Back to normal, whatever that means, as I am back at home in the Bay Area, finished with the spring baseball traveling. And, with a little luck, back into my weekly routine and foursome every Saturday!
Today — so no time to wait — the World Golf Championship (WGC) moves to Austin, Texas, with the hip SXSW-hosting city opening its arms to the PGA. The Dell WGC will invade the Austin Country Club where Dustin Johnson will attempt to defend his 2017 title.
Following several weeks of 7,000-plus yardage courses, Austin offers a much more modest distance, but in exchange clearly accuracy is the thing with the club clocking at 6,625 yards with a par of 72. The four par fives have a long of 552, with the short just 468, though just four of the par-fours register over 400 yards. That means a Saturday hacker such as I (21.8 index) can indeed play with some distant hope of reaching a green in regulation. And, again, accuracy is everything (and I would likely shoot around a 97 there and be plenty happy about it).
That means greens in regulation will rule my choices, and the ability to hit the carpet from 75-100 yards out will be favored among my choices.
Note there is a wrinkle in match play such that we begin with a field of 64 with each golfer playing a match against his foursome mates — hence the tournament beginning Wednesday so three rounds can be played before the cut — with the top 32 advancing to Saturday.
Here is where I am going, and don’t forget you can join a foursome playing the DraftKings Weekly Hybrid PGA.
Justin Thomas ($11,400): Ranked #5 in greens in regulation (GIR) at 75-100, Thomas nailed it 29 of 32 (96.67%) times, and that is a bigger sample than Jason Day’s, so there I went (bigger sample than Day). Thomas is nine-for-nine making the cut and averages 97.3 points per week.
Matt Kuchar ($8300): Kuchar ranks in a tie at #49 in GIR (84.62% ) with a success of 22 of 26, while making the cut all nine times he tried. He is averaging 69.8 points per week.
Rafa Cabrera-Bello ($8000): Cabrera-Bello always seems to come through for me, and though his ranking at GIR is #121 the sample of 6 for 8 is small. But, the crafty Spaniard has averaged 82.9 points per week going 12 for 12 in cuts.
Patton Kizzire ($7900): Kizzire is a bit of a crap shoot as indicated by missing the cut three of the 12 tournaments in which he has played this year. However, he’s pretty good at the distance with 30 of 37 greens hit, giving him a lot of practice at that range. That is an 81.08% average.
Adam Hadwin ($7300): Hadwin — like all the players today — has been so consistent, playing all weekend 10 times in 10 tries, averaging 71.7 points. Hadwin has hit the green 15 of 18 times (83.33%), good for #61 among the pros.
James Hahn ($6600): Hahn, who is tied with Kuchar at #49 in GIR (same 84.62%, 22 /26) making him a bargain at $1700 less than Matt. Hahn is also 10 for 10 making the cut — a great value pick
