The Head Pro

The great schism in golf is finally ending. Two sides. One sport. Years of war. I'm referring, of course, to the data boys vs. the traditionalists.

Only one bet for the WWT: Steven Fisk to win. Beyond that, I’m not seeing value. The model expects five other guys to outperform (Kohles, Coody, Suber, Shipley, Nick Taylor), but none by enough to bet. Bummer. Keeping an eye on the lines in case something moves.

Finally, two reunions after brief absences. Tom Gillis is back on Tom Hoge's bag after skipping Bermuda, and Jay Green is back with Steven Fisk after missing Fisk's runner-up finish in Mexico last week.

Sami Valimaki: Dominic Bott ➝ Greg Milne Valimaki has been MIA for most of the season and now reappears with a new face on his bag. He and Dom Bott had some on-course friction earlier this year, so the split isn't a surprise. Milne used to loop for Robert MacIntyre.

Kris Ventura: Travis McAlister ➝ Steve Hale Another change for Ventura, who's found success late in the year by keeping things fresh. Steve "Pepsi" Hale is best known for his stints with Keegan Bradley and Ryan Gerard.

Andrew Putnam: Jordan Guilford ➝ Michael Putnam Michael is Andrew's older brother and a former Tour pro himself. He's caddied for Andrew at times over the years, including at the 2023 U.S. Open.

William Mouw: Roberto Nieves ➝ Billy Mouw Billy is William's father and the longtime proprietor of Billy's Egg Farm in Chino, CA. He's caddied for William occasionally in the past, including at the 2024 Albertsons Boise Open (KFT), where William finished runner-up.

LOOP SCOOP: World Wide Technology Championship Thanksgiving is still three weeks away, but the first two caddie changes this week are already family affairs ↓

Second week in a row the favorite's caddie is out for a wedding. Last week in Puerto Vallarta it was Wyndham Clark's; this week in Cabo it's Ryan Gerard's. His regular caddie, J.P. Burke, will be replaced by Mason Elmore, Gerard's former UNC teammate.

Analyzing equipment changes has become a bigger part of our process this year, and it will only matter more going forward. We're working on quantifying it for each player using hard data. More coming in the next couple of months.

Self-promotion feels icky, but I'm going to do it anyway. Just about every major golf outlet has now run a story about Andrew Novak rediscovering his stroke with his old T.P. Mills putter. We published that story last Tuesday.

+3.6u at the Mexico Open, all from fading Wyndham Clark. The Andrew Novak win and top-10 bets I recommended fell just below the model's 5% EV threshold in the end. So while I had a nice week personally (and hopefully some of you did too), it was just a solid one for the model.

Wyndham Clark MC ✅ Tom Kim over Wyndham Clark ✅ Good start to the week.

A closer look at Silverman's putting in Bermuda triggered a recalculation, and he's been removed from my card. Fortunately, there's a replacement: Chan Kim Mentals: +0.26 Win: +13000 @ DraftKings (EV: 40.7%) Top 5: +2200 @ DraftKings (EV: +44.9%) Top 10: +930 @ DraftKings (EV: +19.0%) Earlier this month, Chan Kim went to see instructor Milo Lines about a swing that was losing speed and producing inconsistent ball flight. Lines's diagnosis was that Kim was trying to do too much. The cure was one feel: let the legs hold him up and let the upper body hit the ball. Kim overthinks, and he knows it. He's gone through long stretches in the last few years where he's tinkered his swing into disrepair, piling feel on top of feel until he couldn't feel anything. The only thing that's ever pulled him out of that hole is one simple thought. Two weeks after seeing Lines, he finished sixth in Bermuda in his first start back. The EV on Kim this week looks too good, and the numbers are probably wrong. But this new feel might just be right. I'll trust the feel.

LOOP SCOOP: VidantaWorld Mexico Open Short one this week because @golfweek already covered most of the notable changes. Here are a few they missed ↓