect his success as he’s had to share both his wins and effectively split the winnings but such is life on Fantasy Tour. He’s still got two more weeks to grab that solo win so look for him to make a bid.

Where Eagles Dare has had enough of merely finishing in the Top 10 so far this Summer as all of his big finishes have been Top 3s. Eagles has been chasing that elusive inaugural championship for a long time now and he’s come close again this Summer. With a 3^rd place finish at the John Deere and a runner-up at the Wyndham he is knocking at the championship door voraciously. His time is running out though and he knows it. If he doesn’t grab his championship on Fantasy Tour this year he’s determined to make a strong statement at the First Timers Invitational on September 26.

Notables:

Top 10

Despite a lingering back injury the 3 time champ 2 Footer put together a solid performance over four days at the TPC Boston and walked away with a 4^th place finish and his 13^th Top 10 of the Season. He’s been dealing with a thrown out back but that didn’t stop him from coming right back after winning the Barclays to put up another strong showing. When you’re hot you’re hot. 2 Footer has risen in the rankings over the course of the Summer and now holds a stand-alone 12^th place position for the Season and 10^th place for the Summer. With a cool $30 in winnings 2 Footer is 5^th in earnings this Season and is tied for 2^nd in Non-Winner Bonus Points/Week for the Summer.

As if anyone needed any reminding of who the hottest player on Fantasy Tour is at the moment Tomte made sure to send a reminder to the league. With a 5^th place finish at the Deutsche Bank Tomte has now gone 8 consecutive weeks without missing the Top 10. Her aim is deadly right now and she’s peaking just when she needs to. Locked in a brutal Segment fight, Tomte has been keeping pace with the other front-runners and has been matching them blow for blow. She lost a small amount of ground on Tomte after his big win but is within 30 points to regain the lead. This is Tomte’s 16^th Top 10 and she has 6 other Top 3s and 2 wins. She holds down the 9^th place for the Season and needs a strong showing at the BMW Championship to enter the final week ready to pounce.

Strangers made sure to keep his Top 10 status for the Summer alive as he’s right around 5^th for the Summer and is determined to finish the Season strong after a less than stellar Championship defense. He pushed through the competition in Boston and got a solo 6^th place finish – his 15^th of the year. He’s started the BMW on a strong foot and hopes to add one more win to his stat line before the dust settles on the Season. He’d like more than his current $5 winnings total after a shared win with Tomte in week 12 so look for Strangers to put up a fight in Chicago this week. Amazingly this marks Strangers 10^th Top 10 in 11 weeks as he’s been on a Summer hunting spree so it wouldn’t be surprising if he finishes the Segment out strong.

After a period of immobility over the majority of the Summer T-Off-Killah has now finished in solo 7^th in back to back weeks. It’s a good sign for the once hard hitting fantasy golfer as his luster has faded somewhat in the Season’s second half. This is exactly the kind of roll that Killah needs to get on though if he wants to snatch a championship of his own before time runs out. He’s grinded it out over 8 and a half months but hasn’t found what he’s looking for. Two consecutive Top 10s though could be the staging point by which T-Off-Killah launches a full frontal assault on the BMW Championship at Conway Farms in Chicago.

A refreshing summer surprise has been the modest resurgence of 2 time winner Chubbs Peterson. Chubbs seemed to go into the fantasy doldrums midway through the Season but he’s had a nice return to form this Summer with 5 Top 10s and 1 Top 3. After getting two early Season wins he decided to rest on his laurels for a while. This was bad news for his Season or Segment points total but overall it’s been a decent year for the wily veteran. Chubbs has a slash line of 10/3/2 and $20 in the fantasy bank. 

Talkeetna98 and The Gophers wrapped up the Top 10 with a tie for 9^th. It’s been a solid year for Talkeetna98 with 18 Top 10 finishes which is good enough to put him in a tie for 3^rd for that category overall. He’s had 6 Top 3s mixed throughout the Season as well but unfortunately these stellar stats have only translated into 1 win for the veteran. It’s more than some but the Season 5^th place holder would like more championships to show for it. The Gophers hasn’t let up much at all as the Season front-runner continues to make good on his promise to maintain the lead and win the Season. He’s looking really good at the moment and all he has to do is just field a roster of active golfers to keep the dream alive. This was Gophers league leading 25^th Top 10 this year which is a fairly remarkable stat when you consider the average percentage of Top 10 finishes so far. Teams are finishing in the Top 10 on average 30% of the time. For Gophers it’s more like 70%. He has been steady as a rock over a long Season and will very likely be rewarded with a Season Championship.

Summer Segment Bonus Points Standings
Team	BP	Winners	NWPB/Wk
The Gophers	155	4	7.5
Tomte	150	5	5
Hogan's Heros	145	4	6.5
Night Putting	140	4	6
Kikakee Tees	130	3	7
That's Wet!	110	3	5
Better Than Most	110	3	5
2 Footer	105	2	6.5
Chubbs Peterson	105	3	4.5
Freeside Links	105	3	4.5
Talkeetna98	105	3	4.5
Papa Pilgrim	105	3	4.5
Dr. Vijay's	100	2	6
Jowls	95	2	5.5
Strangers	95	2	5.5
Where Eagles Dare	85	3	2.5
Show and Dough	85	2	4.5
Whiny Little Pitch	85	2	4.5
BevGin&Tonic	75	2	3.5
Rebels	75	2	3.5
T-Off-Killah	75	2	3.5
Baby Draw Part 2	65	1	4.5
Eat My Grind	60	1	4
Rug Munchers	60	1	4
Danny Noonan	55	2	1.5
Brookline Ballers	55	2	1.5
Tour Ball	40	1	2
Larry Philpot	25	1	0.5
Darth Fader	20	1	0
Geeteeo	20	0	2
Shanks fa Nuffin	10	0	1
Ratrick Peed	0	0	0
Big Easy	0	0	0
Carl Spackler	0	0	0

This week the BMW Championship is already in full swing as Jason Day is once again running away with the tournament. It’s still early but he’s been trending so high as of late that it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see him claim his 5^th victory of 2015. Strangers and Chubbs Peterson have jumped out to stellar leads but it’s still anybody’s game as more than a few gamers are still trying to track down their first win before time runs out. It’s crunch time as the Season winds down with only 2 weeks left to play. Can T-Off-Killah, Better Than Most or Show and Dough get that elusive win they’ve been craving so much? Will Hogan’s or Gophers continue to dominate and hoard all the glory for themselves? Can Tomte or Night Putting come from behind to steal the Segment from Hogan’s? Who has enough starts with Day, Spieth, Dustin and Bubba left to keep the momentum going all the way to the end? All eyes are on Chicago as the BMW is already in full swing.