Editor's Note: This is a guest post from PoolGenius, whose picks and tools have helped pool players win sports pools more than three times as often as expected for over a decade.
Golf One and Done pools offer an exciting way to enjoy the PGA Tour season, combining strategy, skill, and a bit of luck. The One and Done season demands long-term planning and calculated pick management, where each choice significantly impacts your overall performance.
Whether you’re new to this format or looking to refine your approach, this guide will help you craft a strategy that can keep you competitive throughout the season.
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The One and Done Format: A Quick Overview
At its heart, a Golf One and Done pool is about making the right call at the right time. Each week, you select one golfer to represent your entry in that tournament. The twist? Once you use a golfer, you can’t pick them again for the rest of the season. Scoring is typically based on the prize money earned by your picks, making timing and tournament value critical to your success.
The format is forgiving in some ways — there’s no single elimination like an NFL Survivor pool — but it’s also challenging. Hitting a few high-value picks is often the difference between winning your pool and falling behind.
Identify High-Priority Events
Not all tournaments are created equal. Events like the Majors, The Players Championship, and PGA Tour "Signature Events" offer significantly larger prize purses. Winning one of these tournaments can generate prize money that more than doubles the earnings from smaller events. For example, last season, Scottie Scheffler earned $4 million for winning the Memorial Tournament, a Signature Event, while Robert MacIntyre earned just under $1.7 million for his victory at the RBC Canadian Open the week prior.
To maximize your pool performance, it’s essential to reserve your top-tier golfers for these high-stakes tournaments. A strong finish — or better yet, a win — in a Major or Signature Event can dramatically boost your overall standings, often making up for smaller gains in other weeks. Thoughtful planning and strategic use of elite players in these events can be the difference between staying competitive and falling behind.
Use Second-Tier Events Wisely
Second-tier tournaments may feature smaller prize purses, but they play a crucial role in shaping your season-long strategy. These events are ideal for selecting mid-tier golfers — players with solid potential who are less likely to dominate in Majors or Signature events. By leveraging these tournaments strategically, you can reserve elite players for higher-value opportunities later in the season.
Success in second-tier tournaments often hinges on understanding recent player form and course history. Analyzing how golfers perform on specific course types or under similar conditions can help identify strong contenders. Additionally, monitoring pick popularity in your pool provides an opportunity to differentiate your picks, especially if a lesser-known golfer’s profile aligns well with the event.
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Understand Your Pool Rules
The specific rules of your pool significantly influence your strategy and planning for the season. Key considerations include the tournament list, scoring system, player re-usage or substitution rules, and the presence of segment prizes.
Pools with a full PGA schedule require careful allocation of players across a longer stretch, while a more limited event list allows you to focus on targeting specific tournaments. Scoring systems based purely on prize money favor conservative planning, while those with bonuses for achievements like Major wins or top-10 finishes encourage a more aggressive approach.
Re-usage or substitution rules also play a critical role. If golfers can only be picked once, strategic planning is essential to avoid wasting top players in lower-value events. Pools allowing substitutions for withdrawals provide more flexibility, reducing the risk associated with selecting volatile players.
Segment prizes add another layer of complexity, incentivizing the use of strong picks during specific parts of the season. This can shift focus from an overall season-long approach to targeting key stretches that offer additional opportunities to win.
Adapting your strategy to these specific rules allows you to identify valuable opportunities and gain an edge over less-prepared competitors, setting you up for sustained success throughout the season.
Adapt to the Standings and Stay Consistent
Your position in the pool standings should guide your decision-making as the season progresses. If you’re leading, you can prioritize top-ranked players without worrying too much about pick popularity to maintain your advantage. If you’re trailing, opting for less popular golfers with high upside can provide opportunities to close the gap.
For example, if a large percentage of your pool selects a particular golfer for a major event, you could pivot to an equally strong but less popular option to stand out. Xander Schauffele was a prime example last year, rewarding those who picked him at the right time with 15 top-10 finishes and two Major wins during the 2024 season.
Adjusting your strategy is just one aspect of a successful season-long approach. Surprisingly, many participants in Golf One and Done pools fail to submit picks consistently, creating easy opportunities for others to move ahead. By simply staying engaged and making a pick each week, you significantly improve your chances of outperforming less-dedicated competitors. Setting reminders and using tools like PoolGenius to track and submit your picks ensures you never miss a week. In a long-format contest like this, consistency is often the key to success.
Leverage Data and Tools
Golf’s unpredictability means relying on gut feelings or personal favorites is rarely a winning strategy. To make smarter picks, tap into data-driven insights such as strokes gained metrics, betting odds, and course history. Tools like PoolGenius offer these insights in a user-friendly format, helping you identify the best golfers for each tournament based on your pool’s unique structure.
For example, PoolGenius can highlight which players to save for high-purse events and help you track your picks throughout the season. Access to this kind of data ensures your strategy is solid and not left to chance.
Maximize Your Strategy with PoolGenius Golf One and Done Picks
The PoolGenius Golf One and Done Picks product is designed to help you make smarter decisions and outmaneuver your competition. By providing in-depth insights into player popularity and performance metrics, it equips you with the tools you need to optimize your picks every step of the way.
Here’s how PoolGenius gives you a winning edge:
- Analyze essential stats like strokes gained ratings, golfer rankings, betting odds, and course history for every tournament.
- Use tailored weekly pick grades to identify the best golfers for your lineup, factoring in who you’ve already selected and the events remaining in your pool.
- Plan effectively with strategic recommendations for reserving top golfers for critical future tournaments.
- Track your picks and winnings easily across multiple PGA One and Done pool entries.
- Explore additional features that simplify your process and maximize your potential for success.
For a limited time, new users can try PoolGenius for free. This is the perfect opportunity to level up your strategy and dominate your one-and-done pool.
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