Arnold Palmer Invitational - Data Sickos Recap

Hey folks! Welcome to Garbage Time Sports, the newsletter that at least one person asked for. I'm a data analyst that loves digging into statistics that I don't widely see represented. Most of the time, that looks like dumb stuff that I am interested in, like who had the single worst streak of holes during the tournament.

Akshay Bhatia won the Arnold Palmer Invitational after playing the final 9 holes 5-under. That included this Shot Of The Tournament on the 16th hole that nearly went in for an albatross.

But that's not what we're here to talk about. Let's get into the good stuff, starting with the Roller Coaster Round of Max Greyserman on Friday. He birdied the first four holes, was on pace for a 54 and then...he ended up not doing that.

We were as close as you could possibly get to the Clean Sheet™ this week with Russell Henley's Saturday round. I will cut him a break because his lone blemish was the first hole where he made a birdie. Technically the clean sheet was never a possibility.

The best nine hole performance was Daniel Berger's back 9 on Thursday, where he shot a -6 30. No 9-hole scores in the 20's this week.

On the more fun side, the worst nine-hole performance was J.T. Poston who shot a 43 on the front 9 on Friday. Unsurprisingly, J.T. missed the cut.

We'll do some quick hitters for the player tournament awards:

Most under-par holes: Akshay Bhatia, 24 holes

Most chaotic holes: Michael Thorbjornsen, 4 double bogeys. This also earned Michael the "Double Trouble" award. Congratulations!

Beat his own ass award: Sepp Straka, 66 on Saturday, 76 on Sunday

For every tournament, we look at hole streaks. I define a streak as any stretch of 3 or more holes where every hole is under par or over par. Streaks here have to all be under par or over par (e.g. 2 birdies, a bogey, and another birdie wouldn't count as a streak)

I am excited to tell you that we have a FIRST in Garbage Time Sports Golf Recap History. Both the best and worst streak of the tournament come from the same player. And better yet, they came from the same player on the same day! Nico Echavarria had the best streak of the tournament on the front 9 Thursday with five birdies in a row on holes 4-8.

He was on 59-watch as he made the turn but then... something happened. Something beautiful. He opens up the back 9 with two bogeys and then a triple bogey on the 12th hole, one of the easiest holes on the course. In fact, no other player made worse than a bogey on the 12th hole all week.

Nico's Thursday round is objectively the best round of the tournament – this is what makes golf so much fun to watch. Echavarria won the Cognizant Classic last week and comes out on fire. All signs are pointing to another strong tournament, his chances at a top-10 finish got all the way up to 47.3% and then...golf suddenly becomes difficult for him again. Nico is the Garbage Time MVP of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Speaking of golf suddenly becoming difficult for someone, Scottie Scheffler is the recipient of our Michael Scott Snip-Snap Reverse Vasectomy Award. Knowing that he wasn't going to win the tournament, Scottie decided to have some fun from 14 onward.

Every week, I compare the pre-tournament odds for players with their final finishing position to see who defied expectations the most.

Overperformers:
T13. Billy Horschel, -5 (+58 spots)
T18. Jhonattan Vegas, -3 (+53 spots)
T18. Bud Cauley, -3 (+50 spots)
2. Daniel Berger, -15 (+48 spots)

Underperformers:
49. Tommy Fleetwood, +6 (-46 spots)
T41. Matt Fitzpatrick, +1 (-36 spots)
T41. Hideki Matsuyama, +1 (-33 spots)
T24. Scottie Scheffler, -2 (-23 spots)

Since this is a fledgling newsletter, it's time for some engagement bait. IS SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER WASHED? Sound off in the comments.

CUT DRAMA

The worst heartbreak at the cut line was Shane Lowry who needed a par on the 18th hole to make the cut on the number. He sent an errant second shot up against the rocks near the green and made bogey to miss the cut. A tough result after a brutal collapse last week at the Cognizant. Could be 5D chess by Shane to miss the cut here, take a couple days off and try to mentally reset ahead of The Players.

I like to finish these newsletters on an uplifting note. Occasionally, we can see ourselves in the professionals out here. They do dumb stuff, play poorly, and get angry just like us. Makes you think...maybe if I get a simulator set up in my garage and practice diligently, I'll be on tour next year.

Editor's note: Mike got cut from the high school golf team in 10th grade after firing his patented 53 on the front 9.

80 Watch
Masters Playoff Participant Justin Rose shot 80 on Friday including a stretch of 6 holes he played at 6 over. Nothing wrong with bogey golf, Justin. Keep your head up.

J.T. Poston joined Justin in the 80 club with an 81, the highest score of the tournament on Friday. In their defense, Friday played tougher than any other day...the only day of the week where the field averaged over par.

Quad Watch
Sungjae Im recorded the tournament's only quadruple bogey, a 7 on #17, a 221 yard par 3.

Thanks for reading! If anyone would like to join me in the inaugural Garbage Time cut draft, feel free to do so using this link. The format is: draft as many players as you want. If any of your players misses the cut, your team is eliminated. The surviving team with the most players left wins. Not playing for anything other than a bit of fun :)

-Mike