Eat My Grind Surges For 2nd Title at Honda Classic

It was a roller coaster of a week at the PGA National last week. With the completion of each round a new leader was atop the big board. Much can be said of the effort put forth by the field this week as the big names vying for the Segment Championship were almost nowhere to be seen. The hot names instead were the likes of defending champ Chubbs Peterson and the fresh faced Swing Easy When It's Breezy who was competing in his first tournament. And with this 'business as usual' shakeup comes a new wind of competitors for the Segment crown. But before the players in that race could be determined there was a photo finish in the making at the Honda Classic as Talkeetna98 and Eat My Grind were slugging it out down the back nine on Sunday's final round. 

Both Grind and Talkeetna98 were pulling away from the field by Saturday afternoon. Riding on the back of Adam Scott, they capitalized on his hot putter as their competition was fading behind them. The only question remained: which team would win their second title of the young season? Both were already champions and both had endured the pressure of closing out a fantasy golf tournament. Eat My Grind had a stroke of bad luck when Webb Simpson withdrew from the tournament before the first round and he had zero for him in day 1 (Talkeetna98 was fortunate enough to have him on the bench to start). But both teams were only slightly in contention by Friday's cut and would need a solid weekend if they wanted to compete. And they did just that. Garnering over 60 points on Saturday and then doing the same on Sunday. They outpaced the field in scoring by a landslide and broke into a dead sprint through the Bear Trap as it was a two man race to the finish. With an untimely meltdown from Kisner for Talkeetna98 and an unexpected flash of brilliance from Horschel for Grind the winds of change blew hard on Sunday and the lead slipped through Talkeetna98's hands and into the grasp of Eat My Grind. The champ was a champ again with a massive weekend charge to capture his 2nd title of the year. The Grind has now squarely put himself in the mix for the Segment title by winning 2 out of the last 3 tournaments. He sits in 3rd place at the moment just 26 points behind and if this hot streak keeps up we might see a change of the guard very soon. Congrats Eat My Grind.

Second Place

Talkeetna98 fought the good fight at The Honda Classic and seems to like playing Florida golf as the veteran has now place in the Top 10 at this venue in consecutive years. The runner-up finish is by far his best effort so far and he seems to be settling into the PGA National nicely. He has placed himself in a very nice position for the Winter with this 2nd place finish and is now in 4th place overall at just a stones throw from the leader. 

Third Place

That's Wet is right in the middle of a hot streak that's gotten the league vet three Top 3s in the past 4 tournaments. This fantasy tare shouldn't surprise anyone as the 2015 4th place finisher knows how to get hot at the right moment. Unfortunately this time the tare comes when he's in 24th place and nowhere near the race for the Segment. Still, he may have plans on a run at the Jackson Cup so be prepared for a further rise in the rankings.

Notables

Some changes of fortune took place on Florida's first tournament stop and none took more advantage of this than the fancy footwork of Tomte. The analysts are still crunching the numbers to see how she managed a 4th place finish at PGA National but after 3 missed cuts and a withrdraw left her roster hobbled and short she still managed to push on. Like Cortés in the Mexico or Stalin behind the steel curtain she rallied her troops with promises of gold and threats of gore - willing them on to a strong finish. She has broken back into the overall Top 10 and may be on the verge of returning to 2015 form. 

Another familiar face showed up this week ready to reverse the early season downturn.

Kikakee Tees struggled through the first half of the Winter Segment but may have found his swing that he seems to have left in 2015. The astute veteran knows the Jackson Cup is a marathon rather than a sprint so despite 27th spot in the standings he's more than prepared for the task ahead. This 5th place finish is just his 2nd Top 10 of the young season but slow starts are notorious for many on Fantasy Tour. As the weather warms look for Kikakee to gain some steam. 

The first appearance of Taylormade in the recap means that the rookie finally put together a roster worthy of Top 10 status. It's a well earned and fortunate 6th place finish for the newcomer as his B squad was severely wounded after the cut and only 1 active player went out over the weekend. His 3 man roster was enough to get the job done though and with the help of Adam Scott he managed to snag some bonus points and finish with a solid Top 10 to his name.

Where did Swing Easy When It's Breezy come from this week? The rookie stud had been biding his time off on the Sunshine Tour before making just his second active appearance on the Fantasy Tour this year and he did not disappoint his fans. Swing Easy crunched the numbers and made the sensible call to start Adam Scott and the rest was history, almost. He nearly had a catastrophe with his roster after missing substitutions after the cut and collected zero points for two spots due to missed cuts. He recovered though in the 4th round and garnered a decent showing enough to propel him to his 2nd Top 10. 

Where Eagles Dare made some moves at the PGA National last week and seems to be making intermittent ground on the leaderboard. His high finishes have been too far spaced out for him to put together a hot streak but he's sticking around and surely has a plan to surge at some point. The grinder suffered through an arduous 2015 campaign with multiple Top 3s but never broke through for a win. He's already thrown that yoke from his neck and looks towards his new goal of a Segment Title. Just not the Winter. 

Whiny Little Pitch makes her first appearance back into the Top 10 for the third time this season but has yet to pick up a Top 3 finish. The veteran started off her season last year with a flourish with podium finishes left and right. The pickings have been slimmer this year but Whiny is a streaky player so look for a surge from her in the new Segment. 

In the 8 Winter tournaments so far this year Michelson has missed the Top 10 just 3 times. The hot shot rookie has been nothing if not consistent and nearly captured a breakthrough win a week ago at Riviera. A strong candidate for Winter rookie, the one thing that could withhold votes is her lack of a Top 3 or win. Michelson has hopes of winning the winter segment but is pessimistic after her Sunday collapse at the Northern Trust. Still, she's in 2nd place and just 25 points back of leader Short Strokes as the Race for the Winter heats up. 

THIS WEEK, if you thought there was a lot of water around the course at PGA National then Trump National Doral will make you wonder where the land is. The WGC-Cadillac Championship is the first big format event of the year with the studs of golf showing up in droves. It's going to be a veritable who's who of the golfing world as only the highest ranked players qualify. It remains to be seen if the field will spread out on the Fantasy Tour or if everyone will be bunched together between Spieth, Day and McIlroy. With only a handful of 2nd tier players in the field it will be interesting to see if anyone picks a dark horse or if the favorites prevail. The Segment champion is just four weeks away from being crowned but who will wear it remains to be seen. To the draft room!

Pos	Northern Trust	Rnd 1	Rnd 2	Rnd 3	Rnd 4	Total
1	Eat My Grind	24	44	62	64	194
2	Talkeetna98	46	28	60	48	182
3	That's Wet!	42	30	42	64	178
4	Tomte	32	26	40	62	160
5	Kikakee Tees	32	8	58	56	154
6	Taylormade	28	32	42	50	152
7	Swing Easy When It's Breezy	32	48	20	50	150
7	Where Eagles Dare	38	30	32	50	150
9	Whiny Little Pitch	38	26	40	42	146
10	Michelson	26	28	34	56	144
11	GrampaLevs	26	38	16	56	136
11	Papa Pilgrim	22	28	46	40	136
11	Short Strokes	36	20	32	48	136
14	4 Hitting 5	40	30	14	50	134
15	Night Putting	18	38	34	42	132
15	TIGER WOULD PUTT!!	42	34	28	28	132
15	Hogan's Heros	38	30	22	42	132
15	Haney's Got a Gun	30	22	48	32	132
15	DaHoffa	26	22	24	60	132
20	2 footer	20	30	32	48	130
20	Salad Thongs	38	22	16	54	130
22	Jowls	36	34	36	18	124
22	Baby Draw^3	26	20	30	48	124
24	Marlowe Dubuisson	26	28	32	36	122
24	Rug Munchers	18	24	54	26	122
26	Chubbs 'Part Time' Peterson	48	22	20	28	118
27	Halve Ouimet	28	22	36	28	114
28	Mastersway	18	28	32	32	110
29	Tourball	42	28	18	18	106
30	Kings Deer	34	26	4	32	96
31	Gophers	30	24	16	24	94
32	Freeside Links	24	40	6	18	88
32	BevGin&Tonic	34	26	10	18	88
32	IN YOUR LIFE!	32	10	26	20	88
35	Mother Rabbit	16	24	6	35	81
36	Show and Dough	14	24	18	20	76
37	BurningTime	32	16	14	10	72