2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic DFS Preview – Picks, Strategy, Fades | The First Cut Podcast

Greg DuCharme and Kyle Porter preview the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic with DFS picks, strategy and fades.

0:00 Intro + a big sports night…but first, Rocket Mortgage DFS!
1:54 Course Breakdown: Detroit Golf Club
14:22 10k+ | An unusual 10,000+ range on the PGA Tour
18:00 9k | Defending champ Rickie Fowler in this range, but is he a play this week?
24:53 8k | Are there some distance plays in this range?
31:49 7k | Matt Wallace and his weak field super power
39:08 6k & lower | Where is the value at the bottom of the rankings?

#golf #pgatour #golfoncbs #firstcutpodcast #rocketmortgageclassic #GolfDFS #golfpicks #dailyfantasysports #PGADFS

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ABOUT THE SHOW: The First Cut brings you everything you need to know in the world of professional golf. Nearly every day Rick Gehman, Kyle Porter, Mark Immelman, Greg DuCharme, Sia Nejad and Patrick McDonald bring you the best analysis in the game. From DFS to betting previews, interviews and recaps… everything golf is on the table when you listen to The First Cut.

freaking first cut golly welcome back to the first C podcast my name is Kyle Porter I’m here uh today with Greg du Greg we got a uh we got a big like a massive Sports night we’ve got uh NHL game seven Stanley Cup Final we’ve got my son and I are super into the College World Series but of course of course for all the sickos out there we’re gonna get steep on the rocket mortgage classic oh yeah and um Kyle I I think you’ll really like what we do on the the DFS show here we go way in depth uh we’re looking at the whole field and we’re finding the players who are gonna end up on that Leaderboard on Sunday afternoon so I’m I’m really excited to break it down with you tonight yeah I’ve I’m kind of filling in for Rick gon’s obviously usually in this chair and he’s just gallivanting about in the in the Rockies in Colorado uh maybe trying out for the Rockies maybe trying to get on they’re terrible so maybe he find a spot in their in their uh their minor league system but uh yeah I I told you before we went on I’m going to try to talk as little as possible and uh and just feed you I’m like the I’m like the dwade to LeBron alleo meme I’m I’m dwade and you’re LeBron all right well let’s play Above the Rim tonight huh okay so we’re going from DBC River Highlands and The Travelers championship and uh moving on to the rocket mortgage Classic this is this to me Greg is kind of the beginning of this uh SU Swoon if you will between the US Open and Open Championship where these are not high profile events but that could provide people an opportunity for some value right because I I think sometimes with the higher profile events it’s sometimes harder to find Value so let’s just start with let’s start with Detroit Golf Club um where where where do your eyes go when I say Detroit Golf Club what are you looking at what are you trying to figure out well um first and foremost I’m looking at a distance off the te right so you look at the driving performance here at Detroit golf club and it’s it’s pretty clear that um driving distance is more advantageous than driving accuracy H more so than last week where because of that thick rough you had to put the ball in play to give yourself birdie opportunities here there’s a very small penalty for missing Fairways and it really opens up up an opportunity for driving distance I mean this is the third easiest driving course on tour in order to gain strokes and so the guys that are long hitters like Bryson Cam Davis Tony feno who are three of the five winners here at the rocket mortgage they have given themselves a really big Advantage uh cam young has played well here so that there are a lot of long hitters that have success um and so that’s the first place that I look uh the par FES are reachable for everybody in the field you see um number four at 635 is pretty long but s 552 uh 14 is 555 17 577 those are for the most part maybe with the exception and number four they’re reachable and that gives the long hitters an advantage on this kind of on this golf course um with some of the par 3es you got you know number Nine’s 207 number 11’s 23 three so there’s a there’s a hint of of long irons on this golf course but for the most part you’re hitting driver you’re hitting driver as far as you can and and you have some wedges into these greens so driving distance number one um I I do think there’s another way you can play the golf course if you can fill it up on the greens and and if you are really good in that say my favorite wedge stat would be like 50 to 125 um that kind of covers a WI wide range of wedge play and gives you a good idea of who the best wedge players are so those areas are important and lastly on the greens because you’re gonna have to get to 2500 par to win around here um and and so you definitely want some players who are are putting well and at least have shown some uh upside potential with the with the flat stick I’d love to go a little deeper on something that you said in there you said something like it’s easier to gain off the tea than at other or maybe the kind of the average PGA tour course what why is that and and where are places that are kind of the opposite where it’s difficult to kind of separate yourself off the tea yeah uh well one would be like the memorial is a is very difficult well that’s an interesting thing you know is it harder to separate yourself um I I don’t know if that’s what it means but basically when you play TPC rocket mortgage uh when you play Detroit golf there’s there’s not a lot of opportunity to take a penalty stroke off the te okay offline you know it’s lightly treelined and you may run into some problems there but it it often is pretty open and you’re with rough that’s Bank Grass rough that’s typically not very long and not very thick and so it gives you an opportunity to utilize just distance yeah when you hit it far you can gain Strokes pretty easily and you can gain an advantage on the field you also have pretty receptive greens typically which I think is a um a staple in this summer Swoon as you called it have receptive greens so when you’re coming out of the rough spin becomes less important especially when you have shorter clubs so there’s not a huge penalty uh for missing these greens because you can get a fine line in the Fairway and uh you can you can advance the ball onto the green and hold the green if you’re in the rough yeah okay that that makes sense I think I would compare it to you know like if you if you’re on one extreme you’ve got Trinity forest and the Other Extreme is sahali like we saw for the the the women’s PJ Championship last week right and yeah if you’re a long hitter who’s offline let’s take a Bryson or a a fenale you want to play Trinity Forest because if everybody’s in play You’re so long you’re so much longer than everybody else that you’re gonna it’s just easier to gain an advantage than if you’re playing a like a sahali okay maybe you want to be Zach Johnson right and I think that’s an interesting so what you’re saying uh definitely makes sense yes um you want to have that that shorter Club into the green now colore CWA lost in a playoff here last year and and playing from the Fairway is nice um but with a slightly longer Club into the green you you got to work a little bit harder to make up that distance difference and you really have to be on point with your approach play and and ultimately your putting which even the longer hitters are going to have to putt really well but they because of the distance because of the shorter clubs into the greens they’re going to have a little easier time with their approach play than some of the shorter hitters yeah are there what are the other courses on the PGA tour that you would say are comparable to Detroit golf club just in terms of the way you play them well like where like maybe Trinity Forest is one of them I know it’s not on the PJ tour anymore but just what what are the comps for for uh Detroit Golf Club yeah I think Trinity Forest would be uh would definitely be an option um I think you’re looking at Mexico like Vidant Viera could be an option just because there much space off the te yep um you end up with some wedges and you end up with some long irons probably more long irons in Mexico than uh than you’ll have here uh you know the John Deere classic could be pretty similar as well because we have the same the same green type which is bent and POA um similar rough situations and I I don’t know if the winners are as kind of clearly defined as being longer hitters at at the John Deere classic um but with the distance of the golf course John Deere classic a is about 7,400 yards it’s about 73 um so you have a similar length golf course small Miss for um missing Fairways off the te and you got some receptive greens that you can really attack yeah it’s interesting because I when I think John Deere I think okay ZJ won there I think he won there or he played well there Stricker uh Michael Kim sep ster those are not long hitters right even spe at the time was he was I would say he was an average to maybe a little above average but then you look at this list like Bryson fenal cam I mean these are like three of the 12 longest guys in the world and Rick’s not short either so I think I think that’s a really interesting sort of thread to note going into this week of of guys that have won this tournament is is how long they are off the teas is there anything else that um that sticks out to me the uninformed course setup Guy this is a fun course to watch I think I I think the same about TPC River Highlands they’re they’re not the test that Pinehurst is or the wing foot is or anything like that but I think I think this a fun Golf Course to watch yeah you know one thing that I would add is when you get on these birdie fests um these easy or easier golf courses just because the golf course is easy doesn’t mean the task of winning is easy right so competing on these venues is it’s a different kind of challenge but it’s not any easier it’s just you know you could go shoot four five under perhaps on the first two days and miss the cut and there there’s a challenge to that you you have to make birdies and you got to pile them up in bunches so um so when you’re looking at the eventual winner of this tournament uh in my opinion it doesn’t take away from just because the golf course is a little easier it doesn’t take away from their ability it it is a challenge for a lot of players to take it really deep yeah and that’s something that we’ll talk about a little bit in in this field I think there are some players who do better on harder golf courses where par is a better scorer and some players that do better in in these types of um birdie fests well I’m interested real quick before we go to break H how much are you looking at because when I hear birdie Fest I hear 23 under I hear whatever easier setups I I I immediately think okay who’s putting well how much do you look at recent putting or like guys that are kind of on runs with their putter that are maybe a little bit uh abnormal going into a week like this one well it’s interesting in a DFS perspective because you’re not always trying to find the winner right you’re trying to find the winner typically you’re hoping that’s up top and you’re trying to find some value down below uh and and one of the hardest things in picking players for a DFS lineup in a competition like this is trying to figure out who’s going to putt well because as you know Kyle as well as anybody it’s an extremely variable statistic so I I do look at recent form and especially when I get down it where it’s time when when we get into the 7K range and the 6K range and we’re taking some risks and we’re taking some guys that maybe haven’t played great golf recently H they may have had a struggle at the US Open or a struggle at the memorial or even a struggle at the RBC Canadian open um but they’re putting well that can be it can be an opportunity to take those players yeah some of the statistics that are a little harder to predict um Can can be really valuable here you know the other thing too is like your approach play well because the greens are a little softer and because you can hit driver and give yourself some short clubs in the the best approach players aren’t necessarily going to have the best approach week some of the less competent ball Strikers can hit it really well at a venue like this and that’s a hard thing to predict um but it also makes for a fun a fun tournament to pick and fun tournament to predict yeah absolutely well well we’re going to get to uh get to picking a little bit more of it and talk about some guys that are in the 10K 9k go down the list uh range for this week at the rocket mortgage classic but first let’s hear a word from our partners football action continues as the grid iron is taken over by the great white North catch the Canadian football league on CBS Sports Network okay Greg we’re going to talk uh just allocation of funds this week uh in in the DFS realm and we’re just gonna jump into it there’s not a ton of guys at at 10K this week it’s Tom Kim cam young minwu and Alex noren is there can you see this a is a weird L this is this is very different than kind of a normal week on the PGA tour is there anything that stands out here yes I think there’s a couple um one first and foremost I think all of these four players I think I think all four of them are playable um but one is well Tom Kim’s coming off a great finish last week and he’s also this is going to be his ninth week in a row so you know it like is that a concern possibly his wedge play was phenomenal last week his putting was phenomenal he was first in driving accuracy first in driving distance first and scrambling he was spectacular last week but was that the was that the peak so that’s a big question that I’m asking cam young shoots 59 we talked about it last night he he had three nines in a row under 31 uh it’s ridiculous and cam young really fits that mold of a long hitter right if you’re looking at distance and you’re comparing a Bryson a feno and a cam Davis well this seems like it’d be a perfect spot for cam young was the 59 that we saw last week real uh are his putting struggles that we’ve seen over the past couple weeks have they been answered I think that’s a difficult question to answer so my favorite play in this range is is surprisingly Min wo Le I think this is built for Min Woodley who um has not played at the rocket mortgage which may be a concern not a concern for me I don’t think it’s a tricky Golf Course to figure out but well I you know that he smashes it off the te and the other thing that he’s done really well is in his last five events he’s gained Strokes putting uh at at the PGA Championship he gained almost five Strokes putting at the US Open he gained you know over two strokes putting I I think minw Lee is a very good Putter and could get in an event like this and fill it it up his his challenge would be his approach play but it still seems to be getting a a little better and he’s shown like at the cognizant classic he gained six Strokes approaching the green uh in in three out of his last five events he’s gained Strokes approaching the green while it’s a weakness I think his driving distance this week can actually help him in that category and so he would be my favorite play um and I think it could be a really strong pivot off of Tom and cam Young Who I think will be pretty popular off of their performances last week Min minwoo mortgage the men mortgage class mortgage there you go I like it uh I don’t know what’s more surprising about this that Tom Kim is number one or that Alex norin is kind of in this this upper tier I think it speaks to again just this is not every week can be you know an All-Star cast I’m kind of surprised that Tom Kim is playing I guess coming off the traveler and obviously finished T2 at the open last year so he’s got that coming up as well um so yeah it’s an interesting sort of top tier there if we if we bump it down a little bit uh to 9k we’ve got uh we’ve got some more interesting names here will zures jumps in there he’s had kind of a weird year uh obviously Ricky Fowler the defending champion oxe who played great last week what what uh what’s going on here where where are you going here yeah it’s it’s another good range kind of a fun range a lot of our guys are in this range right um so I think my favorite two plays would be Taylor pendrith and Stephen joerger um so if we start off with Taylor pendrith he’s been putting phenomenally well I mean gained at least two and a half Strokes in his last four events on the greens um all of his finishes in that stretch have been p33 or better he’s a really long hitter uh and and um I like that acument his approach play has been fine over the last four weeks as well gaining Strokes in three out of four so I think Taylor pendrith is set up for a really good week um he also has played well you know he’s got a T2 here in 2022 T14 in 2023 he’s healthy now I think Taylor pendri is a great play this week um I’m less confident with Steph joerger although there’s some things that I like uh he has a Ninth Place T9 last year fifth in 2022 a and he’s added a whole lot of speed to his game yeah yeah I was I was gonna say that he he destroys the ball he destroys it and he’s got that freedom so you think of Mexico he played really well in Mexico Houston he played really well in Mexico these are places where uh distance has been a big Advantage the concern with joerger is his putting has not been it has not been great we’re kind of leaning on that uh that putter taking a turn in the upward Direction it’s it’s a little more risky and it’s especially risky because AA batia is sitting in this range as well right he’s he’s not a bomber but he’s a big gainer in Strokes gained off the te um and he is a great Putter and a very solid wedge player as well so but OE has also played a lot in a row um he’s played I think every event every week in a row since Wells Fargo so he’s kind of on the Tom Kim Tren um but you know one less event I I I think it could be a good week for oxe but I I think pendrith and joerger are really your leverage plays in the 9k range yeah I’ve got Jagger’s uh stats pulled up 20 as recently as 2022 he was negative off the T like he he was below PJ T average and now he’s way way way in the plus and you see it in his Strokes gain he’s gaining about a half stroke per round off the te in uh 2024 which is I mean to he was he was minus a half stroke uh two years ago in 2022 so he’s jump he it’s a huge jump and it sort of plays into to what you were talking about earlier of of distance not actually being the the primary sort of focus here if you’re talking about off the team yeah I I think it plays right into it um and when he gets confident off the te and feels like he’s got an advantage with his driving I I think his I think it goes through his bag yeah and his confidence gets a little better like the I mean the Wells Fargo right it’s a distance golf course he finishes t21 he he gains Strokes putting Houston another distance Golf Course gain six Strokes put in you go to the Mexico open he gains four strokes put in it’s a distance golf course you know I’m not sure that there’s a a really a fair correlation there um and it it certainly doesn’t make any sense but I do think that he will be confident here and it could lead to some low scores and perhaps that’s the ticket we need to kind of get R get him out of this putting slump yeah um yeah he’ll be interesting and Tom Kim those guys are both 22 they can play as many weeks in a row as as you need them to yeah and they’re probably fine plays for that reason it’s h AA is actually super interesting I was looking at the President’s Cup today this is non DFS related but he’s kind of on the uh on the fringes of making the President’s Cup team for the United States which is really impressive it’s been a really good run you know he’s started to show Kyle some impressive consistency this year year he had a tough stretch early in the year he missed the cut at Phoenix at the cognizant classic and the players but since then he’s been really steady really consistent and in his last three events you got a t22 at the memorial T6 at the US Open and a T5 last week at The Travelers um he could be could be trended in the right direction yeah yeah absolutely uh last thing before we hit another break defending champ Ricky are you buying his uh I would call it a mini Spike up at Travelers last week you it was a big spike on the greens um a lot of the work that he did came from the putting but I just have I I don’t think Ricky’s hitting the ball very well and and his performance in the ball striking category is very different than it was last year heading into the rocket mortgage and it gives me a little bit of concern um so I’m not in a rush to be early on Ricky Fowler this week I I’d like to see a little more I mean look yeah you could see that if you’re watching on YouTube leading into the rocket mortgage I mean he he’s gaining Strokes everywhere across the board like four events in a row uh all the way across the board I don’t see anything like that this year I think it’s going to keep me away uh OA 13th in the President’s Cup standings by the way updated after The Travelers so ahead of JT ahead of Keegan ahead of Cam young ahead of way ahead of spe pretty impressive stuff Tom cam number two on the uh on the international side uh okay we’re gonna talk about 8K and 7K guys here in just a minute but uh let’s hear one more time from our partners there’s some new players in town and they brought the plague he got my attention you don’t want that well to Kingstown mayor of kingtown new season now streaming exclusively on Paramount plus okay Greg we’ve got the uh the big the big boys the Big Boppers at least as it relates to this event out of the way I don’t know if they’re generally Big Boppers but let let’s dive into this 8K range because I think this is these are some really interesting names because you could talk me into these guys one of them winning the tournament or all of them missing the cut like I I just I don’t I don’t know which direction to kind of go in here who who catches your eye when you take a look at the eight guys in this 8K range yeah it’s a very interesting range and and so the first thing that catches my eye is I think you have some real distance plays and you could lean into that if you’re like me and believe that distance is extremely important and that would lead you to uh Davis Thompson and Ryan Fox who are probably my two favorite plays in this range uh Davis Thompson coming off a great performance at the US Open with a T9 he was tied 27th at the memorial tied 17th at the Charles Schwab tied second at at the Myrtle Beach Classic his putter has been a little Hit or Miss but there’s definitely been some good performances and I I just generally love where he is with his ball striking both his driving and approach play have been very good uh over those last four events so I think Davis Thompson is a phenomenal play in this range and could really put his name up on the leaderboard he he has two starts here uh he finished tied 24th and tied 58 I think he’s a better player this year than he was in 2023 especially 2021 um and then Ryan Fox this is an interesting one it’s had a good couple years right yeah and he’s starting to just kind of pop up on leaderboards yeah more and more often so you gota T4 at the zura classic a T4 in Myrtle Beach in a a weaker field a little more similar to what we have this week t7 at the RBC Canadian open and and he does so much of his work off the te with his distance and I think that’s massively important but you go to the kind of supercharger that really puts him in contention to break through and get a win would be what he’s done on the greens mean over four and a half Strokes put in in at the US Open over six Strokes put in at the Canadian open uh over five Strokes put in at the Merl Beach Classic that’s the kind of upside that um that really makes for a a solid play in in DFS especially in a week like this are you are you in on on Ryan Fox from ta to Green is he is he solid enough there for you to to be in on him you know he’s solid enough off the T okay his approach play is a little bit of a weakness but like I said I don’t think the challenge um approaching the greens is quite as high this week as it is say at a US Open uh or a PGA Championship where he he lost Strokes approaching the green I think you get a little more comfortable wed shots uh and and you start getting a little confidence rolling in a couple putts and you give yourself as many wed shots as he’s going to and it could be a great setup for him yeah I think the first name that my eyes go to on here is uh Thor I can’t ever say his name but uh th Thor Boron uh the the Stanford kid I I I just am I’m very drawn to there there’s so much volatility with young guys like that where you’re like I mean he could be a I mean this is this is why we love like the NFL draft and NBA draft right is I don’t know he could be a superstar or he could not be and so whenever guys are included early in their careers before there’s a ton of data on them I just think they’re interesting they are and I think there’s definitely a time and a place to play somebody like that the Thor Bon fits the mold of this golf course with a ton of distance yeah um we don’t really know much more about his game as we don’t have a ton of data on him it’s hard to fingerprint what his style is um but he has had success on the PGA tour he came in fourth in The Travelers in 2022 um tied 39th last week on the European tour this year he finished 11th at the Dubai Desert Classic so he’s shown some success but I I think ultimately at $8,000 I’m not willing to go to the unknown commodity um you know I’d rather go if you don’t like Thompson or Fox I I think a Maverick McNeely I think an Aaron Ry are both viable options who have shown some really good recent form on the PGA tour even though they’re more expensive you know Maverick mcne finished seventh at the Canadian open 17th at the Charles Schwab tied 23rd at the PGA but he putts it really well and it seems to have an uptick in his approach play like there’s there’s a trend line you can follow with him that I’m more comfortable with Aaron Ry doesn’t seem like the kind of golf course that would fit him but you know he’s finished five straight weeks inside the top 40 including a a T4 at the CJ cup a t19 at the US Open a T14 at the RBC Canadian open with really solid TD green play um so Aaron Ry would probably be my fourth play in this range um behind Thompson Fox and McNeely um but also that would be ahead of Thor bson the uh the last one we’ll go to on this is is uh somebody was asking in the chat about Keith Mitchell obviously unbelievable driver of the ball uh is there anything there for you or are you passing on him this week passing on him and we didn’t talk about Will’s Urus who’s in the 9k range either but um I I think Keith Mitchell would pop in your model because of his driving but his putting I I don’t see the upside with the putter so I much prefer Keith Mitchell on a a tougher test um where you don’t have to make quite as many birdies because I I wouldn’t say that he’s a terrible putter uh or or a bad putter but I don’t see a lot of upside with him you know he hasn’t gained two strokes putting since the 3M open of last year you know so it doesn’t happen very often for him yeah and that kind of keeps me away from Keith Mitchell yeahh okay let’s uh let’s go to the 7K there’s 17 guys in the 7K bucket this week uh notables include Cam Davis obviously former winner here one name that stood out to me Greg is Daniel Burger uh he made the cut at the US Open he’s kind of the Forgotten man like just nobody talks about him and he was a top 10 player in the world at one point or top 15 whatever he he rose up to so what what stood out here um well yeah Daniel bergher at 7,000 definitely catches your eye but I’m a little worried he’s struggled on the greens all year um and it it’s been a big time struggle so I’m I’m staying away from Daniel burer what did catch my eye was uh in in the 7K range first and foremost was Matt Wallace who’s at 7,400 and I think he’s really interesting because of what he tends to do in weaker Fields uh in fields like this he just seems to have a great record the CJ cup Byron Nelson he finishes tied fourth he played the km open on the European tour last week DP World Tour excuse me finished tied 15 um the Merle Beach Classic a tied 20th finish um the valbar tied 17th it just seems like whenever we get into these weaker Fields Matt Wallace plays well and and he’s been hitting the ball really well lately so I like his chances of uh of showing us a pretty strong performance um he has a tied 10th and a tied 12th in three starts here at the rocket mortgage as well so I think there’s um some pretty good evidence to support him um and also KP this may surprise you I I like Nick Dunlap yeah he’s been playing better hadn’t he yeah it’s it’s not great yet you know there’s nothing to jump and run around about but it it feels like his approach play has gotten better he’s shown some spikes in that category I think he’s a great putter even though he really struggled on the greens last week at The Travelers um I think he’s showing some signs of sucess he’s young he’s long he’s got a lot of Club head speed and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a really nice week at a Nick Dunlap well yeah he he’s interesting because he’s gone through that sort of uh just Valley that you would expect like coming down from the highve winning uh in in Palm Springs turning pro you’re like on cloud and and then it’s like oh yeah I’m facing Rory and Scotty every week and that’s not fun you know if you’re no 21 years old so it seems like he’s I don’t know if he’s on the other side of that only time will tell but it seemed like he’s at least playing his way out of that which is the only thing you can do right like you’re just gonna get popped and I’m sure he’s talked to people about this and and you know people have told him like you’re just going to get popped in the face once you turn pro whether it’s after a win or after your senior year or whatever it just so happened that he was still very young and I think he’s getting to the other side of that which is exciting because I think he’s a really fun good obviously young exciting player yeah we’ll learn more about what he does really well and what he can use to separate himself but this is why you should have turned Pro because you give yourself these opportunities you take the punches that you’re gonna take whether you wait a year or not um and and maybe you come out on the other side he also has had to you know he’s played a lot of Signature Events you know Majors like highlevel golf and I think it’s going to be really nice for him to get into a a field like this where he probably feels a whole lot more it’s a little bit of a downshift from The Travelers the US Open the memorial the PGA the Wells Fargo which are his last five events and for a PGA to a rookie those are pretty pretty big time events to try to compete in well and and kind of a big stretch coming up he’s I’m looking at his numbers right now he’s uh 150 on data golf which that makes sense he hasn’t been very good 69th in the owgr and then Greg he’s 93rd in the FedEx Cup which is pretty hard to do if you’ve won right like yeah yeah that’s not very good uh and he’s outside of the what is it top 70 that get into the playoffs so he’s got kind of a big month coming up here does he get I don’t think he got how many points does he have at 93rd does it say there uh I do not have that in front of me because I don’t think think I don’t think he got uh the points for the win ah you’re probably right that that makes sense he’s trying to he’s trying to pull in enough points post win yeah to get into that top 70 you’re right I’m looking at his profile right now he does not have uh really his big pops are 70 points at Wells Fargo he finished t24 65 at the Houston open he finished t11 and then the big one was 145 points at Memorial where he finished T12 but again that’s that’s the point right is you turn pro you get into those uh those uh limited field Signature Events and you can you don’t have to win him to to get into the top 50 or top 70 next year right right and and he’s at 339 total points fewer than you’d get for a win yeah and I I want to say just off the top of my head like 380 to 400 is is you’re you’re in good shape for the top 125 yep to keep your card that is about right yeah I’m not as familiar this year because the elevated points in right right right uh but right now 70th is 559 points so he’s got a little little work to do in that category he he should have gotten the points for that win yeah it’s yeah yeah I mean the credit to the US GA for changing their rules for allowing amateur to to compete you know in the US Open once they turn pro I I think I think there’s a case to be made that the tour should do the same but although then you get into like sponsor ex exemption stuff and it it gets a little bit uh a little bit wonky I did not Envision I did not wake up on Monday morning thinking I’d be talking about Nick dunlap’s FedEx cut points with you on the show um yeah although maybe maybe I should have um uh one other note on on Dunlap that I was just thinking of he uh this year’s weird too kind of like last year where the 125 it extends into the fall but but nobody else does so that 380 to 400 I I don’t even know if that’s a real number anymore yeah yeah because there’s a lot more time right but you know at 93rd couple you I me you got to keep playing and a couple more which he’ll do anyway regardless of his status in the FedEx cup um you know because you’re looking to get that experience and you know develop into the into the touring professional that you want to become so you’re G to play anyway but um at at 93rd you feel like you should be keeping your card for next year which he has which he’s exempt anyway so I don’t think there’s a whole lot of pressure on him that’s a good point good point uh okay last one 6K and lower uh we’ve got I think more people in this bucket than were in the entire field last week at the Travelers Greg so let’s uh let’s jump in here and and uh give me anybody that that catches your eye yeah first and foremost um uh Andrew Novak catches my eye he came in tied 14th at the RBC Canadian open uh he had a really nice stretch earlier in the year at Phoenix Mexico the cognizant classic he’s played some other good golf at at the Valar and made a bunch of cuts the only cut he’s missed since then since the players was the Charles Schwab challenge there’s been a lot of really good highquality golf for him and I think he has a ball striking potential that could carry him to a to a really solid week um I I haven’t seen the spikes with the putter to make me feel like he’s a really viable long shot but I think he could really fill a nice role in the DFS lineup at 6,700 definitely has the game to you know come out and and make a cut which down here that’s what you’re looking for um even though he’s only played here twice missed two cuts I think he’s a different player now yeah um so he’s one another one at 6700 as well is Chandler Phillips yeah who I find to be fascinating because he in his last three events uh he was tied 50th at the Myrtle Beach Classic tied 12th at the Charles Schwab tied 10th at the RBC Canadian open and we’re seeing the spikes in all the right areas right two or more Strokes in all of those events approaching the green and and uh in his last two events he gained over three Strokes putting which I think is really nice to look at and you start looking at some of the wedge stuff I mentioned that uh 50 to 125 category that I really like well he’s fifth in this field uh in in proximity from 50 to 125 so it could be a nice week for Chandler Phillips as well yeah yeah like that um okay anybody else that stands out yeah there there’s a lot of names in here oh okay down the list I got uh Michael Kim I find interesting okay won the winner of the John Deere classic he’s been a little Bland with his statistics but you’re seeing a lot of good finishes like tied 14th at the Canadian open tied 20th in Myrtle Beach tied 11th at the Zurich tied 14th at the corales p a championship so some of these um you know normal events weaker Fields he’s performed really well and I don’t think there’s a glaring weakness in his game right now which I I think is a really nice change of pace so I like him at 6600 um this is another one that fascinates me and it’s mty Schmidt who who had missed five cuts in a row after a string of some really good go uh missed the cut at the Zurich missed the cut at the Byron Nelson missed the cut at Myrtle Beach missed the cut at the Charles Schwab missed the cut at the Canadian open well I I think he’s just a better player than that and he goes to the km open last week finishes tied 15 gain Strokes across the board um I I I like his game and I’m willing at 6,500 to take a chance and and go early on mattye Schmid um another again another long hitter who I think could perform really well and let’s continue on to another long hitter who would be Jake knap who statistically has not performed great um but he has shown earlier this year some real significant putting Acumen um he is incredibly long I mean I was out at The Travelers before the tournament started and he’s he apexes the ball at like 150 feet with his driver insane he’s like mid one 0s with the ball speed and I don’t think anything’s broken in his game it just hasn’t been sharp and this could be the kind of place where that uh distance with the driver really comes in handy so the stats if you’re looking on YouTube right now you’re seeing a lot of red uh but he may be sneaky I think he’s got too much upside at 6,400 to ignore and then Kyle I got one more guy in this range um and he is down towards the bottom at 6100 and it’s David skins okay he is very interesting the Englishman yeah the Englishman he’s been playing well and if you look at some of his numbers week to week he’s you think of him you know he’s got the gray hair you haven’t heard of him he plays well at the cognizant classic and you kind of think well he’s a he’s a plotter he’s got a little more distance than you might think and and I think this could be a good spot for him he he finished tied 11th at the zurk classic tied 48th at the Byron Nelson tied 20th in Myrtle Beach missed the cut at the Charles Schwab tied 21st at the Canadian open I think there’s at 6100 I think there’s a high probability of him making the cut uh and and some probability some chance that he could make even more of a run than that okay yeah I I mean that’s why people are tuning in to hear your takes on this yeah right they’re not here to hear m i I love uh Jake Napp generally I I think he’s so interesting because I I I go back to the whatever it’s called the PJ National event cognisant classic yeah thank you uh and I remember he was playing with Rory and Rory got asked afterwards like is Jake na could he be a superstar and Rory’s basically like I don’t know man like he’s I who knows like maybe I guess like he hits it far yeah he he’s so interesting because I think guys with that much length and that much speed it’s easy to Envision them being great but he’s also 30 and so you’re like okay well why didn’t this happen sooner is he is he just a late bloomer but usually late bloomers aren’t ball speed Kings like that I don’t know I there’s just a lot to digest and try to figure out there with somebody it’s kind of Cam chish right where you’re like okay he wins a lot but he also is terrible a lot so can you time that up can you figure that out I think I think that’s gonna be really interesting with somebody like Jake Jake knap going forward it will be I I think when Rory was asked that too he was he talked about like the Charisma he’s jacked got big guns hits it far long hair Rory went on all the Aesthetics what else is you gonna go on the guys W one time right yeah it’s like his fifth PGA tour start yeah yeah he’s like I don’t even know who this guy is is he a superstar maybe yeah who knows time will okay we got anything why you’re handing out pics you want to hand out a Stanley Cup pck uh boy so wasn’t Florida up three nothing they were up three nothing Oilers won three in a row and now it’s I think it’s back to Florida for game seven yeah back to Florida for game seven um this would be like an alltime disaster for the Florida Panthers it kind of yeah I mean it sort of is heading that way I don’t put a lot of emphasis on home ICE advantage in hockey I I think teams tend to play a little simpler on the road play more pure style especially with a team that’s as skilled as Edmonton I I kind of feels like there’s so much momentum with Edmonton I I think they’re gonna get it done down in Florida just yeah I think game seven you go with the best player on the ice or the best player on the four if it’s NBA whatever and uh that’s Conor McDavid obviously so what about col Dr series no idea A&M Tennessee I’ve got uh all my friends are rooting for A&M I think Tennessee is just better though he’s very good you know I’ll tell you I know you’re a baseball guy I I’ve never been a baseball guy but my six-year-old has started to play baseball and loves it yeah loves Aaron judge and so I’ve going to his games coach pitch when this started I was like oh this is going to be a disaster and the kids surprise me they all they all hit the ball they all they do a good job setting it up uh you know where every you get a bunch of tries but it moves they they hit the ball so it’s been really fun so I could see myself getting into the baseball a little bit more yeah coming up here in the future it’s it’s fun we did we had a uh a like a competitive tournament last weekend for the first time and it’s fun to see kids like there was two home runs hit against us oh over the fence there was one kid on our team that hit a home run and you’re like oh this is this is real base like it it was just it’s very fun to see all the kids are SE like you know diving at the plate after the Home Run celebrating and you’re like okay that might be a little much but yeah yeah but it’s great but it’s awesome with their teammates yeah their buddies to watch right yeah it’s it’s it’s very cool so I’ll be tuning in to both of those uh tonight anything else on uh on Rocket mortgage you know there’s a 5k range this week and I think there’s two name we don’t have to get way in depth on it but I think uh I think Patton kazy and Kelly craft would be playable options down in the 5K range yeah Pat and kazy tied 10th at the Myrtle Beach Classic seems to be playing a little better those would be win in in Mexico I guess that was myoba huh that was myoba okay so very yeah very different yeah okay okay well this is great Greg I yeah nice job never on this show but uh it was fun you I mean Rick this might be a Wally pip L garig situation like it might be it might be over for Rick yeah I think so I mean you and the host chair is a special site to to be seen yeah which nobody wants to see it anymore Rick will be back I think starting tomorrow we’ll we’ll do our our Mega preview on on Rocket mortgage on Tuesday and then pods throughout throughout the rest of the week on after after round recap so should be fun Greg this was a blast you can follow Greg D charm at the real gfd on Twitter uh producer Josh running the ones and twos always do does a great job and my name is Kyle Porter you can follow me at Kyle Porter CBS and we appreciate you guys tuning in to the first cut podcast [Music]