A lot has happened in the final month of the Spring Segment. Teams have risen in the ranks while others have fallen off their pedestal. Fortunes have been made as winners collect their payouts adding to the their growing season earnings. While still a few others have yet to even regain glories of 2015. As things began to take shape near the top of the standings it was becoming apparent the race would come down to the wire. Five teams were in the hunt and had a shot at the Spring title entering the week as the US Open would be played out at Oakmont. In the end it would be an old veteran who would surge ahead and claim the crown.
Gophers lead the segment by 4 points over Short Strokes entering the week and DaHoffa was only 8 points back himself. Michelson was within shouting distance but would need a strong week if she was going to make a run at it. Basically, it was Gophers segment to win or lose. But as the drama unfolded a new contender emerged from the back - Whiny Little Pitch was surging towards the top.
DaHoffa, Short Strokes and Michelson would all be decimated by the CUT and were left with crippled rosters. That left the surging Whiny and past champion Gophers to duke it out over the last 36 holes. Gophers had also taken a bullet after the CUT as he lost 3 B players and was only able to field 1 player in his B group the rest of the weekend. Whiny was gaining ground as the 3rd round came to a close but Gophers was still fighting for every point. It would come down to the final round as Koepka - Gophers horse - would duel it out against Dufner and English - Whiny's thoroughbreds. Two against one. As this Mexican standoff neared its end on Sunday it would be Koepka who outscored both Duf and English by a score of 14-12 as Gophers barely outpaced Whiny for the Spring Segment by 7 points. Gophers can once again call himself a Segment Champion. His rise in the ranks over the course of the Spring was something to behold. After a lackluster Winter he got his act together and got back to his 2015 form. He won 2 Spring tournaments and had 3 Top 3s to go along with his 7 Top 10s during the segment. Gophers adds this title to his growing trophy case along with 2015 Jackson Cup Champion , 2015 Winter Segment Championship and 5 career victories. Congrats Gophers.
U.S. Open Recap
While the drama unfolded in the race for the Segment Championship there was an equal amount of tension floating in the air around Oakmont as Rug Munchers, Baby Draw and Whiny Little Pitch all fought it out for the 2nd Major of the year. Early action was fierce but after the CUT line fell on Friday many were left severely wounded. It came down to a three team race as only Munchers, Baby and Whiny were in a position to keep pressing the action. Baby Draw didn't survive the cut line unscathed himself as he had to soldier on with only 1 B player - Brooks Koepka. Rug Munchers had 2 B players to send into the action over the weekend but made a fatal error by not subbing out his MC'd player on Saturday and took a 0 for that roster spot. Only Whiny was able to field a full squad and didn't miss a round. As Sunday rolled around Rug Munchers realized his error and sent Charley Hoffman into the fray - but it was a case of too little too late. And despite Whiny's zero point final round for Harris English she had managed to build a lead that could sustain this blow. It was a photo finish in the end. Baby Draw, playing on a hobbled leg, made a good showing on Sunday and ended with 144 points by the end. Rug Munchers nearly made up for his missed sub in the 3rd round but came up just short at 146 points. And Whiny Little Pitch, who was fighting for every point, came into the clubhouse with 148 points and the title of U.S. Open Champion. This is Whiny's first Major title of her career and in a post round interview said she planned to use the winnings to plant a new tomato patch. She takes home the $25 paycheck and chalks up her second win of the season. She's worked her way up the leaderboard in the season standings with this strong Spring showing and now sits in 3rd place overall. Congrats Whiny Little Pitch. 
Notables:
Despite his current rank in the standings one could say it's not all been for loss for the rookie Mastersway. He's currently ranked 18th overall and has 5 Top 10s to his name. He wasn't a favorite entering the week but certainly proved the pundits wrong by taming the tough track at Oakmont. He somehow managed to sneak all the way up into 4th place despite missing 4 rounds!! With his Stenson WD and 2 other missed cuts from the B group he should have been left paralyzed. But his crafty play from Koepka, Kuchar and Dustin was enough to get him his high finish. He's been looking forward to the Summer Segment as it's just the fresh start that he's in need of.
Despite his current rank in the standings one could say it's not all been for loss for the rookie Mastersway. He's currently ranked 18th overall and has 5 Top 10s to his name. He wasn't a favorite entering the week but certainly proved the pundits wrong by taming the tough track at Oakmont. He somehow managed to sneak all the way up into 4th place despite missing 4 rounds!! With his Stenson WD and 2 other missed cuts from the B group he should have been left paralyzed. But his crafty play from Koepka, Kuchar and Dustin was enough to get him his high finish. He's been looking forward to the Summer Segment as it's just the fresh start that he's in need of.
In such a big tournament there were quite a few names who really stepped it up. Taylormade was Taylormade's drafting ability. He was one of the few players without Dustin Johnson but still managed a Top 10 despite missing out on bonus points. He's sent a clear sign to the league that the Summer Segment is going to be highly contended.
IN YOUR LIFE! snagged his first Top 10 since his masterful performance at THE Players Championship 5 weeks ago. He continues the trends of surprise finishers as he was not in the power rankings for the US Open last week. Still, he's been here before and proven he can compete in the high pressure tournaments. IN YOUR LIFE has just 4 Top 10s with this T5 finish but it will be his win at the THE Players that he's most remembered for (until he wins a Major or consecutive tournaments). He's got to like the idea of starting fresh again as the Summer Segment rolls around as his low season ranking isn't anything to brag about. Experts have him finishing around 15th this segment but be on the lookout as he might even go lower.
BevGin&Tonic continues the trend of low ranked teams to perform well in the year's second major. He carded 120 points in what was a very tough week to accumulate quality points. Anyone who managed to get at least 100 points had a decent finish. Bev muscled his way through Oakmont throwing long irons and wedges at impossible greens. The biggest surprise for Bev though was when he realized sometime on Thursday that the US Open was actually happening. He'd failed to update his roster from the previous week and had several Non-Entry players still on his roster. After subbing them out an MC left his roster short again and he never even managed to sub in his one active player the rest of the week. Such a feet of performing well with the previous week's roster has been accomplished only once before when Chubbs Peterson won a tournament after not updating his roster. Bev came close and if he'd managed to get Koepka into the action instead of getting three zeros from that spot he may have done the same.
Mother Rabbit is another name that no one saw putting up a big fuss at the US Open last week but she was determined to disappoint her critics. The Rabbit dug in and fortified her position as she opened with strong rounds on Thursday and Friday. She didn't have Dustin on her squad though and instead went with the Spaniard Sergio and the strong finish from Garcia helped propel her to her 3rd Top 10 of the year. Her picks were somewhat rogue as she was shooting from the hip with picks like Chris Wood, Justin Thomas and William McGirt. Somehow, despite only fielding 1 B player after the cut line she managed a T9 and gets her name in print once again.
The Spring Segment has been a bitter pill for Halve Ouiment to swallow as he's seen his season standing slowly deteriorate. He did not perform as well as he'd hoped and finished the segment in 13th place. His season standing also was brought down from 4th at the end of the Winter to 7th currently. Ouiment had hopes of making a run at the season leader but he's now nearly 240 points behind. Still, it's always nice to end a Segment on a positive note as he collected his 4th Top 10 of the Spring and 9th overall. He was the only team to field Furyk who garnered him 10 extra bonus points which was enough to squeeze him into the Top 10. He'll look to rebound as the Summer kicks off and hopefully contend for another Segment title which he hasn't won since 2014.
THIS WEEK the Summer kicks off at Congressional as the Quicken Loans National marks the beginning of a new segment. Dr. Vijay's Antler Spray is the defending champ but he'll have to relinquish this title as he's no longer around to defend. This is a good sign for a hungry field as everyone wants to start the new segment off on a good foot. Over the last 12 weeks of the season the stakes have never been higher. There's more money handed out this segment than either the Winter or Spring. With a WGC, The Open Championship, the PGA Championship and Fedex Cup Playoffs there'll be ample opportunity to pad your bankroll. Saddle up as the Summer begins in Bethesda.
Season Stat Lines
After two segments worth of action we can now see some large trends emerging from the stats. Certain teams seem to have an edge when it comes to picking a winner while others have more luck with picking 2nd and 3rd place finishers. Sometimes the rankings within each stat category mirrors that of the season standings while other times there are a few anomalies as rogue teams outperform their expected rank. Below is a collection of stat categories which showing the Top 20 teams for both the Season and Spring Segment.
While 1st place Michelson leads the league in Top 10s it's 8th place Talkeetna98 who leads in Top 3s and surprisingly it's 24th place Show and Dough who leads the league with 3 wins
It's no surprise that the league's #1 and #2 teams lead the way in Spring and Season bonus points. Both Short Strokes and Michelson are tied in Total Bonus Points with 320 while Michelson is edged out Short Strokes by 15 points over the Spring Segment.
Short Strokes leads the league in bonus points from 2nd and 3rd place finishers averaging 5.83 points per week over the season and 7.50 for the Spring. 7th place team Halve Ouimet currently holds the second position here by averaging 5.00 ppw for both the Spring and Season.
Michelson has held down her 1st place position in part due to her ability to pick a winner. She's currently tied for the season lead with 11 winners picked and tied the Spring lead with 5. Baby Draw is right alongside her as he's surged kept pace with the leader in both Season and Spring winners.
Full U.S. Open Results
| Pos | U.S. Open | Rnd 1 | Rnd 2 | Rnd 3 | Rnd 4 | Total | |
| 1 | Whiny Little Pitch | - | - | - | - | 148 | |
| 2 | Rug Munchers | - | - | - | - | 146 | |
| 3 | Baby Draw^3 | - | - | - | - | 144 | |
| 4 | Mastersway | - | - | - | - | 134 | |
| 5 | Taylormade | - | - | - | - | 126 | |
| 5 | IN YOUR LIFE! | - | - | - | - | 126 | |
| 7 | BevGin&Tonic | - | - | - | - | 120 | |
| 8 | Swing Easy When It's Breezy | - | - | - | - | 116 | |
| 9 | Mother Rabbit | - | - | - | - | 114 | |
| 9 | Halve Ouimet | - | - | - | - | 114 | |
| 11 | Freeside Links | - | - | - | - | 110 | |
| 12 | 4 Hitting 5 | - | - | - | - | 108 | |
| 13 | Tomte | - | - | - | - | 106 | |
| 13 | Gophers | - | - | - | - | 106 | |
| 15 | That's Wet! | - | - | - | - | 104 | |
| 16 | TIGER WOULD PUTT!! | - | - | - | - | 102 | |
| 17 | Papa Pilgrim | - | - | - | - | 98 | |
| 18 | Show and Dough | - | - | - | - | 96 | |
| 19 | Where Eagles Dare | - | - | - | - | 94 | |
| 19 | Eat My Grind | - | - | - | - | 94 | |
| 19 | BurningTime | - | - | - | - | 94 | |
| 22 | Kikakee Tees | - | - | - | - | 92 | |
| 23 | Night Putting | - | - | - | - | 90 | |
| 23 | Jowls | - | - | - | - | 90 | |
| 23 | GrampaLevs | - | - | - | - | 90 | |
| 26 | Michelson | - | - | - | - | 88 | |
| 27 | DaHoffa | - | - | - | - | 86 | |
| 28 | Talkeetna98 | - | - | - | - | 82 | |
| 29 | Chubbs 'Part Time' Peterson | - | - | - | - | 80 | |
| 30 | Short Strokes | - | - | - | - | 76 | |
| 30 | Kings Deer | - | - | - | - | 76 | |
| 32 | Tourball | - | - | - | - | 72 | |
| 33 | Hogan's Heros | - | - | - | - | 66 | |
| 34 | 2 footer | - | - | - | - | 56 | |
| 35 | Salad Thongs | - | - | - | - | 36 | |
| 35 | Haney's Got a Gun | - | - | - | - | 36 | |
| 37 | Marlowe Dubuisson | - | - | - | - | 8 | |
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