Freeside Links Captures Win #2 of 2021 - Rocket Mortgage Classic

 

First Timer's League Weekly Recap Freeside Links Captures Win #2 of 2021   In what seems to be Freeside Links' M.O. his win total for the season has surpassed the league average while his standing on the leaderboard is below average.    Freeside is an opportunist. The season long race never seems to be taking his full attention but in any given week he's prone to rise up and take down a title. He makes no distinction between a small market event or a big-name career maker. If the mood should strike - Freeside will show up.    His work at the Rocket Mortgage Classic last week was useful and he carded his second win of 2021. He wasn't a favorite entering the week or even the weekend. His last Top 10 came over 8 weeks ago and he now has just 6 total. But with solid rounds from his squad and bonus points from Neimann he bolted up the board in the final hour to win by the narrowest of marings - a slim 2 point victory.   This marks Freeside's 11th career win and he adds $25 to his growing fantasy bank roll. He's now in the thick of the summer segment race - holding down 2nd - so time will tell if he can keep focus on the final segment race or if he'll just cherry pick the events he wants to win. TOP 10 FINISH DaHoffa came so close to ending his winless streak but came up just short. The margin of 2 points is a tough one to stomach but he'll soldier on looking for that elusive 2021 title. It's been over 2 years since his last win at the RBC Heritage in April 2019. He's got a robust 4 Top 3s which is 5th in that cagegory but just needs to close when the next one comes around.   Smooth Greens made some smooth moves on Sunday and had his eye on victory only for it to be snatched away in the final analysis. He's started the summer off in fine form though, collecting 2 Top 10s in 3 events and is a favorite for the summer segment title. And he jumped up the overall board a whopping 5 spots and now sits in 5th.   Going4theGreensboro continues to impress pundits as he carded his 9th Top 10 of the season. When finishing in the Top 10 he's averaging a margin of only 36 points behind the leader which is a solid staging position for a win - something he's getting more desperate to check off the list.    Kings Deer continues to rule as he collected his 2nd Top 10 of the summer and now sits atop the segment standings. No one has ever won back-to-back segment titles and you know he's already thinking about it.  Gophers finished just 4 points behind his nemesis Kings but he continues to dominate in the Top 10 category. He collected his 14th Top 10 and in those finishes averages just a 31 point margin behind the leader. GreenJacket continues to be a back nine ball striker. His play over the past 6 weeks has been head and shoulders above his performance over the first 19. In his last 6 events he's carded 5 Top 10s, 2 Top 3s and 1 win. His season totals are 12/2/1. You do the math.    Reed's Rule Book needed a big week and his squad delivered. His priorities are constantly shifting as he tries to focus on getting his first win of 2021 but clearly the season race is back on the table. In the past two weeks he's risen 7 spots and is now back in 2nd overall - a position he last held back in week 16. His last stint here resulted in 7 consecutive weeks without overtaking Halve Ouimet for the lead. Will this time be any different? Grandpa Levs has somehow held down 21st place for  4 consecutive weeks while collecting 2 Top 10s in that stretch. He's got two priorities left for 2021 - win another tournament and defend his Summer Segment title. He won the summer in the final weeks last year and as he's currently in 15th he'll have his work cut out if he wants to repeat.    Grippin&Rippin and 617 to 616 both finished T10 at the Rocket Mortgage and collected their 13th and 10th Top 10s respectively. Grippin is trying to become relevant again after his stellar first half but is struggling in 17th overall. His summer segment prospects are looking livelier though. 617 collected his second Top 10 of the segment and held strong in 3rd place overall.  It was only a matter of time before another blood bath ravaged the standings and the Rocket Mortgage was that event. With the cut line damaging several big name teams the withdraw of Matsuyama due to testing positive for Covid was crippling for many.  Just about 4 weeks ago Halve Ouimet had a near 300 points lead over ByeBye Birdie. But oh how the tide has turned as his lead is all but gone and the standings have had a face lift. Reed's is back in the #2 position after a 9 week exile. ByeBye lost her position and slid 5 spots into 7th. Smooth Greens has reached his highest position since week 18 while Vegas is now in his lowest position since week 10.    The standings are all but even now as only 140 points separates 1st from 9th. Somehow a ~150 point gap has been created between 10th and 9th but even Bushwood isn't out of the season race as that could theoretically be made up in the remaining 8 weeks.    The John Deer Classic in Silvis, Illinois is where the wariors will make their next stand. It'll be a big test as there aren't too many all-star names in the field this week. Phil and Byrson were in Big Sky, MT playing "The Match" with TB12 and Aaron Rodgers. Everyone else is heading towards Kent, England in preparation for the Open Championship next week at Royal St. George's. But don't sleep on the John Deere as this will be a pivotal week to maintain position and sneak in a high finish.      Summer Segment Schedule US Open - $70 - Gophers Travelers Championship - $25 - Vegas Vito Rocket Mortgage Classic - $25 - Freeside Links John Deere Classic - $25 Open Championship - $70 3M Open - $25 WGC Fedex St. Jude Invitational - $50 Wyndham Championship - $25 FedexCup Playoffs The Northern Trust Open - $40/$10/$5 BMW Championship - $45/$10/$5 Tour Championship - $60/$15/$10  “It is not the strength of the [fantasy roster] that counts, but the strength of the [fantasy manager's]spirit.”   – J.R.R. Tolkien First Timers League, 1 Jackson Cup Way, Boston, MA Unsubscribe Manage preferences