Welcome to the quietest weekend in the golf world in quite some time. Everyone must be busy shopping for Halloween costumes.

The Year of Todd

This weekend’s Bermuda Championship is not exactly a star-studded affair. Three thousand miles from last week’s Zozo Championship and two weeks before the Masters, this event received the same strength-of-field rating as the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship, which took place the week after the U.S. Open. Tee Times

One player who did make the trek from Los Angeles to Bermuda is Brendan Todd. Currently No. 41 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Todd is the highest ranked player in the field. What’s more, he enters the week as the defending champion.

Going into last year’s Bermuda Championship, Todd was outside the top 500 in the world. Then, in a span of three events, the 34-year-old won twice and finished fourth at the RSM Classic, jumping 450 spots in the OWGR. Since then, he has racked up another nine top-25 finishes. Now, two weeks ahead of his second Masters appearance, Todd returns to the tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic where he revitalized his career.

One good week on the PGA Tour can turn your life around. There are many players in Bermuda who are down on their luck: maybe one of them is the next Brendon Todd?

Augusta National + Corso = ?

If you were planning to leave your couch on Masters Saturday, you might want to change your plans. College GameDay, ESPN’s premiere college football television show, will be televised on the grounds of Augusta National ahead of Saturday’s golf coverage. “When exploring ways to showcase a fall Masters,” said ANGC chairman Fred Ridley in a press release, “we were drawn to the concept of hosting College GameDay at Augusta National to introduce the Tournament to a new audience and provide even more anticipation and excitement to the event.”

Ridley added that the Par 3 Contest, traditionally held on Wednesday of Masters week, has been canceled this year. The lively atmosphere of that event is its main draw, and as Ridley explained it, “We know that experience could not have been replicated without guests and patrons at Augusta National.”

Quick Hooks

European Tour players will literally be dodging kilns and olive presses this weekend. Aphrodite Hills Golf Course, host of this weekend’s Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Open, features said cooking devices in its playing corridors. We can confidently say that we’ve never seen that before. Cyprus Open Tee Times

The Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Open is not to be confused with next week’s European Tour event, the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown.

Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, and Bernhard Langer headline the TimberTech Championship on the PGA Tour Champions. Field

Pepperdine and Oklahoma are set to meet in the men’s final of the East Lake Cup, while Ole Miss and South Carolina will face off for the women’s title. Scoring

Will Zalatoris is a mere three FedEx Cup points from earning special temporary membership on the PGA Tour. He has three top 10s this year, including a T-6 at the U.S. Open.

Tiger Woods’s agent Mark Steinberg told Golf Digest’s Daniel Rapaport that Woods will not be playing in next week’s Houston Open. Previously, Tiger had indicated that he would add the event if he thought he needed to work on his game. So perhaps he felt better than he scored at the Zozo Championship last week.

John Huggan sat down with Martin Slumbers, chief executive of the R&A, to discuss how the cancellation of the 2020 Open Championship came about. Full Article

The move to November means the Masters will be operating with two fewer hours of daylight than usual. Golfweek’s Craig Dolch dives into the numbers and repercussions.

T-minus two weeks until Bryson DeChambeau descends ominously upon Augusta National, but in the meantime he continues his quest for speed. A new video shows him letting out blood-curdling shrieks and swinging as hard as he possibly can. He reaches 206-mph ball speed, but as you can hear, he’s trying for 208. Two-oh-eight!

The Latest from The Fried Egg

Paulie’s Picks: Bermuda Championship – In this week’s thin field, Fried Egg fantasy sensei Paulie is targeting players who keep it steady in the wind. Check out his full picks for DraftKings and one-and-done!

Superintendent Series, Episode 12: Josh Mahar – Wild Horse Golf Club

Josh Mahar, superintendent at Wild Horse Golf Club, joins the podcast to discuss his longtime involvement in world-class golf in the Nebraska Sandhills. Josh was part of the grow-in team not only at Wild Hose but also at the renowned Sand Hills Golf Club. He and Andy talk about those experiences as well as Josh’s overall career in the turf industry. The Superintendent Series is brought to you by the Toro Company. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Shotgun Start: GameDay at Augusta, Funky in Bermuda, and Aphrodite Goddess of War

This Wednesday episode begins with breaking news from Augusta National, where College GameDay will go live from in a couple weeks, there will be no Par 3 Contest, and split tees will be put in use. Andy and Brendan react to all this news and ponder the likelihood of Rickie making a GameDay appearance as well as Bryson firing out of his stance and pushing a blocking sled around the par-3 course. Then there’s a waterfall follow-up, as a superintendent source relays some staggering costs for maintaining the rapids at a course where he worked. As for the instant golf this week, the two run through the field at Bermuda, where the Funk family presence is strong. Andy also features his three things to watch for and wonders when the last time both the PGA Tour and Euro Tour played on sub-7000 yard courses in the same week. Speaking of the Euro Tour, they revel in the oddities and history around this week’s event in Cyprus, where an ancient kiln and olive press occupy fairways on the front nine. Brendan also quizzes Andy on some Cyprus trivia before a discussion on this week’s Champions Tour sponsor leads to a chimney and firewood chat to close it out. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Pro Shop

Like the players in Bermuda this week, you need adequate sun protection on the golf course. Give our Fried Egg performance hats and bucket hats a try!