Tony Finau deals with shame, pain, fame during Masters debut

We go through every hole, with a caddie who has spent most of his life at Pebble Beach, to offer the tips, warnings and strategies it’ll take to win this U.S. Open.

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NORTON, Mass. - They needed no introductions, of course. But if we were hoping for Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to re-introduce their impressive talents to us, we'll have to wait because Saturday's third round of THE NORTHERN TRUST didn't show them at their best. Having each grinded Friday afternoon to make the cut at 3 under at TPC Boston, Woods and McIlroy drew the third starting time on a warm and quiet morning. It was the third straight tournament in which Woods has had a tee time with McIlroy - Rounds 1 and 2 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, Rounds 1 and 2 at the PGA Championship - and the 24th time since it first happened in 2012. RELATED: Full leaderboard | DJ settles for 60 in Round 2 after historic start | Projected FedExCup standings OK, so the film cannister stamped "Tiger & Rory, August 22, 2020, Round 3 TNT" will not be filed into the classic vault alongside something like the 1954 Masters playoff between Sam Snead and Ben Hogan or even the 2012 BMW Championship when Woods (65-67) and McIlroy (64-68) went toe-to-toe in the same group to sit T-2 through 36 holes. But, hey, owed to their stature in the game and immense personalities, it's no surprise that Woods and McIlroy provided action worth talking about Saturday - even if for the unexpected scratchy play from lads who are ranked Nos. 3 (McIlroy) and 16 (Woods) in the world order and are the only two-time winners of the FedExCup. The hiccups just came in different manners. For Woods, who shot 2-over 73, his usually stellar iron game was not there, because in hitting 12 of 14 fairways, he only managed to find 11 greens in regulation. For McIlroy, who shot 74, his on-course focus continues to be his Achilles. Consider the 3-8-2 start - translation: birdie, triple-bogey, birdie - that pretty much told the story of his day and his stretch of golf since returning from the pandemic-enforced break. Brilliant in so many flashes, McIlroy continues to hurt himself with big numbers. After burying a 7-foot birdie roll at the first, McIlroy from 222 yards came up short of the green at the par-5 second. Playing out of a marshy hazard, his recovery hit a rock and bounced backward, this time into the water. He compounded matters by three-putting from 40 feet for a triple. Later, McIlroy was left of the fairway at the par-4 sixth, then from 151 yards he went left of the green and in gnarly native grass. There were two whacks with a wedge to get it out of the native grass, then a third to find the green, from where he two-putted from 12 feet. Two triples in six holes is hardly the start McIlroy envisioned and it meant that the two icons were a combined 5 over, but they proceeded onward with improved golf, even if the scoring touch was not present. McIlroy, after the choppy sixth, played his final 12 holes in 1 under, birdies at the par-4 10th and par-5 18th against a lone bogey at the par-4 14th at least giving him a positive close to savor. Woods birdied the par-4 ninth to make the turn in level-par 36, but bogeyed Nos. 11, 12 and 14 before negotiating a deft two-putt birdie from 60 feet, up a steep swale left of the green, then down a slippery slope. Contrasting, the way in which they achieved their scores, because whereas Woods drove it nicely, McIlroy found his way into just six of 14 fairways. And whereas Woods kept losing his way to the green, McIlroy did manage to hit 13 of them. There was, however, a common denominator - misery on the greens. After two positive days in the Strokes Gained: Putting category for Woods, he lost a whopping 3.503 strokes, the lowlight being the par-4 12th when he three-putted from 28 feet. McIlroy, meanwhile, required 32 putts and was minus 1.941 in the SGP category. He only one-putted twice over his final 13 holes. The matching birdies, at least, put a pretty bow on a rather blah day, but if you're keeping score at home, it means that in the 23 times they've been paired in a stroke-play tournament, Woods has had the lower score 11 times, McIlroy on nine occasions, and three times they've been tied. (The other pairing was the 2019 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, which Woods won.) It would have been a best-ball 5-under 66, pretty good for the championship flight of the late-summer member-guest. Just not what you'd expect for world championship titans. Not that you can't put it all into context; it was, after all, the third round of a tournament that each player knew he didn't have a chance to win, with it having little effect on their status for next week's BMW Championship. (Each is going to qualify.) So that made it easier to doff their white caps, exchange smiles, then share a picnic table for lunch and friendly conversation. You can bet that nothing about their rounds factored into the discussion.

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Due to COVID-19 precautions, the WGC-Mexico Championship will not be played in Mexico this season. Instead, the TOUR will start the Florida Swing one week early and add another course in the Sunshine State at the Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla. The tournament's name will also change to the WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession, and the course will play as a par 72, measuring 7,474 yards and be putt on Bermuda greens. This week will be the first time Concession Golf Club will host a PGA TOUR event. This Jack Nicklaus design is aptly named after the famous 1969 Ryder Cup concession on the last hole of competition between him and Tony Jacklin, the first time the Ryder Cup ended in a tie. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $1M Flop Shot [$250K to 1st] STRATEGY Paying homage to their Ryder Cup match, both Nicklaus and Jacklin teamed up to design this course, which opened back in 2006. Even though the course is new on TOUR, it hosted both the Big 10 Match Play in 2012 and the 2015 NCAA Division I Golf Championship. Bryson DeChambeau (+1850, $9,900) won the individual title while playing at Southern Methodist University (SMU) and should find more comfort here than last week, where he missed the cut at Riviera CC. Akin to most Nicklaus courses, there will be tricky green complexes, which will require accuracy with the approach. When designing the Concession, both Nicklaus and Jacklin agreed on making the greens challenging, and they are. These undulating greens are smaller than average, quirky, fast and sport difficult runoff areas. Meandering streams, wetlands and a myriad of bunkers, Concession will test the golfers with every shot. The course is on an expansive layout with no parallel fairways. Both Jack and Tony wanted each hole to run in different directions, so golfers have to play in various wind conditions on every hole. There are a few par 4s over 450 yards and the same amount of par 5s between 550 and 600 yards, but three of the four par 3s are over 200 yards. Long iron proximity and Bermuda putting are a few additional statistics we should be looking closer at when figuring out who to roster. The field consists of a minimum of 72 players based on the Official World Golf Rankings and will be a no-cut event. With a smaller field and guaranteed four rounds of golf, roster percentage will concentrate on certain players, and it'll be necessary to "zig" when other rosters "zag." Every golfer will have some level of popularity with the reduced field, so trying to find a golfer you like with little-to-no roster percentage is probably not going to happen. GOLFERS TO CONSIDER Justin Thomas (+1850 to Win, $10,500 on DraftKings) Last week wasn't great from the World's No. 3-ranked golfer, whose mind was most likely elsewhere with the tragedy of his grandfather's passing. We should treat his outing at The Genesis Invitational as an outlier given how elite his game has been over the longterm, ranking first in approach over his previous 50 rounds and sixth with his irons over the last 24 rounds on Jack Nicklaus designs. Last season at Muirfield Village, Thomas nearly won the Workday Charity Open and followed it up with a top 20 the following week. Not only does Thomas play well on Nicklaus designs, but he's gained an average of 8.98 strokes tee-to-green in his past five WGC events, winning the most recent at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Tyrrell Hatton (+2250, $9,600) is also someone to consider near the top. Hatton is playing the best golf of his career and loves teeing it up in Florida, finishing fourth at The Honda Classic in 2017 at PGA National and winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational last season at Bay Hill Club and Lodge. Sungjae Im (+4500 to Win, $8,800 on DraftKings) Back-to-back third-place finishes at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard over the past two seasons and a win at last year's The Honda Classic should be proof enough to consider Sungjae this week. Im's irons have been a little shaky of late, but he still ranks top 20 in approach over the previous 50 rounds. He should feel comfortable on the greens with how comfortable he's been on Bermuda, ranking top 10 in Strokes Gained: Putting over his last 50 rounds. Sungjae's already registered a top 20, a top 15 and a top 5 this calendar year and could add to his stellar record in Florida. Also, don't forget about Ryan Palmer (+5500, $7,200), who's gaining six strokes total, on average, over his previous five tournaments and plays well on Nicklaus designs. Justin Rose (+7000 to Win, $7,700 on DraftKings) This week will be Rose's first start on TOUR since The RSM Classic back in November, but he's been playing well on the European Tour, recently finishing runner-up at the Saudi International. Rose is one of the best tee-to-green players on TOUR and has a fantastic record in Florida with three top 5s at the Honda Classic since 2010, a top 3 at the 2018 Arnold Palmer Invitational and a win a while back at the 2012 WGC-Cadillac Championship (Doral). Rose also plays Jack's courses exceptionally well, ranking inside the top 12 in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green on Nicklaus designs over the last 24 rounds. If you're looking to venture further down the board, Bernd Wiesberger (+20000, $6,700) should be a consideration with two top 10s in his past five starts. Wiesberger has been great with his irons on the European Tour, ranking 27th in approach and ninth in Greens in Regulation percentage. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $1M Flop Shot [$250K to 1st] Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game. For sports betting, head over to DraftKings Sportsbook or download the DraftKings Sportsbook app. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL). Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ/WV/PA/MI), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (NH/CO), 1-800-BETS OFF(IA), 1-888-532-3500 (VA) or call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN). 21+ (18+ NH). CO/IL/IN/IA/NH/NJ/PA/TN/VA/WV/MI only. Eligibility restrictions apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for full terms and conditions. I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is reidtfowler) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. 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