Rory McIlroy, friend to bugs everywhere, rescues insect at PGA Championship

Editor’s Note: Dustin Johnson withdrew late Monday from the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. How it works: Each week, our experts from PGATOUR.COM will make their selections in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf. Each lineup consists of four starters and two bench players that can be rotated after each round. Adding to the challenge is that every golfer can be used only three times per each of four Segments. The first fantasy golf game to utilize live ShotLink data, PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf allows you to see scores update live during competition. Aside from the experts below, Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton breaks down the field at this year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in his edition of the Power Rankings. For more fantasy, check out Rookie Watch, Qualifiers and Reshuffle. THINK YOU’RE BETTER THAN OUR EXPERTS? The PGA TOUR Experts league is once again open to the public. You can play our free fantasy game and see how you measure up against our experts below. Joining the league is simple. Just click here to sign up or log in. Once you create your team, click the “Leagues” tab and search for “PGA TOUR Experts.” After that? Pick your players and start talking smack. Want to represent the fans against our experts? SEASON SEGMENT

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Welcome to the Stats Insider, where we’ll take a closer look at Adam Scott’s long-awaited (official) win at historic Riviera Country Club. Scott also won here in 2005, but the victory was unofficial because the event was shortened to 36 holes. Riviera rewards ball-striking, and that’s exactly what happened this week. Scott is one of the best iron players in the game and that was on display at the Genesis Invitational. RELATED: Aussie Presidents Cup pact propels Scott | The clubs Scott used to win at Riviera 1. ON THE DANCE FLOOR: Scott finished third in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, behind only Sung Kang and Collin Morikawa. Scott led the field in greens in regulation, hitting two more than anyone else in the field. Riviera’s firm greens annually rank among the toughest to hit on TOUR. The field hit just 56% of the greens last week. That was the lowest greens-hit percentage this season and 12% below the TOUR’s season-long greens-in-regulation percentage. 2. STRONG APPROACH: We shouldn’t be surprised. Adam Scott has been the best iron player on TOUR over the last five seasons. He has the highest Strokes Gained: Approach per round among the 135 players who’ve played at least 200 ShotLink-measured rounds since the start of the 2016 season. 3. GOLDEN OLDIE: Riviera also rewards experience, and Scott is the latest example. He turns 40 on July 16. Since 2010, only The Open Championship has had a higher average age of winners. 4. IN THE WOODS: Tournament host Tiger Woods got off to a promising start, shooting 4-under-par on his opening nine holes. He was 15 over on the next 63 holes, though, and finished last in the field at 11-over 295. This marked the fourth-highest 72-hole score of Woods’ career. 5. PUTTING STRUGGLES: Woods finished second-to-last in Strokes Gained: Putting, losing more than 8 strokes on the greens. It was the worst Strokes Gained: Putting performance of his career. Four of Woods’ five worst Strokes Gained: Putting performances have come since 2018. Woods four-putted the 13th hole in the third round. He also four-putted in his previous start, at the Farmers Insurance Open. Of Woods’ 14 recorded four-putts in his PGA TOUR career, four have come since the 2018 U.S. Open, a span of 82 rounds. It took him more than 1,100 rounds to record his first 10 four-putts on the PGA TOUR. This is just the second season in which Woods has had multiple recorded four-putts. He had four four-putts in 1998. Woods also four-putted Riviera’s 13th hole in 2000, making it the only hole on which he’s recorded multiple four-putts in his career. He went on to win three majors that year.

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British Open champion Francesco Molinari rolled in a 45-foot birdie putt on the final hole at Bay Hill that capped off an 8-under 64, taking him from five shots behind to a two-shot victory Sunday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

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