Masters notebook: Molinari returns as contender, Reed set to defend

Since the launch of the FedExCup era, the Quicken Loans National has been a staple as a stop in the Mid-Atlantic. It is once again this week. TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm hosts for the second consecutive year. As projected in its return to the PGA TOUR after a comprehensive renovation 10 years prior, it played up to the hype as a tough test. In fact, last year’s scoring average of 71.458 was highest among all par 70s in non-majors last season. Furthermore, only PGA National, annual host of The Honda Classic and where the winds always howl in late February and early March, has scored higher among par 70s in non-majors over each of the last six seasons. Scroll beneath the ranking for details on how TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm sets up, the statistically predictable defending champion and what’s in store beginning in 2019. Still chasing his first victory of the season but he’s logged a pair of seconds among eight top 20s in 14 starts, including in each of his last three. Tied for third at TPC Potomac last year. In a tailspin at the moment, but the leash is longer for heads of the class. Five top 10s in 2018, including a runner-up finish a month ago in Texas. Shared fifth place here last year. In arguably better form than prior to his victory last year. Three top 15s in his last five starts, including a playoff loss at Muirfield Village and a career-best T15 at TPC River Highlands. After going Win-2nd in England and his native Italy, respectively, he placed T25 at Shinnecock Hills. TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm is an ideal site for his tee-to-green mastery. The latest example of how a veteran can find a groove and coast. The 36-year-old sat 133rd in FedExCup points a month ago but has since climbed to 50th on a T13-3rd-T2 burst. Shinnecock Hills put a halt to his surge sparked at the Masters. Prior to his T56 at the U.S. Open, he connected six straight top 25s, three of which for T6 or better. Ten consecutive cuts made upon arrival, including a pair of second-place finishes. Among the best putters on TOUR but also above average in manufacturing scoring opportunities. He gets his first look at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm this week. He’s been strong overall but has lacked consistency. Greens averaging just 5,300 square feet will accentuate his aerial attack. He’s a virtual lock for a 2017-18 TOUR card, so everything in the interim is a bonus. That allows the affable Thai to continue to free-wheel and build on a fantastic 2018. With a T4 at TPC Southwind and a T2 at TPC River Highlands that including a career-low-tying 62 on Sunday, he’s back on the radar. It’s also more evidence of his wife’s inspiration. Although last year’s playoff victim celebrated his 39th birthday on June 20, he continues to hum along just as he always has. He’s 19-for-21 with four top 10s among 12 top 25s this season. Close call at Muirfield Village proved that he’s poised for a breakthrough. It was his sixth top-15 finish worldwide since late January. Ranks 18th on TOUR in strokes gained: tee-to-green. Profiles similarly to the defending champion and ranks T20 in par-5 scoring. Tway also comes in with top 10s in three of his last five starts after dropping hints of something special all season. You know he’s eager to get back out there after settling for second place in his last start at TPC Southwind. Perfect in his last eight with five top 20s baked in. Tenth on TOUR in GIR. Since turning pro, all three of his cuts made in six starts are top 10s. The 19-year-old wasn’t sure he was going to hang off the tee but he’d rank 29th in distance of all drives if eligible. RANK PLAYER COMMENT POWER RANKINGS: QUICKEN LOANS NATIONAL Si Woo Kim, Gary Woodland, Kevin Na and Bill Haas will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. Although there were the customary multiple paths en route to contending at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm a year ago, it made sense that the man who emerged as champion of the Quicken Loans National was and remains one of the PGA TOUR’s preeminent ball-strikers. Kyle Stanley has crafted out his career as a longer-hitting tee-to-green surgeon, a particular skill set that he displayed here last year. He led the field in strokes gained: off-the-tee, green in regulation and strokes gained: tee-to-green. He also finished T20 in distance of all drives, third in fairways hit and sixth in proximity to the hole before surviving one hole of sudden death with Charles Howell III and extinguishing David Lingmerth’s bid for a wire-to-wire title. (Lingmerth placed T5.) In line with the expectation on unfamiliar bentgrass greens, Stanley prevailed despite losing ground to the field of 120 in strokes gained: putting, surrendering 1.1 strokes with his wand over 72 holes of regulation. It’s the kind of formula that might not work as well this time around given that as of Monday afternoon, 71 in this week’s field competed in last year’s edition, including nine of the 12 who finished inside the top 10. The only stretch on the 7,107-yard layout that presents any reasonable chance for momentum exists on holes 12-14. All three averaged under par last year, the only connection between at least two such holes. Both of the par 5s (Nos. 2 and 10) checked up under par, but together they ranked as the most difficult set of par 5s of all par 70s all season. Simply put, there is no letup along the walk. Even though more experience will be logged at TPC Potomac this week, a new book of knowledge will introduced next year as this tournament is moving to the Detroit area. It was announced a month ago that the title sponsor has agreed to a long-term partnership that includes the migration of the event to Quicken Loans’ hometown. For its last spin in the region this week, warm and humid conditions will remind everyone of the season with Independence Day right around the corner. There won’t be much relief for gradually increasing daytime highs into the low 90s, but the absence of wind should result in lower scores than last year’s breezier challenge. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton reviews and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Facebook Live, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Champions One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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The first leg of the FedExCup Playoffs tees of in New York at THE NORTHERN TRUST. Only 125 players are now eligible to win the FedExCup and the $15-million prize and with much to be decided in just three weeks’ time, the run to the TOUR Championship begins now. FIELD NOTES: The final field will be decided after the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship… Dustin Johnson looks to win the FedExCup for a second year in a row as he defends his NORTHERN TRUST title. Last year’s win for Johnson came at TPC Boston… Patrick Reed won the last NORTHERN TRUST event played at Liberty National, in 2019. He’s back looking for more magic in Jersey City… Harris English finished second at THE NORTHERN TRUST a year ago. It’s a different course for 2021, of course, but English is playing inspired golf through 2021 and has already won twice… Past FedExCup champions teeing it up at THE NORTHERN TRUST include Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Billy Horschel, and Brandt Snedeker with Justin Rose projected to move inside the Top 125 after this weekend at the Wyndham Championship… The top-5 in the current FedExCup standings – Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, Harris English, and Jon Rahm – are all ready for their run to East Lake… Abraham Ancer is back in action after his first-career TOUR victory at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Ancer finished tied for second at the 2019 NORTHERN TRUST at Liberty National. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 2,000 FedExCup points. COURSE: Liberty National Golf Club, par 71, 7,410 yards. The site where Liberty National now sits had previously been many things (including a landfill), but after a $300-million project came to fruition it’s become a solid TOUR stop and boasts some of the best views in golf with downtown New York City and the Statue of Liberty featured prominently. The course, a Bob Cupp and Tom Kite collaboration that features bent grass fairways and greens, also hosted the Presidents Cup in 2017. It underwent a renovation not long after the TOUR visited in 2009. STORYLINES: Only the top 70 are eligible to continue to the BMW Championship. Fifty-five golfers will be eliminated after THE NORTHERN TRUST and will not move on to Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland… THE NORTHERN TRUST is the only FedExCup Playoff event with a 36-hole cut… Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods are the only two-time FedExCup winners, but no one has ever won the FedExCup in back-to-back years. Dustin Johnson looks to become the first man to do that… Keep an eye out for Jon Rahm this week, who is playing his first event back on U.S. soil since his U.S. Open victory this summer. He finished tied for third at The Open Championship but then a positive COVID-19 test quashed his opportunity to play at the Olympic Games. He’s back at Liberty National, where he finished tied for third in 2019. 72-HOLE RECORD: 254, Dustin Johnson (2020 – TPC Boston) LIBERTY NATIONAL RECORD: 268, Patrick Reed (2019) 18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Dustin Johnson (Second Round, 2020 – TPC Boston) LIBERTY NATIONAL RECORD: 62, Kevin Chappell (Third Round, 2013), Troy Merritt (First Round, 2019) LAST TIME: Dustin Johnson’s impressive ball-striking (and putting, and driving distance, and, basically, everything else) led him to finish at 30-under at THE NORTHERN TRUST in 2020. He won by 11 shots over Harris English. Daniel Berger, who finished third, and Kevin Kisner and Scottie Scheffler (tied for fourth) finished 12 and 13 shots back of Johnson’s winning total, respectively. Johnson fired a closing round 8-under 63 and tapped in for birdie on the final hole after a 75-minute rain delay on Sunday. Johnson’s 11-shot triumph was the largest margin of victory on TOUR since Phil Mickelson won at TPC Sugarloaf in 2006 by 13 shots. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 12 p.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday 7 a.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Groups). Saturday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Sunday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. (Featured Groups), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

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