After writing an article for two years straight, maybe more, these last 30 days have been the most extended break I’ve had since starting this. In fact, I got so stir crazy I had to write about stocks. Check out my twitter page if you’re interested in all that.
But we aren’t here to talk about the best players in the world, or the best stocks to own right now. We are here to talk about The Outlaw Tour, the only men’s professional golf tour currently being played. We all know why we are here, but how we got here is a different question.
So let’s start back at the beginning since I typically like to know what I’m betting on.
Don’t forget to check out Awesemo’s FREE projections.
The History of Mini-Tours
First, let’s define Mini tours, at least to the best of my knowledge. Many sports have their “secondary” leagues, or even in some cases like baseball, third, fourth and fifth leagues. Well, in golf, the PGA Tour and European Tour sit equal atop the food chain. Then comes the Challenge Tour (Euro PGA) and the Korn Ferry Tour (PGA). Then there are the Latin America Tour and the Mackenzie Tour. But professional golf doesn’t stop there.
Since all of those tours total equal around, let’s just say for argument’s sake, 1,000 golfers, there are plenty of other professional golfers in the world that can’t play on any of them. Thus comes a market for the “mini-tours.” These tours are comprised of all types of golfers, as entry fees into them don’t typically get over $1,000 and really anyone that wants to can enter.
There are actual “formed tours” in Arizona, Florida, California and a few other stops. Even Maine has its own Maine Open where the winner pocketed $7,000 for his efforts. For all you poker gurus, that’s all this is — just a bunch of guys getting together to play golf for money. Anyone can do this that has deemed themselves a “professional” to the USGA, and even if you are not a “pro,” you can still enter the tournament as an amateur but cannot receive a monetary price.
The Outlaw Tour
Now I’ll shift my focus to the Outlaw Tour since we’ve set the stage for what exactly this tour is. It is based solely out of the Scottsdale/Phoenix Area. It’s a 22-event season, starting in September and ending in three weeks. So while this is nice to get back in the game, unless DraftKings picks up the Florida mini-tours, we’ll be back on the bench again until June.
The tour started in 2017 and paid out just shy of $10,000 to the guy who led the money list. Yes, whoever wins first tomorrow for the DraftKings contest will likely, barring any ties, earn way more than the golfer that wins this tournament.
Back to the numbers. In 2018, that number jumped up to $12,000, while this year, Jimmy Gunn is just shy of $20,000 through 10 total events played.
Stats and Info
One can imagine that with a total prize pool of $30,000 on a good week, the stats in technology are lacking, so there’s only one place to get them. If you want to dig deeper than what I’m going to offer here, then click here.
Top Finishes
Top-10s:
- Jeremy Paul (7/7)
- Brandon Jelley (5/5)
- Riley Wheeldon (7/9)
- Derek Bayley (6/8)
- Sam Tripplett (6/8)
Since we know DraftKings points is all about the birdies and eagles, let’s take a look at the top five in “par breakers” among those competing this week with a minimum of five rounds.
Par BreakersÂ
- Jon Trasamar
- Nicolo Galletti
- Matt Gurska
- Jimmy Gunn
- Eric Lillieboe
Check us out on TWITTER, where we talk sports, share articles and have lots of giveaways!
Arrowhead Classic
This week’s event is the Arrowhead Classic at the same name’s country club, featuring a total of 66 players. It’s a three-day event, but remember, DraftKings is only offering showdown contests at this time. The course is a par 70, just shy of 7,000 yards and near the San Bernadino Mountains. It has only two par 5’s on the whole course, measuring 572 yards and 550 yards, so I don’t expect to see many eagles out there this week. Also, there are no drivable par 4’s.
Those of you that have been around the game long enough may know the name Alex Cejka, who is the most notable name in the field this week. Another name you may have heard before is Andrew Yun, a former member of the PGA Tour.
The information is scarce and condensed in terms of where you can find it and what to do with it. But our buddy Alex “Awesemo” Baker has made up his projections. Here are a few picks for round 1 that I’ll be restoring today.
Alex Cejka ($10,700, 33.8 Projection, 6.5/1 Odds)
He’s in the first spot across the board this week, as the traveling PGA Tour pro is looking for work. We last saw him earn a paycheck at the Puerto Rico Open where he finished 60th. He hasn’t missed a cut since the Military Tribute at the Greenbrier. He also withdrew from the Houston Open. In the meantime, he went out to Indonesia for the Indonesian Masters and came in fifth out there. He came in sixth last week in his first Outlaw Tour appearance.
Andrew Yun ($9,800, 32.8 Projection, 10/1 Odds)
After a rough day 1 last week, Yun put two great rounds back-to-back. That got him inside the top 10 last week. Looking for that momentum to carry over, Yun is one of the most accomplished in the field. He’s coming off two good rounds, but yet is priced as the fifth-highest. I’ll hope for lower ownership like we saw last week in round two.
Jeremy Paul ($9,100, 31.2 Projection, 21/1 Odds)
The 26-year-old from Germany endured a good season on the Mackenzie Tour last year, or at least the back half of it, going 11-for-12 to finish the season. He has a twin brother in this field, Yannick Paul, who had a decent season on the Mackenzie Tour last year, but not quite as good as his brother.
Jon Trasamar ($7,900, 28.9 Projection, 70/1 Odds)Â
Well, here’s where I’ve run out of things to say I guess. The 29-year-old leads the tour in par breakers. That’s my reason to play him.
Thomas Lehman ($7,300, 26.8 Projection, 130/1 Odds)
The son of golf legend Tom Lehman has not had nearly the same success as his dad in his young career. In fact, he hasn’t even earned one pro start, which is interesting since Dru Love seems to get one or two each and every year. This Tom Lehman is coming off of a decent 16th-place finish last week.
Parting Thoughts
With no shot tracker, no live scoring and no television, it is truly just a wait-and-sweat. Scores are reportedly staggered every nine holes. But if you are in the mood to do something other than the typical quarantine routine, then maybe Outlaw Golf is your game.
Looking for more PGA DFS picks content? We’ve got loads of articles, data, cheatsheets and more on the Awesemo PGA home page, just click HERE
