It’s been an action packed couple of weeks on Fantasy Tour
as the past two winners surprised the pundits by outperforming their
expectations. This season has been a year of underdogs and unexpected hot
streaks, rookie leaders and repeat champions. Of the 37 teams in the league
there have been 17 different winners and 8 multi-win teams. In each of the 3
years this league has been played there has always been a two-time major
champion each season with Papa Pilgrim
winning 2 in 2014 (Masters & US Open), Jowls
doing it in 2015 (US Open & Open Championship) and, the most recent member,
Haney’s Got A Gun who won this year’s Open Championship and PGA
Championship. Two rookies are leading the field in the Race For The Jackson Cup
as Short Strokes has the edge over Michelson. But with 6 weeks to go anything’s
possible.
PGA Championship -
The PGA Championship proved to be very eventful as Haney’s
came out of nowhere to snag his second career Major title. He somehow had the
foresight to pick the eventual winner Jimmy Walker (only 1 of 2 teams to do so)
and managed to recover from a first round 0 from JB Holmes. Haney’s has shot up
the season earnings leaderboard with a total of $74 so far and despite a
lackluster season he’s etched his name in the record books by becoming the 4th
team in league history with multiple majors.
Travelers Championship -
Last week at the Travelers Championship many of the top tier
players were not in attendance but the US Olympic squad was there (sans Rickie)
getting in some practice before heading to Rio. Rug Munchers was the man
to beat at TPC Southwind has Daniel Berger and Russel Knox helped him notch his
1st win of the waning 2016 season. The veteran now has wins in each of
the two season he’s played and was biding his time before this one came along.
His status on Fantasy Tour has never been that of superstar but his ability to
snag a win each season has helped build his brand. With the weight off his
shoulders and nothing left to lose look for Munchers to go for broke over the remaining six weeks of play.
Overall Notables -
Race For The Jackson Cup
The rookies Short
Strokes and Michelson remain locked in an epic battle for the Jackson Cup – one
which the First Timers League has never seen before. In each of the previous
two seasons it was a foregone conclusion as to who would walk away with the
league champion but with 6 weeks to go and just 76 points between the two it’s
still an undecided race. Short Strokes clearly has the advantage but
the wily Michelson has saved up her
starts to go all out over the final month and a half. She made some gains on
him last week but if the gap is to be closed she’ll need to outperform him by
roughly 13 points each week. Short Strokes is feeling confident however as
he’s also got plenty of starts with key characters entering the Fedex Cup
Playoffs. It will be crucial to have starts with the top dogs left come the
final week as there will only be 30 players to choose from.
There has been a battle being waged for the final two payout positions in the season standings as 4th and 5th place are still very much up for grabs. Baby Draw seems to have 3rd place locked down (theoretically) with a 90 point lead with 6 weeks to go – he just needs to hold his ground. But only 35 points separates the 4th place Gophers from the 8th place Halve Ouimet. Inside this narrow gap are 5 teams brawling for position. Behind Gophers is Whiny Little Pitch (17 points back) followed by Papa Pilgrim (24 points), Talkeetna98 (31 points) and Halve Ouimet (36 points). With money and pride on the line this is sure to be a vicious fight over the last 6 weeks.
Summer Segment Race
Jowls made a
crucial mistake last week as he didn’t update his roster in time for the
opening tee time on Thursday. Because of that he dropped out of the top spot
for the Summer Segment and managed to needlessly burn a start with Kuchar as it
was going to be a dropped score from the beginning.
Short Strokes took advantage of Jowls’ slip up and took the segment
lead for his own. He’s created a nice buffer between he and second place Baby
Draw – both of whom are going for their first ever segment title. In the hunt
are about 15 other teams including the red hot Haney’s Got A Gun and the perpetual contender Talkeetna98.
Two of the biggest movers this segment are Where Eagles Dare and Tiger Would Putt. Both teams
are 22nd and 14th for the season, respectively, but each
has made a concerted effort to go out with a bang over the final segment. Tiger Would Putt has started the summer
red hot with 3 Top 10s, 2 Top 3s and 1 win to put him in 5th place
so far. Where Eagles Dare has 4 Top
10s and 1 Top 3 to vault him into 7th place. Both are solidly in the
hunt for the segment title and will be counting their starts remaining for the
Tour’s top players as they continue to push heading into the playoffs. Both
have moved up a spot or two in the overall standings as well which is hard to
do this late in the season as point differentials tend to be wider between the
lower tier teams.
Notable Under
Performers
Despite several high profile teams making a run for top
spots this season there are several notable teams who haven’t quite followed up
on their previous success.
Tomte is the
first name that comes to mind as the 2015 Summer Segment and PGA Champion hasn’t managed to regain her form this year. After ending 2015
with 17 Top 10s, 7 Top 3s and 3 wins she has fallen off the pace this year with
13 Top 10s, 1 Top 3 and no wins as of yet. Her 11th place position
in the standings is certainly a respectable position, especially in such a deep field, but it’s below her standards and surely not what she expected. Her absence from
the winner’s podium so far has many fantasy pundits wondering if this is just a
hiccup for Tomte or if it’s a longer
term trend. She has 6 more chances before the season ends to silence her
critics and end the season with a win under her belt.
After ending last year as the 2nd most winningest
team in the league with 4 championships Hogan’s
Heros has underwhelmed his fans and fallen well below his own expectations. So
far this year he’s only got 9 Top 10s (compared to 16 by this time last year),
1 Top 3 (8 by this time last year) and no wins to his name. The one bright spot
for Hogan’s is that this time of the year seems to be his hunting season as he went on a tear last year to end the season. He had
Top 3s in week 28 & 30 and then won the Wyndham in week 32 and the Duetsche
Bank in week 34. Clearly, he’s not done hunting yet as he’s still got two
titles to defend before 2016 ends.
One-And-Done
After a red hot first half of the season Show & Dough just could not keep up
the pace. She won the season opener in Hawaii before cooling somewhat over the
rest of the winter but then came right back with wins at The Masters and the
Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Since
then she has managed only 2 Top 10s and has fallen several spots back in the
standings. Will we see a final charge from The
Show before the season wraps up? She
did snag a 2nd place finish at the Tour Championship last year so
hopefully she’s still go something left in the tank to finish strong.
Kings Deer once
had it all: fame, fortune, accolades and a title. But that was then and this is
week 31. The once 1st place team lived his 2016 life like a shooting
star – red hot as he entered the fantasy golf atmosphere and then burning out
as he plummeted to earth. His reign at the top was not meant to be as he was 10th place or better for the first 9 weeks before beginning his
descent towards the bottom. He managed to resurface for a quick dose of stardom
when he won the Dean & Deluca Championship in week 21. But that was a flash
in the pan as he currently sits in 28th place. He'll look to salvage some dignity in the final 6 weeks.
2 Footer just qualifies for this category as the once 1st place team has had a
roller coaster of a season with bright spots and low chasms almost every month or
so. His claim to fame is his back-to-back wins in week 2 and 3 after which he
held the league lead for 2 weeks. Since then he’s only managed to accumulate 2
Top 3s and a smattering of Top 10s. He’s fallen in the world rank considerably as he’s
traveled all the way down the big board to 18th place. It is 2 Footer’s birthday this week though so
perhaps his good spirits can buoy him to a win at the John Deere Classic.
League Leaders
THIS WEEK marks the beginning of the segment’s 2nd
half as there are only 6 weeks remaining before the 2016 season wraps up. Next
up on the schedule is the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in Silvis,
Illinois. The defending champ this week is none other than the 2015 champ Gophers. The placement of this
tournament altered somewhat from last year as it was moved later in the summer
due to the Olympic schedule. And so as the boys in blue head down to Rio to represent
the USA everyone else will be playing for a paycheck in the season’s 30th
week. Anyone without a win yet this year will be scrambling to try and shore up
a title before the long cold winter. And everyone with position on the line
will be trying to put together that perfect squad to gain points on their
closest competitor. It’s either time to start burning those starts with Spieth,
McIlroy, Day and Dustin or go rogue with Gay, Dicky Pride, Immelman and Hodge.
Draft wisely.
| # | Travelers Championship | Rnd 1 | Rnd 2 | Rnd 3 | Rnd 4 | Total | |
| 1 | Rug Munchers | 48 | 46 | 170 | |||
| 2 | TIGER WOULD PUTT!! | 52 | 42 | 142 | |||
| 2 | Whiny Little Pitch | 48 | 32 | 142 | |||
| 4 | Show and Dough | 44 | 42 | 136 | |||
| 4 | Freeside Links | 40 | 52 | 136 | |||
| 6 | Where Eagles Dare | 54 | 38 | 134 | |||
| 6 | Talkeetna98 | 54 | 36 | 134 | |||
| 6 | Mastersway | 54 | 38 | 134 | |||
| 6 | Tomte | 46 | 44 | 134 | |||
| 10 | Gophers | 56 | 36 | 130 | |||
| 11 | Night Putting | 54 | 38 | 128 | |||
| 11 | Michelson | 54 | 38 | 128 | |||
| 13 | BevGin&Tonic | 40 | 28 | 127 | |||
| 14 | Baby Draw^3 | 48 | 40 | 126 | |||
| 14 | Haney's Got a Gun | 46 | 44 | 126 | |||
| 14 | Kings Deer | 38 | 44 | 126 | |||
| 17 | Hogan's Heros | 56 | 30 | 124 | |||
| 17 | GrampaLevs | 54 | 30 | 124 | |||
| 19 | Papa Pilgrim | 42 | 36 | 123 | |||
| 20 | Short Strokes | 42 | 38 | 122 | |||
| 21 | Kikakee Tees | 46 | 46 | 120 | |||
| 21 | DaHoffa | 46 | 36 | 120 | |||
| 23 | That's Wet! | 40 | 36 | 118 | |||
| 24 | Tourball | 34 | 40 | 102 | |||
| 24 | Taylormade | 30 | 42 | 102 | |||
| 26 | Eat My Grind | 46 | 26 | 94 | |||
| 27 | Halve Ouimet | 30 | 34 | 92 | |||
| 27 | 2 footer | 30 | 26 | 92 | |||
| 29 | Swing Easy When It's Breezy | 30 | 20 | 78 | |||
| 30 | Mother Rabbit | 14 | 14 | 64 | |||
| 31 | Jowls | 14 | 22 | 60 | |||
| 32 | IN YOUR LIFE! | 16 | 14 | 50 | |||
| 33 | Chubbs 'Part Time' Peterson | 16 | 14 | 46 | |||
| 34 | Marlowe Dubuisson | 28 | 8 | 44 | |||
| 35 | Salad Thongs | 8 | 16 | 36 | |||
| 36 | BurningTime | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 36 | 4 Hitting 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
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