Closing birdies for Brandon Wu on two of Maridoe’s final three holes – and a closing bogey from Scottie Scheffler – gave Wu the title.
But for one man, Scottie Scheffler could have pulled off the repeat victory at Maridoe Golf Club this week. Closing birdies for Brandon Wu on two of Maridoe’s final three holes – and a bogey from Scheffler on No. 18 – prevented it from happening.
This time last year, Wu and his Stanford team were gearing up for the NCAA Championship – an event they eventually won. Wu has had a lot of experiences since then – from making the cut at the U.S. Open as an amateur to representing the U.S. at the Walker Cup. He was T-17 in the Houston Open, his pro debut, and made the cut in three more PGA Tour starts.
At Maridoe, a course Wu had never seen before this event, rounds of 67-70-66 left him at 13 under and one shot ahead of Scheffler. In Thursday’s final round, Wu had seven birdies, with his lone bogey coming at the par-4 13th.
Wu was just as pleased, perhaps, with the interaction – at a safe distance, of course – as he was the opportunity play golf, a sentiment he expressed after the first round.
“I think it’s cool to play golf again and see some of my friends that I haven’t seen since the quarantine started,” he said. He next plans to tee it up at the Korn Ferry Tour’s TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes over Fourth of July weekend, with perhaps a few Monday qualifying appearances in between.
Scheffler hasn’t won a title yet on the PGA Tour, but his 2020 season had been going well so far with four top-10 finishes in 13 starts. After he won last month’s Maridoe Samaritan Fund Invitational, he donated his entire $9,000 winner’s check to the club’s caddies.
Behind Wu and Scheffler, Texas sophomore Parker Coody finished third at 10 under. The Plano, Texas, native also garnered low-amateur honors for this week.
Korn Ferry Tour player Will Zalatoris, runner-up at last month’s Maridoe event, was fourth at 9 under.
Version 2.0 of the Maridoe event also featured another twist: Eight of the top junior players in the nation (two each from the next four graduating classes) were invited to play, too. Jacob Sosa, a Texas commit representing the class of 2020, was the low junior player after a 3-under 69 in the final round left him at even par. He finished in a tie for 16th with a group of players that included four-time PGA Tour winner Ryan Palmer.
Scottie Scheffler posted a second-round 68 on Wednesday to lead at Maridoe Golf Club while Stephan Jaeger shot a record 64.
Scottie Scheffler is currently ranked 45th in the world, but if all events were held at Maridoe Golf Club, just outside Dallas, he might be battling for the top spot.
For the second time in a month, PGA Tour rookie Scheffler is holding off a strong field, posting a 68 on Wednesday to lead the second version of the Maridoe Samaritan Fund Invitational after two rounds. The entire leaderboard is posted here.
Scheffler, a University of Texas product, used birdies on two of the final three holes to post a two-round total of 9-under, but he had to sweat out his lead a little as another Longhorn — current sophomore Parker Coody — birdied four of the final six holes.
Coody’s in a tie for second with Korn Ferry Tour player Stephan Jaeger as both have posted two-day scores of 134. Jaeger round was the best in tournament history at Maridoe, as he had four straight birdies on Nos. 9 through 12, and finished the day with a 64.
Brandon Wu, who came out hot with a 67 in Tuesday’s opening round, is alone in third at 7-under, while former Wake Forest standout Will Zalatoris is three off the leaders.
Scottie Scheffler owned a share of the first-round lead at the Maridoe Samaritan Fund Invitational 2.0.
Scottie Scheffler seems to have it at Maridoe Golf Club, site of two charity golf events in the past three weeks. With little competitive golf opportunities on the table these past few months, the Maridoe Samaritan Fund Invitational has been a coveted opportunity for pros, college players and even junior.
Tournament organizer Alison Morrison filled both fields in a matter of hours. She had a waiting list for this week’s 2.0 version of the Maridoe tournament.
Scheffler, still gunning for his first PGA Tour title, clipped Will Zalatoris and Viktor Hovland by one and two shots, respectively, to win the last event on April 30. He’s at the top of the leaderboard after Tuesday’s opening round of this follow-up event.
Players competed for Maridoe’s caddies last month – with Scheffler donating all $9,000 of his first-place prize to that cause – but this time out it’s a choose-your-own-charity setup.
“The tagline is, who do you play for?” Morrison told Golfweek.
Scheffler bogeyed his opening hole but rebounded quickly with a birdie at No. 4 and an eagle at No. 6. He played the back nine in 3 under for a 67 that left him tied at the top of the leaderboard with four-time Tour winner Ryan Palmer and new pro Brandon Wu, who last teed it up in a Tour event in February.
Sebastián Muñoz, winner of last fall’s Sanderson Farms Championship, opened with a 68 that left him tied for fourth.
A handful of collegians – many from schools in Texas and Oklahoma – appear in the field again this week. Baylor senior Cooper Dossey had 69 to check in as the highest amateur on the leaderboard. He was tied for sixth with Talor Gooch.
A six-way tie for eighth includes Arizona State sophomore Cameron Sisk and Texas sophomore Parker Coody along with pros Will Gordon, Austin Cook, Blaine Hale and Sebastian Crampton.
The field included eight junior invites and Wake Forest commit Michael Brennan brought in the best score among that group with 71. He’s tied with both Zalatoris and Hovland at 1 under.
Four up-and-coming professional golfers all live in the same house in Dallas. Experience what life is like at “The Dirty Meadow.”
It’s not long after you walk in “The Dirty Meadow” – more on that later – that you realize it’s a golf-friendly house. Maybe 5-10 seconds.
“The hitting net in the living room now is a dead giveaway,” said Charlie Saxon.
The house in Dallas on Clover Meadow (hence the name, and because, why not?) is home to Saxon and his former Oklahoma Sooner teammates Max McGreevy and Grant Hirschman, as well as former Texas standout Scottie Scheffler. Former Drake University players Will McDonald and Drew Ison also live there.
With Scheffler on the PGA Tour and Saxon, McGreevy and Hirschman on the Korn Ferry Tour, the Dirty Meadow just might be the most talented golf house in America.
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Scheffler led last season’s Korn Ferry Tour Finals points list and the overall season points list, earning his PGA Tour card for the 2020 season and 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year honors. Saxon played his senior year at Oklahoma with McGreevy and Hirschman in 2014-15. The latter two went on to win the NCAA Championship with the Sooners in 2017.
The Dirty Meadow
So why Dallas? Depends who you ask.
Scheffler says it’s because the Sooners just couldn’t handle Oklahoma anymore. The Oklahoma boys disagree. Dallas is a bit warmer in the winter, and flying out of Oklahoma City meant a lot of connections through Dallas anyway.
The hitting net in the living room of The Dirty Meadow, featuring Grant Hirschman’s dog, Pal. (Photo: Grant Hirschman)
It all started when Scheffler and Hirschman graduated in 2018. The two had talked about moving to Dallas for a couple months. As Hirschman remembers, Scheffler didn’t respond for four months (if you ask Scheffler, Hirschman forgot about him and only texted him once).
Hirschman then reached out to Saxon and McGreevy, as well as McDonald and Ison. With half the group on the road playing golf, McGreevy and Ison did most of the house hunting. Scheffler got back in the picture and the house was theirs on May 1, 2019. It wasn’t until late last fall that the entire group was together under one roof. Even then Scheffler was still gone a lot on Tour. The group doesn’t even have a picture of the four of them all together.
Six people in one house can be a lot to handle, not to mention six fiercely-competitive professionals all in their 20s. That said, the group doesn’t get in many big fights, just small minute-long spats where they soon end up laughing.
McGreevy said the most difficult part of being quarantined together is they don’t really have a getaway, other than the golf course. In fact, they’re even worse when they’re together at the course.
“Most of our arguments occur when the four of us go play,” explained Hirschman. “We play so slow because we sit there and argue on the green and then we argue on the tee box and before we know it we’re holding up the entire golf course and we’re most likely the four best players on the golf course.”
The house agreed Scheffler was the one who talks the most trash on the course, with McGreevy adding “he’s probably made four birdies in a row, so it’s okay, but he likes to dig.”
Off the course, the guys are just as competitive. During their time in quarantine they’ve started playing board games. One game in particular, Sequence, gets rather heated. Especially with a little action. They might be professional athletes, but the pot isn’t anything Michael Jordan Last Dance-esque.
“That doesn’t fit the Korn Ferry Tour salary,” joked Saxon.
Life together on tour
While the comment was made in jest, it’s true at the same time. The life of a professional athlete isn’t always a glamorous one, especially for a young golfer trying to make his way up the ranks. It’s normally a long season on the Korn Ferry Tour, traveling week after week with less-than-stellar accommodations to small cities across the country, rarely getting to be home.
“It’s been nice to be at home, and even though being on the road is difficult at times, we all love it,” said Saxon. “We love the competition and the grind and I know we’re all missing it.”
Drew Ison caddying for Max McGreevy at the 2019 Macau Championship on the PGA Tour Series – China.
“The biggest benefit is just picking each other’s brains,” explained Hirschman. “We’ve all been through quite a bit and had our own personal experiences with golf and we can learn a lot from each other.”
Even as these four housemates told their story over the phone, their tight bond was clearly visible in the way they spoke about each other and interacted. Not a minute of conversation went by without a genuine laugh and jab at someone’s expense. The great thing about the Dirty Meadow men is their friendship carries over to the tour, even as competitors.
“On the road if you’re struggling it’s good to have buddies to bounce thoughts and feelings off of,” added Saxon.
Scottie Scheffler fended off several current and former players from the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour as well as top amateurs.
PGA Tour rookie Scottie Scheffler walked into a winner’s circle on Thursday.
Scheffler birdied four of his last seven holes to shoot a final-round, bogey-free, 5-under-par 67 to win the Maridoe Samaritan Fund Invitational at Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas.
The 54-hole tournament featured current and former players from the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour as well as top amateurs and benefitted the club’s caddies, who have been sidelined because of the COVID-19 global pandemic.
With rounds of 66-74-67, Scheffler finished at 9 under 207 and one shot clear of Will Zalatoris, who plays on the Korn Ferry Tour and closed with a 65 following rounds of 73-70. Also closing with a 65 was pre-tournament favorite and rising PGA Tour star Viktor Hovland, who fell just short after opening with a 75. He was third, two shots back. Hovland, ranked No. 57 in the official world rankings, won the Puerto Rico Open in February.
In a tie for fourth at 4 under were Harry Higgs of the PGA Tour and Oklahoma State’s Austin Eckroat.
Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and current NFL analyst Tony Romo, playing at his home course, finished 39th in the 51-man elite flight of the tournament with rounds of 78-80-78.
Jordan Spieth, playing as a marker in Romo’s group, reportedly aced the 17th hole but his ball did clang off the plastic spacer located in the hole, one of the tournament’s COVID-19 protection efforts.
All entry fees of $250 were donated to the caddies. Some players gave more.
The tournament adhered to social distancing protocols – no caddies, spacing of six feet between players, no bunker rakes, flagsticks or locker room access. Tee times were spaced out and players couldn’t arrive at the course until 30 minutes before their tee time.
Scottie Scheffler won the Maridoe Samaritan Fund Invitational at Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas, on April 30, 2020. To his left is runner up Will Zalatoris; to his right, third-place finisher Viktor Hovland. Photo by Maridoe Golf Club
Which was just fine with Scheffler, 23, who is a rising star, too. Ranked No. 45, he’s 19th in the FedEx Cup points race. He had last played in The Players Championship in March, which was canceled after the first round. He has six top-20s in the 2019-2020 season, including a tie for third in the Bermuda Championship and a third-place finish in the American Express.
In taking the first-round lead, he birdied his final three holes, including a chip-in from 25 feet on the last for his 66. He made just one birdie in a second-round 74 but had a share of the lead entering the final 18 holes. Scheffler fell from the top perch with just one birdie the first 11 holes and came home with red numbers on holes 12, 14, 15 and 16 to secure the win.
Graeme McDowell, Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler and Christiaan Bezuidenhout were the final four to qualify for the Masters in November.
Buried beneath the news that Augusta National Golf Club “intends” to play the Masters during the week of November 9-15, the club announced that invites would be sent to professionals and amateurs who “would have qualified for our original April date.”
Subsequently, the club updated its invitee list on Masters.com and the field for the tournament is set with 96 invitees. That includes Graeme McDowell, who finished a career-best T-12 at Augusta in 2012 yet hasn’t played in the Masters since 2016, as well as first-timers Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler and Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
Those four players became eligible through category 19 of the 19 qualifications standards, squeezing inside the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings as of March 30.
McDowell was on the outside looking in as the deadline loomed, but even though the Players Championship was canceled, he vaulted from No. 51 after the Arnold Palmer Invitational to No. 49 during the final week of rankings. The move came just before the OWGR froze the rankings as professional golf tournaments were canceled and postponed around the globe due to coronavirus.
Morikawa, World No. 44, was No. 1039 after his pro debut at the RBC Canadian Open in June and climbed into the top 100 for the first time after winning the opposite-field Barracuda Championship. He jumped seven spots after finishing T-9 at API.
Scheffler, World No. 45, had been flirting with the top 50 ever since he finished third at The American Express to jump to No. 51, and he finally broke through with a T-15 at API.
The South African Bezuidenhout, World No. 47, rode a runner-up finish at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and victory at the Dimension Data Pro-Am into the top 50 and held his turf with solid finishes at the WGC Mexico Championship (T-29) and API (T-18).
“We want to emphasize that our future plans are incumbent upon favorable counsel and direction from health officials,” Augusta National club chairman Fred Ridley wrote on Monday. “Provided that occurs and we can conduct the 2020 Masters, we intend to invite those professionals and amateurs who would have qualified for our original April date.”
The total of 96 invitees is larger than the field at the last two Masters, which consisted of 87.
A spokesperson for the Masters confirmed that any winners of PGA Tour events leading up to the November date for the 84th Masters will only be eligible for the 2021 Masters in April. That presents a scenario where a player could win multiple times in the lead up to November — potentially both the PGA Championship and U.S. Open — and not be in the field at the Masters.
Analyzing the golf betting odds to win the 2020 Players Championship, with PGA Tour betting odds, picks, predictions and best bets.
The top names in golf are in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., this week for the 2020 Players Championship. Below, we break down the 2020 Players Championship outright odds to win, with betting picks, tips and best bets.
Tiger Woods is one of just four players from the top 50 of the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings not part of the 144-man field. He’ll finalize his preparations for his Masters defense next month, while world No. 1 Rory McIlroy attempts to hold off the strongest field in golf for the second straight year at TPC Sawgrass.
The key stats for the 7,189-yard, par-72 TPC Sawgrass:
Strokes Gained: Ball Striking
Strokes Gained: Around the Green
Opportunities Gained
Greens in Regulation Gained
Proximity from 120-150 Yards
My model at Fantasy National looks at the most recent 36 rounds for each golfer in the field on courses shorter than 7,200 yards.
The Players Championship Betting Picks – Tier 1
(Photo Credit: Orlando Ramirez – USA TODAY Sports)
One of many former world No. 1’s in the field, Johnson enters the week ranked ninth by the Golfweek rankings, but he shares the sixth-best odds at BetMGM. He tied for fifth last year, following a T-17 in 2018 and a T-12 in 2017.
Johnson leads the field in Opportunities Gained while ranking fourth in SG: Ball Striking and eighth in Greens in Regulation Gained. He won at least twice internationally in each of the last four years and won’t often carry these lofty odds.
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Adam Scott (+3300)
Scott hasn’t finished worse than T-12 in any of the last four years at TPC Sawgrass. His 1.95 strokes gained per round across 66 career rounds on the Stadium Course ranks third in the field, according to Data Golf. He has two worldwide wins since late December after not winning since 2016.
The Players Championship Betting Picks – Tier 2
(Photo Credit: Reinhold Matay – USA TODAY Sports)
Jason Day (+6000)
Day withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week due to a back injury, but he remains in the field for an event he has won and dominated in recent years. The 2016 Players champ tied for fifth in 2018 and tied for eighth last year.
He’s one of the best in the field/world around the greens and his odds are inflated solely by last week’s injury. If he’s healthy, he’s an incredible bargain.
Scottie Scheffler (+9000)
Scheffler has climbed all the way to No. 27 early in his rookie season on the PGA Tour. He finished T-15 in a strong field at the API last week and has shown he can be a regular contender. He ranks 18th in the field in Opportunities Gained and has the ability to score low on these shorter courses.
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The Players Championship Betting Picks – Longshots
(Photo Credit: Orlando Ramirez – USA TODAY Sports)
Corey Conners (+15000)
Conners tied for 41st last year ahead of his breakout win at the Valero Texas Open. He missed the cut in three of his last four events and each of his past two, but he’s an expert ball striker and low scorer. He gained 7.8 strokes tee-to-green and 4.4 strokes on approach here last year and just needs a decent putting week.
Jim Furyk (+15000)
Furyk will be eligible for the PGA Tour Champions circuit in May, but will give it another go at TPC Sawgrass following his runner-up finish last year. It was his second second-place result since 2014, losing both times by just a single stroke. He entered in better form last year, but he’s well-versed on a course designed by Pete Dye to level the playing field.
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Scott Scheffler fired a bogey-free 5-under 67 to open the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The rookie is seeking his 1st victory on the PGA Tour.
ORLANDO – Big expectations have followed Scottie Scheffler ever since he won the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur at Martis Camp and became the first Texan to do so since a kid named Jordan Spieth.
Scheffler also won three straight individual state titles, joining Spieth as the only players to accomplish that feat at the time. He followed Spieth to Texas and just as Spieth did played on the U.S. Walker Cup team, in 2017.
By now, you may have noticed a trend.
Yet somehow, despite being the 2019 Korn Ferry Player of the Year, Scheffler has been lost in the shuffle as the star-studded trio of Viktor Hovland, Matt Wolff and Collin Morikawa beat him to the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour.
One week after Korea’s Sungjae Im claimed his breakthrough victory at the Honda Classic, could Scheffler, 23, be the next young gun to secure his maiden victory? He’s off to a flying start after posting a bogey-free 5-under 67 in the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
“It’s always great to be able to keep the card clean, especially on a day like today,” said Scheffler, (T-3) who trails Matt Every by two strokes. “It’s playing really tough out there.”
Starting on the back nine, Scheffler circled his first birdie on his card when he rolled in a 28-foot birdie putt at 11 and was just off the putting surface in 2 at the par-5 16th and made a short birdie putt. His putter delivered again at 18 as he poured in a 29-footer at 18 to shoot 33. On the second nine, Scheffler wedged to 5 feet for birdie at the third and nearly drove the fifth green, pitching to a foot.
He didn’t hole any long ones on his second nine, but called a bunch of par saves the highlight of his round. Color veteran pro Brian Gay, who played alongside Scheffler on Thursday, impressed.
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“Shoot, every time I play with him, he’s going low,” Gay said. “He’s pretty long, hits it high, good putter and he’s kind of got an old-school upright swing that reminds me of Mark Calcavecchia.”
Gay has seen a lot of the young pros up close and personal and says Scheffler has what it takes to join the list of Tour winners soon.
“I don’t see why not,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all.”
Scheffler, who won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour last year, has picked up where he left off in his rookie season. He won the RSM Birdies Fore Love competition for making the most birdies and eagles (139) in the fall portion of the schedule, which included three top-10 finishes: T-5 at the RSM Classic, T-3 at the Bermuda Championship and T-7 at A Military Tribute to the Greenbrier.
Scheffler threatened to notch his first win in January at The American Express, finishing solo-third at 23-under 265. It marked the third time he held a share of the 36-hole lead on the season.
For all of his success this season, Scheffler isn’t one to get caught up in setting and chasing goals.
“I think in college I worried too much about my form and just too many, too much going on in the head,” he said. “I noticed if I start making goals into the future, I’ll start looking ahead and not focusing on the day-to-day.”
“So when I turned pro, I kind of had a little change of heart at the beginning of the season last year and it kept me going,” he added. “Just not over-thinking things and going out and playing.”
That includes not stressing over a potential secondary goal: making his Masters debut. He currently ranks No. 51 in the Official World Golf Ranking, and the top 50 after the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play earn an invite to play in the Masters. But he knows if he takes care of business this week at Arnie’s Place, where he once competed as a high school sophomore in the AJGA’s Wyndham Cup, he won’t have to worry about the fluctuations in the rankings anymore.
“I think winning here would get me into a few events as well, so looking at this week,” Scheffler said.
