There are 156 golfers scheduled to tee off at TPC Craig Ranch for the AT&T Byron Nelson this week. Each one of them will be fighting extra hard to make the cut so they don’t have to spend the weekend with their families. The lucky 65 who accomplish that feat will be forsaking Sunday Brunch for their share of $9.5 million. Belated or not, a ten-million dollar purse is a pretty solid Mother’s Day Gift.
The Prodigal Son Withdraws
Unfortunately, Dallas’ Native Son, Jordan Spieth, will be sitting this one out with a left wrist injury. An obvious hometown favorite, Spieth juiced up the TPC crowd last year with a second-place finish after going T9 the previous year. In one of those “This is so serious I’m using iNotes” tweets, the 2015 FedEx champ expressed his disappointment at having to spend Mother’s Day with his mom.
Spieth is currently entered in next week’s PGA Championship, but “severe pain” in his left wrist certainly casts serious doubt on his ability to complete the fabled career grand slam.
The Other Dallas Star
Did you know there’s another golfer on the tour who went to the University of Texas at Austin and currently calls Dallas his home? Maybe you’ve heard of him? His name is Scottie Scheffler. He’s the odds on favorite to win this event, and there’s really no reason he shouldn’t. According to this ESPN stat line, the last time he finished worse than T12 was back in October 2022. That’s bananas enough to go in a mother’s day fruit melange.
I don’t think this will be a tune up for Scheffler. He won’t be looking ahead to the PGA Championship. He’ll be looking to win on his home turf (consisting of Zoysia fairways and bentgrass greens). The only ray of sunshine for the rest of the field might be Scheffler’s occasionally cold putter. But who can take advantage?
Contenders or Pretenders?
- K.H. Lee: All he’s done is win this tournament two years in a row, but that’s just not good enough course history for me.
- Jason Day: This poor guy is suffering from vertigo again.
- Tyrrell Hatton: He’s got one too many Rs in his first name, but Hatton refers to five-foot putts as “Little Bum Squeakers” and because of that, I’ll be rooting for him to sink them all.
A Longshot Pick
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout: I have been hearing this guy’s name a lot this week. Either he’s got a real chance to win or it’s allergy season (Achoo! Achoo! Bezuidenhout!). Either way, with the current odds at 50 to 1, I think it’s worth a snot.
Truly, TPC Craig Ranch is usually a birdie fest, and despite the 12th hole’s conversion from an easy par 5 to a challenging par 4, it’s going to be a birdie fest again this year. You wanna win, you gotta score. If you like data, there are a few stats on this random-ass website illustrating that Bez is a beast on easy scoring courses and bentgrass greens. Good enough for me!
Alright, Let’s Check in on the Texas Toast. The Bread. Money. Moolah.
Here’s what all these mother’s sons will be playing for on Sunday. I hope you have a happy day no matter what your situation is.
MA! THE BRIDGESTONES!!!
| 1 | $1,710,000 |
| 2 | $1,035,500 |
| 3 | $655,500 |
| 4 | $465,500 |
| 5 | $389,500 |
| 6 | $344,375 |
| 7 | $320,625 |
| 8 | $296,875 |
| 9 | $277,875 |
| 10 | $258,875 |
| 11 | $239,875 |
| 12 | $220,875 |
| 13 | $201,875 |
| 14 | $182,875 |
| 15 | $173,375 |
| 16 | $163,875 |
| 17 | $154,375 |
| 18 | $144,875 |
| 19 | $135,375 |
| 20 | $125,875 |
| 21 | $116,375 |
| 22 | $106,875 |
| 23 | $99,275 |
| 24 | $91,675 |
| 25 | $84,075 |
| 26 | $76,475 |
| 27 | $73,625 |
| 28 | $70,775 |
| 29 | $67,925 |
| 30 | $65,075 |
| 31 | $62,225 |
| 32 | $59,375 |
| 33 | $56,525 |
| 34 | $54,150 |
| 35 | $51,775 |
| 36 | $49,400 |
| 37 | $47,025 |
| 38 | $45,125 |
| 39 | $43,225 |
| 40 | $41,325 |
| 41 | $39,425 |
| 42 | $37,525 |
| 43 | $35,625 |
| 44 | $33,725 |
| 45 | $31,825 |
| 46 | $29,925 |
| 47 | $28,025 |
| 48 | $26,505 |
| 49 | $25,175 |
| 50 | $24,415 |
| 51 | $23,845 |
| 52 | $23,275 |
| 53 | $22,895 |
| 54 | $22,515 |
| 55 | $22,325 |
| 56 | $22,135 |
| 57 | $21,945 |
| 58 | $21,755 |
| 59 | $21,565 |
| 60 | $21,375 |
| 61 | $21,185 |
| 62 | $20,995 |
| 63 | $20,805 |
| 64 | $20,615 |
| 65 | $20,425 |