March 1, 2023 • 9 mins
Puerto Rico is too beautiful to be considered the lesser event. The API may have all the stars but the betting and DFS edges may be in paradise.
The MoJoKing goes over the course, the tournament history and offers up some of his ideas on this 2023 event.
It's fun, it's fast, it's Hidden Gems Golf!
Brought to you by the 19 Media Group
The MoJoKing goes over the course, the tournament history and offers up some of his ideas on this 2023 event.
It's fun, it's fast, it's Hidden Gems Golf!
Brought to you by the 19 Media Group
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Hidden Gems Golf, wherewe dig a little bit deeper to find
secret treasure for your betting and DFSpleasure. Yeah Baby, back once again,
(00:22):
Back once again, Back once again, ladies and gentlemen. Hello all,
I am the Mojo King and thisis episode number fifty four of Hidden
Gems Golf, brought to you bythe Mighty nineteen media Group. This week
we'll be discussing the Puerto Rico Openbeing played in Puerto Rico. Of course,
I'm not gonna lie as a HiddenGems guy. This tournament is a
(00:43):
lot more fun to me than whatmost people consider the main event of this
week over in Disney World. Yeah, the API has the bigger names,
but the Puerto Rico Open has thebeauty, the beaches, the up and
comers, along with some crafty vetsand well a couple of question marks I'm
not sure about. But this iswhere you uncover true hidden gems. It
(01:06):
also doesn't hurt that my brother fromanother is from Puerto Rico and his daughter,
my god daughter, is half Quartoweekend as well. Hi Maddie for
those not in the know, sheis the one who says Bimo at the
end of every episode. Maybe I'lldrop a longer version of that conversation at
the end of this podcast. Yo, what's up? It's Desmond, the
(01:27):
host of Hip to the Games,a production from nineteen Media Groups, where
the brilliance of basketball and hip hop'spast and present is genuinely appreciated. Join
me every Friday as we celebrate someof the best artists, albums, songs,
bars, eba, players, teams, moments, just anything about the
best combo there is. If youlove basketball and hip hop, that means
(01:49):
you're Hip to the Games. Butno matter what side of the spectrum you're
on, I encourage you to comejoin the fund by listening every Friday on
your favorite platform, courtesy of thegreat nineteen Media Group. All right,
let's get to the tournament shallery.The Puerto Rico Opened will be played at
the Grand Reserve Golf Club, formerlyknown as the Coco Beach Golf and Country
(02:10):
Club. The Grand Reserve was designedby Tom Kite in two thousand and seven
and it has been the home ofthe Puerto rican Opened since two thousand and
eight. The course is a parseventy two and approximately seven thousand, five
hundred yards. The fairways are whyso expect golfers to be hitting a lot
of driver. The greens are alsolarge, they feature pass ballum grass,
(02:31):
and are slow. A good partof the reason why they are so slow
is because it is windy here.Fifteen to twenty mile parle Winds are just
the routine of this course. There'salso some bunkering water and some native areas
to deal with. However, scoringas far as the leaders, tends to
be pretty low. This is theninety Media Group presentation. The past five
(02:55):
winners here were Ryan brem at twentyunder, Rending Grace at nineteen under,
Victor Hovelin at twenty under, MartinTrainer at fifteen under, and Tier Points
at twenty under. The year beforethat was Tony Fee now where he got
his first win. What is strikingabout the names on this list is that
two of the players were elite youngsters. Grace was an established veteran, probably
(03:17):
a tier above most golfers in thistournament, but the other three were complete
shocks. Actually, I believe Iplayed Brem some in fantasy last year,
but I certainly did not expect himto have a chance to win so well.
This year's Puerto Rico opened Crown anotherseemingly random champion, possibly the top
of the odds market. Just doesn'tinspire much confidence, but we'll get to
(03:40):
that in a minute. Another interestingnote about the tournament's recent history is the
cut lines one under, one under, two under, one over, three
under one under. You might expectthe cut lines to be lower considering how
super low the finishing scores are,but the fact is that a decent percentage
of the players in this torn can'ttruly compete with real PGA Tour pros.
(04:03):
Anyone playing near par will have ashot to play this weekend. As far
as the comp courses go, I'mkeeping it simple. I'm looking at coastal
courses and weak field events. Mostof the swing season qualifies for that,
the Barracuda, the Barber Salt,and the Sanderson's Farms. But I'm putting
keying in quotes. With a coupleof exceptions. The golfers in this tournament
(04:28):
haven't had much success on PGA coursesrecently, so my real main strategy is
to look for potential, either thepotential that comes in the form of up
and comers or the potential that comeswith vets that have proven that they can
pop up on a leaderboard. Itwould also be nice if these golfers have
been showing some signs of life recentlyand now your featured presentation. Sadly,
(04:51):
none of my winning duns include thePuerto Rico Open this year. That is
a Shakespearean tragedy. At the topof osboard is Nate Lashley, and once
you get over the shock that NateLashley is the top name in the tournament,
you'll see that he is right wherehe should be. He's shown an
ability to hang with the big dogson occasion and has a seventh and eighth
(05:14):
in his tournament history. Here Withthat said, I think my real top
choice at the moment is Andrew Novak. The twenty seven year old has shown
a knack for being better on coastalcourses and has been able to do competent
job against better fields. As oflate, he is showing signs of improvement
and this would be a nice timeto really show out others I like.
(05:38):
Here are former Hidden Gem selections AkhaBattia, Dylan Woo and Bryce Garnett.
Other intrigued figures include Harry Higgs,Eric Van Ruin, and Cameron Percy.
Meanwhile, I find Harry Hall,Ryan Girard, Sam Stevens and car Un
as newcomers who might be able tostep into the spotlight this week. I
(06:00):
list all those players because I knowcontent for this tournament is lacking compared to
the API, and I want togive you some names to look out for.
But now let's get down to thetrue hitting gems. Shall we?
First up the two hundred eighteenth playerin the world, twenty five year old
Mattie Schmidt. The German has hada tough time so far in a PGA
Tour, but not exactly a surpriseseeing how quickly he has come up the
(06:25):
ranks. Just two years ago hewas the top amateur at thee hundred and
forty nine Open Championship. He followedthat up by being the DP World Tours
Rookie of the Year. He hadinconsistent twenty twenty two in Europe, but
finished pretty strong. In his lastsix events. He has had four misscuts,
but also a fourth in Europe anda sixth here at the American Express.
(06:46):
He also had an eighth last yearat barber Sall. I know he
has the talent to compete. Thiswould seem like in an ideal time to
show that potential. Next up thethree hundred and thirty second ranked player in
the world, twenty eight year oldBrandon Matthews. Now, this one,
on the surface seems like a wildselection, and I guess it is.
And his last thirteen starts he's hadtwo withdrawals, nine miss cuts, a
(07:09):
fifty fifth and a thirty nine.But what I am keying on here is
that his one elite skill set shouldhelp him at this course. He is
long, He is a bomber ina field of mostly mediocri talent. He
is one exception because he has anexceptional skill off the team. All right,
now, let's catch a couple offalling knives, shall we. First
(07:31):
up, I figured I should adda crafty vet to the mix, and
I'm going with old man forty fiveyear old Jim Herman, who is the
five hundred and thirty first ranked playerin the world. I admit he is
a flyer, even wilder than BrandonMatthews. But here's my thinking as far
as he goes. Last year,Herman came out of nowhere for a seventh
(07:51):
place finished here in Puerto Rico.He had been playing terrible up until that
week. This year, he isplaying better marginally better if he is gaining
his confidence in his overall play andshould already be comfortable playing at the golf
club, he might surprise some people. And lastly, the truest of the
true falling knife selections I have everdone, thirty four year old the one
(08:16):
thousand, seven hundred and sixth rankedplayer in the world, Julian et Tulane.
Okay, now, I admit I'veprobably gone way too far down the
rabbit hole, but et Tu lanefor me, has a very specific usage
in draft kings. Once you getbeyond six point eight k there is little
or nothing to select as far asvalue plays. Now, I don't think
(08:39):
et Tu lane is a great play, but if you're trying to jam in
some bigger salary players into your lineup, his minimum salary is definitely a cost
saver you would need, and Ithink he has a legit shot at making
the cut. All right, enoughtalking for me for this week. That
is all I got a shat youall take care in your luck this week.
(09:03):
Keep digging, keep digging. Sothis is what absolute power mm hmmmmm
(09:35):
it's all about. It's like graypower comes great responsibility. Hey, Maddie,
stay byeo. Come here, saylouder bye bo.
Welcome to Hidden Gems Golf, wherewe dig a little bit deeper to find
secret treasure for your betting and DFSpleasure. Yeah Baby, back once again,
(00:22):
Back once again, Back once again, ladies and gentlemen. Hello all,
I am the Mojo King and thisis episode number fifty four of Hidden
Gems Golf, brought to you bythe Mighty nineteen media Group. This week
we'll be discussing the Puerto Rico Openbeing played in Puerto Rico. Of course,
I'm not gonna lie as a HiddenGems guy. This tournament is a
(00:43):
lot more fun to me than whatmost people consider the main event of this
week over in Disney World. Yeah, the API has the bigger names,
but the Puerto Rico Open has thebeauty, the beaches, the up and
comers, along with some crafty vetsand well a couple of question marks I'm
not sure about. But this iswhere you uncover true hidden gems. It
(01:06):
also doesn't hurt that my brother fromanother is from Puerto Rico and his daughter,
my god daughter, is half Quartoweekend as well. Hi Maddie for
those not in the know, sheis the one who says Bimo at the
end of every episode. Maybe I'lldrop a longer version of that conversation at
the end of this podcast. Yo, what's up? It's Desmond, the
(01:27):
host of Hip to the Games,a production from nineteen Media Groups, where
the brilliance of basketball and hip hop'spast and present is genuinely appreciated. Join
me every Friday as we celebrate someof the best artists, albums, songs,
bars, eba, players, teams, moments, just anything about the
best combo there is. If youlove basketball and hip hop, that means
(01:49):
you're Hip to the Games. Butno matter what side of the spectrum you're
on, I encourage you to comejoin the fund by listening every Friday on
your favorite platform, courtesy of thegreat nineteen Media Group. All right,
let's get to the tournament shallery.The Puerto Rico Opened will be played at
the Grand Reserve Golf Club, formerlyknown as the Coco Beach Golf and Country
(02:10):
Club. The Grand Reserve was designedby Tom Kite in two thousand and seven
and it has been the home ofthe Puerto rican Opened since two thousand and
eight. The course is a parseventy two and approximately seven thousand, five
hundred yards. The fairways are whyso expect golfers to be hitting a lot
of driver. The greens are alsolarge, they feature pass ballum grass,
(02:31):
and are slow. A good partof the reason why they are so slow
is because it is windy here.Fifteen to twenty mile parle Winds are just
the routine of this course. There'salso some bunkering water and some native areas
to deal with. However, scoringas far as the leaders, tends to
be pretty low. This is theninety Media Group presentation. The past five
(02:55):
winners here were Ryan brem at twentyunder, Rending Grace at nineteen under,
Victor Hovelin at twenty under, MartinTrainer at fifteen under, and Tier Points
at twenty under. The year beforethat was Tony Fee now where he got
his first win. What is strikingabout the names on this list is that
two of the players were elite youngsters. Grace was an established veteran, probably
(03:17):
a tier above most golfers in thistournament, but the other three were complete
shocks. Actually, I believe Iplayed Brem some in fantasy last year,
but I certainly did not expect himto have a chance to win so well.
This year's Puerto Rico opened Crown anotherseemingly random champion, possibly the top
of the odds market. Just doesn'tinspire much confidence, but we'll get to
(03:40):
that in a minute. Another interestingnote about the tournament's recent history is the
cut lines one under, one under, two under, one over, three
under one under. You might expectthe cut lines to be lower considering how
super low the finishing scores are,but the fact is that a decent percentage
of the players in this torn can'ttruly compete with real PGA Tour pros.
(04:03):
Anyone playing near par will have ashot to play this weekend. As far
as the comp courses go, I'mkeeping it simple. I'm looking at coastal
courses and weak field events. Mostof the swing season qualifies for that,
the Barracuda, the Barber Salt,and the Sanderson's Farms. But I'm putting
keying in quotes. With a coupleof exceptions. The golfers in this tournament
(04:28):
haven't had much success on PGA coursesrecently, so my real main strategy is
to look for potential, either thepotential that comes in the form of up
and comers or the potential that comeswith vets that have proven that they can
pop up on a leaderboard. Itwould also be nice if these golfers have
been showing some signs of life recentlyand now your featured presentation. Sadly,
(04:51):
none of my winning duns include thePuerto Rico Open this year. That is
a Shakespearean tragedy. At the topof osboard is Nate Lashley, and once
you get over the shock that NateLashley is the top name in the tournament,
you'll see that he is right wherehe should be. He's shown an
ability to hang with the big dogson occasion and has a seventh and eighth
(05:14):
in his tournament history. Here Withthat said, I think my real top
choice at the moment is Andrew Novak. The twenty seven year old has shown
a knack for being better on coastalcourses and has been able to do competent
job against better fields. As oflate, he is showing signs of improvement
and this would be a nice timeto really show out others I like.
(05:38):
Here are former Hidden Gem selections AkhaBattia, Dylan Woo and Bryce Garnett.
Other intrigued figures include Harry Higgs,Eric Van Ruin, and Cameron Percy.
Meanwhile, I find Harry Hall,Ryan Girard, Sam Stevens and car Un
as newcomers who might be able tostep into the spotlight this week. I
(06:00):
list all those players because I knowcontent for this tournament is lacking compared to
the API, and I want togive you some names to look out for.
But now let's get down to thetrue hitting gems. Shall we?
First up the two hundred eighteenth playerin the world, twenty five year old
Mattie Schmidt. The German has hada tough time so far in a PGA
Tour, but not exactly a surpriseseeing how quickly he has come up the
(06:25):
ranks. Just two years ago hewas the top amateur at thee hundred and
forty nine Open Championship. He followedthat up by being the DP World Tours
Rookie of the Year. He hadinconsistent twenty twenty two in Europe, but
finished pretty strong. In his lastsix events. He has had four misscuts,
but also a fourth in Europe anda sixth here at the American Express.
(06:46):
He also had an eighth last yearat barber Sall. I know he
has the talent to compete. Thiswould seem like in an ideal time to
show that potential. Next up thethree hundred and thirty second ranked player in
the world, twenty eight year oldBrandon Matthews. Now, this one,
on the surface seems like a wildselection, and I guess it is.
And his last thirteen starts he's hadtwo withdrawals, nine miss cuts, a
(07:09):
fifty fifth and a thirty nine.But what I am keying on here is
that his one elite skill set shouldhelp him at this course. He is
long, He is a bomber ina field of mostly mediocri talent. He
is one exception because he has anexceptional skill off the team. All right,
now, let's catch a couple offalling knives, shall we. First
(07:31):
up, I figured I should adda crafty vet to the mix, and
I'm going with old man forty fiveyear old Jim Herman, who is the
five hundred and thirty first ranked playerin the world. I admit he is
a flyer, even wilder than BrandonMatthews. But here's my thinking as far
as he goes. Last year,Herman came out of nowhere for a seventh
(07:51):
place finished here in Puerto Rico.He had been playing terrible up until that
week. This year, he isplaying better marginally better if he is gaining
his confidence in his overall play andshould already be comfortable playing at the golf
club, he might surprise some people. And lastly, the truest of the
true falling knife selections I have everdone, thirty four year old the one
(08:16):
thousand, seven hundred and sixth rankedplayer in the world, Julian et Tulane.
Okay, now, I admit I'veprobably gone way too far down the
rabbit hole, but et Tu lanefor me, has a very specific usage
in draft kings. Once you getbeyond six point eight k there is little
or nothing to select as far asvalue plays. Now, I don't think
(08:39):
et Tu lane is a great play, but if you're trying to jam in
some bigger salary players into your lineup, his minimum salary is definitely a cost
saver you would need, and Ithink he has a legit shot at making
the cut. All right, enoughtalking for me for this week. That
is all I got a shat youall take care in your luck this week.
(09:03):
Keep digging, keep digging. Sothis is what absolute power mm hmmmmm
(09:35):
it's all about. It's like graypower comes great responsibility. Hey, Maddie,
stay byeo. Come here, saylouder bye bo.
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