The King Extends Kingdom at Memorial with first Back-to-Back Win of 2020 / Segment Race A Near Dead-Heat

They say course knowledge is a differentiating factor in a field of 120 something guys who're all out to do the same thing. Some guys just know the track and feel comfortable with the setup, sightlines, angles, approaches and green undulation. They say a horse for the course stands a better chance when familiarity is on his side. In 2017, at Jack's Place, that familiarty was just being realized as Kings Deer set foot on the property at Muirfield and the course just seemed to fit his eye. He went on to win just his second career tournament there and started the journey towards becoming a fantasy tour contender year in and year out. On Sunday, that familiarity would be leaned on once again as Kings accomplished not only a the feat of reclaiming an old title but of taking down the field in successive weeks to win back-to-back tournaments becoming the 10th team in league history to do so (he also did it last year). 

With the tournament being held at Muirfield in successive weeks Kings gains the distinction of becoming the first champion to win not only two weeks in a row but also at the same course. With the win Kings catapults himself up the leaderboard into 2nd for the season and 1st for the segment. As of two weeks ago Kings had zero Top 3s to his name for 2020. He now has 8 Top 10s, 2 Top 3s and 2 wins. Hear ye, hear ye, the King is on the move once again.

Top 3 Finish

Current league #1 GoldJacketGreenJacket snagged a much needed Top 3 finish with a runner-up at the Memorial which is his first Top 3 since the restart. It came at just the right time as his competition was beginning to nip at the heal of his lead. This finish puts some distance between a few players but with Kings' win it actually closed the gap between the two of them. GreenJacket is counting the weeks now as he's just got to hold his lead through 7 more events. 

Reed's Rule Book is on the move as he captured his second Top 3 of the season in just 3 weeks. He deposited his second paycheck as well as he slowly climbs the earnings board. Reed's snuck into the Top 10 overall and for the segment with his fine performance at Muirfield as he now sits at 10th place for both. Clearly, he's playing with his own rule book as his team lead Rahm "inadvertently" moved the ball on a shot that ended in birdie, essentially clenching the tournament and a third place finish for Reed's. 

Race for the Segment 

We've come to the final event of the Spring Segment now as the 3M Open takes center stage. The race is a near dead heat as three teams will be vying to become segment champion. Only one of them, Kings Deer, has won a segment before when he came from behind to capture the 2019 Summer title. Will his experience play a role in maintaining his small lead or will a newcomer snatch it away?

DontHasseltheHoff stands the best chance as he's just 14 points off the pace. TheHoff has been trending in the right direction all segment long and maintained his perfect Top 10 streak since the restart as he's now 6 for 6. Fourteen points isn't much and could be made up in a single nine hole stretch. Will he field the roster most likely to keep pace with Kings or will he go rogue in an effort to leapfrog his way into first? 

The once segment leader Roll Up has taken a hit as of late and now finds himself back down in 3rd after leading the pack for most of the segment. But while he's given up ground he is still squarely in the fight at just 27 points back. Roll Up has 4 Top 10s, 2 Top 3s and a win so far this segment but he's trended in the wrong direction going 1st, 2nd, 4th and 8th over a four week period. Will he rebound with a Top 5 performance to vie for the lead on Sunday or will his current trend continue towards a lower finish? 

The Spring Segment wraps up this week at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota. Defending champ Tourball will be covetously stalking his second win of 2020 as he looks to add to his fantasy bank account. The final $35 paycheck of the segment is on the line and it's anybody's for the taking.

Look Ahead - Summer Segment

With the advent of the season's final segment the First Timers League will enter a dead sprint to the finish in what will be the league's shortest segment to date. With just 6 weeks to decide both the season's last segment winner and Jackson Cup Champion there's plenty of reason to throw caution to the wind and put it into overdrive. 

All the tournaments, save one, will be high paying events. The segment will host a WGC, the season's only major and 3 successively increased payout events in the FedExCup Playoffs. All ending with a final determination of the season's top 5 and associated payouts. 

There's a host of names who are all still very much in the mix. The  grizzled veteran Kikakee Tees, the young hotshot ByeBye Birdie, the former champ Vegas Vito, the longshot Nick Hoffman, the conqueror Kings Deer and of course the hip young upstart from Colorado GreenJacket. The Race for the Jackson Cup is now entering the home stretch.