Weird Valspar tournament

20 FGL Golfers started the tournament. 10 missed the cut. It simply wasn’t pretty.

Not much changed. Your Commissioner stayed in 3rd place but snuck up close to Doug and PAK-Mon thanks to Cameron Young’s 2nd place finish.

Dave moves out of the basement! Really! That’s big news. Sharing the cellar at the moment are the Doctor of Golf and Big J.

First two trades have rolled into the FGL. I haven’t liked Eric Cole nor Min Woo Lee and I wanted to have someone play for me this week. So welcome Cam Davis and Mr. Shane Lowry.

Had a wonderful Thursday afternoon with Managers Doug, Monica and Doctor watching my bracket go up in flames.

Scheffler continues to carry the load for PAK-Mon.

It’s no wonder his neck and shoulders hurt. He simply does it all! Great week for PAK-Mon, Team Jaustin as well as Doug (with Wyndham Hotels second 2nd place finish in a row)

Tom Kim played just 8 holes Thursday, scored a triple bogey on #17 and then I think promptly threw up and left the course. We’ll have to wait and see if he comes back for Team Doug.

Valspar up next!
Manager Golfers expected to play 

Big J   Jordan Spieth
Commish   Cameron Young, Nick Taylor, Sungjae Im, Eric Cole, Min Woo Lee
Doug No one. Nobody will play
B.T.O.   Sam Ryder truck, Kevin Streelman
Jim Brian Harman,  Dustin Hoffman
Jaustin   Tony Finau, Adam Schenk
The Doctor George Burns, Sepp Straka, Lucas Glover  
PAK-Mon   Andrew Putnam
Kevin Xander Schauffele, Milton Bradley,  Justin Thomas,  Akshay Bhatia, 

A nice long weekend in Phoenix

It was a chilly 3 night trip out west. Hit a nice Blues bar as well as the Yard House (so many gorgeous taps). Stayed at a Marriott that had a couple golf courses and so many ballrooms. Mugsy wondered why we broke into the convetion area to trespass through the ballroom area. Simply - it is was what Doug would do!

Time for the Players - known for the toughest field all year.

Manager Golfers expected to play 

Big J Matt Fitzpatrick, Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa, Jason Day, Matthieu Pavon, Byeong Hun An
Commish Ludvig Aberg, Cameron Young, Nick Taylor, Sungjae Im, Eric Cole, Min Woo Lee
Doug Wyndham Clark, Tom Kim, Sahith Theegala, Emiliano Grillo Pad, J.T. Poston  
B.T.O. Viktor Hovland, lil Rickie, Harris English, Sam Ryder Truck, Kevin Streelman
Jim Patrick Cantlay, Brian Harman, Tommy Fleetwood Mac, Don Henley, Adam Scott, Dustin Hoffman
Jaustin Rory, Tony Finau, Si Woo Kim, Adam Schenk, Hideki Matsuyama  
The Doctor Max Homa, George Burns, Sepp Straka, Kurt Kitayama, Lucas Glover, Pete Rose
PAK-Mon Scottie, Captain Kirk,  Will Zalatoris, Tom Hoge, Andrew Putnam
Kevin Xander Schauffele, Milton Bradley, Justin Thomas, Corey Conners, Akshay Bhatia 

Third week of FGL 2024 brings a third new FGL Leader

PAK-Mon vaults into the lead with strong performances from their entire squad. Far too much commentary was spent trying to figure out what all Scheffler had done with his putter this week. Well I can tell you. Monica went down to her basement and dug out her 1984 Dunlop putter and mailed it to Scottie. That’s all he needed to dominate Arnie’s tournament. First place for PAK-Mon.

Wyndham Clark Hotels held strong for Doug and brought home a 2nd place finish. Grillo Pad and Theegala also came in Top 10 which jumps Team Doug into 2nd place on your FGL leaderboard.

Adam Schenk is still finding his way in the FGL. On his 18th hole on Friday, he double-bogeyed the hole to miss the cut by just one stroke. Sorry Team Jaustin.

Only a few players missed the cut at Bay Hill. And yet, managers Jim, Doctor and Big J each found ways to lose two players each to the cut.

3/13 - While double-checking the math, I realized that I messed up my own score. Min Woo Lee - I didn’t even remember he was on my team. But he finished 44th at Arnie’s place. 1 point adjustment.

Results from The Players will be updated on Monday 3/18

Lovely night around campus

Based on a recommendation from the Kids in IT, Mrs. Commissioner and I hit the Derive Brewing Company in Clintonville. Odd since we can’t enjoy the beverages. But a lovely place with lots of wings, pizza and burgers.

Afterward we checked out the Mershon Auditorium on campus. First time I had ever been there. Simply delightful. Entertaining us there was Three Dog Night. Only one of the original dogs (Danny Hutton) was part of this version of the band but it was still fun to hear some of the old songs. (Doug & Monica - there was a “Solid Gold” dancing down by the front stage for the whole show)

Move over Jaustin

I hope you enjoyed your time at the top Julian but get back to the daycare. Cousin Adam Schenk as well as Rory brought in a total of 2 points and gets you into 2nd place on your FGL leaderboard.

Your Commissioner’s team had a good closing round on Monday. Cameron Young brought in a 4th place and Min Woo Lee came in 2nd place for a net of 9 points. On the other end, my boy Eric Cole came in nearly last place and will be placed on double secret probation. I don’t know what that means but it can’t be good.

After two tournaments, Jim and Kevin have 0 points. We all know what that means.

Coming up is our first PGA Signature event at Arnie’s tournament. Lots of FGL golfers. Most signature events will not have a cut but this one (and Jack’s tournament) will.

Manager Golfers expected to play 

Big J Matt Fitzpatrick, Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa, Jason Day, Matthieu Pavon, Byeong Hun An
Commish Ludvig Aberg, Cameron Young, Nick Taylor, Sungjae Im, Eric Cole

Doug Wyndham Clark, Tom Kim, Sahith Theegala, Emiliano Grillo, J.T. Poston

B.T.O. Viktor Hovland, Rickie Fowler, Harris English  

Jim Patrick Cantlay, Brian Harman, Tommy Fleetwood Mac, Don Russell Henley, Adam Scott  

Jaustin Rory,  Si Woo Kim, Adam Schenk, Hideki Matsuyama 

The Doctor Max Homa, George Sam Burns, Sepp Straka, Kurt Kitayama, Lucas Glover, Justin Rose

PAK-Mon Scottie Scheffler, Chris Kirk, Will Zalatoris, Tom Hoge, Andrew Putnam

Kevin Xander Schauffele, Keegan Bradley,  Justin Thomas, Jimmy Corey Conners

Dustin "Charley" Hoffman struggles in opening tournament for Manager Jim.

It just wasn’t his week as he got the weekend off.

With 6 franchises sitting out the opening FGL tournament, one might think we’d all end up in last place. But thanks to Jim’s generosity, we find ourselves all tied for 3rd place. Emiliano Brillo Pad had a rough final round and finished just outside the top 20 earning him 1 point for Manager Doug. Our FGL leader is Jaustin thanks to Tony Finau’s top 20 finish. FGL Headquarters is expecting a motion to be cast that we simply just end the season at this point.

The old Honda Classic is up next. Called The Classic in Palm Beach this year. A few more of our golfers playing. Arnie’s signature event will be up next with a full field.

Manager Golfers expected to play 

Big J Matt Fitzpatrick,  Matthieu Pavon, Byeong Hun An

Commish   Cameron Young, Sungjae Im, Eric Cole, Min Woo Lee

Doug   Tom Kim,  J.T. Poston

B.T.O. Rickie Fowler,  Sam Ryder, Kevin Streelman

Jim   Don “Russell” Henley

Jaustin Rory, Adam Schenk

The Doctor   Sepp Straka, Lucas Glover, Pete “Justin” Rose

Pac-Mon   Chris Kirk,  Tom Hoge

Kevin   Jimmy “Corey” Conners, Akshay Bhatia 

26th year of FGL begins!

After many years of TopGolf, we tried out a new venue Sunday. It was a little tight compared to the giant room we have had at TopGolf and we had a few IT glitches, but it all eventually worked out. At least for those of us in attendance. If you were on-line, perhaps it was painful! But hey - we had a Buckeye game to watch!

A couple of players were protected, (Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay and Rory McIlroy) and a few LIV golfers were selected (Koepka, DeChambeau, Hatton, C Smith, Rahm)

And now we let the good times roll! Starting with the Mexico Open. Plenty of room if any of you wish to play as few FGL golfers are making the trip. Looks like Jaustin, Jim and Doug will be in the lead with the rest of us staying at 0 points. Expected to play:

Doug - Grillo pad
Jim - Dustin Hoffman
Jaustin - defending champ Finau

And the coveted Tommy O Award goes to...................

But before that: a big week for Manager Jim as he picks up 15 points with Horchak, Adam Scott and Don Henley all Top 10!

Paul - congrats! With your draft picks after all of us selected back in February, you locked in a solid win…in the basement.

Monica - I still find it odd that within weeks of finding out he was on your team, Will Zalatoris chose to have season-ending back surgery. Interesting.

Kevin - your boys Morikawa and Finau were on my short list at the Draft. But I couldn’t get them. I certainly did not expect them to struggle this much this past season.

Al came in 3rd place - and that’s with losing -10 points for the season from Kevin Kisner.

B.T.O. won two Major sidebets this season. (Master’s and British) And yet, even with the 1st pick each round in the 2023 Draft, Dave ended up in 5th place. Middle of the pack. Respectable and yet…..

At the US Open, Team Big J lost -2 points as most of his guys missed the cut. Since then, my guys lil Rickie, Tom Kim and JT Poston got hot. The Tommy O Award came down to the final weekend. Actually the final round of the final tournament. As we moved into the weekend, the Scotish Statesmen gathered his team together and proceeded to deliver a most amazing “Win One for the Gipper” speech. I’m told that at the end, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Now that may have been due to allergies; Canadian Wild Fires; we just don’t know. But his three guys (Justin Thomas, Taylor Moore and Tommy Detry) battled against my JT Poston with your Commissioner only having a 3 point lead. The win flipped many times Sunday as all these guys bounced around from top 10 to top 20. Justin Thomas eagled 15 but then bogeyed #16 to finish 12th, one stroke away from a Top 10. Similar endings for Moore and Detry keeping them just out of Top 20. And Poston made a 5 foot putt on #18 to lock down a top 10 - all crucial for your Commissioner. Back to back wins and 3 out of 4 years. And consider, I picked from the 9th draft spot. Shame on you!

2024 PGA season is expected to come out next week. More events that have no cut but more limited fields. Yep - always something. But for now, FGL Headquarters will be shutting down until we get ready to ramp up festivities for the 2024 season - our 26th!

Got to make it out to Chapel Hill Friday. Here is #16 par 3 with Tasmanian J.

Big J shakes up team with shocking mid-week meeting

They all came in thinking it was just another Tuesday buffet and team meeting. But half the team left in shock. Grinder Tyrrell Hatton, Jimmy Connors and champion Brooks Koepka have all been fired. They weren’t even allowed to stay for dessert. Stepping in at the 11th hour will be Thomas Detry, Zach’s Johnson and Taylor (not Ryan) Moore. And if we move into the following week with a tie-breaker, these are the guys that will be on that team. This season will likely come down to just how many of those guys make the cut this Friday.

Playing for Big J this week: Justin Thomas, Detry, Johnson and Moore

Playing for the Commissioner: Poston and Suh

Glorious day out at Golf Club of Dublin

I had the distinct honor this Monday of golfing with the Legend, Doug, at the Yogi’s Bar & Grill golf outing. The weather was spectacular. The course was outstanding. The fun was amazing. The golf was average. No bogeys (though there was a 2 putt max which helped!) And so many games and gimmicks.

Party afterwards was on its way to crazy. When it looked like I might need to explain “lap dance” to Mrs. Commissioner, us old folks went home. What a day!

It's getting interesting (for two of us) as we wrap up FGL 2023

Lee Hodges? Winner of the 3M? Never heard of him. I guess neither have any other FGL managers because he’s not on anyone’s team.

But in a strange and interesting twist in this season, Manager Big J has given up his lead with just one tournament left. His #1 guy Justin Thomas played Thursday and Friday but didn’t want to play the weekend. He’ll try again at the Wyndham. My guy JT Poston (who I didn’t realize until this weekend looks like a 12 year old) came in 2nd place - even with a triple bogey on his last hole. That was a big part in pushing me to a slim 3 point lead as we cruise into our final week. (We’ve never had a tie for the Tommy O award but do have tie-breaker rules in place if we need them.) The Friday afternoon cut could determine the fate of our FGL 2023 season. This is the tightest finale we’ve ever had - and I realize most of you don’t care at this point!

Paul - I think you’ve got the basement locked up. Congratulations. But of course, not picking your guys until the rest of us had finalized our teams kind of determined your eventual doom.

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.