McIlroy to play 7 events in lead-up to Masters

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – As rituals go, spending his birthday at Harbour Town Golf Links is as sure a bet as you’ll find in the world of golf. After all, Davis Love III has played here 32 times since 1986. He celebrated his 22nd birthday a few days before his debut. And on the eve of yet another RBC Heritage, Love smiled warmly at the site of a birthday cake commemorating his 58th birthday. He’s won here five times, finished second once, and third once. So, he’s royalty when he’s among the Hilton Head crowd. But on this day, the cake would have to serve as the only gift he would receive because with Love serving as Presidents Cup captain later in the year, this birthday celebration would be spent answering questions. Like what is Tiger Woods’ role going to be at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte on Sept. 22-25? “Any role he wants,” said Love, quickly and firmly. “We had to pry him off the couch a little bit last winter and spring to get involved in the (2021) Ryder Cup and then once we got him going, he was very engaged and loved it.” Love joked that if Woods were to say, “‘You’re not captain anymore, I’m going to be the captain,’ we’ll probably have to talk about that one. But anything else (is open). If he wants to be co-captain or assistant captain or player, . . . whatever he wants to do.” When asked if Love truly believes Woods could play on the Presidents Cup team in five months he nodded his head. Why? “Because I didn’t think he would ever play again and he proved us wrong,” said Love. “And then, I didn’t think he could walk 72 holes at Augusta, because that’s one of our hardest walks – and he proved us wrong again.” So Love joked that it would probably assure a Woods Presidents Cup comeback if he were continue to doubt him. “Can he do it? I’ll just say no, he’s not going to play enough golf and he won’t be able to do it, so then he’ll do it,” laughed Love. “What could be a better story than him playing the Masters, him playing The Open Championship and working his way back and winning a golf tournament and being at least in the conversation.” Of all the congratulations Love said he’s received since being named Presidents Cup captain for the first time (he’s a two-time Ryder Cup captain), the one he got from Woods meant the most. “He calls me and says, ‘All right, you’re captain in Charlotte, it’s the right thing to do at this time.’” From here on, the calls will be made by Love and his assistants, two of whom – Zach Johnson and Fred Couples – were named this week. Since it’s April and the first major championship of the season is in the books, Love will start taking a serious look at the standings. When he does, he’ll see some names that might surprise folks, players who haven’t been on the international teams. Love said nothing will surprise him. In fact, “I’m prepared for a different team (than last year’s Ryder Cup team that beat Europe, 19-9). I said it (at the Ryder Cup), we won’t get the same 12 as we had last time. It never works that way.” Presently, of the top six automatic picks, two have never played on Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup team – Sam Burns, who is No. 2, and Talor Gooch, No. 6. Four players who sit in the No. 6-12 positions (Tom Hoge, Jason Kokrak, Max Homa, and Will Zalatoris) have also not played on either team. Meanwhile, stalwarts such as Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Xander Schauffele, Tony Finau, Daniel Berger, and Bryson DeChambeau are outside the top 12. “I’ve never really gotten hung up on it early in the year,” said Love. I don’t really start watching until the Masters. There’s a whole bunch of points to go.” But he didn’t sound concerned, either way. “You always have some flip-flop (from one team to the next). That’s what’s great about it – you get the hot guys. But the hot guys from last year might not be the hot guys from this year.”

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The PGA TOUR hits its third stop of the fall swing this week and enters Las Vegas, Nevada for the annual Shriners Children’s Open. The tournament will be played at TPC Summerlin, a par-71 venue that plays at 7,255 yards and has been a staple on the PGA TOUR schedule for many years now. The greens this week will be pure bentgrass. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $300K Pitch + Putt [$100K to 1st] STRATEGY The fall swing presents us with lots of courses that are set up for low scoring, and this week is no different. TPC Summerlin regularly plays as one of the easiest venues on the PGA TOUR and ranked as the third-easiest venue on the PGA TOUR in 2020-21, playing at -2.141 under par for the week. Players are helped at TPC Summerlin by the elevation — the thin air helps the ball travel longer — and it’s a course that doesn’t contain a ton of thick rough or penalty areas. Water is in play on four of the holes, but as long as players aren’t too wild with their drives, they’ll be in decent enough position to take aim at the pins on most greens. The approaches are where the scoring is really done on TPC Summerlin, and it’s no coincidence winners at this event tend to spike in the approach department. Three of the last four winners of this event have gained over 4.0 strokes on approach for the week and been in the top 10 of that statistic for the overall tournament. Greens tend to be much easier to hit at Summerlin, which means proximity stats are something to consider — hitting it close will simply mean your player has to do less to convert those approaches into birdies with the putter. That said, we’ve seen golfers dominate on these greens, and Kevin Na set a single-event record by gaining 14.2 strokes putting at TPC Summerlin in 2019. Na’s performance was somewhat of an anomaly, but this easier setup does make for a more wide-open event, where any player who is hitting the ball at least average will likely post high green-in-regulation percentages and will, therefore, have the potential to challenge if their putter gets hot. GOLFERS TO CONSIDER Cameron Davis ($9,200) Coming off a Presidents Cup where he played in five matches — and played well, grabbing two full wins against a tough American squad — should do wonders for the confidence of a player like Davis. We all know the talent Davis possesses, and his win at the Rocket Mortgage in 2021 cemented the fact this is a player who can take it low enough to win any of these regular season events where the setup demands a high rate of birdies. Davis may have had a bit of a slow start to his fall swing, logging a missed cut at the Fortinet, but he ranks sixth in long-term form in both birdie or better percentage and strokes gained: approach stats for this field. Over the summer, he posted four finishes of T16 or better and has played well in the desert. Overall, he’s 3-for-3 in made cuts at the Shriners and also has a third-place finish at The American Express in January of 2021, which is played in nearby Palm Springs. Rickie Fowler ($7,800) A new season may bring new belief for the five-time PGA TOUR winner, who started 2022-23 strong with a T6 finish at the first fall series event in Napa. Fowler’s top 10 at the Fortinet was his first since October of 2021, but it’s the way he went about achieving the result that should turn some heads. Fowler gained 6.0 strokes ball-striking at the event and was also positive from a strokes-gained perspective on and around the greens. The setup this week should also be a boon for the 33-year-old, who has had some of his best moments playing on TPC setups (winner TPC Scottsdale and TPC Sawgrass) and in the desert. In four career appearances at TPC Summerlin, Fowler is just 2-for-4 in made cuts, but two of those made cuts have yielded top-25 finishes. He’s worth a roster this week in daily fantasy, as his DraftKings price still remains somewhat depressed, and he’s not likely to draw a ton of rostership just yet, given how poor his 2021-22 season was. Joel Dahmen ($7,100) Dahmen had a solid week at the Sanderson Farms, finishing T13 while gaining over 6.0 strokes ball-striking (off the tee and approach) alone. Dahmen is a PGA TOUR veteran with a win under his belt already (2021 Punta Cana), so when we see an uptick in form from him, we should be interested for fantasy purposes. Dahmen had previously missed four of five cuts, but his record at the Shriners has seen him go 4-for-4 in made cuts over his career while also posting two top-25 finishes over the last four years. In short, he’s got a sneaky good track record at this event, and his approach game is trending well after last week, which is a huge part to having success at TPC Summerlin. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $300K Pitch + Putt [$100K to 1st] Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game. Place your golf bets at DraftKings Sportsbook and bet online by downloading the DraftKings Sportsbook app. All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests. The contents contained in this article do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. 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Tiger Woods said course changes at Quail Hollow Club led to his first-round struggles at the Wells Fargo Championship, but the 2007 winner did finish the day at even-par 71.

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