<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2wOdaK_0vAQdFng00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2wOdaK_0vAQdFng00" width="2048" height="1536" ></figure>With the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs reaching its climax, attention will soon switch to the Presidents Cup where the International team will attempt to beat the United States team for the first time since 1998 at Royal Melbourne. This year, the event will be played at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Quebec, CanadaEach team will be comprised of six automatic qualifiers and six captain’s picks, which gives captains Jim Furyk of the United States and Canadian Mike Weir of the International team the ability to form the team as they see fit. In this piece, I’m going to share who I believe should make each Presidents Cup team. To be clear, this is not who I believe Furyk and Weir will choose.The United States team uses FedEx Cup points to determine automatic qualifiers. The top six on the points list are now final as of the conclusion of the BMW Championship. Missed out: Justin Thomas, Nick Dunlap, Max Homa, Cameron Young, Brian Harman.Comments: Believe it or not, the hardest player for me to leave off the team was Nick Dunlap, who won twice this season and accomplished a great deal on Tour at just 20 years old. The Bradley BMW Championship win knocked one of these players off and I don’t believe any of the players left off should have any major gripes considering how their seasons went overall. The International team uses OWGR points to determine automatic qualifiers. The top six on the points list are now final as of the conclusion of the BMW Championship. Missed out: Adam Hadwin, Mackenzie Hughes, Nick Taylor, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Erik Van Rooyen, Emiliano Grillo, Ryan Fox.Comments: Among the players left out, South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout is probably the one who should have the biggest gripe. C-Bez has been incredibly consistent this season on the PGA Tour but is yet to show the ability to truly contend. Considering the fact that he lacked a win and didn’t force my hand by performing well in majors, I went with Vegas over him. Canadians Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin and Mackenzie Hughes will be disappointed to miss out, but both players have had a sharp decrease in form over the past two to three months. Vincenzi’s 2024 Tour Championship betting preview: East Lake specialist to chase down leadersThe 2024 PGA Tour season will come to an end this week at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta with the Tour Championship. The top 30 players that remain in the FedEx Cup standings will compete for the FedEx Cup Championship and the huge $25 million payday that accompanies it.East Lake Golf Club is a par-70 layout, measuring 7,319 yards with Bermudagrass greens. A Donald Ross design, the difficulty this week for players will be managing the fast and undulating putting surface. That said, golfers with varying skill sets can compete at East Lake.The 2019 campaign marked the first year in which the PGA TOUR introduced a “strokes-based bonus” that gives players with the most FedEx Cup points a stroke advantage relative to the field at the beginning of the tournament.With the added complication of the handicapped scoring system, the challenge for bettors will be identifying who can get into contention considering where they are beginning the week on the leaderboard. It will take an exceptional week from any golfer to catch the big names at the top of the leaderboard starting with a stroke advantage.In this article, I’ll be using the Rabbit Hole by Betsperts Golf data engine to develop my custom model. If you want to build your own model or check out all of the detailed stats, you can sign up using promo code: MATTVIN for 25% off any subscription package (yearly is best value).Let’s take a look at several key metrics for East Lake to determine which golfers boast top marks in each category over their last 24 rounds.Identifying the most predictive measures for player performance this week will be crucial in determining who will claim the FedEx Cup when all is said and done.SG: Approach is the most predictive statistic at East Lake Golf Club. Success in this event has come in the form of many different types of golfers, but one of the consistent factors is the winners are putting their approach shots close.In the past, we have seen some of the best drivers of the golf ball play well at East Lake. Being a long hitter isn’t a requirement, as it’s far more important to hit fairways. The golfers who put the ball in play most often should have a strong chance to compete in Atlanta.<h2>Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermudagrass+Fast) </h2>The difficulty of East Lake will be the speed of the greens. Donald Ross designs are known for having different levels on a sloping green, which makes finding the correct place to land the ball challenging. To be successful, golfers must excel at putting on Bermuda greens with fast speeds.Over the years, course history has played a large role at East Lake. We have seen the same golfers thrive on Ross designs season after season. The requirement for strategic ball placement combined with the undulating greens seems to catch the eye of specific players. It’s important to note the players in this field who play their best golf on Ross designs.Below, I’ve compiled overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed — SG: Approach (28%), Good Drive Percentage (23%), SG: Putting: Bermuda Fast (18%), Course History (15%), and SG: Donald Ross (15%).There isn’t a golfer on TOUR who can compare to Rory McIlroy when it comes to success at the Tour Championship. In his past nine trips to East Lake, he has finished outside the top seven only twice. The 35-year-old now has three Fed Ex Cup Championships on his résumé and is the only player besides Tiger Woods to have won the FedEx Cup more than once.In the field, Rory ranks 2nd in Strokes Gained: Total per round at East Lake and ranks 2nd in Strokes Gained: Total per round at Donald Ross designs. The first two legs of the FedEx Cup were questionable course fits for the four-time major winner at best. There’s no doubt that East Lake is a course fit for Rory.McIlroy will start the week at -4 and has a lot of work to do to catch Scottie Scheffler at -10 under par and Xander Schauffele at -8 under par. It will be difficult, but McIlroy has shown twice in the past that he’s up to the challenge. In 2019, McIlroy won the Tour Championship despite starting at -5 for his score. In fact, he won by four strokes that season. In 2022, he won despite starting at -4 for the week.McIlroy has struggled to win majors over the past ten seasons, but winning FedEx Cup events has never been an issue for the Northern Irishman. In an event that is difficult to bet and stripped of value, McIlroy is one of the few bets on the board that has the ability to cash at reasonable odds. ‘Absolute joke’ – Matt Fitzpatrick left livid after being denied driver change during BMW ChampionshipOn Sunday morning, Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick cracked his driver head in the early stages of the fourth and final round of the BMW Championship at Castle Pines.Fitzpatrick called a rules official over to see if he could put a new driver in play because his broken but the official ruled that he could not.The entire situation was captured on PGA Tour Live.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">???? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WATCH</a>: Matt Fitzpatrick and Scottie Scheffler are not happy with a rules official: “This is outrageous, it’s an absolute disgrace.” <a href="https://twitter.com/MattFitzLegion?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MattFitzLegion</a><a href="https://twitter.com/SchefflerFans?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SchefflerFans</a>Do you agree with the ruling? <a href="https://t.co/Qv0c6M03j0">pic.twitter.com/Qv0c6M03j0</a>— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) <a href="https://twitter.com/NUCLRGOLF/status/1827767544737837365?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2024</a><input type="image" src="empty.gif" style="opacity:0" onerror="s=document.createElement(&quot;script&quot;);s.src=&quot;https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js&quot;;document.body.appendChild(s);"></blockquote>Chief referee Stephen Cox said that the club wasn’t “significantly damaged.”<blockquote>“In our assessment, not only the first official, but also a couple of others including myself, that threshold of being significantly damaged hadn’t been met.“Although there was a small crack in the face, there was no separation in the metals and on that basis that threshold wasn’t met.”</blockquote>Fitzpatrick was extremely upset with the decision and his playing partner, Scottie Scheffler, also came to his defense.<blockquote>“There’s an obvious crack there that’s causing a defect in the ball flight.”“So, I’m going to have to use 3-wood for the rest of the day? This is outrageous. It’s an absolute joke.”</blockquote>“You can feel the crack,” Scheffler added in defense of the Englishman. “The damage to the club is making the club not perform. It’s been damaged throughout the course of play. That’s the first shot offline he’s hit all day, and it carried about 80 yards shorter.”<blockquote>“I will make sure something is done after the round because it’s a joke. It’s the most obvious crack I’ve ever seen,” added Fitzpatrick.</blockquote>Fitzpatrick entered the week 36th in the FedEx Cup standings and needed a great round to have a chance at making it to the Tour Championship at East Lake.The -2 on Sunday was not good enough to advance and Fitzpatrick ended the year 40th in the FedEx Cup standings.<div style="position:relative;width:100%; height:0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pR_kdR0Qnh4?feature=oembed" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" style="width:100%; height:100%;top:0; left:0; position:absolute"></iframe></div></div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Vincenzi: The 12 players that should receive a Presidents Cup Captain’s pick

With the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs reaching its climax, attention will soon switch to the Presidents Cup where the International team will attempt to beat the United States team for the first time since 1998 at Royal Melbourne. This year, the event will be played at Royal Montreal...

Vincenzi: The 12 players that should receive a Presidents Cup Captain’s pick

Comments / 0