On Feb. 3, 2013 the Superbowl was played in the New Orleans Superdome between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens. Both teams came with a pedigree of performers as each had a viable path to the championship. But it wasn't the players on the field that received much of the attention leading up to the big game. Instead, one of the major narratives of matchup was in fact the coaches. Superbowl XLVII marked the first time in history that the two opposing head coaches were brothers. In what would be nicknamed the "Harbowl", Jim and John Harbough met on the field of glory on what is arguably America's biggest stage. The game was fiercely contested and would be decided by no more than a field goal. One Harbough left victorious while the other left deflated. In sports, there can only be one winner. But in fantasy golf that just ain't so.
In the fantasy golf world last Sunday, circumstances would slightly mirror the events of the 2013 Harbowl with a slight twist at the end. The RBC Canadian Open was the next stop on Tour and it is arguably Canada's biggest stage (if you avoid talking to hockey and lacrosse fans). The the main contenders were all heavy hitting Top 10 teams and two of them just so happen to be brothers. And just like Superbowl Sunday it would come down to the wire as Halve Ouimet and Papa Pilgrim steered their fantasy rosters through the treacherous seas of fantasy golf at Glen Abbey Golf Course just outside of Ottawa. Before the tournament was even over media outlets were dubbing this event as The Coffey Cup.
In all of sports history there have been many brotherly showdowns - Virgil and Jesse Barnes, Peyton and Eli Manning, Michael and Ralf Schumacher, Jeremy and Jason Giambi - but one of the two has always come out of each match as the winner. On Sunday, at the conclusion of the RBC Canadian Open, both Halve Ouimet and Papa found themselves in the thick of it - battling for every point. Papa nearly had a perfect week of substitutions as he only missed one lower round on his bench. Ouimet had the young Spaniard Rahm though which would pay dividends in bonus points by the end. Not even a photo finish would be enough to decide the winner as both would charge home with birdies down the back nine and card 184 points - a historic tie between brothers - a First Timer's League first. Both Ouimet and Papa have now captured two legs of the Grand Slam's lesser known cousin - The Triple (US Open, British Open, Canadian Open) a distinction held by only a handful of men. Ouimet has the the British and Canadian Opens under his belt while Papa has the U.S. and Canadian title in his trophy case. Will Papa return to complete The Triple at Royal Birkdale next year? Either way, after waiting most of the season Papa finally claimed his first title of 2016 - a long sought championship. For Halve Ouimet it's win number 2 for the year which doubles his total from last year. Congrats to both of the RBC Canadian Open Champions.
3rd Place
While much of the media attention rests with the winning duo things could have turned out quite differently as Short Strokes was more than in the hunt. Strokes was giving chase with the usual suspects of Furyk, Kuchar, Snedeker and DJ and he never subbed once. Despite a great finish resulting from this tactic it would also cost him the win as a sub in the final round to McGirt or Day would have got him the win. He finished with 182 points - just two points behind the winners - and the league leader is still looking for his second win of the season. Strokes is beginning to dominate as he has 370 bonus points (1st), 11 winners picked (T2), 16 Top 10s (T2) and 5.36 non-winner bonus points/week (1st). He's stretched his season lead to nearly 50 points and is just 16 points off the Summer Segment lead. Will he continue to stretch his lead or will Michelson mount a last minute charge? Time will tell.
Notables:
It was a close race the whole way through and DaHoff wasn't far off the pace as well. His 178 points was good enough for a 4th place finish - his 11th Top 10 of the year. He went to Kisner off the bench on Saturday which didn't help him as he was chasing his -5 round from Friday. He had the fire power on his bench to break through for his second win of the Segment but it would have taken a near perfect substitution schedule. It was not to be this week but DaHoffa is heating up along with the summer temps. He won his first tournament of the year to start the Segment so keep an eye on the rookie to make a charge for the lead. Gophers makes his first appearance inside the Top 10 for a given week since he last won back-to-back tournaments at The Memorial and Fedex St. Jude. It was an unforeseen lull for the league heavy weight but these slumps are hard to predict. Perhaps he was a bit distracted with his approaching wedding. Gophers has managed to maintain his position in the standings however as he's in 5th place overall. In just two years in the league he's managed to win the 2015 Jackson Cup and the 2016 Spring Segment. He's clearly a force to be reckoned with and looks to continue snatching up tournament wins as the season ends. Rug Munchers had his 3rd best finish of the year with a stand alone 6th place last week which is his 6th Top 10 of the season. His luck hasn't quite been what he'd like it to be as he's had a pair of runner-up finishes; being denied the US Open by just 2 points. He does have the distinction of being the highest paid player without a win - out ranking 2 other teams with a single win each. Munchers is more of a big game hunter as he makes a charge when least expected and usually on a big stage. Look for Munchers to make waves once the Fedex Cup Playoffs begin.
Michelson and Talkeetna98 both came in with 162 points and tied for 7th place. For Michelson, it's just her first Top 10 in 5 weeks as the dethroned first place team has been losing ground for nearly a month. Still, she's in 2nd place at the moment and is just 50 points back of Short Strokes - a surmountable deficit with 8 weeks to go. Michelson will need to make a hard charge though if she hopes to take the Jackson Cup for her own. She does lead the league in Top 10s with 17 and clearly has had a dominate season. Look for Michelson to finish strong. Talkeetna98 snagged his 11th Top 10 of the season but has given up ground in the last couple months - being ranked as high as 3rd place as of Week 21. He now sits in 9th place trying to hold onto a Top 10 spot. The league leader in Top 3s isn't going to go quietly into the night though so look for Talkeetna98 to get a couple more before season's end. The hard charging Baby Draw comes in at number 9 last week as he just snuck in and grabbed his 11th Top 10 of the year. Baby Draw has put on a clinic of fantasy golf over the last couple months as he charged up the leaderboard into 3rd back in Week 22 and has only let it slip out from under his grasp for 1 week after getting it back. He's cooled somewhat in the past couple weeks after 3 Top 3s in 4 weeks around the Segment turnover. This is his first Top 10 in 3 weeks so despite the hot streak cooling down a bit he's still cranking out high finishes. He's got an outsider's chance to take over the 2nd place position but it will take a concerted effort over the last 8 weeks. But for Baby Draw, anything is possible.
Wrapping things up in 10th place last week was the new sensation of Burning Time. The second to last place team has made more of a showing on the leaderboard over the season's second half with 3 of his 4 Top 10s coming after the season's mid point. He did manage to sneak in a crafty win back in Week 12 at the Puerto Rico Open while all the big guns were at the WGC. When he shows up he's clearly got what it takes to win but we just haven't seen much of it this year. Perhaps Burning Time has one more left in him before things wrap up in 8 weeks time.
THIS WEEK the year's 4th and final Major takes center stage as Jason Day looks to defend his PGA Championship title where he won his first Major last year. The defending champ on the fantasy side of things is none other than last year's Summer Segment winner - Tomte. She put on a clinic here last year and she's been bidding her time so far this year - still looking for that first win. This could be her week. This week marks the season's last chance to snag a large paycheck with $25 to the winner. While the last four tournaments all have increasing payouts they're not as high as the Majors. The Summer Segment is one third of the way through with 8 weeks to play. The Segment crown is a tight race so far and plenty of time to make up ground for anyone within 100 points. Draft wisely as starts are beginning to run out.
| Pos | RBC Canadian Open | Rnd 1 | Rnd 2 | Rnd 3 | Rnd 4 | Total | |
| 1 | Papa Pilgrim | 58 | 50 | 26 | 50 | 184 | |
| 1 | Halve Ouimet | 54 | 44 | 32 | 54 | 184 | |
| 3 | Short Strokes | 62 | 44 | 36 | 40 | 182 | |
| 4 | DaHoffa | 66 | 34 | 26 | 52 | 178 | |
| 5 | Gophers | 56 | 34 | 36 | 48 | 174 | |
| 6 | Rug Munchers | 56 | 34 | 40 | 34 | 164 | |
| 7 | Michelson | 54 | 32 | 36 | 40 | 162 | |
| 7 | Talkeetna98 | 54 | 32 | 26 | 50 | 162 | |
| 9 | Baby Draw^3 | 60 | 24 | 32 | 44 | 160 | |
| 10 | BurningTime | 50 | 42 | 34 | 32 | 158 | |
| 11 | Taylormade | 42 | 52 | 20 | 36 | 150 | |
| 12 | Night Putting | 50 | 30 | 36 | 32 | 148 | |
| 12 | Mastersway | 48 | 22 | 30 | 48 | 148 | |
| 14 | Eat My Grind | 40 | 36 | 30 | 36 | 142 | |
| 15 | That's Wet! | 44 | 24 | 32 | 36 | 136 | |
| 16 | Tomte | 40 | 34 | 16 | 42 | 132 | |
| 16 | Whiny Little Pitch | 38 | 38 | 28 | 28 | 132 | |
| 18 | 2 footer | 16 | 38 | 38 | 38 | 130 | |
| 19 | TIGER WOULD PUTT!! | 28 | 50 | 12 | 38 | 128 | |
| 20 | Show and Dough | 32 | 36 | 16 | 42 | 126 | |
| 21 | Tourball | 22 | 42 | 16 | 44 | 124 | |
| 22 | Freeside Links | 40 | 18 | 26 | 36 | 120 | |
| 22 | Kikakee Tees | 38 | 38 | 14 | 30 | 120 | |
| 24 | Hogan's Heros | 34 | 22 | 26 | 32 | 114 | |
| 24 | Where Eagles Dare | 28 | 40 | 10 | 36 | 114 | |
| 26 | Mother Rabbit | 14 | 44 | 20 | 30 | 108 | |
| 27 | Haney's Got a Gun | 24 | 32 | 10 | 26 | 92 | |
| 28 | GrampaLevs | 6 | 42 | 10 | 24 | 82 | |
| 29 | 4 Hitting 5 | 28 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 80 | |
| 29 | Jowls | 16 | 34 | 12 | 18 | 80 | |
| 31 | Marlowe Dubuisson | 14 | 40 | 8 | 16 | 78 | |
| 32 | BevGin&Tonic | 14 | 38 | 4 | 8 | 64 | |
| 33 | IN YOUR LIFE! | 20 | 12 | 6 | 18 | 56 | |
| 33 | Kings Deer | 20 | 12 | 6 | 18 | 56 | |
| 35 | Swing Easy When It's Breezy | 14 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 38 | |
| 36 | Chubbs 'Part Time' Peterson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 36 | Salad Thongs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
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