Weekly Content Schedule

Re-Watchables

In case you missed it, here are the YouTube links to re-watch any of our shows or if you need to listen for the first time:

Sunday

Inside Golf Podcast: American Express Betting & DFS Preview

Hold The Green: American Express Course & Statistical Preview

Monday

Inside Golf Podcast: American Express Live DFS Show

Tap In Birdie: American Express with Tom & Marty’s

Tuesday

Hold The Green: American Express Best Bets

Wednesday

Inside Golf Podcast: Insiders Only Premium DFS Show

Sony Open Content Recap

We had a great start to the 2026 golf year. On our Ball Knowers After Dark premium Wednesday night show, Kyle highlighted Chris Gotterup as someone that could break the slate at $8,500 at 4% ownership. The team was also very high on Ryan Gerard who finished solo 2nd, two shots back of Gotterup.

American Express Course & Statistical Preview

Andy Lack

Now that we have seen these changes play out, I wouldn’t even remotely screw around with targeting Stadium Course players for showdown. Prior to the changes, it already played at least 0.5 strokes harder than both courses, and after the changes, the Stadium Course played nearly three strokes harder than La Quinta and Nicklaus Tournament Course.

In terms of our breakdown of the Stadium Course, I would place a further emphasis on tee-to-green play (and even bunker play), on a golf course that is sneakily more of a second-shot course than it is a putting contest.

Last year the Stadium Course ranked middle of the pack in terms of difficulty (the hardest it has played in years), so this is a much different Stadium Course than we have seen in years past. The greens in regulation percentage was lower, and at least over a small sample size, around the green played a much larger role in determining what players made the cut.

The slope in 2025 was 1.18, which actually means that higher skilled players separated more from lower skilled players than they do at a typical PGA Tour course. Statistically speaking, the Stadium Course has been a much easier course for players to separate at than say, Waialae. Yet we have this interesting juxtaposition now where the Stadium Course has become a lot more like a real course, but the other two courses are just a total joke.

My modeling reflects this, and I’ve had to place a lot more emphasis on scoring based on the two rounds at La Quinta and Nicklaus Tournament, which the PGA Tour stubbornly refuses to renovate.

For the rest of Andy’s extensive American Express preview article ⬇️

Dubai Desert Classic Preview

Bexico City

The Emirates Golf Club is a 7,439 yard par 72 that has an outward nine of par 35 that plays close to a stroke over par and an inward par 37 with three par fives that plays close to a stroke under par. Over the past five years the scoring average is a flat even par, with fluctuations between the easier 2023 year won at -19 with a scoring average of -1.22 and the harder 2022 year won at -12 with a scoring average of +0.78. The fairways, rough and greens are Bermuda grass, with the wider corridors surrounded by native areas with desert.

The course is mostly very flat, although the eighth hole does have some undulation with a downhill tee shot into a valley along the edge of the desert before an uphill approach. This time of year isn’t too hot despite being in the desert, with temperatures in the mid 60’s for most of the week before climbing into the mid 70s on Sunday and no rain expected.

There are some strong winds currently forecast for Thursday, with the morning in particular set to see gusts of up to 30mph before calming slightly to closer to 20mph in the afternoon. That could be enough to see a PM/AM wave advantage, with the rest of the week forecast to have much calmer winds.

For the rest of Bexico’s extensive Dubai Desert Classic preview article ⬇️

LOVE: Matt Fitzpatrick 

• I am quite bullish on Fitzy’s 2026 golf season 

• He finished the 2025 season strong over on the DP World Tour with three top 6 finishes and a win at the DP World Tour Championship back in November 

• What has really impressed me about Fitzy’s recent play has been his approach play 

• Since the US Open back in June, Fitzy has only lost strokes on approach twice and is coming off gaining 5 strokes on approach at the DP World Tour Championship 

• You lowkey need a good short game at the Amex which Fitzy does have in his arsenal 

• Despite making his first career start at the Amex this week, I believe Fitzy’s stellar play will continue this week

Hate: Ludvig Aberg

• Ludvig had an interesting 2025 season as he had an illness that caused him to WD and not play up to his standard early in the year

• Once he got healthy, he went onto win the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines

• I don’t particularly love the course fit this week at the American Express because it will be hard for Ludvig to separate from the field with his best club in his bag, which is his driver

• Ludvig’s short game has been subpar, which worries me at the Stadium Course. 

• I would much rather prefer to play Ludvig on longer tougher scoring condition golf courses than what we will see this week

Last week, I picked Hideki Matsuyama who finished T13. I was looking for a top 10 finish out of Hideki but I have historically been horrendous picking players at Sony in OAD so I can’t complain that much.

This week, I want to pick a golfer that played well at the Sony Open, which led me to selecting Harry Hall.

Hall finished T6 last week, gaining positive strokes in all four statistical categories. He specifically gained 4 strokes ball striking that should translate quite well this week at all three courses in the rotation. I love the course fit for him as he ranks 9th in the field in strokes gained on short courses, 3rd in easy scoring conditions, and 11th on Poa Trivialis golf courses.

Harry Hall deserved to be on the European Ryder Cup team but they are a lads club now and wasn’t a captains pick. I believe he will continue his elite play and finish inside the top 10.

2026 Season Total: $163,042

Closing Stretch

Josh Segal

The Fate of Professional Golf is in the hands of Bryson DeChambeau

Last week, the golf world was turned upside down when Brooks Koepka announced his return to the PGA Tour through the newly established “Returning Member Program”. As we highlighted last week, outside of Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith are the only LIV golfers that are eligible to return to the PGA Tour through the program. 

Bryson has two options on where he wants to play golf in 2026. He could return to the PGA Tour through this program, or he could continue out his contract on LIV Golf that is set to expire after this season. 

In a press conference last week, Bryson unenthusiastically stated, “I’m contracted through 2026, so excited about this year.” This isn’t the first time that Bryson has seemed halfhearted and lukewarm about playing on LIV Golf and the future of the league. He has grown frustrated with the lack of growth of LIV, how his voice isn’t necessarily heard on key decisions and how LIV can’t earn OWGR points. 

With Brooks Koepka leaving LIV, Bryson has all the leverage in the world to get paid even more handsomely than he is now. The deal he signed back in 2022 was rumored to be over $125 million. The word on the golf streets is that Bryson is looking to sign a deal with LIV Golf for $500 million. 

The LIV and Bryson contract negotiations will be very interesting. Bryson has already hinted to the media that he would be perfectly fine investing more of his time in his YouTube channel, as he believes his public course record and breaking 50 series help keep his competitive juices flowing and are satisfactory preparation practices for the major championships. It should be noted that Bryson is qualified for the major championships until 2028 because of his 2024 US Open win at Pinehurst, so not earning any OWGR points on LIV won’t affect his upcoming appearances in the majors.

Bryson could just be saying that as a negotiation tactic with LIV Golf in hopes of them sliding over a blank check across the table for him to stay with the league. He should ask for all the money in the world in a new deal with LIV Golf. Bryson is one of the biggest names in the sport and has grown in popularity through YouTube and social media. 

However, has Bryson’s growth in popularity as one of the biggest names in golf translated to more people watching LIV Golf? As big of a presence and draw that Bryson is, I still don’t believe there aren’t many enough people out there that watch LIV Golf just to tune into Bryson. His YouTube presence alone gives fans an easier alternative to watch him compete in these fun challenges. It’s also a lot easier to pull up YouTube on your TV or computer than trying to watch him on cable TV compete all over the world in a timezone 8-12 hours ahead.

LIV Golf doesn’t have a choice but to accept all of Bryson’s wishes and demands. If Bryson does leave for the PGA Tour or decides to pursue YouTube full-time, is that the end of LIV Golf? Bryson DeChambeau has a very interesting decision to make. In the current golf ecosystem, you can argue that Bryson has the most power in determining the fate of professional golf for the next five years.

Can you actually improve your golf game at indoor simulators?

I have lived in the northeast for all of my life, as I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and currently live in New York City. As an avid golfer, you can’t play golf all year long. The season starts in April and concludes in the beginning of November. Some of us golf sickos around this time of year are getting the itch to break in the new clubs we got for the holidays and see how far we can hit our shiny new, technologically advanced drivers. 

While I was walking around Brooklyn in the snow last Saturday, I saw a couple of people carrying their golf clubs around, in which I assume they were either going or leaving a golf simulator. This led me to think about whether indoor golf simulators are worth it, and can you actually improve your golf game on one?

Since moving to New York City in 2022, I haven’t been to a golf simulator that I had to pay for. I actually went to a Five Iron in Midtown for a Bob Does Sports event, which was a great time meeting their crew and other golf personalities.

As I stated before, I have had the itch every winter to pick up my clubs and see how I am hitting the ball after not playing for months. However, whenever I go online to book a simulator, the prices are outrageous. If you went to a Five Iron in New York, you are dropping around $75 for an hour. That is almost the same price to play an above average public golf course on a weekend.

I get the fun of a golf simulator if you want to go and just use the driving range setting with some friends over some beers. For me, if I am going to the simulator, I want to lock in and see if I can improve my driver and iron play. Playing courses on the simulator is fun, but once you get on or around the greens, it’s pretty pointless. 

In my opinion, it seems pretty difficult to be able to improve your golf game at a simulator. I know you can see all the trackman stats, but for the majority of golfers, those stats don’t matter at all, and many probably don't even know what they mean. 

Before I fly down to Florida and play a round or two with my brother and our close friend, I am debating going to a simulator beforehand. I would love to hear from you about your experience at golf simulators. Do you go to indoor simulators to strictly improve your golf game or more recreationally? If you do go to improve, has the simulator helped?

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