On the verge of 30, Rickie Fowler eyes his prime

He no longer has to answer the questions, the ones that wonder how the No. 1 player in the world only has one major title. Now, he’s got his second, earning a green jacket by breaking the all-time Masters scoring record.

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Good thing you have an appetite because we’re treated to a luau at the Sony Open in Hawaii. For starters, 23 of the 33 who competed at last week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions made the short trip west to Oahu, including Gary Woodland (2nd), Justin Thomas (3rd), Marc Leishman (T4) and Bryson DeChambeau (7th). You’re going about this game incorrectly if any doesn’t get your call at some point this season. Given the historical trend supporting golfers who opened the calendar year on Maui, I wouldn’t talk you out of any at Waialae Country Club. Seriously. While we need to slow-play the season for positioning entering the FedExCup Playoffs when points are quadrupled, two considerations must be made. First, there are only three tournaments in this season’s Playoffs, so you can shift one of your monsters usually saved to a spot sooner on the schedule. Second, the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club is the only event of the series that doesn’t rotate host sites. Liberty National Golf Club last hosted THE NORTHERN TRUST in 2009 and 2013, while Medinah Country Club hasn’t served as the backdrop for an individual competition since the 2006 PGA Championship. This is why I’m advocating JT this week. For loyal readers, that will come across as a stark departure from my general approach, but he firmly checks both of the boxes guiding all gamers this week. Among his multiple strong showings here, the 2017 Sony champ established the PGA TOUR record for 72 holes at 27-under 253. He also closed strong at Kapalua on Sunday. Furthermore, as strange as it sounds but explained above, we won’t miss him during the Playoffs. And with the majors awarding only 100 more points for a victory than what’s up for grabs at Waialae, his value in this field is even greater. No doubt that part of my decision is reliant on the depth of PGA TOUR membership and worldwide talent to plug a gap later, but I’m vowing to be aggressive to defend my league title. Aside from the other three aforementioned studs, others who opened 2019 at Kapalua and deserve a peek at Waialae include Charles Howell III (T14). He never lets anyone down here, so he’s ideal for front-runners and contenders entering the 10th of 46 tournaments. Matt Kuchar (T19) was a cornerstone here for years and demands a long look. And Scott Piercy (T19) is a terrific play if you want to swing for the fence. Like Piercy, Kevin Kisner is a relative just-off-the-radar option at Waialae who shouldn’t be. That’s what makes him dangerous for gamers who have started slow. Otherwise, you’ll be settling for the stymie at Harbour Town or Colonial. A year ago in this space, the advice was to sit on Jordan Spieth for what would be one opportunity after another, but he didn’t qualify for the Sentry TOC. Now married and making his 2019 debut, you don’t see him going another calendar year without a title, but the advice remains the same. Give him a start or two for him to show us what he has. I know that the Sony Open in Hawaii slots third in Future Possibilities for Zach Johnson, but it’s a distant show from his set-and-forget appearance at the John Deere Classic. But you do you. Two-man gamers naturally get to belly up to the feast for a second helping for which the likes of Adam Hadwin, Danny Lee, Jerry Kelly and Shugo Imahira present intrigue. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2018-19. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Keegan Bradley … Farmers (2); Memorial (5); Travelers (4) Paul Casey … WGC-Mexico (6); Honda (10); Valspar (7; defending); WGC-Match Play (8); Masters (2); Wells Fargo (9); Travelers (1); TOUR Championship (3) Bryson DeChambeau … Waste Management (5); Arnold Palmer (3); Heritage (1);  Memorial (2; defending); Travelers (4); John Deere (7) Jason Dufner … Desert Classic (9); Honda (3); PLAYERS (7); Valspar (4); New Orleans (1); Charles Schwab (6); Memorial (5); U.S. Open (2); Wyndham (8); TOUR Championship (10) Emiliano Grillo … Arnold Palmer (2); Charles Schwab (3) Adam Hadwin … Desert Classic (1); Waste Management (4); Genesis (3); Valspar (2); John Deere (5) Brian Harman … Sony (2); Desert Classic (3); Arnold Palmer (7); Charles Schwab (1); Travelers (5); John Deere (4) Russell Henley … Sony (2); Honda (4); Masters (3) Charles Howell III … Sony (3); Desert Classic (4); Farmers (1) Zach Johnson … Sony (3); Waste Management (6); Arnold Palmer (7); Valero (4); Charles Schwab (5); John Deere (1); Open Championship (2); TOUR Championship (8) Si Woo Kim … PLAYERS (3); Heritage (1) Chris Kirk … Sony (4); Valero (3); PLAYERS (5); Charles Schwab (2) Kevin Kisner … Sony (4); Heritage (3); New Orleans (5); Charles Schwab (2); Memorial (6) Russell Knox … Sony (3); Heritage (2) Matt Kuchar … Sony (3); Waste Management (4); PLAYERS (5); Valspar (9); Masters (6); Heritage (2); Charles Schwab (7); Memorial (1); Open Championship (8) Marc Leishman … Farmers (2); Arnold Palmer (1); Byron Nelson (6); Memorial (4); Travelers (3); Open Championship (8) Hideki Matsuyama … Waste Management (1); Genesis (10); Arnold Palmer (11); PLAYERS (9); Masters (4); PGA Championship (13); Memorial (8); U.S. Open (14); Wyndham (7); TOUR Championship (5) Kevin Na … Genesis (2); Valspar (6); Charles Schwab (3); Wyndham (5) Scott Piercy … Sony (3); New Orleans (1; co-defending); Canadian (7; last winner at Hamilton in 2012) Patrick Reed … Pebble Beach (6); Valspar (1); Masters (5; defending); PGA Championship (4); U.S. Open (3); Travelers (7) Adam Scott … Genesis (4); Honda (1); Arnold Palmer (10); PLAYERS (2); Masters (6); Byron Nelson (11); PGA Championship (8); U.S. Open (9); Open Championship (7); TOUR Championship (3) Cameron Smith … Wyndham (3) Jordan Spieth … Sony (12); Pebble Beach (3); Genesis (10); WGC-Mexico (11); Valspar (14); Masters (1); PGA Championship (7); Charles Schwab (5); Memorial (13); U.S. Open (4); Travelers (9); Open Championship (6); TOUR Championship (8) Brandt Snedeker … Farmers (3); Waste Management (8); Pebble Beach (2); Masters (10); Heritage (6); Charles Schwab (7); U.S. Open (5); Travelers (9); Wyndham (1; defending) Justin Thomas … Sony (4); WGC-Mexico (2); Honda (7; defending); PLAYERS (11); PGA Championship (9); Memorial (8); TOUR Championship (3) Jimmy Walker … Sony (5); Farmers (4); Pebble Beach (1); Valero (2); Byron Nelson (6) Bubba Watson … Waste Management (4); Genesis (1; defending); WGC-Match Play (6; defending); Masters (5); Memorial (7); Travelers (2; defending); TOUR Championship (8) Gary Woodland … Sony (1); Farmers (2); Waste Management (3; defending); Memorial (4)

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Here are nine tidbits from the second round of the World Golf Championship-Mexico Championship at the Club de Golf Chapultepec outside Mexico City that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Be looking for the Emergency 9 shortly after the close of play of each round of the tournament. Pain or Gain These were the top-five picked golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO: Without a cut this week, gamers can cross their fingers, rub their lucky rabbit feet and pray that the 72nd hole will matter for their selection. We haven’t seen a low one this week as the Poa annua greens are difficult to read and errant ball striking is causing bother. People’s Choice Tommy Fleetwood sits No. 1 on this list just as he does in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Game presented by SERVPRO. After two rounds, he’s 12 shots off the pace as both his iron game and short game continues to struggle. Normally he’d be an afterthought and a trunk slam but since there is no cut gamers can dream a bit. I’m subbing him out to hedge my bets, so I’m hoping this will trigger 63 or lower! Leader Raise your hand if you had Shubhankar Sharma leading after 36 holes. Now keep it up if you were lying! The 21-year-old playing in his first PGA TOUR event leads by two. His performance has been spectacular as the moment, field or course has not gotten to him, yet. He’s obviously feeling the pressure as he’s eagled No. 1 on both days by driving the green! He came home in 31 (-5) and is the only player in double-figures at 11-under through 36. Spanish Armada Most gamers would think Jon Rahm would be included in this section but his even-par round of 71 saw him drop 13 spots to T20. His countrymen Rafael Cabrera Bello and Sergio Garcia (#NappyFactor) are sitting two shots behind surprise leader Sharma. Garcia shared the low round of the day with Kyle Stanley, as they both posted bogey-free rounds of 65. Cabrera Bello, who signed for 67 after his bogey-free 66 to open, has finally gotten his putter to cooperate and leads the field in Strokes Gained: putting. X-Man If you’re not on board with Xander Schauffele, fine, my job is not to convince you. As a rookie he won twice, including becoming the first to win The TOUR Championship. With that on his resume, I doubt he’s too worried about those around him. The proof is he’s the only player bogey-free after 36 holes. He’s trending properly as well with T5 at WMPO after three rounds and hit the top 10 at Riviera in his last start. 3 up Stanley, as mentioned above, was on fire thanks to his short game (6-6 scrambling) and putter (2nd, strokes-gained). His bogey-free 65 moved him up 20 spots to T12 but those putting numbers are the exception, not the rule. Caution. … Charley Hoffman also was bogey-free with 66 as he moved up 11 spots to match Stanley at T12. Gamers who loaded up on the San Diegan on the West Coast Swing were left scratching their heads, as his best result was only T26 at WMPO. He’s squared just one bogey and one other this week. … Jordan Spieth is quietly going about his business and signed for a bogey-free 67 (T14). He committed to the Valspar Championship today as he looks to find form before heading to Augusta. The putter continues to be the issue, as he missed a couple of short ones that kept him from getting REALLY low. 3 down                               With only one player in double-digits under-par, I would have thought a round of 70 (-1) would have been a decent outing today. Wrongo. Just ask Rickie Fowler and Tony Finau, as they backed up opening 68s with 70s and each fell 12 spots to T20. Finau backers were licking their chops when he was eight-under and one shot out of the lead. A double and a bogey in his last four holes halted the momentum. Fowler’s short game abandoned him Friday, and I doubt that’s going to continue…. Chris Paisley raised just as many eyebrows yesterday as Sharma did when he fired 65 to trail by one. He started on No. 10 today and turned at seven-under, stalking the lead. He bogeyed the first five holes on the front and carded 40 for 75. He dropped 27 spots to T29. Time to Panic?!? After back-to-back 74’s, Matt Kuchar investors need to blindly hang on or move a stronger player into the lineup. I’m not his biggest fan on Poa annua. … Chez Reavie’s excellent recent run ran out of gas at Riviera (T78). The week off last week didn’t help, yet, as he’s opened 72-73 and is T49. … Patrick Cantlay posted 70 followed by a 75 in Round 2. I love the way he grinds so we’ll see how committed he is after hitting only five fairways and six greens Friday. Study Hall Tiger Woods announced earlier on Friday that he will be playing the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook next week followed by the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. He’s never played Innisbrook and is an eight-time champion at Bay Hill. … Hideki Matsuyama will not play at Valspar but will try and return at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. … Martin Kaymer updates his injury via Twitter.

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