Value Report: Travelers Championship

Whew, what an absolutely amazing U.S. Open we all were able to witness. As a pure golf fan, Pinehurst No. 2 was exactly what I picture when I think of the best test in golf, and the volatility each hole provided kept us on the edge of our seats. The fine line of a shot being perfect or being dead is such a fun way to challenge the best golfers in the world. One thing that the U.S. Open has forever had is an element of luck that needs to go your way, but I’m a believer in earning your fortunate bounces and Bryson proved that on the 18th hole. Despite getting a bit of good lies while missing almost every fairway, his last drive left him no choice but to respect what was ahead of him. A miracle bunker shot was required to lead him to victory, and he capitalized in that moment while Rory couldn’t step up to the challenge. In a funny way, I think it does draw a lot of similarities to DFS. When you have earned your spot among the top of the leaderboard on a Sunday afternoon, you are going to need to capitalize on every opportunity you get because the way contests are structured now, it makes all the difference in the world if you succeed when the moment is right there.

I was very pleased with the efforts from our group, as seven of our 10 selections made the weekend. What was among the more frustrating elements of GPPs was how well the chalk performed, resulting in the highest 6/6 from a U.S. Open I can remember. We targeted some very low-owned players who complemented the double-$10K build very well, and it looked like it could have fallen way more in our favor had the chalk failed. Starting with the disappointments, Alex Noren coming in at 11% owned and not even sniffing the weekend was among the worst selections of the year. In a field of 156, there’s no reason to try to get cute in a spot like that, and even though Keegan and Burmester came in at a similar clip, I was much more confident in their skill sets aligning at Valhalla. Victor Perez failed to keep his momentum going, which isn’t all that much of a surprise, but the biggest gut punch of the entire slate was Nick Dunlap’s triple bogey on his final hole Friday to miss the cut by one. He was my flag plant for a reason, as he aligned well with the Body Broz’s projections, popped in recent form and course history, then was drawing almost no ownership and seemed to be smooth sailing towards a strong week. That swung a large chunk of my portfolio sadly, but I would run it back with him in this spot again no doubt.