Team Big J tames Scotland

The rolling hills of Scotland, not to be confused with the rolling hills of Ireland or the rolling hills of Upper Arlington, were of no concern to Manager Big J as I’m sure he set so many records out on the links.

Not surprising that he was joined by his swing coach, sports pyschologist and caddie.

What a weird Open Championship

Brian Haman surprised me. He played well early and then played so well with the lead. Much like Cam Smith last year and Morikawa before that, great putting was the key and Hartman was solid, even though he does swing backwards. Kevin’s boy came through! But Kevin, how do you sleep at night? You “won” and yet…. Damn! Harman brought you 20 points but your other 4 guys chose to miss the cut. Net of 12 points for the tournament.

Your Commissioner had a good tournament with Tommy Kim’s 2nd place finish. My other guys couldn’t crack the top 20 but they made the cut. 20 points. But that wasn’t the best.

Big J maintained his lead as both he and Team Jaustin scored 22 points. Very impressive. Justin Thomas missed the cut for J and has only scored 7 points all season for his $5.28 salary. And while i wish to mock, the leaderboard keeps me humble. Team Jaustin also did well with top 10 finishes from both Rory and Cam Young. And yet - even 22 points wasn’t the winner.

NO - I did not see this coming. I ran the numbers several times, pulled out my slide rule, made sure to carry the one and still came up with a shocking result. Your British Open team sidebet winner is the infamous Bastard Team O’Brien. Yeah - I know. It doesn’t make sense. But 24 points to B.T.O. With Rahm’s 2nd place finish as well as a top 10 and a top 20 finish, that was largely enough to push him to the win. And that comment last week about him being in a 6th place tie with Jim, that’s long gone. Jim - you’re the only manager that went backwards!

Okay - pack your bags. We’re going to Minnesota with only two weekends left before the FGL shuts down for the season.

A few FGL golfers will make the trip to the Twin Cities

Manager Golfers expected to play 

Big J Justin Thomas 

Commish J.T. Poston, Justin Suh

Doug   Sahith Theegala,

B.T.O.   Hideki Matsuyama, Gary Woodland

Jim   Billy Horschel, Chez Reavie

Jaustin   Cameron Young, Sungjae Im, Taylor Pendrith, Adam Long

The Doctor   Alex Noren, Matt Kuchar

Monica   Keith Mitchell,  Emiliano Grillo, K.H. Lee

Kevin Tony Finau

Paul   Sepp Straka,  Dustin Hoffman

The Open Championship starts very early Thursday

The boys have been having some fun in London and at Wimbledon. Rickie - be sure to get Jordan and JT plenty of shots this week!

And now for our final Major. I’ve heard that the best draw for success is late Thursday and then early Friday - assuming no major changes in weather. But just as long as Koepka doesn’t win, I’ll be happy.

Manager Golfers expected to play 

Big J J T, Jordan Spieth, Doris Day, Jimmy Conners, Tyrrell Hatton, Brooks Koepka

Commish Scottie, Tom Kim, lil Rickie, J.T. Poston  

Doug Matt Fitzpatrick, George Burns, Sahith Theegala, Fleetwood Mac (a betting favorite this week), Denny McCarthy

B.T.O. Jon Rahm, Max Homa, Hideki, Gary Woodland, Harris English, Francesco Molinari

Jim Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel, Adam Scott, Don Henley, Captain Kirk  

Jaustin Rory, Cameron Young, Sungjae Im, Bryson DeChambeau  

The Doctor Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry,  Alex Noren  

Monica   Milton Bradley, Cameron Smith, Emiliano Grillo, K.H. Lee, Kurt Kitayama

Kevin Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau, Pete Rose, his dusty Johnson, Brian Harman

Paul Seamus Power, Sepp Straka, Si Woo Kim, Peppermint Patty   

It's getting interesting!

Is Big J just messing with us? Jordan Spieth missed the cut again and Justin Thomas only scored 1 point. Has he been holding his top two dogs back waiting for this final Major? But on the other hand, he took off on Sunday for Scotland. Perhaps a sign of nerves? It’s hard to know.

My Scottie Scheffler came in 3rd place. This is his fourth 3rd place finish in his last five tournaments. I suppose I shouldn’t get ungrateful and yet………….what if. Your Commish picked up 13 points at the Scotish Open to pull within just 4 points of lead.

Team Jaustin had the best week with a total of 15 points combined between the Scotish Open (which is somehow part of the PGA tour?) and the Barbasol tournament in Kentucky.

Managers Jim and B.T.O. are locked in a brutal battle for 6th place.

Miracles do happen. Remember the USA hockey team? That’s about the same time Doug bought his Tommy Armour irons. But no longer. Really! The young captain from Carey has Callaway irons now. It was an honor to witness his inaugural outing. He was like Harry Potter with a magic wand in his hand swinging those irons. A treat to see!

Those days when you feel like you just can’t make a single putt.

2024 Rules Reminder

This was mentioned at the Draft but probably worth reminding everyone what I think is going to happen:

  1. We will go back to a “hybrid” version of the snake draft. Right now, the person coming in last place gets the first pick in all six rounds. Years ago, we’d snake up and down so that if you unfortunately had to pick 10th, you then got the first pick in the next round which then arguably penalizes you if you have the first pick as you then wait what seems like days to pick again. Under the “hybrid” system, the FGL manger in last place (Paul in this example) will get the first pick in the 2024 draft, followed by Monica, Kevin, etc. For the second round, we will use that same order again. But to start the 3rd round, we will snake around the other direction, meaning (as it stands now) Big J would get the first pick of the third round, then me, The Doctor, etc. and we’d just snake back and forth through the remaining rounds. Just a little something to keep some controversy out there.

  2. Protecting one player. Let’s say Big J really wants to get his 5th round pick Tyrrel Hatton next year. He discovered him and wants to keep him. That’s fine. But….he must declare his intention before we start the draft (so no one else can pick him) and Tyrrel must be his first round pick. That’s the “price” you pay meaning you potentially lose the opportunity to pick up a top FGL golfer with your first round pick.

Empire Strikes Back a big hit Sunday at Ohio Theater

John Deere tournament draws few FGL golfers

Manager Paul had a good week with Straka’s victory. 12 points to PAK

Commish and Doug’s new guy helped bring in 4 points for each manager. This narrows Big J’s lead to 11 points.

And for something completely different, as we roll into the MLB break, both Ohio teams are in first place. That just doesn’t happen folks!

Two tournaments coming up next week. Sort of. At the Barbusol event, only Team Jaustin has players in the tournament. (Pendrith and Long) Below is the expected field for the Scotish Open.

Manager Golfers expected to play 

Big J Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Jimmy Conners, Tyrrell Hatton

Jim Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel, Adam Scott

Jaustin Rory, Sungjae Im

Doug Matt Fitzpatrick, George Burns, Sahith Theegala, Fleetwood Mac, Min Woo Lee

B.T.O.   Max Homa, Gary Woodland, Francesco Molinari

The Doctor Breakfast Souflee, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry,  Alex Noren  

Monica   Keith Mitchell,  K.H. Lee, Kurt Kitayama

Commish Scottie, Tom Kim, lil Rickie, J.T. Poston, 

Kevin   Pete Rose, Brian Harman 

Paul Seamus Power, Peppermint Patty 

An idea

So many countries are trying to get to the Moon or to Mars. Many want to discover if there is water on Mars. Here’s an idea: let’s take Doug, his 7 iron and one golf ball to Mars. If there is water there, he’ll find it!

Motown keeps it exciting

Big J continues with his FGL lead but it’s shrinking. Interesting that it’s his last two picks that are his biggest point scorers. With one Major left, it may come down to Hatton and Koepka to keep him at the top.

lil Rickie finally came through for me after lots of Top 10 finishes. I just think he needed a different FGL manager this year to push him to the top. Only 8 birdies on #18 Sunday until Rickie birdied to squeeze into the playoff and then birdied it again in overtime for the win. Glad to see your Commissioner has narrowed the gap between 1st and 2nd place to 15 points.

Manager Jim has snuck ahead of B.T.O. on your leaderboard. And Kevin, with Morikawa’s 2nd place finish, has moved ahead of Monica for that exciting 8th place spot.

And a happy birthday to Managers Doctor and Julian.

Another Amazing I.D.I.

Independence Day Invitational was held on July 1st this year. That meant no band, no parade, no baked beans. But the competition was still fierce. Can you imagine spending a day with The Doctor? I think the look on these ladies’ faces says it all.

I am honored to retain the coveted crystal boot. This is the 20th year the boot has been in place.

And to win it in front of such amazing legends of golf………………

NO - NOT THOSE LEGENDS. I mean these legends……

And notice the Bloch Lumber hat of Doug’s. Classic. And a few other pics over the years….

Busy week at FGL Headquarters

Played in two outings this past week. Won an overnight and round of golf at Rising Star Casino as well as 3 nights out at a JW Marriott in the Scottsdale area. Also won a hot dog off of Big J. Not bad!

A couple trips downtown. Picnic with the Pops Saturday night and saw the classic Goldfinger at Ohio Theater Friday night. (Wednesday will be Gunfight at OK Corral)

Some TopGolf action with some unexpected characters!

Jim & Monica have good weekend in Connecticut

Jim picked up 11 points and Monica grabbed 10 points thanks to a nervous Milton Bradley’s win.

The FGL battle appears to be for 2nd place with 5 managers within 15 points as we move to Motown for the Rocket Mortgage outing.

Al’s boy Kevin Kisner shot +7 in his first 9 holes Thursday. And with that, he quit. That’s -10 points for the season from Kisner and yet - Al stillholds onto 3rd place.

The coveted crystal boot is up for grabs this coming Saturday as the IDI competes for its estimated 115th year.

Manager Golfers expected to play in Detroit

Big J Justin Thomas

B.T.O. Max Homa, Hideki Matsuyama,  Harris English

Jim   Captain Kirk, Chez Reavie

Jaustin Sungjae Im, Taylor Pendrith, Adam Long

Doug Tom Hoge

Paul   Sepp Straka,  Dustin Hoffman

The Doctor   Alex Noren 

Monica Milton Bradley,

Commish   Tom Kim, Rickie Fowler,  Hayden Buckley,  Justin Suh 

Kevin Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau, Brian Harman