Our team has said countless times on our shows this week that it is paramount that players avoid water and desert hazards off-the-tee. Players will be driving everywhere they can, as we highlighted this week that TPC Scottsdale features a 85.3% driver usage percentage compared to the Tour average of 67.3%.

Here are the top 10 players in the field strokes gained distance from edge of fairway, over the last 50 rounds:

Kurt Kitayama is either winning the Waste, or he’s coming in second to Scottie Scheffler, but this is about as confident I have felt about the marriage between a golfer’s recent form and course fit at a number north of 60/1 in quite some time. While the results to open 2025 have been less than stellar on the surface, I was tentatively optimistic in Kitayama’s approach play improvement even in a missed cut at Torrey Pines.

Kitayama was by far the best approach plater (and ball-striker in general of the Fall Swing), and while there was a bit of regression to open the calendar year, the upside is there. Kitayama can gain 10 strokes on approach in any given week, and he is one of the few players in this entire field who can compete with Scheffler from tee to green. Just like Scheffler, Kitayama has feasted at TPC Scottsdale via long and powerful driving and elite middle-iron play. In two appearances at the Weiskopf design, Kitayama has finished 23rd and eighth, gaining strokes in all four major categories in both appearances.

Just like Scheffler, the easy straightforward nature of TPC Scottsdale’s green is massive benefit for a player whose only real struggle is with the flat-stick. We’ve seen Kitayama take down an even stronger field in a Signature Event at Bay Hill. Number two is coming this week.

The star of the biggest upset in TGL’s history last week had his best finish of the year with a T7 at Pebble. In his last two starts at Amex and Pebble, he gained 2.08 and 1.24 strokes tee-to-green respectively. We have seen in past tournaments that you need to avoid the big miss at TPC Scottsdale. Tom Kim ranks 1st in distance from edge of fairway. Additionally, Tom Kim ranks 10th in the field on desert courses.

If you are looking for a flier option this week, I would go with Benny An, Kurt Kitayama, or Maverick McNealy.

My best friend played Cypress Point with his father. He is as a big of a golf sicko as I know (as is his dad) and truly one of us. I would venture to say that there are about one to three golf courses on the planet that seem to transcend everything and exist in a wholly different spiritual space to other golf courses. Cypress Point is one of them. It frankly made me emotional just see such a close friend get to have that experience with his dad. I have no idea if I will ever make it to Cypress Point, and if sharing this experience from afar is the closest I ever get, I’ll be okay with that. Here are Billy Roddy’s stream of consciousness thoughts on Cypress Point: 

Cypress was unbelievable. It’s like stepping on to another plane of golf existence. Something poetic about hitting over the hedge on 1 tee and hitting over the cypress barricade on 18 tee. Those barriers demarcate the line between the earthly and the heavenly. 

The course is so much fun right from the first hole. The greens are extraordinary. Ball runs out hard and the ground game is in play at all times. There are plenty of Mackenzie visual tricks on the greens. It looks like it goes left-to-right (it goes right-to-left). Uphill putt the whole way? Nope, it runs out 15 feet past the pin. Is it severe, yes. Do you almost always have some artisanal route to salvation, also yes. But, you better have 100 different shots in the bag to play the one needed.

The sense that it’s three-courses-in-one is visceral on the ground (trees, dunes, ocean). 

The holes in the trees are the best parkland golf holes I’ve ever seen. Rollicking fairways on the par fives. Playing to plateaus to keep a view of the pin. Your synapses are firing right away. 

Then you get to the links land and most of the greens are tucked into the dunes like God tailor-made them for the purpose of golf. 7, 8, 9 are stacked into the dunes in a manner that seems to defy logic. It’s a 3D interlocking-mesh of golf holes that seems impossible and yet plays SO well. Every shot has to be well considered, but you always have opportunities.

You play through 14 and navigate the octopus tree, then you know you have the walk to 15. The excitement crescendos. You can feel your heart start racing, but you hear the birds chittering and warbling, you smell the pines and are brought back into your body. Rounding the corner and 15 is revealed to you on your left. 15 is so visually striking it is really hard to believe. There are otters poking their heads out of the water in the churning finger-like inlets. The green looks like an AI-golf-amalgam-portraiture of Luciano Pavarotti hitting a high C. It truly defies any form of hyperbole. Superlative.

After 15 you trudge along the gravel through a tunnel of twisted, wickedly beautiful Cypress. Rounding another corner, but this time on your right, 16 is laid out in all its splendor. There is no better tee shot in golf. I certainly don’t have the depth of experience to say that with authority, but goddamnit it’s got to be true. I blacked out and next thing I know my shot is flying on a rope at the center of the green. I made a routine 82ft birdie putt and then on to 17. 17 tee shot is spectacular from the tee and must be placed with consideration in the right part of the fairway.

The grove of cypress in the centerline of the approach is not as tall as pictures may make it look, but it has to be navigated with care. Walking 17 fairway there’s a chorus of 100 sea lions on a rock adjacent to 16 green/17 tee. They are singing a baritone end to the symphony. The wildlife and beauty of those ocean holes stands alone. It cannot be reproduced.

Best golf course I’ve ever played. I learned a lot and it has reframed how I view golf course architecture.

Okay, as everyone knows, 2025 is a Ryder Cup year. Yet not just is it a Ryder Cup year, it’s also a Ryder Cup year at Bethpage: a golf course very special to me, and even more pertinent to my ISN colleague, Brian Kirschner, who lives just a 5 iron away. In fact, Bethpage was how our friendship began. The first time we ever met, I stayed in his childhood bedroom before we woke up at 4:30 AM the following morning to tackle the Black course. 

To share my excitement about my favorite event coming home to New York, I wanted to create a monthly Ryder Cup power ranking for the next nine months leading into the event. On the first week of every month, I will track my projected team, based on who I believe is most likely and should be at Bethpage. I am not yet taking into account the automatic qualifiers, this is simply the 12 best golfers at each team’s disposal, ranked in terms of their necessity to be on the team. Each month I will move players up and down accordingly, and it should be a fun way for everyone to track how the teams stack up as we near the September festivities. Hope you enjoy. 

FEBRUARY 

United States 

1. Scottie Scheffler (Last Month: 1)

2. Xander Schauffele (Last Month: 2)

3. Collin Morikawa (Last Month: 4)

4. Bryson DeChambeau (Last Month: 3)

5. Justin Thomas (Last Month: 6)

6. Patrick Cantlay (Last Month: 5)

7. Brooks Koepka (Last Month: 7)

8. Sam Burns (Last Month: 8)

9. Tony Finau (Last Month: 9)

10. Keegan Bradley (Last Month: 14)

11. Russell Henley (Last Month: 13)

12. Billy Horschel (Last Month: 17)

The Bubble

13. Sahith Theegala (Last Month: 10)

14. Akshay Bhatia (Last Month: 11)

15. Wyndham Clark (Last Month: 12)

16. Maverick McNealy (Last Month: 18)

17. Will Zalatoris (Last Month: 20)

18. Davis Thompson (Last Month: 15)

19. Cameron Young (Last Month: 16)

20. Harris English (Last Month: N/A)

21. Off the Rankings: Max Greyserman 

On the Rankings: Harris English 

Europeans

1. Rory McIlroy (Last Month: 1)

2. Jon Rahm (Last Month: 2)

3. Ludvig Aberg (Last Month: 3)

4. Tyrrell Hatton (Last Month: 5)

5. Tommy Fleetwood (Last Month: 6)

6. Viktor Hovland (Last Month: 4)

7. Shane Lowry (Last Month: 7)

8. Sepp Straka (Last Month: 12)

9. Matt Fitzpatrick (Last Month: 9)

10. Robert MacIntyre (Last Month: 11)

11. Rasmus Højgaard (Last Month: 10)

12. Justin Rose (Last Month: NR)

The Bubble

13. Aaron Rai (Last Month: 12)

14. David Puig (Last Month: 17)

15. Alex Noren (Last Month: 13)

16. Tom McKibbon (Last Month: 18)

17. Harry Hall (Last Month: 15)

18. Laurie Canter (Last Month: NR)

19. Thomas Detry (Last Month: 19)

20. Niklas Norgaard (Last Month: 20)

This is arguably the best matchup for the NFL from a storyline perspective:

• Super Bowl 57 rematch

• Chiefs going for a 3-peat

• Andy Reid vs Eagles Round 2

• Taylor Swift

• Saquon Barkley’s legendary season

• Hurts and Siranni vs. the national media haters

• Mahomes GOAT conversation with four rings before turning 30

If you keep up with the discord, you know I am a die-hard Eagles fan. It has been an phenomenal year for the Birds, as they battled back from a troubling 2-2 start. Keeping up with Philadelphia sports radio and the national NFL media, people were calling for Nick Siranni to be fired and argued that Jalen Hurts isn’t a good QB (both takes I disagreed with).

The week 5 bye was the best thing to happen for this team all season. They were able to click the reset button. They became a run first team behind the best offensive line in the league and fed the man they PAID in the off-season in Saquon Barkley. The defense turned the corner, led by the young pass rushers on our Dline, Zach Baun turning into a first team all-pro LB, and our rookie cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean playing like studs. And finally, Jalen Hurts didn’t turn the ball over and controlled every game down the stretch.

As for the game, I believe the Eagles will win. I am not entirely confident just because we are facing Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, Spags, and the Refs.

Jalen Hurts is playing great playoff football by not turning the ball over and making the right reads/audibles at the line of scrimmage (literally no one is giving him any credit for this). This will be the best defense the Chiefs will face all year. It will be critical for the Eagles front four to pressure and contain Mahomes in the pocket. Hopefully we get some good field conditions this time around!

One of my concerns is Travis Kelce, as Zach Ertz in the NFC Championship game had 10+ catches for over 100 yards. I am hoping Fangio puts DeJean on Kelce and make the other Chiefs playmakers beat you.

I can go on for another 500+ words, but let’s just get to my final score prediction:

 Eagles 24 Chiefs 20.

Staff Prop Bets

We gathered a couple of our staff members to send in their favorite Super Bowl prop:

Joey Molisani: Tails -104 —> Tails never fails.

Cameron Kerr: Jalen Hurts 1st TD +650 —> TUSH PUSH!

Chris Parish: Xavier Worthy ATTD +155 —> He’s scored in 3 of the last 4 games he’s played in. He’s great in space and Mahomes likes to find him. 44 targets in his last 5 games.

Kyle Hewett: Patrick Mahomes ATTD +400 —> He tends to use his legs more in the playoffs historically. He’s got 18 carries in 2 playoff games and 2 TDs vs the Bills on ground in the AFC Championship game. 7 career rushing playoff TDs and I think he will be forced to be on move more with the Eagles Dline being able to get a lot of pressure.

Josh Segal: Saquon Barkley over 112.5 Rushing Yards —> Not going to overthink this one. The Eagles offense runs through their Oline and Saquon Barkley. The Eagles run a ton of inside zone and the Chiefs haven’t been a great rush defense against it. He should get 20+ touches on the ground and possibly more depending on the game script. It’s also Saquon’s birthday on Sunday. Go Birds 🦅!

Rishi Loungani: Devonta Smith MVP 60-1 —> KC is going to make Philly throw on them to win. Barkley will get his but the Chiefs are going to force Hurts to throw and I think it sets up for a big game for Devonta Smith against a Chiefs slot funnel defense.

The three times Smith has played against Spagnuolo:

7-122

7-100

6-99

If the Eagles can pull it out, I see Devonta Smith being a big part of the story.

We had the biggest win to date at the company this past weekend. Our very own Coby Dubose won $130k on Rory McIIroy winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He also selected Rory in our ISN OAD pool.

Coby is one of the co-hosts of our Wednesday night premium show at 8pm est, which has quickly become one of our biggest hits at ISN. You don’t want to miss the show as this is where we give our final thoughts on the DFS slate and go over final ownership.