Photos: Presidents Cup, Day 1

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — The pressure and drama so typical of the Ryder Cup finally arrived on Saturday, with one big difference. The suspense was whether Europe could try to make a game of it. The Americans held their own over the final hour as Dustin Johnson completed a perfect week of team play and Scottie Scheffler delivered the biggest putt of his young career. That staked them to an 11-5 lead, their largest ever against Europe and their biggest in the Ryder Cup since 1975. No one has ever come back from more than a four-point deficit in Ryder Cup history. That’s the order facing Europe, which has yet to win a session at Whistling Straits. The Europeans tried, getting another big win from Jon Rahm and a clutch moment from Shane Lowry, who holed a 10-foot par putt on the 18th green and was pumping his arms so furiously in celebration that he finally dropped his putter on the ground. So much was as stake. So little was gained. “We’re not in a good position and it’s going to take a beyond monumental effort,” said Ian Poulter, who has failed to deliver a point in two matches. “So we need a couple of miracles.” “We’re out there fighting as hard as we can,” Lowry said. The Americans routed Europe again in foursomes Saturday morning — a third straight 3-1 margin — to build a 9-3 lead. And while Europe was ahead in three of the afternoon fourballs, Scheffler’s 15-foot birdie putt on the 15th hole and his nifty up-and-down for birdie on the next hole carried him and Bryson DeChambeau to victory in the final match on the course. Next up is the final session of 12 singles matches, historically an American strength. They need to reach 14 1/2 points to win back that gold trophy. “I think we have a lot of guys on this team that really hate losing, and so individual matches tomorrow, I think guys are going to be fired up and ready to play,” Scheffler said. “Hopefully, finish this thing off.” The U.S. team led 12 1/2-3 1/2 going into Sunday in 1975 when it played against only Britain and Ireland. Dating to the modern era of 1979, when continental Europe joined the party, its largest lead was 10 1/2 -5 1/2 in 1981 at Walton Heath. The six-point lead ties the modern record Europe set in 2004 at Oakland Hills in a record rout. Rahm was unbeaten in team play. The world’s No. 1 player, looking every bit the part, teamed with Ryder Cup record-setter Sergio Garcia to win foursomes in the morning and then held out to beat Brooks Koepka and cold-putting Jordan Spieth in fourballs. Right when it looked as though the Americans might square the match, Rahm made a 30-foot birdie on the 16th hole and Spieth missed from 12 feet — the sixth time in fourballs he missed from that range or closer, including one that mysteriously circled the entire cup and came out. Even so, the climb is steeper than some of the wild dunes dotting the landscape of this rugged terrain along the Lake Michigan shores. The top five players in the world have gone 15-0-2 in team play at this Ryder Cup. The problem for Europe is four of those players are Americans. Johnson became the first American since Larry Nelson in 1979 to go 4-0 in team play. He went out twice with Collin Morikawa, the two-time major champion who drove the sixth green and delivered plenty of big putts of his own in the afternoon fourballs. Johnson was the only American to play all four matches. A 9-3 lead through three sessions made it easy for U.S. captain Steve Stricker to rest Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, who won another foursomes match, and Justin Thomas, who delivered another clutch shot into the par-5 16th to set up a foursome win with Spieth. The goal for the Americans after their best opening day in 46 years was to wipe the slate clean and play as though the Ryder Cup was just starting. For a time, it started to feel as if this Ryder Cup was over. Johnson and Morikawa never trailed in either of their two matches. Schauffele and Cantlay flipped their match during a six-hole stretch in the middle of their round. Spieth and Thomas rallied from an early 3-down deficit. Already the leading points-scorer in Ryder Cup history, Garcia won both his matches with Rahm, the latest European version of a Spanish Armada. He now has won 25 matches, breaking the record held by Nick Faldo. “What we did is not enough, not (with) the situation we are in,” Garcia said after his morning foursomes match. It felt better in the afternoon, a board finally filled with mostly European blue. But when it ended, Europe had not made up any ground from the morning.

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CHIBA, Japan – Tournament officials announced today that two-time major winner Collin Morikawa and former FedExCup champion Justin Rose have committed to play in the 2022 ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba, October 13-16, 2022. The duo are the latest big names to sign up for Japan’s lone PGA TOUR tournament following earlier commitments by reigning Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Xander Schauffele, Cameron Champ, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler and Tommy Fleetwood. Travis Steiner, Executive Director of the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, said: “We are delighted that Collin Morikawa and Justin Rose, who are both established stars of the game on the PGA TOUR, will compete in our tournament. Their presence will lend further credence to Japan being a major attraction for our top players and ensure another meaningful week of world-class golf for our Japanese fans to experience at Narashino.” Morikawa, 25, has emerged as one of the most exciting young talents in recent years. Since turning professional in 2019, he has won five times on the PGA TOUR including two major championships, the 2020 PGA Championship and 2021 Open Championship. He also became the first American golfer to win the DP World Tour Race to Dubai title last year. In the recently concluded 2021-22 PGA TOUR Season, the World No. 8 posted eight top-10s, including top-5 finishes at the Masters and U.S. Open, en route to a T21 finish in the FedExCup. Morikawa will be making his fourth straight appearance at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, with a T7 in 2021 being his best finish. Morikawa said: “I’ve played in every ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP since 2019 and it’s a tournament that I mark out on my calendar at the start of every year. Japan is an amazing country and the fans are incredible. The Morikawa family name goes back generations to Kumamoto, Japan, and having the opportunity to compete in a country with deep family roots is something I take great pride in. I look forward to concluding my year with some delicious Japanese food, playing on a great golf course and hopefully securing a win along the way.” Rose, a former World No. 1, is a renowned winner across the globe where he has won official tournaments on all six continents, including The Crowns Tournament on the Japan Golf Tour in 2002. He was also the gold medallist when golf made a welcome return to the Olympic Games programme in Rio in 2016. The 42-year-old Englishman holds 10 titles on the PGA TOUR, including a major triumph at the 2013 U.S. Open. Another career highlight was achieved in 2018 when he claimed the season-long prize, the FedExCup, following two victories and nine other top-10s. Rose’s best finish at the recent 2021-22 Season was a T4 at the RBC Canadian Open where he closed with a 10-under 60. His lone appearance to date at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP was at Sherwood Country Club in 2020 where he finished T17 when the tournament was moved to the U.S. due to the challenges of COVID-19. Rose, ranked 58th in the world, said: “Japan will always have a special place in my heart as one of my earliest professional wins was achieved in Nagoya back in 2002. I look forward to returning in October to compete for another title at the PGA TOUR’s lone tournament in Japan. I’ve heard nothing but great things about the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Japan and I look forward to experiencing it myself.” The US$11 million ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP will showcase a 78-man field which will compete over four rounds with no cut. As Japan’s only official PGA TOUR event, the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP was successfully launched at Narashino in 2019 when Tiger Woods claimed the inaugural title with a three-shot victory over Hideki Matsuyama en route to equalling Sam Snead’s record of 82 PGA TOUR victories. Patrick Cantlay was victorious in the 2020 edition at Sherwood while Matsuyama produced a popular victory when the tournament returned home to Japan last October. This year’s ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP will include the leading players from the 2021-2022 FedExCup, players designated by the Japan Golf Tour Organization, the winner of the 2022 BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup on the Japan Golf Tour and sponsor exemptions. As in previous years, part of the tournament’s proceeds will be donated to charitable causes. As a full FedExCup tournament, the winner of the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP will earn 500 FedExCup points. The event will be co-sanctioned once again with the Japan Golf Tour Organization. For more information on the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, please visit ZOZOCHAMPIONSHIP.com.

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The Hero World Challenge, hosted by Tiger Woods and his TGR Foundation, takes place at Albany in the Bahamas this week. The 20-man field was set to feature Woods in his first start since The 150th Open Championship in July but the 82-time PGA TOUR winner was forced to withdraw with plantar fasciitis. Sepp Straka gets the late call up against some elite talent. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $300K Pitch + Putt [$100K to 1st] STRATEGY The field might be very limited with only 20 players, but it’s elite and features golfers from across the globe. All 20 reside inside the top 33 of the OWGR, giving us plenty of top options down the board to choose from for fantasy. Last year’s winner and runner-up (Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler) are both in the field, as is 2018 winner Jon Rahm, who won twice on the DP World Tour this fall. With such a limited field — and every player guaranteed to get in four rounds of golf — every pick we make will have serious consequences for our daily fantasy golf lineups, so prepare for some big swings up and down the leaderboard this week as the event progresses. Albany is set near the sea and has little in the way of cover, with wide-open fairways tending to deemphasize power. Even with heavy winds from the sea often affecting play, the course itself is conducive to lower scoring. Albany has yielded a winning score of 18-under par or better in each of the past five seasons. The venue is unique in its setup in that designer Ernie Els set up Albany to play as more of a links-style venue, and Els even compared it stylistically to St. Andrews at one point. Rickie Fowler, who has proven himself to be an excellent links player (but who doesn’t qualify as a long hitter), is a past champion. The venue is also unique in that it features five par 5s and five par 3s (instead of the normal four we find on most par 72s). That makes this more of a shot-makers course and also siphons away some of the advantages that longer drivers have. Without a ton of the longer par 4s that we see on more traditional PGA TOUR setups, players who are weaker off the tee can challenge this week if they are firing with their approaches and putter. It’s near the end of the year and players will be coming in with varying form, but strong around the green and approach play has generally been the key to success at this event. Look for players who have been sharp in those areas this fall and who have experienced some success on the links in their careers already. GOLFERS TO CONSIDER Justin Thomas ($10,200) Taking Thomas this week could be a nice contrarian play in larger field tournaments on DraftKings. The American only played a couple of events over the fall with a T40 at THE CJ CUP in South Carolina being his best result. That’s not likely to get him a ton of eyeballs on a week where you only have to pay $500 more to get up to the red-hot Jon Rahm or have the choice of going more balanced by using players like Tony Finau ($9,300) and Viktor Hovland ($8,700) as your anchors. Thomas finally cracked the top 10 at this event in 2021, grabbing a T5 finish at Albany last season. With limited starts on his resume since the TOUR Championship, he should be eager to improve on that career-best finish in 2022. He’s also ranked first in around the green stats over the last 50 rounds in this field and has had plenty of success winning at non-mainland PGA TOUR courses over his career, grabbing wins in Malaysia, Hawaii (twice) and South Korea to date. While his price may seem high, his upside is every bit as elite as the other top players in the field, making him a solid contrarian play to build around in big field GPPs. Tommy Fleetwood ($7,300) Fleetwood is an experienced links player who has already had a terrific 2022 season and is coming off a win on the DP World Tour just a few weeks ago in South Africa. Like Thomas, Fleetwood has an elite short game that should allow him to handle this venue if and when the wind gets up. Fleetwood has also shown a ton of confidence with the putter over the back half of 2022, gaining strokes on the greens in six of his last seven PGA TOUR starts. A top-five finisher at The Open Championship in two of the past four years, Fleetwood also showed strong at Albany the last time he played this event in 2017 (his only invite), grabbing a share of third. Given his recent form and the success he’s had on links venues in the past, using him as a value play in this range makes plenty of sense for DFS purposes. Collin Morikawa ($6,900) Even in this elite field, Morikawa’s sub-$7,000 salary sticks out like a sore thumb. The two-time major winner may have had a down season by his standards, but he still finished top five at two of the four major championships in 2022, and encouragingly, looked better in his last fall start in Mexico where he grabbed a share of 15th place. Morikawa’s last two starts have also seen him gain strokes around the green which is perhaps a sign that the rest of his game is catching up to his elite iron play — which has him ranked third in this field in strokes gained approach stats over the last 50 rounds. Morikawa is an Open Championship winner who also prevailed for a big win against an elite WGC field down in Florida (at the very open and windy Concession Golf Course). He finished T5 at this event/venue last season and comes in with more motivation than his peers given he’s gone the entire year without a win. At under $7,000 on DraftKings, he’s criminally underpriced (even in this limited field) and makes for a terrific value target this week for fantasy. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $300K Pitch + Putt [$100K to 1st] Place your golf bets at DraftKings Sportsbook and bet online by downloading the DraftKings Sportsbook app. I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is wavegoodbye) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.

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