FedExCup Update: Watson hopes to delay vacation

Here are nine tidbits from the first round of the Quicken Loans National that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm hosts for the second time and measures 7,107 yards (Par-70).   KNOW THY ENEMY These were the top-10 selected golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf game presented by SERVPRO. Perfect scoring conditions greeted the morning wave as Andrew Landry tied the professional course record with his bogey-free 63. The afternoon side wasn’t bad either, as another 63 by J.J. Spaun gave us co-leaders after the opening round. The weather will just be hotter tomorrow and the winds relatively similar, so there won’t be a tactical advantage on tee times. The afternoon folks will need to be properly hydrated! PEOPLE’S CHOICE J.B. Holmes isn’t a name we’ve seen at the top of the list or even on the list in recent memory. Gamers are riding the wave of hot, albeit deliberate, play from the big hitter from Kentucky as he’s hit the podium in his last two events. He found 10 fairways and 10 GIR but could only get up-and-down on four of the eight he missed. The ones he did hit left him 117th out of 120 players in proximity. His best round in five here is 71 so gamers will have a decision whether or not to use the bench in Round 2. This was only his second round in the black in his last 17 rounds. RECORD DUO Landry and Spaun both used seven birdies without squaring a bogey to set the first round pace. Since his victory at the Valero Texas Open, another difficult track, Landry has played just two of six weekends and his best payday is T65. He MC last week 81-67 but that was a distant memory today. Spaun popped up at Trinity Forest where he opened with 64 and closed with 63 to share third. Gamers hoping to ride that wave were smacked with MC, MC and T47 in his last three outings. Spaun led the field in Round 1 in SG: off the tee as he split 12-of-14 fairways (T1). He fired 73-78 here last year to MC. HOST WITH THE MOST Tiger Woods finally gets a chance to play at his own tournament, and he looked to create some momentum with a new putter in the bag. Gamers remember that he blistered Memorial tee-to-green but made absolutely nothing. The putter didn’t solve all of his problems as he lost over one shot on the greens but his tee-to-green game wasn’t on point either. The greatest part of Woods’ game is his ability to grind. He wiped out a double with a pair of birdies and added 15 pars to sign for 70 (E). An early start on fresh greens should kick-start the putter in Round 2.  HOOK ‘EM That sound you hear every Thursday is Beau Hossler. For the 10th event running his Round 1 scorecard is in red figures. For the third event in a row it has been 66 or better has his six birdies and one bogey added up to 65 (T5) today. Finishing the job is the next step as he’s only hit the top 10 in one of those three events, T2 last week at TPC River Highlands. He hasn’t MC in this stretch either so this isn’t smoke or mirrors. CIAO! Francesco Molinari made his way into the top 10, and rightfully so as gamers are paying attention. He enters the week in an excellent form as his last three worldwide paychecks have been for a win, second and T25. If the main requirement this week is navigating this track tee-to-green it shouldn’t be any surprise he opened with 67. BRAKES PUMPED While 71 (+1) didn’t knock Kyle Stanley out of contention, it surely wasn’t the start gamers were expecting from the defending champion. Driving wasn’t the issue as he found 12-of-14 fairways but his approach play saw him check in at No. 98. The good news is he’s third on TOUR in GIR so this goes down as an aberration for me and I’m expecting normal service to resume tomorrow.  WALK THE LINE Jimmy Walker has played great for almost three months, and that’s why his 74 in Round 1 was surprising. Marc Leishman only hit three fairways and shot 67, so scoring here can happen. Walker found just seven fairways but checked in at No. 111 in SG: putting and only saved par in three of seven chances missing GIR. He opened on No. 10 with an unplayable and a water ball for double-bogey seven so it could have been worse! He’ll need to make more than one birdie in Round 2. STUDY HALL The Round 1 scoring average was 69.992 (-0.008) as opposed to 71.203 in the inaugural year last year. The 18-hole lead last year was 65. No wind helps! There were eight bogey-free rounds all of last year as this course was the most difficult (non-major) on TOUR. There were five on Friday as red-hot Andrew Putnam (64), Seamus Power (66) and Joel Dahmen (66) joined Landry on Spaun in the clean card club.  C.T. Pan (67) broke his driver on No. 14, but still found a way to birdie that hole and the next two. His eight birdies for the round led the field. He gets to put in a new driver on Friday.

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PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO Gosh, it feels good to back after it, doesn’t it? We took just one week off due to the team format of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, but it seems a lot longer ago that we were sizing up the field at the Valero Texas Open. If you can in any way translate that break to the schedule maintained by a touring professional, no matter how much fun we have, you can begin to understand why golfers can’t play every week. Then toss on travel, family and so many other obligations, it’s any wonder that they can zero in once they return to competition given the perception of imbalance. I know it lifts my respect for them and I suppose it does for you, too. Segment 3 of PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO takes us through the Travelers Championship in the third week of June. Results aside, we shouldn’t have any problem coasting along with little fear of running dry on starts on anyone. FedExCup points leader Dustin Johnson sat out the Masters with an 11th-hour back injury. While unfortunate for him, it opened opportunities for us to be aggressive. This is realized immediately at the Wells Fargo Championship where he garnered 69.6 percent of the faith. More impressive is that Jon Rahm was selected for 72.0 percent to lead the field. Head-to-head, the difference and DJ’s spot in second could be connected to residual concern over his health even though it’s been four weeks since his tumble. The rest of the top 10 aligns appropriately as it concerns cachet, form, and local knowledge, and then Daniel Berger sneaks in at 10th with 17.3 percent. If you ever wondered how much influence I have – or don’t – consider I omitted Berger entirely from my preview material. James Hahn is the defending champion. Even though he’s on Eagle Point Golf Club and not Quail Hollow Club this year, he still slots a respectable 18th at 7.5 percent. Other notables not featured below include Pat Perez (12th, 14.0 percent), Lucas Glover (14th, 11.6%), Patrick Reed (16th, 11.4%) and Alex Noren (32nd, 2.0 percent). NOTE: Rob’s Rating refers to where our Fantasy Insider slotted a golfer in his Power Rankings. Golfers in the Power Rankings and outside the top 10 in most owned PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO Familiar strategies return with individual competition. The Wells Fargo Championship slides us back to square. However, the unknown of Eagle Point Golf Club threw a 7-iron into the usual process of identifying our guy. Form upon arrival is enhanced as a variable in the absence of course history, and few are feeling it as well as Kevin Kisner right now, so it’s not surprising that he had your attention. What is surprising is that he’s an easy No. 1 at 17.8 percent. It would have made more sense if Eagle Point member Webb Simpson sat atop the chart with the same split, but he’s not far behind, positioned in third with 12.7 percent. Jon Rahm was who I expected to occupy the perch, and he’s second at 13.6 percent, but gamers have spoken loudly and proudly for the Palmetto State native and resident. Kisner’s playoff loss at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans was the latest in a litany of leaderboard appearances in 2017. Regardless of what happens at the WFC, he’ll again be a talent of interest at next week’s PLAYERS. Defending champion James Hahn populates 0.3 percent of the rosters, good for 26th overall. Other notables outside the top 10 include Francesco Molinari (11th, 1.9 percent), Patrick Reed (15th, 1.0 percent), Lucas Glover (16th, 1.0 percent), Alex Noren (21st, 0.4 percent) and Eagle Point’s course record-holder Carl Pettersson (T32, 0.1 percent).

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