Robn Golf Finale: Great Scot(t)! Davis Edges Rybaltowski For Title

• 1. Sweepstakes Comes Down To Final Shot Of Tournament... And Bizarre Four-Way Tie
• 2. Davis To Commish: 'It Was All Skill, Baby'
• 3. Obituaries And Final Receipts From 2024
• 4. What To Look For In The 2025 Robn Golf Sweepstakes

42nd Street

As the fog descended on Hamilton Golf and Country Club Sunday, it lifted from the Robn leaderboard.

A crowded upper echelon of seven Robners with a mathematical shot at the title had winnowed down to two: Evan "Better Hair Than Mark" Davis and Matt Rybaltowski (nickname awarded below).

Had Ben Griffin somehow caught up to Bobby MacIntyre on the final hole of the course, and won the tournament, Davis would've lost the Outright Winner market, and Rybaltowski would've won the Sweepstakes. But it wasn't to be, and MacIntyre's approach on 18 set up a clean par putt that won the RBC Canadian open by Griffin over one stroke. The result netted Davis 95 points for his selection of "Field" to win the tournament, and vaulted him into first place.

Davis was only in this position to leap over Rybaltowski to begin with due to a curious logjam on the RBC Leaderboard all the way down in 42nd place. One of Davis' Head-To-Head Parlay Market selections included (among others) Adam Scott to defeat Eric Van Rooyen. A second, separate h2h parlay choice included Kevin Yu to defeat Mark Hubbard. All four players tied one another at -2 after 72 holes.

Per the rules on the card, if a selected winner tied after 72 holes with the selected loser, then contestants would earn half the points they would've earned had both of their selections won. Davis therefore won half the allotted points for both of his Head-To-Head Parlay Market choices. This netted him 82 total points he wouldn't have otherwise have had, and without which, he would've lost to Rybaltowski regardless of MacIntrye's win.

Thus, it was great for Davis that a 'Scot' won the RBC. It was even greater for him that a 'Scott' didn't lose his head-to-head matchup.

Following notification of his victory over zoom, Davis congratulated the other contestants and then, with a twinkle in his eye, attested to HQ that his victory was attributable to "all skill, baby." When confronted with the specific nature of how he won, Davis stared directly ahead, blinked twice, and then shut off the zoom conversation.

The Commissioner and Brian "Papa Bear" McGuigan have a more detailed analysis of the situation, plus a recap of the RBC and Robn Golf Sweepstakes, on this week's edition of RobnPod.

RobnPod Episode 3: Mission Accomplished?

Brian (“Papa Bear”) McGuigan and the Commish reveal the winner of the 2024 Robn Golf Sweepstakes in real-time, which was decided in part by the final shot at the RBC Canadian Open, as well as a four-way tie for ...42nd?

RobnThe Commissioner

Obituaries and The Final Receipts

Only three contestants without monikers submitted enough consistent entries over eight weeks to justify true participation in the Tournament, and therefore, to justify earning a nickname.

• (2nd) Matt "Rybald" Rybaltowski - You put up 400-point weeks like they were nothing. Three of them you won, individually, constituting exhibit #3784 as to why future tournaments will include both grand prizes and individual-week prizes. You taught us about the game of golf, and... when the news about the ties emerged, your inner monologue was undoubtedly ribald. Not in the lascivious way, but in the coarse way. Or should I say, the course way. We will ensure you are not remembered as the Bob May of Robn Golf. We will instead remember you not just for the effortless zest with which you navigated the card week in and week out, but your second namesake, the Rybaltowski Rule: Never again will a Head-to-Head Parlay Market award any points for a tie.
• (3rd) Chad "Feel The Burns" Geren - Geren is one of Robn's most notable enigmas. A former top Onions player, he sat out the 2023 College Football Tournament before debuting in the Robn-verse during the 2024 Super Bowl Tournament, which he promptly won. He then stuck around for Golf, and was consistently among the top participants. Last week, Geren sent HQ a cryptic note lamenting his selection of Sam Burns in Week 8's Adjusted Scoring Market, saying he should have chosen Corey Conners instead. Burns started the tournament hot, but Conners would eventually best Burns by 3 strokes and win the market after 72 holes. Had Geren in fact selected Conners, and had Cam Young not missed a gimme three-foot putt for bogey Friday that lost Geren his Make-The-Cut Parlay Market, Geren would've beaten both Ryblatowski and Davis and won the Tournament. What did he know?
• (17th) Brett "The Secret Pilgrim" Smiley - 17th place isn't really a fair way to remember Brett. He only joined the tournament in Week 3, all but ensuring he couldn't compete for a top spot. He fought largely under the radar, and went relatively all or nothing for six weeks, putting up 541 points in his first week and 560 points in Week 7, but not even cracking 100 points three other weeks. All the while, Brett followed his heart into the core of Robnverse, learning the ways and the signs of dynamic sweepstakes. He approached the tournament with dedication, soft footsteps and a certain unpredictability. All qualities of a great spy. Such as, one might say, Mr. George Smiley, the central character of many of John Le Carre's novels, including 1990's "The Secret Pilgrim."

Week 8 Raw Responses

Week 8 Graded Responses

Final Leaderboard

What To Look For From Robn Golf In 2025

The 2024 Robn Golf Sweepstakes was a sort of test pilot in two ways.

First, we tested whether there was an audience within Robn for a golf sweepstakes.

Second, perhaps in a way that contaminated the first, we tested whether the model of paying for content and then receiving free entry into a sweepstakes would work.

However, there are several areas of potential improvement.

• We need better clarity on the cards that are sent out /raises hand meekly/
• We need more non-sweepstakes related Golf content and over a larger time span of the calendar year
• We need the sweepstakes itself to focus more on larger events over the course of the whole season, and less on a contiguous string of events containing some major events and some small events no one cares about

The way to achieve number one is to simply be better. But the way to achieve number two and three could be one in the same: Ditch the contiguous weeks' aspect of the sweepstakes, center it around the 10-12 biggest tournaments of the year, and offer individual-week prizes to get people excited about winning something that week.

Assuming the PGA keeps its schedule format the same for next year, a sample two-week-on, two-week-off itinerary could be:

• Feb. 5 - Waste Management Open - $250 prize
• Feb. 12 - Genesis Invitational - $250 prize
• Mar. 11 - The Players Championship - $500 prize
• Mar. 18 - Valspar Championship - $250 prize
• Apr. 8 - The Masters - $500 prize
• Apr. 15 - RBC Heritage - $250 prize
• May 6 - Wells Fargo Championship - $250 prize
• May 13 - PGA Championship - $500 prize
• Jun. 10 - U.S. Open - $500 prize
• Jun. 17 - Memorial - $250 prize
• Jul. 8 - Genesis Scottish Open - $250 prize
• Jul. 15 - British Open - $500 prize

$2,500 Grand Prize For The Cumulative Winner.

Let HQ know what you think.