Fantasy Insider: CareerBuilder Challenge

AVONDALE, La. — Scott Stallings and Trey Mullinax shot a best-ball 11-under 61 to top the Zurich Classic of New Orleans leaderboard after a weather delay longer than seven hours prevented half of the 80 teams from even teeing off Thursday. Stallings and Mullinax, who started on the back nine, birdied their last four holes at the TPC Louisiana — and seven of nine holes after the turn — for a one-stroke lead over two teams. “We both played solid all day — missed a couple putts, short ones, but made a couple longs ones,” Mullinax said. “We both putted really well. Scott was really good with his wedges.” Martin Laird and Nick Taylor, who were in the same group as the leaders, finished at 10 under. But the team of Brian Gay and Rory Sabbatini had both of the top teams in their sights after birdies on the first five holes of the back nine got them to 10 under through 14 holes. All but 13 teams still had part or all of the first round still to play when darkness stopped play. Seventeen teams were within five shots of the lead. The Zurich Classic is the only team even on the PGA TOUR, and the format alternates between best ball in the first and third rounds and alternate shot in the second and final rounds. The Australian tandem of Jason Day and Adam Scott, who started on No. 10 at 7:39 a.m. could be seen jogging down the fairway on No. 8 in hopes of completing their round on the ninth hole as the sun set just past 7:30 p.m. local time. But as Scott lined up for his second shot on a fairway bunker, the horn sounded to signal that would be the last hole, and that players who hadn’t finished the first round would have to be back on the course at 7 a.m. on Friday. Scott backed away from his ball in a fairway bunker and briefly assumed a defeated, slouched posture, knowing he’d be among players with an early wake-up call the next day. The delay was caused by a downpour that dropped nearly three inches while lightning flashed intermittently in the vicinity of the course, which was carved out of cypress swamps just southwest of New Orleans. The first players to tee off were on the course for a little more than two-and-a-half hours before the horn sounded to suspend play. The tandem of Joel Dahmen and Brandon Harkins left the course with the early lead at 6 under through nine when the delay began. “We were rolling, too, so (the delay) wasn’t great for us,” Harkins said. Organizers briefly tried to restart early in the afternoon before another storm struck. “To get ready for a third time is hard,” Harkins said. “You can do two, but rarely do you do three.” They completed their round tied for fourth with Brice Garnett and Chesson Hadley at 9 under. During the delay, Stallings said he did “a whole lot of nothing,” adding that he “sat in the car, took a nap, went in the trailer, hung out” with other players. Play resumed in the evening with just more than two hours of daylight left. Galleries were so sparse at that point that chirping birds and croaking frogs made more noise than spectators, even for stars Day and Scott, who were among seven teams at 8 under. Only a handful of people were present to witness Day’s unusual second shot on the par-4 first hole, which was his group’s 10th hole of the day. After hooking his tee shot through the trees to the left of the fairway, Day had to find his ball among numerous practice balls on the driving range. He then lofted his second shot 123 yards back over a row of the trees to 8 feet from the pin. After all that, he narrowly missed his birdie putt and reacted by flipping his putter in the air and catching it after a full rotation. Day didn’t even bother the finish the par-5 second hole after his second shot landed in the rough. That’s because Scott was on in two after a 300-yard drive into the fairway and a 256-yard second shot to the green. He narrowly missed a 53-foot putt for eagle before draining a 2-footer for birdie. Day regained his form with an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-4, 435-yard No. 5 hole and added another birdie on the par-5 seventh when his 323-yard tee shot set up his 232-yard second shot to the green. His eagle putt rolled just inches past the hole.

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Louis Oosthuizen produced an amazing two months of golf, contending in three consecutive major championships, but he simply has no hardware to show for it after failing to hold on to a 54-hole lead at Royal St. George’s.

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Kevin Streelman was probably 4 years old the first time his dad took him to see a baseball game at Wrigley Field and he's been a Chicago Cubs fan ever since. He's never wavered, even in the lean times, which made the 2016 World Series title that ended a 108-year drought even more special. He's such a big fan, in fact, that seven or eight years ago, Streelman had to make a difficult decision on the eve of the BMW Championship. Well, on second thought, maybe it wasn't that difficult. "I got a call from my agent to throw out the first pitch," Streelman recalls. "And as soon as he said that I got really excited." That is, until he found out he'd be taking the mound before a Chicago White Sox game. "So, I declined an invite to throw out a first pitch — which at Wrigley would be an absolute dream come true," Streelman says. "But I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do my first one down in the South Side." When he was a kid, Streelman's favorite player was second baseman Ryne Sandberg, although he also liked watching Mark Grace, who played first, and shortstop Shawon Dunston. In more recent years, Streelman, who now lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, has gotten to know a new generation of Cubs, whose spring training home, Sloan Park, is about 20 minutes away in Mesa. So, the 41-year-old Streelman, who grew up in Wheaton, Illinois, about 25 miles west of Chicago, now showcases his love for the Cubs with their logo on his golf bag, which features signatures by members of this year's team in gold-colored ink. One of his buddies, Chicago pitcher Jon Lester, took it to spring training - pre-quarantine — to collect the various John Hancocks. Streelman and one of his buddies have always gone to see the Cubs play on the Opening Day of spring training. This year for the first time, he took his son Rhett - "Just kind of passing down the tradition," Streelman says - and Lester gave him the bag. To make the day even better, Chicago beat Oakland 12-2. "I've always been a Cubbies fan and will be until the day I die," Streelman says. And the Cubs feel the same about the PGA TOUR veteran. Streelman has been playing very well this year, entering the BMW Championship ranked 28th in the FedExCup, and the team loves it when he gets on TV like he did during the third round of the Workday Charity Open. "Jon sent me video — a bunch of the guys were watching the Saturday round," says Streelman, who was playing with the eventual champ Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas that day. "And … they’re hooting and hollering because they saw the bag on the coverage. "They showed it on the first tee when I was teeing off. That was kind of cool." When the Cubs aren't playing baseball during spring training, Streelman says you can usually find them on the golf course. He's played a lot of golf with Lester and Ian Happ and Kyle Schwarber and Anthony Rizzo at some of the area's finest courses like TPC Scottsdale, Whisper Rock and Silverleaf. Happ is the best of the lot, according to Streelman. Happ's father, Keith, who died of brain cancer in 2015, was a scratch golfer and worked as an agronomist for the USGA. "Ian grew up at a golf course and he takes it seriously," Streelman says. "It’s really funny if you give him a hard time because he always wears pants. So, like even when it’s hot out, we’re all wearing shorts and he’s like trying to be all professional. Like, dude, you’re not a professional golfer. … "He can shoot the 60s, so he doesn’t get too many shots from me." The Cubs are on a 10-day road trip, so Streelman won't get to take a break in his preparations for the BMW Championship and head over to Wrigley Field. But he has the MLB package and watches all the games - which has been a good distraction since he's had to spend so much time away from home during the PGA TOUR's compressed schedule after the COVID-19 break. "It stinks being away from my family," Streelman says. "This is the most I’ve been away from them in my career. … So, I’ll grab dinner and FaceTime the kids, throw the game on and kind of go back and forth between FaceTime with the family and watching the games. "It’s just kind of a nice reprieve when I’m on the road." The Cubs are playing well, as is Streelman, who's had two runner-up finishes this year. As of Monday night, Chicago leads the National League's Central Division with an 18-10 record. "I text the guys if they’re doing well and leave them alone when they’re not — kind of like they do with my golf game," Streelman says. "So, it’s just fun. It’s a sprint to the finish with only 60 games, but the Cubs got off to a great start and are looking promising going forward." So promising, that the two-time PGA TOUR champion might have a dilemma. His original plan was to auction the golf bag off for charity, but he's become attached. "I love it so much," he says. "I kind of want to keep it for myself. Maybe I’ll just pay myself and give it to charity. Especially if they win the World Series. I don’t think I can give it away then." Streelman enters the second event of the FedExCup Playoffs ranked 28th and trying to hold onto a spot in the top 30 so he can play at East Lake in Atlanta next week where the $15 million bonus is awarded. He estimates he'll need a top 25 finish or so at Olympia Fields on Sunday, and he likes the challenge. "I know I need to focus and if I play well enough, I make it," Streelman says. "And if I don’t, I don’t. Like I’m okay with either result. I’ve had a great year and I'm proud of the season. To get to East Lake would obviously be the icing on the cake, but I need to play well to get there. "And I would love to do it in my hometown, so I’m going to do my best."

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