Chris Buescher Needs to Win at Michigan but Likely Will Struggle

It is not that Chris Buescher will finish poorly, he just needs to win and may take unnecessary risks to do so on Sunday. Typically, Michigan has been rough on Buescher as he has just one top ten finish in ten races. The Jack Roush Racing driver can carry some speed in the corners but […]

Alex Bowman A Risk at Best at Michigan This Weekend

Alex Bowman has little reason to do that well in this race and the 18th at Kansas was troubling. What is more concerning is that the No. 48 is nowhere near the top ten in speed tests or average results at Michigan. The Hendricks Motorsports Racing driver likely has the fourth-best car with this build. […]

Denny Hamlin Clinched a Playoff Spot, Still Eyes First Win of 2021 at Michigan

Denny Hamlin had the race car to win last week at Indianapolis. He was in the lead in overtime with just a couple of laps to go. Then, disaster happened again. Chase Briscoe spun him out and his chances of victory went up in smoke. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver starts ninth at Michigan on […]

Can Kevin Harvick Find the Speed at Michigan?

Kevin Harvick normally is the Chase Elliott of two-mile tracks especially when it comes to Michigan. Harvick has four wins in his last six starts on the track. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has legendary success historically on this track with a driver rating of 137.4. Also, he has led nearly 36% of the laps in […]

Kyle Busch Has the Car to Win the FireKeepers Casino 400

Michigan and Kyle Busch have quite the track record. It may not be to the level of one or two other drivers in this field. However, Busch fares exceedingly well on this two-mile track. The No. 18 has several top-five results, six consecutive top tens, and an average finish of 4.5. These Joe Gibbs Racing […]

Kurt Busch Another Consistent Performance Expected at Michigan

Kurt Busch has a knack for racking up top ten results at Michigan International Speedway. He has five in the last six races and tends to race in some cleaner air. There is a slight chance that the No. 1 car could lead some laps as well. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver has little to […]

Martin Truex Jr. Could Be Strong At Michigan

Martin Truex Jr. comes into Michigan after watching his car get beat up at Indianapolis en route to a 15th place result. The No. 19 has an average finish of 7.5 and four top-ten results in his last half-dozen Michigan races. For the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, the expectation is that the speed and downforce […]

Matt DiBenedetto Hopes for Kansas Like Magic at Michigan

Matt DiBenedetto needs a win to make "The Chase". The Wood Brothers Racing driver is on a bit of a roll of late. He also finished fifth at the Verizon 200 last Sunday. Now, can he carry any kind of speed at Michigan? At Kansas, DiBenedetto started fifth and the fear was that he would […]

Ryan Blaney May Not Be Worth Spot on Sunday at Michigan

Ryan Blaney does start third in the Team Penske car at the Michigan International Speedway. However, Blaney does have a mixed bag of results lately. He does have four top ten results in his last six races on the Michigan course. He even has led 4.75% of the laps raced. The concern may be that […]

Chase Elliott Has Car to Contend at Michigan

This build has been surprisingly kind to Chase Elliott. He has five top ten results in his last six races at Michigan. The No. 9 car even nearly won twice. Elliott may even lead a few more laps than usual (0.95% of the laps in the last three years). This time around, the Hendrick Motorsports […]

Kyle Larson Starts From the Pole at Michigan

Kyle Larson has enjoyed some 2021 season with five wins in all. He also takes the pole for the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday afternoon. Larson has one of the better track records with the 550hp setup. The Hendricks Motorsports Racing driver finished third at Indianapolis last week and now has the regular-season points lead […]

Si Woo Kim Offers Intrigue At The Northern Trust

Si Woo Kim is like a roller coaster. He finished second at the Wyndham Championships last week but was outside the top 30 in six straight tournaments before that including a withdrawal from the John Deere Classic. Kim put together four rounds in the 60's including a final round 64. The problem is the week […]

Russell Henley Could Factor Again at Liberty National

Russell Henley is in solid form with four top 20 results in his last five tournaments. That culminated in a tied for seventh at the Wyndham Championships last week. Henley strikes the ball well enough and drains birdies at a decent rate (87th on tour). It is his approach to the green, driving accuracy, and […]

Sam Burns Bounced Back and Poised to Rise at Liberty National

Sam Burns needed that WGC results two weeks ago. He finished tied for second and nearly won. Liberty National rewards golfers who can putt well but work around the greens well. Well, Burns has one of those two. He putts great ranking 14th in strokes gained at 0.535. He makes 4.35 birdies per round which […]

Jason Kokrak Could Win The Northern Trust This Week

Jason Kokrak can be all over the place but when his game is in good form, it is something to see. He won at the Charles Schwab and The CJ Cup. There were the times he contended at majors including a tied for 17th at the U.S. Open. Then there are other times where he […]

Bubba Watson in Decent Form Heading into The Northern Trust

Bubba Watson may hang around contention going into the weekend at Liberty National. If he can, his Sundays in the last three tournaments are 64,69, and 67. That alone may be worth a look. His DFS possibilities are at least decent. The key for the American will be to make shots early. Those starts have […]

Brian Harman Hit or Miss at Liberty National This Week

Brian Harman is a total risk and reward play for DFS. The course looks like it is tailor-made for the American. Can he set up from around the green and putt well enough to contend on Sunday? Harman ranks 22nd in putting but in weeks he makes the cut, he ranks tenth overall. He must […]

Ian Poulter Must Putt And Approach Greens Well at Liberty National

This may be a tough tournament for Ian Poulter but the older Englishman will give it a go. The longer course can be daunting for most but there are spots for Poulter to exploit. Around the green, the British golfer is good at 0.365 strokes gained but it is that 0.75 strokes gained from putting […]

Phil Mickelson Could Thrive at Jersey City This Week

Phil Mickelson has had a decent 2021 run when one thinks about it. That started in May when he won the PGA and yes he has not finished that great in most tournaments. However, for the 51-year old to see the weekend more than not is an accomplishment. At the WGC-FedEx, Mickelson managed a top-20 […]

Sergio Garcia Expected to be Solid but Not Spectacular at Liberty National

Sergio Garcia missed four straight cuts and has followed up with finishing 26th or better in five consecutive tournaments. The FedEx-WGC was a bit of a disappointment as Garcia was close to a top ten result but missed several putts and had a few wayward irons on that Sunday. The Spanish golfer has to make […]

Matthew Wolff May Have Difficulty at The Northern Trust

Matthew Wolff could not make putts at the Wyndham Championships last week but there were times where he just hit some god-awful shots. Was his decision-making or just an off week? One trend has been final rounds for Wolff where he has been missing 8-10 foot putts with regularity. Also, he is shooting over par […]

Hideki Matsuyama Motivated to Bounce Back at Liberty National

The Wyndham Championships were not kind to Hideki Matsuyama. He shot 69-69 and did not make the cut. This should not be a problem at The Northern Trust this week. Matsuyama will need to make some putts early. He sometimes gets in funks like that. His ball-striking and shot-making around the green ranks 11th at […]

Matthew Fitzpatrick Must Avoid Unforced Errors at Liberty National

Matthew Fitzpatrick has had his bubble burst on the weekends of late and particularly on Sundays. In five of the previous seven tournaments, Fitzpatrick has shot above the course average and that includes all four majors (73,73,76, and 70). Then, there was the 74 on Sunday at the FedEx-WGC. That knocked Fitzpatrick out of a […]

Paul Casey's Sunday Putting Will Determine Fate at The Northern Trust

Paul Casey has been staying in contention with his putting on Sundays of late. With the changeable conditions on the Liberty course, Casey will have to be on his toes all week. However, Sunday is the key. The last few weeks have seen the British golfer come close to winning. A few errant putts and […]

Daniel Berger Intriguing for This Week's The Northern Trust

Daniel Berger has been in some nice form of late. That includes three top ten results in his last four tournaments entered. He even took a few weeks off after The Open and promptly finished fifth last week at the FedEx-WGC. Since the PGA, Berger has posted five straight final rounds of 70 or better […]

Kevin Fiala Settles for One More Year with Minnesota Wild

Kevin Fiala and the Minnesota Wild agreed on Monday to a one-year deal worth $5.1 million. The forward avoided arbitration as the two sides split the difference on a contract. Minnesota wanted $4 million. Fiala wanted $6.25 million. The left-winger enjoyed a solid season with 20 goals and 20 assists in 50 games for the […]

Juuse Saros Agrees to Four-Year Extension with Nashville

Juuse Saros and the Nashville Predators avoided arbitration as the goaltender signed a four-year extension on Monday. This deal is worth $5 million AAV. The Nashville goaltender had a second half to remember last season. Overall, the Predator went 21-11-1 in 36 appearances. Saros posted a .927 save percentage to go along with a 2.28 […]

Denny Hamlin Sees Victory Slip Away Again at Verizon 200

Like or hate Denny Hamlin, but Sunday was definitely a heartbreaker for the No. 11 car. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was in a position to win as he led into the overtime portion of the race at Indianapolis. He held off Kyle Larson several times and appeared to be primed to win when Chase […]

Matt DiBenedetto Takes a Top Five at Indianapolis

Matt DiBenedetto was in it to win it on Sunday afternoon at the Verizon 200. He just did not have the downforce to stay with the top cars. That is what the long overtime revealed. However, the Wood Brothers Racing driver did finish in fifth place. He avoided the collisions which plagued the final laps […]

Chase Elliott Endures Crucial Errors, Ends Up Fourth-Place at Indianapolis

Chase Elliott had an up and down afternoon at the Verizon 200. He led 14 laps, looked to be near victory and then a crucial pit-stop error derailed things just enough. In the end, the No. 9 car had to battle for a fourth-place result. Elliott finished just behind teammate Kyle Larson. It was a […]