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About The Model Maniac
A South African native living the American dream. I played college golf in Iowa where I spent four years playing and two coaching, while grabbing 3.5 finance related degrees along the way. As my twitter handle suggests, I am obsessed with my very own excel model. Tournament long matchups are my favorite bet and I love nothing more than a Sunday golf sweat.
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The Model Maniac has written 138 articles so far, you can find them below.
Chris Kirk Striking It Well Enough To Win
Chris Kirk has gained strokes tee to green in every event he has played in this season. His driving, approach play, and around the green game have been steady and well above average for most of the year. His putter can flash upside but typically fails him when in contention on a Sunday. Kirk is... Read More
Rafa Cabrera-Bello Offers Minimal Upside
Rafa Cabrera-Bello enters the week having missed three of his last four cuts at events with relatively weak strength of schedule. His lack of distance off the tee is another concerning trend that the Spaniard will have to overcome at the Mexico Open. Sitting outside the top-100 of Official Golf World Rankings, Cabrera-Bello's game has... Read More
Brendon Todd Leaning On Putter
Brendon Todd is one of the shortest drivers on tour, which will hurt him at a Par 71 that is almost 7,500 yards long. After an abysmal Florida swing with his irons, Todd has gained in three consecutive events and will be looking to continue that trend at a lengthy resort course this week. Over... Read More
Kevin Na Relying On Short Game
Kevin Na's accuracy off the tee may not be as much of an asset at this week's venue in Mexico. He will have longer approaches than most of the field due to his lack of distance off the tee. However, he led the field in strokes gained approach at Augusta and continued his impressive iron... Read More
Jon Rahm A Great Course Fit
Arguably the best ball-striker on the planet, Jon Rahm heads to a golf course that suits his booming drives and precise long irons. The last time Rahm lost strokes off the tee at a PGA Tour stroke-play event was in August of 2019. His irons have been similarly impressive gaining 0.73 per round this season.... Read More
Breaking $100: PGA Betting Picks and Strategy - RBC Heritage
Four wins in six starts for Masters champion and World No. 1, Scottie Scheffler! Just an incredible run of golf. Two weeks ago, we wrote about "Scottie's Notties" and how we were always the bridesmaid to him. Well, if you can't beat them, bet on the bride and hope he carries on breaking hearts around... Read More
Si Woo Kim Has Only One Missed Cut This Season
Si Woo Kim's course history at the RBC Heritage is a mixed bag, with two top-20s and two missed cuts in his five appearances here. Kim's last missed cut was in October 2021 at the Shriners Children's Open. He has quietly collected seven top-20s in his 16 starts this season by leaning on his consistency... Read More
Jason Kokrak Needs Putter To Perform This Week
Jason Kokrak has gained on approach in his last eight starts at Harbour Town but has missed three of his last four cuts courtesy of a disobedient putter. As one of the better putters on tour over the last two years, Kokrak will be looking to buck his poor putting trend at this venue. If... Read More
Brian Harman A Safe Play
With four top-30s in his last five RBC Heritage starts, Brian Harman is one of the safer plays this week. His lack of distance off the tee will be minimized and his accuracy exaggerated at a shorter Harbour Town Golf Links. Harman has gained over 1.5 strokes putting in his last nine appearances at this... Read More
Kevin Na A High-Risk, High-Reward Play
Kevin Na led the field in strokes gained approach at the Masters. He will be looking to bring his hot irons to an event where he has multiple top-10s and missed cuts since 2011. His boom or bust potential at this golf course makes him a high-risk, high-reward play. After leading the tour in strokes... Read More
Matt Kuchar A Course-History Thoroughbred
Matt Kuchar has seven top-30s in his last eight starts at the RBC Heritage. Kuchar is typically very efficient with his short game and has yet to lose strokes on approach at this golf course in his last 11 appearances. He not only has great course history on his side, but he has also found... Read More
Justin Thomas Is Putting Well Lately
Justin Thomas clawed himself back from a shaky Masters opening round to finish T8. Thomas now has seven top-10s in his 11 starts this season. For a player of his caliber there always seems to be a sequence of holes that derails his chances of contending for victory, though. Thomas gained over six strokes on... Read More
Breaking $100: PGA Betting Picks and Strategy - The Masters
Folks, it is Masters week! We get both beautifully manicured flower beds and golf swings. We get multiple video streams of our favorite holes and watery streams named after some guy called Rae. We get a Wednesday Par 3 contest where generational greats attempt to break their age, while Tony Finau attempts to not break... Read More
Cameron Young Looking To Capitalize On Elite Driving Ability
Cameron Young is making his maiden Masters start as the 46th-ranked player in the world. Two T2s at the Sanderson Farms Championship and The Genesis Invitational gained him most of the Official World Golf Ranking points needed to crack the top 50. Young is a monster off the tee, gaining well over a stroke per... Read More
Si Woo Kim Seeking First Masters Top-10 Finish
Si Woo Kim has finished inside the top 20 in half of his 14 starts this season. He has done so on the merits of his steady off-the-tee game, with the other areas of his game sporadically gaining the necessary strokes to finish that high up on the leaderboard. Kim has put together a tidy... Read More
Jason Kokrak Needs Ball-Striking To Improve
Jason Kokrak will need to ramp up his ball-striking this week if he wants to contend. Even with an abundance of length off the tee, Kokrak has barely been gaining strokes in that department lately. His approach play has been steady, but he has yet to have any impressive iron performances since his win at... Read More
Brian Harman A Sneaky Play This Week
Brian Harman may be one of the shorter hitters on tour, but that has not stopped him from gaining over 0.58 strokes off the tee in his last four stroke-play starts. Consistent accuracy off the tee is Harman's strength, which is slightly nullified around a more forgiving Augusta National. Harman has also shown some form... Read More
Francesco Molinari Lacking Upside
Francesco Molinari heads back to Augusta for the 11th time. Ever since he squandered the lead on Sunday of the 2019 Masters, he has yet to record a top-five finish at any event around the world. He has a T42 as his best finish the last five times he has teed it up. The Italian's... Read More
Kevin Na A Safe Play At Augusta
Kevin Na will be playing in his 11th Masters and is looking to improve on his trio of T12 finishes over the last decade. Na led the tour in strokes gained around the green last season, with the rest of his stats all outside the top 50. He is one of the more polarizing players... Read More
Gary Woodland A Tough Decision At Augusta
Gary Woodland has three top-10 finishes in his last five starts, gaining the majority of his strokes on approach. He has now strung together six consecutive starts where he has gained at least a quarter stroke per round with his irons. With impressive recent form, Woodland heads to Augusta, where he has yet to crack... Read More
Paul Casey Battling Back Spasms
Paul Casey (back) finished third at The Players Championship, improving his strokes gained in putting by nine strokes compared to his disappointing weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. However, Casey's putter is the least of his concerns, as he is currently battling back spasms that forced him to withdraw from the Match Play two weeks... Read More
Adam Scott Looking For Second Masters Win
Adam Scott enters the week with impressive ball-striking numbers and a putter that has been a massive asset this season. He has gained over 0.25 strokes off the tee and over 0.5 on both approach and putting. However, the former Masters champion has been losing strokes around the green far too often to feel comfortable... Read More
Justin Thomas In Tremendous Form
Justin Thomas has six top-10 finishes this season in 10 starts. He is gaining more total strokes so far than any of his other seven illustrious years on tour. The last time Thomas lost strokes on approach was in July of 2021. He is also having his best year off the tee, gaining 0.68 strokes... Read More
Breaking $100: PGA Betting Picks and Strategy - Valero Texas Open
Scottie Scheffler is a menace. In fact, after just five weeks, Breaking $100 has an elite club called "Scottie's Notties" for our outright's that have finished second to the new world No. 1. Kevin Kisner (Match Play) and Viktor Hovland (API) have both finished runner-up to Scheffler who has officially gone rogue, winning three of... Read More
Maverick McNealy Has All-Around Game To Contend At Valero
Maverick McNealy was unlucky to score 2.5 match-play points and not advance from his group last week. McNealy has not missed a cut in his last 10 stroke-play starts. He is a perpetual gainer off the tee, with the rest of his game flashing moments of brilliance. McNealy has the all-around game to contend on... Read More
Davis Riley Dependent On Short Game At Valero
Davis Riley lost to Sam Burns in a playoff at the Valspar two weeks ago. He found himself in a playoff courtesy of his short game that gained him 12 strokes on the field. Riley's statistical profile is highlighted by his length and accuracy off the tee, an area of his game he has gained... Read More
Lanto Griffin Looking To Improve On Poor Florida Swing
Lanto Griffin will be looking to bounce back from his Friday 78 at the Valspar two weeks ago when he lost over a stroke in each major statistical category, which can hopefully be chalked up as a bad day at the office. He finished no worse than T39 in his four starts out west earlier... Read More
Gary Woodland's Driver The Missing Piece
Gary Woodland has tidied up his short game recently, rounding out his game into a much more sustainable product. He has two T5s in his last four starts, gaining strokes in all four major statistical categories. Woodland has always been a great iron player and has gained strokes on approach in his last four events.... Read More
Cameron Young Grouped With John Rahm, Patrick Reed
Cameron Young is a top-10 birdie-maker on tour, averaging a birdie or better on 26% of his holes. Churning out this many birdies makes Young an interesting play, even with Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed in his group. Young relies on his driver to set himself up for scoring opportunities, ranking fifth on tour in... Read More
Will Zalatoris A Contender If Putter Obliges
Will Zalatoris has lost strokes putting in his last six starts, finishing T26 or better in four of those events. Zalatoris is one of the elite ball-strikers on tour, gaining the second-most strokes on approach this season behind Russell Henley. He also ranks in the top 10 for strokes gained off the tee. Zalatoris is... Read More
