Six week after getting carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey, I made a visit around the corner with the folks at my local TopGolf. Just hit about a dozen balls with my wedge. I went in thinking that any swing was progress. That was until I bladed several, shanked a couple and threw in a whiff as well. A few made it in the air but it wasn’t pretty!
Luke played in his first flag football game on Sunday. This feisty five year old took the ball on an end-around and went untouched on his way to flag football history! The crowd went wild! The only slight issue is that he ran the wrong way. At the post-game press conference, Luke noted, “there wasn’t anyone that way to tackle me.” Brilliant!
While he didn’t win, he still made sure the field knew he was ready for 2025. He shot a 62 on Friday. And Sunday on the back nine, rolled off 4 straight birdies (with no bogeys) to grab a 2nd place finish. I’m not sure what Dave has said to the guy but he is fired up! 7 points for Team B.T.O.
Doug’s new boy Rai apparently had prior plans this past weekend. He played Thursday/Friday and then left. “It’s intimidating being in the FGL for the first time. And now I’ve got some guy named Doug calling me for team conference calls? I’m not sure I’m going to like this.” - Aaron Rai. Management is never easy.
Managers Jim and Big J have moved into a tie for first place with our first Major coming up next week. With all of Big J’s guys partying it up at Daytona Beach this week, seems like Jim is destined to take over first place.
Back to Dave & Doug, their MLB feud has begun. Doug’s 5 game lead on Opening Day is already down to 3 1/2. The Tigers lost their first 3 games. Unless I’m missing something, if this trend continues, I don’t see how Doug can win.
Valero Texas Open up next. The Master’s is up after that.
Manager Golfers expected to play
Kevin Milton Bradley, Patrick Cantlay, Maverick McNealy
Jaustin Akshay Bhatia, Cameron Young, Jimmy Conners
PAK-Mon Hideki Matsuyama, Tony Finau
Commish Ludvig Aberg, Denny’s McCarthy, J.T. Poston, Ben “Archie” Griffin
Doug Sahith Theegala, Eric Cole, Matt Fitzpatrick
Jim Fleetwood Mac, Captain Kirk, Beau Hossler, Max McGreevy
Big J All on Spring Break
B.T.O. Max Homa, Jordan Spieth, lil Rickie Fowler, Henrik Norlander
Matthieu Pavon was given his immediate release. From what I can tell, it appears to be a mutual decision. According to Matt, “The guys told me I was J’s 7th pick on Dtaft night because of salary cap issues. So I never felt part of the team. I’m going back to France.” Stepping in will be Min Woo Lee; a small guy that swings the club as hard as anyone on the tour. Welcome Min.
At the FGL Draft, there were lots of aches and pains discussed and I was mostly only interested in my own! I didn’t pay attention to who heard about Mrs. Commissioner issues and who didn’t. But if you did hear something, just know that by now; it’s all wrong.
It was to be breast cancer surgery followed by some radiation and chemo. But as of today, it will be chemo until mid July, surgery in August followed by a year of more chemo. And somewhere in there will be heart surgery to repair or replace at least one valve. Her first chemo starts next Thursday, April 3rd. One treatment every three weeks. A treatment lasts 6 hours. And as you might expect, she’s a bit overwhelmed with it all. She’s much better at taking care of me when I”m a patient and I’m much better at being a patient than a nurse. This will certainly be a new adventure for us.
In a late-night surprise, Doug announced a stunning shake-up to his FGL squad. First - he forced Xander to renegotiate his salary. No - he is no longer making $8.58. Doug has strong-armed Xander down to just $8.11. Also - gone is that rascal Rasmussen Hojgaard. Stepping in will be Aaron Rai. I hope he knows what he’s stepping into. Also Doug muttered something about trying to impose tariffs on the scores of foreign players from Big J, Austin and Jim’s teams. Not exactly sure how that would work. Probably just a bluff.
Let me start with a lesson in humility. I was at the Mall this morning walking around. I guess you could call it meditation to consider my team. I was in deep thought. And then I realized I was getting blown away by so many old people. They were passing me on the left and right, their walkers kicking up sparks as they laughed at me. I did not need that!
Okay -going to be in Texas for a couple weeks before the Master’s. This one is a bit weird. Jaustin has no one playing but Doug has 4 guys playing - at least for Thursday and Friday.
Manager Golfers expected to play
Kevin Wyndham Hotels Maverick McNealy
Jaustin No one
PAK-Mon Sungjae Im, Tony Finau, Nick Dunlap
Commish Taylor Pendrith, Ben Griffin
Doug Sahith Theegala, Max Greyserman, Rasmus Hojgaard, Eric Cole
Jim Rory, Beau Hossler, Max McGreevy
Big J Doris Day
B.T.O. Scottie, lil Rickie Fowler, Henrik Norlander
Hovland and Max Homa both badly missed the cut in their first two FGL tournaments. And now Hovland goes from last to first. I don’t get it. He shows the same kind of consistency as we do. And he always looks constipated. But good for Team Jaustin as they move into 3rd place.
Manager Jim got a surprise 2nd place from Justin Thomas. At least I was surprised. But he only holds onto 2nd place in your FGL Leaderboard because all three of Big J’s guys once again made the cut and brought in 9 points. His team has truly been consistent. Not day to day but week to week.
As for the rest of us; not sure what we’re doing. Rough start of the season.
And hopefully for some exciting news - the duel between Tigers and Guardians starts Thursday!
All of Big J’s guys made the cut. That’s what it takes to win a Tommy O. And I don’t like it!
Jim picked up 17 points at Sawgrass largely thanks to Rory’s Monday win. All six of Jim’s guys made the cut pushing him into 2nd place on your FGL leaderboard. (including Justin Thomas who seemed destined to go home early until he tied a course record Friday.)I was moved at the Awards presentation on Monday when Rory mentioned how last year he was busy being a PGA spokesperson in the LIV negotiations; he had marital issues and other distractions. He stopped to thank Manager Jim for providing him with the focus he needed. Unfortunately those comments were made during a commercial break but trust me, they were indeed made.
This tournament amazes me with the number of double bogeys that happen. Any hole could do it. But the worst was Friday for me when Mrs. Commish saw the leaderboard and asked me which of my guys were on it. I ignored her thinking that would give her my answer. But no - she just had to ask again. Kind of ruined the tournament for me!
B.T.O. is no longer in the basement. Really! That honor is now shared with Doug and PAK-Mon~
Valspar (somewhere in Florida) is up next. Team Jaustin has his whole team playing but the rest of us are lucky to have half playing.
Manager Golfers expected to play
Kevin Tom Kim
Jaustin Viktor Hovland, Akshay Bhatia, Cameron Young, Jimmy Conners, Byeong Hun An, Will Zalatoris
PAK-Mon Adam Scott
Commish J.T. Poston, Ben Griffin
Doug Xander Schauffele, Sahith Theegala, Rasmus Hojgaard, Eric Cole
Jim Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood Mac, Max McGreevy
Big J Shane Lowry, Billy Horschel, Matthieu Pavon
B.T.O. Jordan Spieth, Henrik Norlander
A second place (Morikawa) and two other top ten finishers helped score Big J 15 points and the FGL lead as we kick off the season.
Your Commissioner comes in 2nd place with 14 points thanks to Don Henley’s first PGA win.
In the basement, yep, it’s Dave again.
Leaderboard isn’t showing up correctly just yet on the next page. So here it is:
Place LeaderBoard Draft Pick Points
1 Big J 3 15
2 Commish 5 14
3 Jim 4 7
4 Jaustin 7 6
5 PAK - Mon 6 4
5 Kevin 8 4
7 Doug 2 3
8 B.T.O. 1 1
Coming up next is a big one. The Players Championship.
Manager Golfers expected to play
Kevin Wyndham Clark, Tom Kim, Milton Bradley, Patrick Cantlay, Maverick McNealy
Jaustin Viktor Hovland, Akshay Bhatia, Cameron Young, Jimmy Conners, Byeong Hun An, Will Zalatoris
PAK-Mon Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Tony Finau, Nick Dunlap, Adam Scott
Commish Ludvig Aberg, Don Henley, Denny McCarthy, J.T. Poston, Taylor Pendrith, Ben Griffin
Doug Xander Schauffele, Sahith Theegala, Max Greyserman, Rasmus Hojgaard, Eric Cole, Matt Fitzpatrick
Jim Rory, Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood Mac, Cap’n Kirk, Max McGreevy
Big J Collin Morikawa, Robert MacIntyre, Shane Lowry, Billy Horschel, Matthieu Pavon, Jason Day
B.T.O. Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, Jordan Spieth, lil Rickie Fowler, Henrik Norlander
Security footage of the FGL Draft shows a snapshot of the carnage that was created that Sunday night.
Shocking the baseball world is news that The Bet is once again alive. B.T.O. Vs Doug; Guardians vs. Tigers. This hasn’t happened since 2020. When the regular season begins at the end of March, Doug will work with a 5 game advantage. I fully expect all the online betting apps to be setting their own odds as to who wins. Unbelievable news!
On a less shocking note, from my surgery, one side of my chest has now turned purple. Weird. But I do anticipate membership in my OnlyFans account to skyrocket once I start posting pictures.
Yes, yes, yes - Kevin won the 2024 Tommy O. But I really need to move on!
Outstanding outing again at Yogi’s. Plenty of food! And great to have Managers Jim, Dave and Paul on the line. We even had Woody from Delta Dental in the house - just because he likes to get out. There is still one outstanding issue the FGL Commissioner’s office needs to sort out. No - not the Beau Hossler controversy nor Big J trying to pull Dave’s trick by spending far above the salary cap. During the Draft, Kelley selected John Baptiste. While Team Brielle has not been in the FGL for many years, I’m trying to find some rule that keeps Brelley from fielding a 1 person team. And I’m pretty sure Baptists isn’t’ even a PGA golfer anymore. How is it something always comes up?
We’re starting out this year at Arnie’s place. Signature event. THERE IS A CUT. TOP 50 AND WITHIN 10 STROKES PLAY THE WEEKEND. Expected to play:
Manager Golfers expected to play
Kevin Wyndham Clark Hotels, Tom Kim, Milton Bradley, Patrick Cantlay, Maverick McNealy, Jon Rahm
Jaustin Viktor Hovland, Akshay Bhatia, Cameron Young, Jimmy Conners, Luke Clanton, Will Zalatoris
PAK-Mon Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Tony Finau, Nick Dunlap, Adam Scott
Commish Ludvig Aberg, Don Henley, Denny McCarthy, J.T. Poston, Taylor Pendrith, Ben Griffin
Doug Xander Schauffele, Sahith Theegala, Max Greyserman, Eric Cole, Matt Fitzpatrick
Jim Rory, Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood Mac, Captain Kirk, Max McGreevy
Big J Collin Morikawa, Bobby MacIntyre, Shane Lowry, Billy Horschel, Matthieu Pavon, Jason Day
B.T.O. Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa
Same set up as last year at Yogi’s Dublin. There will be lots of wings and pizza! And lots of TVs! MID-AFTERNOON OF SUNDAY, FEB 23RD. 5:00 on Sunday March 2nd. And no protected players this year for the Draft.
I saw that Break Dancing is now an Olympic sport. Incredible. And I can’t help but wonder, if the battle for Gold was between Jim and Big J, who would win? I’ve seen J twist and turn on the golf course. And yet, I just have a funny feeling that Manager Jim would surprise us all with some moves the world has never seen before.
And for the 4th time, Manager Kevin gets his name on the coveted Tommy O Award! Congrats! Clearly we’ll need to mess with the rules again to keep him out of the money! Kevin picked up nearly half his team points from Breakfast Xander Soufflé. Besides winning the PGA and British Opens, he had a 2nd place at the Players and Wells Fargo plus top 10’s at the Memorial, Valspar, Masters and US Open. Kevin had the 2nd pick in the FGL - well done.
Team Jaustin ends up in the money (2nd place) for their first time. For the last 6 tournaments (which includes The Open) Jaustin scored a combined total of -1 points. That makes it tough. But nearly 75% of all their points came from FGL golfers picked 2 - 6. Rory was #1 pick and his missed cut at The Open was one of the biggest surprises of the season. Jaustin had the 6th pick in the Draft.
Special consideration goes out to third place Team PAK-Mon. They had the lead for most of the year with the #1 pick of the 2024 draft - Scottie Scheffler. Scottie only won the Arnold, Player’s Championship, Master’s, Heritage, Memorial and Traveler’s; a 2nd place at Charles Schwab and Houston Open and top 10’s at PGA Championship and British Open. On top of all that, he won a gold medal, had a baby and got arrested. Amazing! Just needed a little stronger supporting staff.
Big J - 7 points @ $3.71 for Jordan Spieth? I think he needs some surgery on his wrist in the off season.
B.T.O. - in the basement with only 44 points. I have no words.
That wraps up our 25th season!!!! Congrats to all. I owe a few of you some money and need some from a few others. We’ll figure it all out.
At the Ohio Theater. A lovely afternoon!
