Welcome to one of the craziest weeks in sports! Thousands of screaming fans packed into an arena will be cheering, booing and watching the world’s best as they try to take home the title. Who wouldn’t want to head to Atlan...Scottsdale, Arizona to check out some golf! Surprisingly enough, there are a lot of parallels between the Superbowl and the Waste Management Phoenix Open this weekend. There’s obviously the famous arena style atmosphere on the par-3 16th, but did you know that over 200,000 people attended the WMPO in 2018? A mere 67,000 attended Superbowl LII. Luckily, the tournament always finishes early so diehard football fans and players alike can catch the start of festivities in Atlanta. Expect the birdies to fly, with an average score of 16 under winning here the last 5 years. Grab a beer, sit back, relax, and dream of warmer weather.
Top Pick: Rickie Fowler
We’ve heard a lot about Justin Thomas, Jordan, Bryson, Xander and the other young guns this season. Rickie just passed the big 3-0, but I think he’s entering a promising decade to really kickstart his winning potential. He’s not quite Tom Brady’s age, but Rickie is a model of consistency. He has a top-5 and another top-25 in three events this year, averaging 4.92 birdies per round and 73% of greens in regulation. He also plays well at TPC Scottsdale, posting two second place finishes in his career and hasn’t placed worse than T-11th since 2015.
Back to the Range Bro: Bubba Watson
Bubba needs to find some consistency. Coming off a huge 3 win season, he’s in a bit of a slowdown. Since his win at the Travelers in June, Bubba has missed 4 of 11 cuts and posted only 3 top-25 finishes. This season, he’s losing 2.1 strokes per round on the green. YIKES. Bubba has some success at this track with 2 second place finishes in his career, but I think this week he’ll be slammin’ the trunk a bit early.
Superbowl Pick: New England Patriots
It wouldn’t be right to do Gregatron’s Pick of the Week without weighing in on Superbowl LIII. This is Tom Brady’s 9th Superbowl, winning 5. I don’t see Eli Manning on the other team, so we can cut out the Giants’ curse. Jared Goff and the Rams are a great team, but I expect Brady to play like the GOAT. It’ll be a nailbiter, but I’m calling Patriots 31 - 27.