We’d rather be golfing. This is a good opportunity to admit that the first concert I ever attended was headlined by Usher and Janet Jackson… The Velvet Rope Tour. I was 13, accompanied by my family, and vividly remember numerous awkward glances from my parents as scantily clad Janet and Usher seduced the raucous crowd throughout the night. Ah, what a show 😆. Sunday night’s halftime performance tapped into a part of me that I tucked away for 20+ years and had middle school Mike poppin’ and lockin’ in the comfort of my own head. I’d honestly forgotten how many great songs Usher had in his catalog. I also couldn’t believe Lil Jon had transformed into 50 Cent and Jermaine Dupree into C-Lo Green. Where does this halftime show rank in my eyes? I’d say it lands somewhere in the top 3-5 range, but nothing…. and I mean NOTHING will top Prince in the rain in Miami. I was a junior at FSU watching the dud of a game with a friend, but for those 12 minutes, I was transported to the purifying waters of Lake Minnetonka. Long Live Purple Rain -MM

Oh, and Happy Valentine’s Day to those who celebrate 💌 

Getting Low on the KFT

I recently shot a 57. Well it was actually me and 2 fellow dads at our kids elementary school charity scramble, but damn it felt good! And we only used 2..ish mulligans to boot. That 57 earned us the victory over 8 other very worthy teams. Definitely one of the top accomplishments of my golf career.

I can’t even fathom the feeling of shooting a solo 57, especially in a professional event. You know what else I couldn’t fathom? Shooting said 57 and then losing that professional event by 3 strokes. Cristobal Del Solar lived that cruel story this past weekend in Bogota, Columbia as he watched Kevin Velo defeat Brian Campbell in the first playoff hole of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Astara Golf Championship, just days after shooting a 57 and tying the lowest round ever in a PGA Tour sanctioned event. My fellow FSU alum finished in 5th place, 15 spots ahead of 19 year-old KFT rookie Aldrich Potgieter…who by the way shot a 59 on Friday to become the youngest player to break 60 at a PGA Tour sanctioned event.

WTF was going on in Bogota?! A deeper dive into Del Solar’s record first round provides a little more perspective on how these guys feasted on the par-70, 6,254 yard Pacos Course at Country Club de Bogota, which is located nearly 9,000 feet above sea level and actually plays closer to 6,000 yards.

The following two statements are both truths.

Should pros be playing 6,200 yard courses? NO!

Does this diminish how awesome of an accomplishment it is to shoot a 57? NO!

Sure the course is the shortest you’ll find in professional competition but it had never seen a sub-60 round prior to this past weekend. You’ve got to be next level dialed in to go that low.

Crazy good golf being played. -21 is the average score for the winners across the first 6 events of the PGA Tour season and that includes Wyndham Clark’s -17 over 54 holes at the American Express Pro-Am. It’s been fun to watch guys across all the tours get low like Lil Jon and the Eastside Boys over the first month of the season but I’m definitely ready for the courses to start punching back. 👊 -MM

#StayingHottttttt

He’s on fire!  Dominique Wilkins/Mookie Blaylock…unstoppable. Kurt “Kity” Kitayama saw he needed a top 30 finish to get BY to the promised land and just went ahead and finished T8! The question now is…how long can this streak continue? Yes, I have made a small pivot the past few weeks to less aggressive plays to find my groove, and it worked like a charm. It’s time to start getting riskier and The Genesis Invitational is the launchpad.

California has been good to BY and I am looking to keep the coals hot as we head to Pacific Palisades and the always beautiful and storied The Riviera Country Club. The Genesis is a signature event and Tiger is back in the field which always ignites the whispers and excitement. Unlike most signature events, this one will have a cut which will get the field to 50 golfers along with a few sprinkled-on top. Typically firm, and fast, we could be looking at a softer golfer course due to the recent rain which could assist in a few holes being more scoreable where par is good for a lot of the holes at Riviera. The real question is, who will be able to handle the fickle kikuyugrass? This stuff is gnarly, and it wants you to play bad. Only the strong will survive when buried in the kikuyugrass. My first play will be a small one as I haven’t dabbled in the top 10 in quite some time but as I said above, we can start to get a little risky with the recent momentum shift. Sam Burns with a top 10 finish at +200.  He’s finished in the top 10 the last three tournaments and has truly been attacking January and February. My big play is Adam Scott finishing in the top 20 at +105. Catching Scott at plus money in this spot is more delicious than my Super Bowl spread. He has been great on the European Tour to finish out 2023 and stayed solid at Pebble and really came to form last week in Scottsdale. Let’s keep this train rolling! -BY

Draft Kings DFS 3-Putt Pot

Each week I will give my three strongest value buys for DFS play. I am only getting you started, finishing your line up will be up to you!

• W. Zalatoris: $7,900

• N. Hojgaard: $7,800

• S. Ryder: $6,000

As always, please remember to gamble responsibly

Return of The Cat

Player/Host Eldrick Tont Woods welcomes 70 of the best players in the world to The Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California for The Genesis Invitational. Tiger will be introducing a new caddie, new ball, and new look at his 2024 debut. At stake, $20 million and 700 FedExCup Points.

Betting Favorite: Scottie Scheffler (+700)

Around the Game

🏌️ Tiger Woods unveils Sun Day Red apparel brand in partnership with TaylorMade. Bon Voyage to the TW logo that we’d all come accustomed to for the past 27 years and hello to the new 15 striped jumping tiger with the number of stripes representing the amount of major victories on Tiger’s resume. The merch isn’t anything to write home about but this launch video is definitely top notch. It also looks like he enlisted The Riddler to run the new Sun Day Red social account. Brand description has my brain in a pretzel.

🏌️ The PGA Tour and Strategic Sports Group launch PGA Tour Enterprises. The new commercial venture, funded by a reported $3 billion investment from SSG, will give players the opportunity to receive over $1.5 billion in equity. Below is a excerpt from an email sent to Tour players outlining the equity model

🏈 Massive new media rights deal for the College Football Playoff. ESPN has reportedly agreed to a six-year extension worth $7.8 billion that will keep the newly expanded 12-team playoff on the worldwide leader through the 2031 season.

In related news, ESPN announced that Nick Saban will join the College Gameday crew next season. ESPN continuing to ensure that Saban is involved in the playoff one way or another 😉 .

🤮 Wasted Management. The annual Debauchery in the Desert went to a whole new level this past weekend. Plenty of viral clips of patrons leaving their dignity in green side bunkers. Here are a couple of our favorites:

📺️ All Jordan Speith can do is smile 

📺️ Watch until the end

📺️ Man vs. Gravity

📈 Stats don’t lie

🧑‍🍳 Min Lulu Lee. Lululemon floods the WMPO with hundreds of Lululemon clad fans sporting chefs hats.

❣️ Feeling Finau. Tony won’t forget next year…

🦉 Only Paige. The OG with an ode to the Big Cat…

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