Bermuda 2021 Heavy Petting

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If golf research were sexual...you'd be rounding 2nd base after this.

• Par 71 / 6,841 yards old school, resort course winding along the coastline

• Harder than average to hit fairways, but the overall GIR% numbers are better than Tour average.

• Bermuda grass everywhere. The greens are relatively average in size, slower than normal and less undulation than normal given the windy conditions. Grainy bermuda green surfaces

• Wind is the key. And it looks like wind will for sure play a factor this year. Don't lock in much of anything prior to tomorrow evening.

• Distance has little to no advantage. Everyone is playing to similar spots in the fairways according to Caddie John. From there, it's about controlling your ball in the wind and making putts.

• Last year was windier than the year prior and B. Gay won at -15 as compared to B. Todd's -24 in year one.

• SG: Around the Green gets a bump in importance with windy conditions as greens will be missed and scoring will be more difficult.

• Given the grainy bermuda greens, give a slightly bigger bump to bermuda putting specialists.

• In this absolute dumpster fire of a field, don't be afraid to fully fade any chalk. Nobody in this field is deserving of 25% or greater ownership. I'm willing to fade ANYONE over 17% or so. - DB

1. Top 10 in our course history + fit model: 1. Gay 2. Lebioda 3. Hearn 4. Armour 5. Hickok 6. Points 7. Senden 8. Barn Rat 9. McCarthy 10. Knox

2. Strokes gained putting leaders on bermuda grass: 1. Bezuidenhout 2. Reed 3. Rodgers 4. Fitz 5. McCarthy 6. Uihlein 7. Wagner 8. Pendrith 9. Taylor 10. Seiffert

3. Strokes gained T2G leaders the last 3 calendar months: 1. Pereira 2. Theegala 3. Buckley 4. Hardy 5. Dufner 6. Bramlett 7. Hadwin 8. Ramey 9. Percy 10. Smotherman

4. On courses that are <7200 yards,  easy to average scoring & bermuda greens, your top 10 in total strokes gained are: 1. McCarthy 2. Reed 3. Fitz 4. Knox 5. Lingmerth 6. Frittelli 7. Bezuidenhout 8. O'Hair 9. Hoag 10. Taylor

5. Top 10 JUST strokes gained ball striking on courses that are <7200 yards, difficult to hit fairways, & easy to average scoring: 1. Garrigus 2. Svensson 3. Knox 4. Straka 5. Rollins 6. Dufner 7. Hoag 8. Herbert 9. Percy 10. Kaye

6. Top 10 in birdies or better gained the last 50 rounds: 1. Power 2. Willett 3. Fitz 4. Lebioda 5. Barjon 6. Buckley 7. Ramey 8. Rodgers 9. Detry 10. Higgo

7. Strokes gained on the par 4's will be the most important this week, your top 10 the last 50 rounds: 1. Power 2. Fitz 3. Stuard 4. Armour 5. Bez 6. Migliozzi 7. Taylor 8. Eckroat 9. Reed 10. Bramlett

8. Top 10 in GIR's gained the last 12 rounds: 1. Pereira 2. Hardy 3. Watney 4. Buckley 5. Theegala 6. Hoag 7. Armour 8. Reeves 9. Eckroat 10. Barn Rat

9. The two highest approach shot distribution buckets this week are 125-150 & 175-200, your top 10 in proximity: 1. NeSmith 2. Lee 3. Pereira 4. Percy 5. Stuard 6. Dufner 7. Hearn 8. Svensson 9. McGreevy 10. Barjon

10. Top 10 projected points per salary dollar (good values): 1.Rai 2. Fitz 3. Jaeger 4. Lahiri 5. Knox 6. Smalley 7. Lebioda 8. Dufner 9. Bramlett 10. Svensson

Lee Hodges$7.3K on DK80/1 on PointsBet+275 Top 20Lee Hodges was one of Willy Wilcox's ones to watch when we did our KFT podcast earlier in the summer. Lee played for the University of Alabama-Birmingham and his final 2 years for the big UAB Crimson Tide. He finished 10th on the KFT order of merit last season thanks to a win at the WinCo Portland Open, nine top 10s, fifteen top 25s, and only missing five cuts out of 37 events. Lee's got a ton of game. He qualified for the 2020 and 2021 US Open with a T18 (2020) and a MC in 2021. Before this season, he'd played in 6 PGA TOUR events with the 2021 US Open as his only missed cut. He really does everything pretty well. He averaged 301 off the tee, but ranked 17th in DA and 31st in GIR %. He's no slouch around the greens either. He was 28th in scrambling, 8th in putting and 9th in birdie average last season. Lee seems like a consistent cut maker type with winning upside on tracks that don't demand a ton of length. No real weaknesses with this guy's game.David Lipsky$8.0K on DK50/1 on PointsBet+180 Top 20The 33 year old journeyman has traveled the globe playing golf on various tours. He's logged wins on the European Tour, Asian Tour and won the 2020 TPC San Antonio Challenge on the KFT. He finished 12th on the order of merit. He was born and raised in Cali, but lives in Las Vegas now. He played college golf at Northwestern. Along with his win, he had 3 runner ups, 7 top 10s, and 13 top 25s while missing 8 cuts out of 32 events played on the KFT. He's a total driver off the tee with average distance off the tee. His GIR % wasn't fantastic, but he just finds ways to score (28th in birdie avg). His short game is solid. Finished 15th in scrambling and 39th in putting average. Prior to this PGA TOUR season, he's played in 18 PGA events over his career including 7 WGC's and 2 Open Championships. He had a top 10 at the WGC Mexico in 2019 and made 1 of 2 cuts in his Open attempts. He's a crafty, grindy veteran who's game can travel and likely will play better on tougher tracks where short game is critical.

Reed vs. Finau