Let me share a bit of advice for anyone who hates seeing the little red circle notification on your phone when you have unread emails. Don't openly solicit a $200 gift card to anyone who emails you. I've spent the last week clearing hundreds of these things out of the inbox—and I'd do it all over again too. Because that's how much I care about you all!
But in all seriousness, it was awesome to see how many people emailed after last week's 200th issue and while we could only have one grand prize winner—Don C. from Canada—I'd like to share one last Issue 200 morsel.
Drop ISSUE200 in at checkout for 15% off your order.
I don't often get clearance from HQ to share promo codes, but when I do—it's to celebrate milestones.
What a plot twist
KAPTAIN KEEGAN
I'm paraphrasing a tweet from Dan Rapaport but the news dropping this week around Keegan Bradley becoming the 2025 Ryder Cup captain might as well have been the last sign we needed that Netflix is pulling all the strings in golf these days.
One of the most devastating episodes of Netflix' Full Swing series last season was watching Keegan get the call that he did not make the team—and yet, one year later, he now stands as our US captain. And layer on top that Zach Johnson asked to be the one who made the call to tell him—you KNOW the cameras were rolling.
There's been plenty of reporting in the news this week but I'll call out my two favorite nuggets so far:
- Keegan announced in a presser that Michael Jordan would have a role to play in the 2025 Ryder Cup. Not as an official vice captain but more as a consultant for Keegan throughout. Absolutely baller move and apparently MJ has been to basically every Ryder Cup (except last year's) so he'll know a thing or two about how to advise.
- Keegan immediately said that he could care less about what Tour the players come from—leaving the door WIDE open for some prominent American faces on LIV.
Which leads me to...
My wayyyyyy too early...
RYDER CUP ROSTER PREDICTION
MY LOCKS
Scottie - Duh. Currently sitting on top of the rankings and seemingly no signs of slowing down. Lock of all locks
Xander - He's too consistent not to fall out of the top 6 so firmly believe he will be a shoo-in.
Morikawa - See also: Xander's write-up.
Bryson - On a tear right now and his performance in the majors should keep him right in the mix for top 6 in points.
Homa - All-time glue guy to me. Whether or not he makes the top 6 I think is irrelevant because he shows up big for these types of events, holding a 7-1-1 all-time record in Ryder and President's Cups.
MY LIKELIES
Tony - I love the Jordan brand connection for him and Keegan and Tony's quietly ranked 7th on the US list right now.
Brian Harman - Boring and adds nothing to the team for me personality-wise. But Harman is CONSTANTLY sniffing top 20's on Tour and so he'll probably be in the mix here for top 6 points.
Sahith - He hasn't played all that well this year and yet still sits in 9th on the points list. I love him for one of my new blood picks and think the NY crowd would go berserck for him.
Brooks - Hard to not include him on a list of likely competitors. He's based his entire career on showing up for big moments.
MY OUTSIDE LOOKING IN'S
JT - It was debatable whether he deserved to be on the last Ryder Cup team and his yo-yo play this year isn't settling my nerves for who we'd get on any given day. I mean he got cut at The Masters and the US Open...
Spieth - Until he gets healthy, it's just not the same Jordan. And I think, if you cut JT, you might as well cut Jordan since they're such a package deal.
JT - It was debatable whether he deserved to be on the last Ryder Cup team and his yo-yo play this year isn't settling my nerves for who we'd get on any given day. I mean he got cut at The Masters and the US Open...
Spieth - Until he gets healthy, it's just not the same Jordan. And I think, if you cut JT, you might as well cut Jordan since they're such a package deal.
Patrick Cantlay - See also: Brian's write-up re: personality. But I think he is dead in the water until all this LIV stuff gets cleared up because Patrick's on the player's committee and, as we saw with Rory, it can take its toll.
MY SPICY PICKS
Billy Horschel - Every story I read about this guy leads me to believe he's the perfect Ryder Cup competitor. Fiery, driven, ultra-competitive.
Akshay Bhatia - He's figuring it out and only getting more consistent with every month that passes. I think he'd be a quirky yet fun addition to the crew.
Davis Thompson - He's got a Scottie-esque demeanor and while he's the hot name at the moment coming off a win at the John Deere, he's in contention at the Scottish Open—and there was a real unflappable energy to him that I enjoyed.
Speaking of the John Deere
WELCOME TO TROPHY HOUSE
A super quirky story from the John Deere Classic was about an Airbnb that a group of golfers rent every year for the tournament.
For the last three years, the winner of the tournament has stayed at that house. First was J.T. Poston, then Sepp Straka, and this year Davis Thompson.
Chris Kirk, another pro who stays in the house shared: “The tradition is when somebody wins that week then they pay for the entire house.” Which is giving me betting collective vibes and I love it.
I've been doing some mild to moderate Googling and can't believe the actual address is not more prominent but you have to imagine that owner is cranking up the fees moving forward.
The most inspiring tournament in golf
HARLEY REPPING BB AT THE USAO
This week at Sand Creek Station in Kansas, the USGA held their 3rd US Adaptive Open. An inspiring tournament for golfers with disabilities across eight categories: Upper Limb Impairment, Lower Limb Impairment, Multiple Limb Amputee, Vision Impairment, Intellectual Impairment, Neurological Impairment, Seated Players and Short Stature.
I have to pause and recognize a Bad Birdie legend in the field, Harley Hartle. Competing in the Upper Limb Impairment category, Harley hails from Pennsylvania and was captured in the absolutely majestic picture above holding the finish like he just bombed one over the Green Monster.
Was trying to Google around and learn more about Harley via classic internet stalking avenues and if I am correct—I think our guy is getting married next year!
Look, I've tried this next move a few times and it's worked out every time—so if you're out there Harley, hit me up and let's connect. Would love to send you some more gear and get to know ya!
From inspirational to investigative
INTRODUCING THE BAGGER DETECTIVE
Go follow @yip.strickler on TikTok.
His account is another one of those ideas that make me enraged because of how jealous I am that I didn't come up with it first.
Apparently, people send him tips about potential baggers in tournaments and he digs in to see whether they're for real. The video clipped above is in regards to some dude named Dayton Ruby who won his local club's tournament by shooting two under... only to discover that he didn't post the winning score to GHIN. Aka... it didn't count on his handicap.
Which leads to scores like this screenshot from the Barstool Classic.
Scroll through his feed for some great laughs—but it all brings up a very real GHIN strategy I use in my golf league's giant match play tournament. The Bracket of Doom is a bracket style match play setup where you and the person you're playing have one month to get your round in. Winners advance. Losers go home.
The trick is that you can choose wherever you want to play—so savvy players like myself can dig into the GHIN records, see the kinds of courses where they've recently struggled and then pick accordingly. It's quite effective and this Yip Strickler takes it to a whole new level.
Respect.
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