By Eric Cohen
I was thinking about the lead for this column on Saturday night
and how foolish all of us were for ignoring Brooks Koepka, injury
or not, in a major no less! And then Sunday happened…
It wasn’t until he had a 5 shot lead on the back 9 that I thought
Phil Mickelson had a chance to win the PGA Championship. I just
couldn’t envision any way, as of the front 9, that Brooks was going
to choke. But as much as Koepka underachieved on Sunday, Phil
proved himself as a worthy champion.
As majors go, this one ranks right up there for me with Tiger’s
2019 Masters and the 2008 epic U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in
terms of incredible theater. There is nothing like the inward 9 of a
major championship with notable players in contention. I’ll take
those sporting events against just about any others we’d see on a
yearly basis.
Now the PGA Tour is off to Texas again and the Charles Schwab
Challenge, where the resumption of golf last June took place. I
had Collin Morikawa to win but he couldn’t hold off a surging
Daniel Berger in a playoff in 2020. Yet it was the start of a nice
run of picking winners those next few months.
The course favors accuracy, not necessarily length…and I have a
gut feeling that we’re going to see a first time PGA winner this
week. Will my fellow competitors agree with that logic?
Once again the rules: each picker will get a simulated $200 to bet;
$100 of which will be on win bets and another $100 on top-5, top-
10, and top-20 bets only. The kicker this time is that the money
can only be spent on a maximum of three golfers in each
category. Picking winners has never been so difficult.
Here are this week’s plays for the Charles Schwab Challenge:
(Odds courtesy of Draft Kings Sportsbook)
The Parlay Kid
Last Week’s Results: +$350
Total ROI: +$4960
Winners Picked in 2021: 5 (Reed, Berger, Morikawa, Thomas,
McIlroy)
$35 to WIN: Abraham Ancer (+1700)
$35 to WIN: Joaquin Niemann (+2650)
$30 to WIN: Patrick Reed (+1700)
$100 on Top-10: Gary Woodland (+400)
Eric:
Last Week’s Results: -$200
Total ROI: +$407.50
Winners Picked in 2021:3 (Berger, Thomas, McIlroy)
$40 to WIN: Scottie Scheffler (+3000)
$30 to WIN: Abraham Ancer (+1700)
$30 to WIN: Will Zalatoris (+2500)
$100 on Top-10: Corey Conners (+200)
Harry
Last Week’s Results: -$200
Total ROI: +$111.25
Winners Picked in 2021: 2 (Spieth, McIlroy)
$50 to WIN: Jordan Spieth (+1050)
$50 to WIN: Daniel Berger (+1900)
$100 on Top-20: Daniel Berger (+110)
Producer Michael
Last Week’s Results: -$200
Total ROI: -$281.25
Winners Picked in 2021: 2 (DeChambeau, Spieth)
$50 to WIN: Collin Morikawa (+1500)
$25 to WIN: Tony Finau (+1700)
$25 to WIN: Corey Conners (+1900)
$50 on Top-5: Collin Morikawa (+350)
$25 on Top-5: Tony Finau (+400)
$25 on Top-10: Corey Conners (+200)
Brother Bri
Last Week’s Results: -$200
Total ROI: -$605
Winners Picked in 2021: 0
$40 to WIN: Collin Morikawa (+1500)
$40 to WIN: Abraham Ancer (+1700)
$20 to WIN: Corey Conners (+1900)
$100 on Top-5: Collin Morikawa (+350)
Find more of Eric’s sports opinions and predictions on Twitter at
@CohensCornerAZ.