ByeBye Boston Hello Detroit: The Birdie Conquers in the Motor City

The trip from Boston to Detroit is about a twelve hour drive, 612 miles as the crow flies. The highway ebbs its way slowly west through the Berkshires, skimming the Adirondacks before passing through Syracuse and on to Buffalo. Then comes Cleveland and Toledo and once you get around the western tip of Lake Erie it's a strait shot north to the Motor City (the faster route through Canada hasn't been open as of late for obvious reasons). For ByeBye Birdie, zipping through tolls and eating car snacks, this would be a fortuitous road trip. Speeding towards Detroit she prepared her armies for battle where she would personally lead her boys into the fray at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. 

It's not an entirely unheard-of strategy. The league has seen a couple of its team captains win while being present in the tournament city. Perhaps it was ByeBye's determination to motivate her squad with a pre-tournament speech that drove her to Detroit. Or perhaps it was simply a family obligation but either way her strategy paid off. Using her last start with Bryson she tasked him with leading the charge along with Webb, Rickie and Victor. Her squad clearly felt her presence in the host city and like samurai warriors rallying to the call of the conch shell her boys went into battle with a ferocity that would eventually win the day, the weekend and the Rocket Mortgage Classic. The win marks a big shift not only in the league but also for ByeBye's season. It's the second win of her rookie campaign and she also becomes the league's first repeat winner of 2020. She deposits a cool $35 into the fantasy bank account and now looks to continue her leaderboard assent to higher ground in the segment and season. Congrats ByeBye Birdie!

Top 3 Finish

Runner-up Reed's Rule Book was so close to victory he could taste it. Going for his first win of his rookie season he carefully plotted out his route to victory, strategically subbing to maximize points. The strategy got him to within 3 points of 1st but no more as he would have to content himself with his first runner-up and Top 3 finish. Like so many fantasy substitutions of old, going as far back as the Bronze Age, it's nearly impossible to predict when a low round is coming. A tip of the hat from Reed's as he collects his first paycheck though indicates that he's just getting warmed up. Since the restart Reed's has moved up the season leaderboard 2 spots and into 11th. 

Bob E. scooped up his second Top 3 finish of the season and his first paycheck in the new payout structure. Making the same misstep that Reed's did he left Fowler on the bench in Sunday's final round which proved to be his downfall. Missing his first win by a mere 4 points is a disappointing finish but he'll takes a solid Top 3 into the heat of the Spring Segment race. It's also Bob's 6th Top 10 in 14 tournaments which is a very respectable track record. 

This Top 3 lineup of ByeBye, Reed's and Bob E. marks the first 1-2-3 all-rookie finish of 2020.

Notables:

DontHasseltheHoff has been on a tear since the restart 4 weeks ago and he's a perfect 4-for-4 in Top 10 finishes over that stretch. He's moved up 4 spots overall and he's positioned himself perfectly in the segment race as he's holding down 3rd place and is only 60 points off the lead. He'll need to work on sprinkling in a Top 3 here and there though as his last 4 Top 10s have been at the 7th position or lower.

Butlers Cabin had hopes of taking down the Rocket Mortgage and was in the lead at one point but couldn't hold on to it down the stretch. He still managed to snag a 4th place finish and moves into 10th for the segment at just 170 points off the lead. He's moved up the season leaderboard an impressive 8 spots in the 4 weeks since the restart. With 3 weeks remaining in the segment it's entirely possible for Butlers to make a run at it.

Kings Deer got his first Top 10 since the restart with an 8th place finish in Detroit and that's good enough to put him in 9th place for the segment - around 160 points off the lead. Kings knows how to close on a segment after winning his career first at the close of 2019. He'll need to turn on the jets though as this will require an average of ~50 points/week gained on the leader over the last three events. It's time for Kings to go hunting.

Vegas Vito is looking to get things back on track after the restart and looks to be finding his swing. After 4 Top 10s in the Winter Segment he's only just carded his first Top 10 of the restart - a 7th place finish in Detroit. This is still good enough to keep him in the hunt for the season as he's in 5th overall and 400 points off the pace.

DaHoffa also joins the trend of first-Top-10-since-the-restart as he carded a 5th place finish at the Rocket Mortgage. He's trying not to lose ground in the season race as he holds down 7th right now and is tenaciously fighting for higher ground. With 5 spots paid out for the season it's gonna be important not to be on the bubble come September.

Earnings Update:

Two teams have now surpassed the $50 mark and a long tail of close-behinds are just one win or Top 3 finish away from joining them. GreenJacket is still riding the coattails of his Winter Segment victory while ByeBye Birdie is adding fresh greenbacks to her fantasy account. 


With 19 teams now on the earnings leaderboard expect to see more repeat winners as earnings will start to be padded.

THIS WEEK the Tour heads to Ohio and Muirfield Village for the Workday Charity Open. This tournament is one of those unique products of the pandemic as it's a new event which will be hosted at the same venue that will then host The Memorial Tournament the very next week (two tournaments on the same course in back-to-back weeks!). So as there is no defending champion this week it's anybody's title for the taking with another $35 to the winner.