Jason Day lights up The Australian

POTOMAC, Md. — Tiger Woods used a new putter and got the same middling results Thursday in the Quicken Loans National. Woods battled back from a double bogey with five straight birdie chances from 8 feet or closer. He made only two of them and had to settle for an even-par 70, leaving him seven shots out of the lead in the opening round on the TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. Andrew Landry set the pace on a difficult, but rain-softened course with a 7-under 63. J.J. Spaun matched him in the afternoon, playing in the group behind Woods without hardly anyone noticing that he played bogey-free while running off five birdies in a seven-hole stretch. Landry, who won the Texas Open in April for his first PGA TOUR title, also had a new putter in the bag. All the attention was on Woods, who had hoped a mallet-style putter might help him shake out of a putting slump. It didn’t. “I shot about the score I should have shot today,” Woods said. He never made a putt outside 10 feet, and the final stretch in the afternoon appeared to be a wasted chance to salvage a score under par. Woods also kept his round from getting worse with two big par saves to start the back nine, including an up-and-down from 147 yards on No. 11 after driving it into the trees. “This is a course that’s going to get tougher as the week goes on,” Woods said. It was plenty tough for him in his first competition on the TPC Potomac, and his first time playing the tournament since 2015. This also is the last edition, and the field is among the weakest on the PGA TOUR this year. Rickie Fowler is the only player in the top 10 in the world, and he also rallied for a 70. Even when he kept it in the short grass off the tee, Woods didn’t have a reasonable birdie chance until No. 5, and he missed from 10 feet. And then he ran into trouble on the par-4 sixth, starting with a tee shot he pulled left that caromed off a tree and landed in a the mown path that leads from the tee to the fairway. Woods tried to hit a 3-wood to the green and it came up short and into the hazard. He had to drop it in more rough, came up just short of the green and wound up making a 4-foot putt to escape with double bogey. Going with an iron off the tee at the par-5 10th, he pulled that into the hazard but at least was able to chop it back to the fairway, rip fairway metal around the green and chip it close to save par. On the next hole, he blasted a tee shot well right, over the gallery, and had to pitch out back into play again. He said the 6-foot par putt gave him momentum, and he was never under much stress the rest of the day. He just didn’t make anything. Woods missed from 10 feet and 6 feet on his next two holes. He made his first birdie on No. 14 with a 3-foot putt, only to badly miss from 7 feet on the next hole. “I didn’t really have anything going through the middle part of the round,” Woods said. “I hit some poor tee shots and didn’t really give myself a chance. I have to do a better job of getting more chances.” He had no beef with the putter, saying he rolled it well and hit plenty of good putts that didn’t fall. “Most of the good scores were shot in the morning,” Woods said. “Hopefully, I can go out there and do it myself.” The course was the fourth-toughest on the PGA TOUR last year, trailing only three majors, though it was soft enough and the wind was mild so that low scores were available. Kyle Stanley won at 7-under 273 last year. Landry and Spaun shared the lead at 7 under after one round. “I expect that if we don’t get any rain the next few days, the course is going to firm up, greens get firm, get a little bit quicker, but it’s not going to be like last year,” Billy Horschel said after his 64. “So you’re going to have to go out with the mindset that it’s a little bit different course, you can’t be as conservative, you’ve got to still try and make birdies.” Andrew Putnam also was at 64 while playing in the afternoon. Beau Hossler and Abraham Ancer were another shot behind. Woods has been at least six shots behind — and no better than a tie for 29th — after the opening round of his last six tournaments dating to the Masters.

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Like the effects of full and new moons on tides, in a couple iterations of PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf over the years, shootouts have allowed for greater surges. Of course, this also means that there is the potential for a deeper setback with a poor team performance. RELATED: Horses for Courses, Statistically Speaking The phenomenon on the game play this season is more impactful because pars are worth one point. With solid, pre-cut play at the Shriners Children’s Open, because TPC Summerlin has been the easiest par 71 on the PGA TOUR three seasons running (and in ideal weather similar to this week’s), you already would be scoring more points with more par breakers than your opponents who don’t have at least four make the cut, but now you’re scoring more points overall because of the elevated value of pars. My first priority when building my roster is to establish six who are projected to make the cut. But, because golf if a four-letter word, better-laid plans often are ruined. To wit, I’ve had exactly and only three cash in each of the first two tournaments of 2022-23. The old chestnut about insanity doesn’t apply to this pursuit, however. Golf is golf, and fantasy golf is fantasy golf. Stick to your process because this is the wrong week to absorb more zeroes. POWER RANKINGS WILD CARD Si Woo Kim (-160 for a Top 20) … Speaking of golf is golf, he slotted No. 12 (of 12) for the Internationals in my Power Rankings for the Presidents Cup, and then led the team with three points by going 3-1-0 in the losing cause. Go figure. The swing to the extremes essentially defines our visceral reaction over time. We love that he loves to play often, but we could do without so many mid-tournament withdrawals. Of course, we also love how often he plays well, but there’s little causality from one start to the next. The positive spin, at least for him, is that if there was a Power Rankings based on the suspicion of which guys have the shortest memories, he’d be prominently positioned in it. So, here we are at TPC Summerlin where he’s 4-for-5 with a trio of top 15s and a scoring average of 68.22 in 18 rounds. Recent form suggests that he’ll add to the success, but he still angles in as a contrarian in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf because of the persistent doubt. DRAWS Rickie Fowler (+225 for a Top 20) … Set aside the enormity of his shortcomings of the last whatever period of time that you prefer. He’s poised for an inflection point right now. He’s fresh off a T6 at the Fortinet, which occurred amid news that he’s reunited with Butch Harmon, who’s based in Las Vegas, which is where Fowler finished T3 at THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT a year ago and where this week’s Shriners is contested. Fowler’s last of four career top 25s on TPC Summerlin was a T4 in 2018. It’s also a perfect time to remind you that the 33-year-old is in his contract season. Cam Davis (-145 for a Top 40) … I’m not cool, but I’m cautious. Continue to love him in the long-term, but he’s in a transitional spot right now. An outstanding last four months of the 2021-22 season proved why he shoulders high expectations, but it’s fair to wonder if a letdown is brewing if his Presidents Cup debut was the endpoint of the arc. He’s perfect in three tries at TPC Summerlin, but none went for a top 25 and none were in the context of what’s he’s experiencing right now. Mark Hubbard (-110 for a Top 40) … While he’s still falling short of what’s so often a first PGA TOUR victory, he still needs to be valued for continuing to put himself into position to strike. Last week’s T5 was his third top-five finish of the last three months and the latest in a litany of impressive results scattered across 2022. He’s 3-for-6 at TPC Summerlin and with no better than a T35 in 2015, but his current trajectory projects for a personal best this week. Alex Noren (-145 for a Top 40) … Reviewing his current two-week stretch, this is a little like if the Los Angeles Rams were coming off a tight game in the snow, wind and cold of Green Bay before returning home to the much more comfortable climes of a home game the following weekend. While there’s open air at SoFi Stadium in L.A., it’s essentially indoors, just like the Swede’s test at TPC Summerlin this week. He finished T2 in less-than-desirable conditions at the Dunhill Links last week and he’s making his Shriners debut. The last time he crossed continents in the same short time frame, he chased a T30 at the Genesis Scottish Open with a solo second at the Barracuda Championship. That was inside three months ago. Justin Suh (+125 for a Top 40) … Keep the faith, at least in DFS, but the leash is shortening rapidly. After opening his membership debut with a pair of bad missed cuts, TPC Summerlin will embrace his aggressive tendencies. He can reconnect with what got him here and what slotted him No. 1 on the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour in the all-around ranking. He’s also not a debutant in the tournament, having finished T8 in 2020. Christiaan Bezuidenhout Will Gordon Adam Hadwin Lee Hodges Chris Kirk Matt Kuchar K.H. Lee Denny McCarthy Scott Piercy Seamus Power Kevin Streelman Adam Svensson Nick Taylor Odds sourced on Tuesday, October 4th at 7 p.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm FADES J.T. Poston … Y’all know that I’ve never ridden fences and that I approach my opinion from a conservative position. The thought is to start at the bottom and work my way up. With only one winner every week and so much “losing,” it’s the proper way to prognosticate. I remind you of that because he’s been on some kind of run for a little over three months, but he missed the cut at the Sanderson Farms (where he was No. 3 in my Power Rankings; see RECAP below). If he had extended his form, he’d likely have been a mild draw because his course history at TPC Summerlin is a mixed bag. In six trips, he’s scored under par in every opening round but he’s cashed only twice. One of those was for a T4 in 2017. So, this week serves as a terrific test to observe how what’s been working for him lately can lift him in a tournament that’s given him fits more often than not. Mito Pereira … Life comes at ya fast when you’re a PGA TOUR rookie and one of the best in your class, as he was in 2021-22. The Chilean scaled into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking with his disappointing T3 at the PGA Championship, and he retained that form for another two weeks, but it’s been a whole lotta nada since – just 4-for-6 without a top 40 and a 0-2-1 showing in his Presidents Cup debut. Even with accepted rigors contributing to the slump, many others weren’t upended despite similar scheduling. Cameron Champ … Just 1-for-3 at TPC Summerlin (T28, 2018) and has continued to pop way too infrequently since winning the 3M Open a little over 14 months ago. Wrist issue, bad habits as a result of playing through it, or whatever, the struggle has been real for a guy who has made it look so easy at times. Keith Mitchell … The 30-year-old has been gliding along for about a year now, but he’s 0-for-4 at TPC Summerlin despite six red numbers among eight scores. Ben Martin … While your instinct might be to wonder why he deserved attention at all, much less as a Fade, it was at TPC Summerlin in 2014 where he recorded his lone PGA TOUR title. He answered with a T25 in his title defense, and then missed the cut in the following two editions and hasn’t returned since. His close call at Corales earlier this year was one of the most poignantly self-aware moments of 2022, so it was gratifying how he rose to the challenge in the KFT Finals to secure his PGA TOUR card once again, but all of these are short-lived and overextending examples of what he’s capable of achieving, not who has been week in and week out. Zac Blair … Served notice upon return this summer with three top 25s contributing to a 6-for-6 stretch across two tours. The streak was punctuated by a T12 at the season-opening Fortinet Championship. However, he missed the cut last week and he’s missed five straight at TPC Summerlin since 2015. Just don’t let it deter you from a full-season investment. He’s equipped with a full slate of starts via a Major Medical Extension, so he’ll be able to pick and choose the opens in which he competes. Byeong Hun An Jason Day Harris English Danny Lee Maverick McNealy Chez Reavie Patrick Rodgers Brendon Todd Gary Woodland NOTABLE WDs Trey Mullinax … It’s too soon to know for sure but it would be surprising if he didn’t tee it up in each of the next two weeks. He’s never qualified for the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP and THE CJ CUP in South Carolina until now. So, after finishing 2021-22 with a flourish that included his breakthrough victory at the Barbasol Championship, and then opening this season 0-for-2, a break right now makes sense. It also gives him a chance to acclimate to Japan early if he makes the trip. Davis Riley … Like Mullinax, Riley also qualified for the first two invitationals of the 2022-23 season for the first time. If anything, no matter performances leading up to the forthcoming fortnight, the more surprising fact isn’t that each committed to and withdrew early from the Shriners, but that either committed in the first place. RECAP – SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP POWER RANKINGS Power Ranking Golfer Result 1 Sahith Theegala MC 2 Harris English MC 3 J.T. Poston MC 4 Davis Thompson T67 5 Sam Burns T30 6 Denny McCarthy T39 7 Emiliano Grillo T5 8 Scott Stallings T13 9 Trey Mullinax MC 10 Taylor Montgomery T9 11 Russell Henley MC 12 Davis Riley T19 13 Byeong Hun An MC 14 Taylor Moore T24 15 Henrik Norlander T24 Wild Card Chris Kirk T30 SLEEPERS Golfer (Bet, if applicable) Result Adam Hadwin (+225 for a Top 20) T45 Aaron Rai (+225 for a Top 20) T61 MJ Daffue T61 Zecheng Dou T54 Lee Hodges T30 GOLFBET Bet: Davis Riley, Wyndham Clark and Taylor Moore – All the Make the Cut (+180) Result: Riley (T19), Clark (MC), Moore (T24) BIRTHDAYS AMONG ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE PGA TOUR October 4 … none October 5 … Kelly Kraft (34) October 6 … none October 7 … none October 8 … none October 9 … none October 10 … Charlie Beljan (38) Responsible sports betting starts with a game plan. Set a budget. Keep it social. Play with friends. Learn the game and know the odds. Play with trusted, licensed operators. CLICK HERE to learn more at HaveAGamePlan.org.

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There are multiple levels of pressure to deal with on the PGA TOUR. Last week, Brooks Koepka had to face his heroes in a showdown on the back nine on Sunday at the PGA Championship before collecting his third major championship in his last six majors. This week some of the pros will be playing for their jobs as they try and retain PGA TOUR status in the final Regular Season event at the Wyndham Championship. For the 11th season running, Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, will play host as the TOUR determines the order of its top 125 players. Those inside of the top 125 at the end of play this week will also begin the FedExCup Playoffs next week at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey. Henrik Stenson (No. 9) became the highest-ranked player in the OWGR to win since Hal Sutton (No. 4) in 2000. Stenson set the tournament record as he posted 22-under-par 258. He’s back to defend his title this week but I’ll point out in the last 11 events at Sedgefield there have been 11 different winners. The field of 156 will be looking to rack up $1.080 million and 500 FedExCup points before the prize pools greatly expand next week in the Playoffs. TALES OF THE TAPE The one element that jumps off the page is the spectrum of winners this event has produced since returning to Sedgefield in 2008. Yes, that was 51-year-old Davis Love III picking up the check in 2015. He became the third-oldest winner on TOUR as he came back from four shots down after 54 holes to win by one. He never had problems keeping up off the tee with the younger generation but it was his putting stroke that proved to be the difference. With perfect summer weather, the cut checked in at 3-under-par, reinforcing the point that average rounds don’t hold up when jobs are on the line. This event isn’t for the grinder either as the top 30 were 10-under or lower and there were exactly three rounds from this group that were worse than par. The pendulum swung the opposite direction the following year as 21-year-old Si Woo Kim replaced the 51-year-old Love as the champ. Not only did he become the youngest winner of the event but he did it in regal fashion. He set the new course record (60) in Round 2 while tying the tournament record of 21-under-par 259 as he led alone after 36, 54 and 72 holes. The icing on the cake was a whopping five-shot victory final round that didn’t even cause him to break a sweat. Not bad for TOUR win No. 1! The top 32 players were 10-under or better and the cut was 3-under again. Rafa Cabrera Bello was the co-first round leader after posting 63 and is in the field again this week. Last year the veteran Swede was pushed to the finish line by Ollie Schniederjans. Stenson was up for the challenge as he made birdies on four of his last six holes to win by one. Schniederjans, the former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket, refused to go quietly and was the only player bogey-free in the final round. Knowing that he needed to dunk his final shot on the last to have any chance of a playoff, he missed by just 21 inches. Matt Every opened the proceedings with 61 but Stenson’s 62 didn’t force him to play catch-up all week. He sat one off the lead at the halfway point behind Ryan Armour, who signed for 61 in Round 2, and Webb Simpson before securing the 54-hole lead by a shot. For the third year running the cut was 3-under so there’s no room for slow starts! 2008: Inaugural edition, 21-under is the winning score; history before at the Forest Oaks Club is irrelevant. 2009: Ryan Moore makes up a four-shot deficit to force a playoff and win. 2010: Monday Qualifier Arjun Atwal shoots 20-under to win by one. 2011: Webb Simpson named one of his daughters after the event. 2012: Monday finish for Sergio Garcia. 2013: Patrick Reed beat Jordan Spieth in a playoff after switching to Champion Bermuda greens. 2014: Camilo Villegas shot 63 in the final round to come from four shots off the lead to win. Go ahead and tell me what’s going to happen this week! The only thing I am positive about this week is that plenty of par-breakers will need to be on the winning scorecard! NOTE: Golfers inside the top 25-ish in each statistic on the 2017-18 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. * – Finished inside the top 10 since 2013 or is a past champion. Birdie-or-Better Percentage Rank  Golfer  2  Joaquin Niemann 11 Chesson Hadley 14 Keith Mitchell 15 Ryan Palmer 16 Brandon Harkins 19 Grayson Murray 20 Ricky Barnes 22 *Martin Laird 23 Sam Saunders 26 Tom Lovelady 29 *Ollie Schniederjans Proximity Rank  Golfer  1  David Hearn  2  Joaquin Niemann  4  Steve Stricker  7  Chris Kirk  9  Conrad Shindler 10 Tom Hoge 12 *Jim Furyk 12 Cameron Percy 15 *Henrik Stenson 17 Brian Stuard 21 Blayne Barber 21 Chesson Hadley 25 *J.J. Henry 27 *Ryan Armour Rounds in the 60’s Rank  Golfer  4  Jason Kokrak  7  Chesson Hadley  8  Keith Mitchell 10 Brian Gay 14 Corey Conners 14 Chris Kirk 18 Tyler Duncan 18 *Webb Simpson 18 J.T. Poston 25 Patrick Rodgers 25 Brandon Harkins 30 *Rory Sabbatini 30 *John Huh 30 *Ryan Armour Par-4 Scoring Rank  Golfer  5  Joaquin Niemann  9  *Henrik Stenson  9  Hunter Mahan  9  *Ryan Moore 15 Chris Kirk 15 *Webb Simpson 21 J.T. Poston 21 *Johnson Wagner Sedgefield Country Club was originally designed by Donald Ross and then was redesigned by Kris Spence before resuming hosting duties in 2008. Stretching only to 7,127 yards the Par-70 has been under attack since Day 1. All three of the last winners were in the top 10 in fairways but birdies aren’t made from the tee box. With greens averaging almost 6,500 square feet, I’m more interested in the players who hit the most of them. The more chances at birdie will keep the pressure off as everyone knows they will need to go low this week. Running at 12 feet on the Stimpmeter, I’ll remind you this is the first time on Bermuda for these guys on TOUR since TPC Southwind, the week before the U.S. Open. What a way to end it! Just like the big gunfight seen in the movies! Everyone who is teetering knows they have to go low this week and watching guys who do or don’t handle the moment is fascinating. Newer gamers will tell me that guys will play well this week because they have to. I’ll point out most have had over 20 chances to secure their card by now. I don’t think the pressure or knowing that only low scores will be the way to go is going to “help” this week. As shown above, there’s not much degree of difficulty to this track as it simply sits right in front of the players. There’s not much of a learning curve necessary as shown by the winners above. The pressure this week is on the pros sitting firmly on the FedExCup bubble. The top 125 advance to the Playoffs and will keep full playing privileges for next season. In seven of the last eight years, No. 125 entering this week has secured his card for next year. The Bubble Other notables  QUICK FACTS: • Of the 10 winners at Sedgefield, six have been internationals. • In the last five years only 10 players have inserted themselves into the top 125. • Matt Jones has fallen out of the 125 THREE TIMES at this event. He begins the week No. 144 so maybe he can turn the tables! • There has never been a repeat champion at this event since Sam Snead in 1956. • Gamers please remember any player who won last year is exempt in 2018-19 regardless of their final position this year. It does NOT make them eligible for the Playoffs. • Green complexes were changed from Bentgrass to Champions Bermuda after the 2012 edition. Rob Bolton’s Power Rankings will give you more juice for the week so make sure you stop by. It’s also who I trust with the weather each week so pay attention!  NOTE: The groups below are comprehensive to assist in data mining. Inclusion doesn’t imply automatic endorsement in every fantasy game as all decisions are specific to your situation.  

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