Draft Week: Selecting golf’s most popular players

Who are the most popular players in men’s professional golf?

“Draft Week” on The Shotgun Start kicked off today with an attempt to answer that question. Prompted by a listener suggestion, Andy, Brendan, and I drafted teams of 15 players to fill the fields of our own hypothetical tournaments. The gist? We have unlimited money to spend on appearance fees in an effort to create the biggest draw for our event. This could mean selecting the best players to make the most competitive tournament, this could mean how to make the most headlines on social media, or it could mean selling the most tickets. In the end, it’s probably a combination of all three.

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Round 1

Pick 1 – Bryson DeChambeau (Brendan): “Number one, I have the money, I’m going Bryson DeChambeau.”

Pick 2 – Rory McIlroy (Andy): “I had [Bryson] number two. I’ll pick Rory.”

Pick 3 – Tiger Woods (PJ): “I would spend all of the budget to have Tiger’s one non-major PGA Tour start. Are you kidding me?”

“If he just showed up and did press conferences and got in the booth and talked, is that more valuable than anybody else on this list?” –Andy

“We’ll see at the Hero World Challenge. The only reason why that matters is because Tiger talks on like Tuesday or whatever it is.” –Brendan

Round 2

Pick 4 – Scottie Scheffler (Brendan): “I've somehow ended up with both Bryson and Scottie Scheffler in my cap. So I'm going to Scottie Scheffler at four.”

Pick 5 – Phil Mickelson (Andy): “I think Tiger and Phil being this high just shows how important longevity is for the PGA Tour. And you know, when they talk about equipment, when they talk about all these things, what they need to do golf… if skill is the number one attribute of golf, you will get long careers with generational stars like Tiger, Phil, Ernie, you know, Jim Furyk in there, Vijay Singh. If it becomes. just a game of power, which is what technology is enabling, you'll get short careers and you won't see as many of these guys that can play for a very long time.”

Pick 6 – Jon Rahm (PJ): “I think, as we saw a handful of times during this year, especially around the Open, him winning leading into it, down the stretch at the PGA where he was the only other guy to have a chance to win, I still think Jon Rahm is a needle.”

Round 3

Pick 7 – Jordan Spieth (Brendan): “We've heard from television networks. We've heard from people with the Tour, like he's a needle. He changes the ratings when he plays. Kids love him. You have him in your event, it's a big deal.”

Pick 8 – Justin Thomas (Andy): “Honestly, I would say that like, I think actually Justin Thomas on this list is probably the most fun player to watch if you're really into golf. There's like an error there, he's got a little Spieth, where like the driver can give him some foul balls where he has to hit shots. Inside a hundred, which is probably the most exciting aspect of the game of golf to watch in person, in real life, I think he's just exceptional. Hits a lot of different shots, changes speeds and tempos with his swing. He's an awesome player to watch.”

Pick 9 – Tommy Fleetwood (PJ): “I have this guy ahead of JT, if only because I think as we learned, we have continually maybe underrated this guy's popularity, and I feel like it's only getting bigger by the day. I'm going to take Tommy Fleetwood here.”

Round 4

Pick 10 – Sahith Theegala (Brendan): “I might pull a left turn. I'm going to take Sahith Theegala. On the way back, got the fiancée TikTok crowd, that residual interest.”

Pick 11 – Xander Schauffele (Andy): “He's the only guy with an app himself. Two-time major winner, Xander Schauffele, the X app, the everything app.” 

“You have exclusive coverage on an app. Nobody else has that.” –PJ

Pick 12 – Viktor Hovland (PJ): “I'm going with the youths. Viktor Hovland is popular on the internet for reasons, maybe not having to do with necessarily on-course play, but, I don't care. I'm going for the impressions.”

“What are you referring to? Women on TikTok think he's attractive.” –Brendan

“I had no idea this was a thing and it got brought up to me at the Ryder Cup and it's unbelievable. He is like the number one golfer on TikTok that isn't actually making content on TikTok.” –PJ

Round 5

Pick 13 – Hideki Matsuyama (Brendan): “Starting to get into fun territory. I'm going to take Hideki Matsuyama for the international flavor, international appeal. We'll take him. I don't find Hideki that interesting anymore as a golfer, but I do think he brings a lot to your tournament.”

Pick 14 – Adam Scott (Andy): “He's been doing it for a long time. I just, he's recognizable, been doing it forever and, you know, he's not the same player he used to be, but I think he still draws a big crowd.”

Pick 15 – Justin Rose (PJ): “If this is like a sponsor exemption thing, you're paying them to be part of the event. I don't think anybody's going harder than Justin Rose is. You know he's going to put in the effort on the tournament operation side of things.”

Round 6

Pick 16 – Aldrich Potgieter (Brendan): “I'm going to take a young up and comer, a star, Aldrich Potgieter, a big boy, a burly boy, a big hitter. Absolute carnival act that gets people out to see him in the sixth round.” 

“I don't think most people even know who he is.” –Andy 

“That's why you do a little marketing around it and you got him. It's great.” –Brendan

“This is going to be great for the aggregated list when we put it out there.” –Andy

Pick 17 – Collin Morikawa (Andy): “I'll take two-time major winner and, you know, you turn on Golf Channel, he's on basically every commercial, Collin Morikawa.” 

“Good pick. I'm just telling you, Potgieter’s on his way to be on every commercial. Burly boy, 350 yards. Electric factory every time he takes a swing, could be a duff, Could be a shank, could be a 700 yard drive, could be anything!” –Brendan

“The question is when does PJ reach for Cam Young? Because you know he's thinking about it every pick from here on out.” -–Andy

“PJ has essentially assembled the European Ryder Cup team.” –Brendan

Pick 18 – Rickie Fowler (PJ): “An American, you want to talk about commercialization, I'm just gonna bite the bullet. I'll take Rick. I'm good. I'm happy with it. Somebody had to do it. I'm taking Rickie Fowler.”

Round 7

Pick 19 – Ludvig Aberg (Brendan): “Who knows? He might win multiple majors next year. I'll take him. Ludvig, Mercedes brand ambassador, obviously, he draws in the best.”

Pick 20 – Keegan Bradley (Andy): “I'm going to take Captain Keegan Bradley. I want the Massholes. He's got a region of supporters.” 

“He’s got a ton of buzz! Well, as we know, he's a fan favorite in New York, Boston, South Florida…” –Brendan

“I think he might be out on New York after this.” –PJ

“Can I just point out something here, because I don't think we're in any way in jeopardy of taking these guys at this point. If you look at Data Golf's top point earners, like we're 20 picks in. I don't think anybody's even close to picking J.J. Spaun, Ben Griffin, Russell Henley, Harris English, Sepp Straka, or Big Shot Bob. And those are… those players all inhabit the top 10 players of the world, according to Data Golf. They aren’t even in my purview at this point.” –Andy

Pick 21 – Jason Day (PJ): “I mean, his biggest contribution to the zeitgeist this year is the clothes he wears. Is that where you're going?” –Brendan

“Why is that a negative contribution?” –PJ

“If you said to Malbon, ‘give Jason Day the most preposterous scripting possible this week,’ there you go, you win the internet!” –Andy

Round 8

Pick 22 – Dustin Johnson (Brendan): “You talk about longevity, maybe Paulina comes, you get a little extra attention there.”

Pick 23 – Sergio Garcia (Andy): “I'm looking for controversy at this point. There's two players in my opinion on the board that can take a tournament to another level with just their antics. I'm going to take, I think he's a little bit more reliable to get there just because he's, he'll say something stupid… I'm going to take Sergio Garcia. He's more recognizable too. He's been doing it for a long time, Sergio Garcia.”

Pick 24 – Joaquin Niemann (PJ): “We're going to steer into some discourse here. We're really, really playing for the Internet.”

“We're getting a lens into how a Z views golf? It's all about social media. It's not about the play on the course.” –Andy

“Well, I mean some people would say this guy's a top five player in the world, I'm taking Joaquin Niemann, let's really stir up the discourse.” –PJ

“I guess you get the South American… I don’t think he does much.” –Brendan

Round 9

Pick 25 – Min Woo Lee (Brendan): “I'm gonna take rich man's Joaquin Niemann, Min Woo Lee, Dr. Chipinski. He's got tons of nicknames. He's got Justin Bieber as a friend. He might not have any game that can translate to more than like one style. I've got Min Woo, the Chipinski chef and all these other things.”

Pick 26 – Brooks Koepka (Andy): “I'm taking Brooks Koepka. He's won five majors. I can't believe… this is a huge oversight by everybody involved. I was about to pick somebody else and then I realized he was still there. Brooks is going to use this as a slight. This is PJ's favorite, one of his favorite athletes of all time.” 

“I had him… I don't know what he does for the general public at this point. That was a good pick this late.” –PJ

“That’s a great pick.” –Brendan

“Maybe I didn’t need Joaquin Niemann.” –PJ

“I’m glad you got Joaquin Niemann!” –Andy

“He’ll post a nice top five nobody cares about and say nothing afterwards.” –Brendan

Pick 27 – Cameron Young (PJ): “Fine, I’ll take Cam Young. I’ll just do it. I’m happy to take him.”

“He'll give you a lot of stuff around the tournament. You know the press showings are gonna be incredible.” –Andy

“I mean he's the second-best player on my list, if not the best. I’ll take it, I guess.” –PJ

“Which is more damning on the whole appearance fee game than anything, right? I mean, this is just, it's a different kind of judgment and rubric.” –Brendan

Round 10

Pick 28 – Miles Russell (Brendan): “I didn't know that we would get this far. I'm going off the board. This will bring out a different audience, Miles Russell. ​​He's a fascinating character to have in your field in the next six months. He is shockingly slight, like amazingly. I've marveled at watching him up close at Oakmont and obviously crushes the ball. Very good player. I'm going with Miles Russell.”

Pick 29 – Patrick Reed (Andy): “I still have the guy that I wanted last round in the round before that on the board. I'm happy. Something explosive is going to happen at my tournament. I'm taking Patrick Reed.”

“You are just a powder keg of whatever could possibly happen.” –PJ

“People are going to talk about the Andy Invitational, I don’t know about you guys.” –Andy

Pick 30 – Jackson Koivun (PJ): “It's a little bit earlier than I had him on my list. I just… I think there is an inherent value to having a guy's first PGA Tour win. I think there is a value to that if he could pull out a win at, you know, Spieth at the John Deere kind of thing.”

Round 11

Pick 31 – Tyrrell Hatton (Brendan): “Explosiveness, top, legit top 10 player in the world.”

“He's bound to say something that gets aggregated.” –Andy

Pick 32 – Michael Kim (Andy): “I will go with someone who'll, you know, he's going to make a social-friendly diary for every round, Michael Kim.”

“He was in consideration. I can't believe we're not doing that whole group, Spaun, MacIntyre, Henley, English, like still just flying by them.” –Brendan

Pick 33 – Max Homa (PJ): “We're going to keep going on the Twitter side of things. I'll take Max.”

Round 12

Pick 34 – J.J. Spaun (Brendan): “If it's in the next six months, it's literally the reigning U.S. Open champion and an interesting fella, I think.”

Pick 35 – Shane Lowry (Andy): “I'm happy to get this guy here, Shane Lowry.”

“That's a good one. He's one of my last few guys on my list.” –Brendan

Pick 36 – Si Woo Kim (PJ): “He could do anything on the golf course, but he's going to do something that will get clipped for social media, inevitably, good or bad.”

Round 13

Pick 37 – Bubba Watson (Brendan): “I'm going with the longevity play. I don't have a lot of those. A character, I'm going with Bubba Watson.”

“Could say anything, too!” –Andy

Pick 38 – Akshay Bhatia (Andy): “I feel like I got the more popular version of this pick in round 13. Brendan went really early. I'm taking Akshay Bhatia.”

Pick 39 – Cameron Smith (PJ): “It's kind of almost like Brooks in that I have no idea what he actually does at this point, but I know there's a group of people that would ride or die for him. I'll take Cam Smith. I think people still really like Cam Smith.” 

“Who are these people?” –Brendan

Round 14

Pick 40 – Chris Gotterup (Brendan): “This is out of the Potgieter-type mold, but the American Potgieter, Chris Gotterup.” 

“That was my next pick.” –Andy

“He’s got a nice following on the interwebs. He’ll tweet with you. He'll get in the mix and get the New Jersey crowd following him, and Oklahoma, Chris Gotterup.” –Brendan

“You get the New York market.” –Andy

“Yes, like adding Rutgers to the Big Ten.” –Brendan

Pick 41 – Lucas Glover (Andy): “I'm gonna say that my event is in Memphis and it's gonna be really hot. He's a quote machine with his radio show. I'm taking Lucas Glover.”

“It's an interesting pick.” –Brendan

Pick 42 – Ben Griffin (PJ): “I’m running low… I'll take BG, I guess at this point. You’re playing for the social interactions. He’s a far better player than the majority of my list, so, I’ll take it.”

“Are you going to ask him to take extra creatine?” –Andy

Round 15

Pick 43 – Robert MacIntyre (Brendan): “I will take Big Shot Bobby MacIntyre. He's won multiple events. Scottish Open, Canadian Open, Ryder Cupper twice now. Tends to get surly about things. People heckle him about his sunscreen and all these things. He brings attention.”

Pick 44 – John Daly (Andy): “I don't think this guy is going to be able to play the full tournament. I know he won't, but he brings a legion of support. He'll be out there ripping darts.”

Pick 45 –  Tony Finau (PJ): “Again, like, whatever he is as a golfer at this point, nobody knows. I'll take the online presence of the Finau family with the last pick.” 

“That’s an all hat and no cattle pick, which is what you want at 15.” –Brendan