This year we will be tracking each of our writers’ performances in our 95 person One And Done (OAD) pool. For those of you who do not know what a OAD pool is, it is a season long contest in which you select one golfer per week with the golfer’s earned money that week adding to your season total. Once you select a golfer, you cannot use him the rest of the year (so, no, you cannot pick DJ or Tiger every week).

Match Play Results

Sam Scherman: Francesco Molinari, 3rd-712K
Kevin Walsh: Francesco Molinari, 3rd-712K
Bear: Rory McIlroy, T9-167K
Tony Kasper: Charles Howell III, T24-81K
Jack Corrigan: Justin Thomas, T24-81K
Sean Carney: Justin Thomas, T24-81K
Jake Mulholland: Bubba Watson, T40-63K
Frank Laterza: Brooks Koepka, T56-53K
Mike McNamara: Brooks Koepka, T56-53K

-One of those tourney’s where you’re not ~happy~ about your finish unless ya win the thing. Always feels like there was more to be had. Even for the Cesco’s of the world.

-Molinari looked poised and more than capable of winning the whole thing until he ran into the buzzsaw that is Kevin Kisner.

-Rory was the only other golfer to advance from group play but just didn’t quite have it against Tiger.

-Hurts to waste JT and Brooks here. When reached for comment on Brooks’ efforts down in Austin, Mike McNamara replied, “No comment.” Only a man like Tommy Lew could render Mike McNamara speechless!

Season Standings through Week 13:

Sam more than doubles his previous score to get out of last place. And Kevin is knocking on Jake’s door.

	Place	Points	Wins	Top 5	Top 10
Jake	13rd (↓1)	3623118	2	2	3
Kevin	19th (↑8)	3312813	1	4	4
Tony	43rd (↓7)	2311576	0	3	5
Frank	64th (↓5)	1774121	0	3	4
Jack	69th (↓1)	1653150	0	2	2
Sean	74th (↓4)	1522731	0	2	5
Sam	79th (↑12)	1390130	0	1	2
Mike	83rd (↓2)	1228143	0	2	2
Bear	86th (↓2)	1092900	0	0	4

Texas Valero Open Picks

Jake Mulholland: Sungjae Im — A man destined to be the Arnold Palmer Award recipient for 2018-19, Im has already racked up five Top 10 finishes this year. I was high on the 2018 WEB.COM Player of the Year early on this season and he is truly living up to the hype (more so than Cameron Champ and the other rooks). Being that this is Im’s first year on tour, every week brings on new challenges and unfamiliarity. Surprisingly enough, Im has at times looked like a five year vet on tour the way he has been able to stay composed on unfamiliar grounds. After leading the Honda Classic after two rounds and subsequently choking on the weekend, I believe Im has found new confidence in himself on tour. This week I evaluated the following categories: GIR, Bogey Avoidance, SG: OTT, SG: Putting, Scrambling, Par 5 Birdie or Better, Ball Striking, and Prox to hole 175-200. I compiled the aforementioned rankings for seven players and Im ranked first or second in 4/7 of the categories (which tied Abraham Ancer per my categories). IM stats I love: 29th Bogey Avoidance, 22nd Off the Tee, 21st Par 5 BoB, 25th Ball Striking. Chose Im over Ancer because of the sheer distance of TPC San Antonio (7,435 yards). Thinking Im will be in top 15 from 175-200 Prox to hole. Additionally, a T7 finish at the Corales Golf Club (-14) last week tells me Im has been rolling the ball well on the short stuff. After the amount of research performed this week, I’ve got a great feeling heading into the weekend. Similar to my OAD win at WGC, I predict Sungjae will crack the top 10 in FedEx points after a win at the Valero evidently punching his ticket to The Masters, and consequently jolting MoulinRouge back in the top 10 for the OAD pool. 

Kevin Walsh: Tony Finau — Big Tony has some time to prep for this week, as his ass was bounced in the group play down in Austin. I actually prefer that when looking at the Valero, as fatigue and Augusta next week make me think a lot of big names could be about 75-80% in on this week. Tony is a gamer tho, and he wants the elusive big time W to go along with his win in Puerto Rico. He won’t have the desperate motivation of win or go home for next week, but I like his chances as good as anyone in this limited field. A longer course with 4 Par 5s to boot plays right into his hands. If Tony can even play solid golf the first 3 days, he will be right there come Sunday.

Tony Kasper: Jordan Spieth — To say a player of his caliber is due to put a good weekend together would be an understatement. Jordan has not looked like himself all season long, but I expect him to be dialed-in with Augusta on the horizon. I can envision a scenario in which he plays well in his home state, finds his mojo a bit, and then pundits begin wondering, “Has Jordan turned it around?”. I saw enough good things out of him last week to justify this pick, and would rather be ahead of the crowd who will take him at The Masters.

Jack Corrigan: Lucas Bjwhatever — Yes, after he knocked me off last week, I’m riding his hot hand. This guys got confidence right now and has the skill to back it up. Don’t know a lot about him besides he makes cuts and his shot tracker was en fuego last week. Played good golf in Texas last week, and I’m hoping it continues into this week.

Frank Laterza: Luke List — If you don’t like sweating over 4 foot par putts, this pick is not for you. But LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKE strikes the ball extremely well, and always seems to be lurking. I really spent minimal time this week as it’s an extremely weak field, and next week is, I don’t know, the biggest week in golf. Cover your eyes and throw the dart, next week is for the big boys.

Sean Carney: Haotong Li — Going to go out on a limb this week with Haotong Li. Li is one of the best in strokes gained off the tee. Li is the 38^th player in the world and may be a bit overlooked this week. He is coming off a good performance last week. I am hoping for Li to have a good performance and come out fired up looking for his first PGA tour win.

Sam Scherman: Luke List  — In a field that is far less top heavy than a normal event, I think List has a chance to FINALLY breakthrough and capture his first victory on the PGA Tour and gain the last entry into the Masters. List is an elite ball striker (3rd in the field in my model), the best in the field on Par 5s, and 3rd in my model in Birdies-or-Better. As I wrote in my column, it’s no secret how bad his putting is but if we try and find a positive, Bermuda grass is his “best” (least bad) putting surface. Further, this course can become brutal in the wind and List, on average, gains over a stroke on the field in windy conditions. List gets it rolling this week, putts above average, and gets the double win with a victory and a trip to Augusta.

Mike McNamara: Ryan Moore — In a field with very few multiple-time PGA TOUR winners, give me a guy who knows how to find the winner’s circle and has had plenty of success at TPC San Antonio. RyMo pulls an Ian Poulter and wins the week before Augusta to sneak into the Masters.

Bear: Kramer Hickok — We had Kramer on a couple weeks ago. He was a really awesome guy. I’m at the point where I feel like any research I do makes my pick worse. I tried to turn my season around with some bigger names and that has failed me. I’m simply going to ride a guy who is from Texas and that I like. To quote Sam, if I could fade myself I would. Let’s see what happens.