Presidents Cup, Day 2: Leaderboard, tee times, TV times

Tiger Woods says his last-minute decision to go back to the shorter Scotty Cameron putter came from “stubbornness,” but it worked out, as Woods shot a 3-under 68 in the first round of the Northern Trust.

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Even when the narrative of wind coming to the defense of a golf course is promoted into the headline, it’s still relative. Legitimate inclement weather tore the dome off last year’s CareerBuilder Challenge. Early-tournament rain was followed by moderate-to-gusty winds throughout the tournament. Daytime high temperatures settled in the low 60s. Yet, Hudson Swafford still manufactured 20-under 268 en route to his breakthrough victory and runner-up Adam Hadwin spun a 59 at La Quinta Country Club in the third round. This week’s field of 156 may need an additional layer of clothing in the morning, but it won’t be annoyed further. More on the forecast, the three courses in the rotation and other nuggets beneath the ranking. Power Rankings: CareerBuilder Challenge RANK PLAYER COMMENT Concluded 2017 with victory at the DP World Tour Championship and began 2018 with a runner-up finish in his debut at the Sentry TOC. Second appearance at CareerBuilder (T34, 2017). Knock knock! The red-hot lefty has four top fives and a solo eighth in five starts this season. Since 2016 at CareerBuilder, he’s finished a respective T11 and T3, both at 18-under 270. What’s not to love about his form? Atop the FedExCup standings with two wins and another two top 10s. Third appearance at CareerBuilder, so familiarity is another asset. Scored 63-65 on the weekend at Waialae and placed T4 for his fourth top 10 and seventh top 20 since August. Most recent of four top 20s at the CareerBuilder was a T17 in 2016. Bracketed holidays with a T4 at RSM and a T10 at Sony where he co-led with an opening 63. Seeking redemption at CareerBuilder. Sat T8 through 54 holes last year but finished T21. Won here in 2016 and finished T25 in his title defense. Opened 2018 with a T11 at Kapalua and T18 at Waialae, ranking a respective fifth and 18th in strokes gained: putting. Opened and closed a 4-for-4 fall with top 10s. Has seven top 10s since a career-best-matching T3 at last year’s CareerBuilder; placed T14 the year prior. Third on TOUR in strokes gained. The 2014 champ is in his sixth straight appearance; last year’s T12 is his second-best finish. Polished off 2017 with a T10 at DP World, a T5 at the Hero and the birth of his second child. Off since a T15 at the WGC-HSBC Champions in late October. Opened 2017-18 with a T3 at the Safeway. Two-time CareerBuilder champ; T3-T21 here on current rotation. Perfect in six starts this season with three top 10s. T4 at Waialae; led the field in fairways hit and ranked second in strokes gained: putting. Top 10s at CareerBuilder in 2013 and 2014. This event rolls around at a time when the scuffling 35-year-old can really use it. All-time earnings leader here has two wins among eight top 20s, including in each of the last four editions. Settled for a T32 at Waialae despite four red numbers. Launched into this season with a pair of top 20s and a T4. He’s gone T11-T12 at the CareerBuilder since 2016. The 36-year-old continues to glide in a groove. Last week’s T18 was his seventh consecutive top 25 and 12th in his last 16 starts. T17 (2016) and T12 (2017) at CareerBuilder. A 62 on Sunday at Waialae was just one round but it was impeccably timed. Now carries disappointment-fueled motivation of a P2 into CareerBuilder where he’s 3-for-3 with two top 20s. First start as a father after son was born on Dec. 22 and does so in an event where he’s 5-for-5 with a pair of runner-up finishes. Closed out the fall with a T17 at the RSM. Defending champion Hudson Swafford, Kevin Kisner, Austin Cook and Zach Johnson will be among the notables in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. For the third straight year, PGA WEST’s Stadium Course, PGA WEST’s Nicklaus Tournament Course and La Quinta CC share duties as hosts of the CareerBuilder Challenge. They comprise the 13th combination of 12 courses used for the tournament since 1987. This is the seventh edition since the 90-hole competition was abandoned. Every golfer in the field pairs with an amateur. Together with another pro-am combo, the foursomes will play each course once until the 54-hole cut of low 70 and ties falls for the professionals. If more than 78 survive, only the low 60 and ties will play the final round held at the Stadium Course. (The leading three low-net and low-gross amateurs also will tee it up in the finale to determine their champion.) In 2016, the cut fell at 9-under 207, but in the more challenging conditions last year, those at 5-under 211 and lower advanced. Going back to the fourth edition of the tournament in 1963, all courses in the rotation have been par 72s. Each of the current trio features the standard four par 3s and four par 5s. La Quinta is the shortest at 7,060 yards, but length doesn’t distinguish one course from another. This tournament is always about piling up scoring opportunities and converting on those chances. However, La Quinta has undergone some enhancements that will toughen its test a bit. Fairway bunkering at the par-4 first and 17th holes have been updated; they should generate pause off both tees. Over four dozen trees planted across the property create new sightlines as targets and the potential for modified shot shapes into greens. And the green at the par-3 15th hole may appear the same to those who are returning, but it was rebuilt entirely since last year. Years ago, La Quinta usually yielded the highest scoring average among the tracks in the rotation, but the Stadium Course has assumed that role and with ease. Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider will examine how scoring has evolved and advise how gamers should adjust. It also will include how the weather here shapes our strategy. After a Chamber of Commerce opening round, a bit of energy will impact play on Friday. Winds will kick up a bit before abating on the weekend, but daytime highs will be stuck in the 60s. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Columnist Rob Bolton will be filing his usual staples leading up to this week’s event. Look for the following columns this week. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider, Facebook Live WEDNESDAY: One & Done; Champions One & Done primer * – 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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Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the Valspar Championship that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Casey on Point Paul Casey fired a final-round 65 to post 10-under-par 274 to win the Valspar Championship at the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, Florida. The Englishman picks up his first TOUR win since the 2009 Shell Houston Open and his first win worldwide since the 2014 KLM Open (European Tour). Casey joined the European Tour this season to improve his chances of making the Ryder Cup team. This won’t hurt! What a difference a day makes, as Casey played in the final group on Saturday with Corey Conners. The rookie beat him by three shots and Casey dropped to T11, five shots off the lead. Casey’s final round included six birdies and one bogey to tie the low round of the day (65). The key to his victory was his excellent short game. He navigated three difficult up-and-downs in The Snake Pit to close his round and post THE number. His card for the week was spectacular, as he finished in the top 10 in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (6th), Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green (7th), Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green (3rd) and was 15th in Strokes Gained: Putting. His previous best finish at this event was T37 in four tries. Gamers have always rated Casey, minus the lack of wins, because when he makes the cut, he cashes very nice checks. He’s made 168 cuts on TOUR and 104 have cashed in the top 25. Of those 104 top-25 finishes, 51, nearly half, have painted the top 10. Of his seven starts this year, six have cashed for T19 or better. His last MC on TOUR was the 2017 Sony Open. Gamers’ Choices — PGA TOUR Fantasy Game presented by SERVPRO This group was the definition of all or nothing! If you’re not playing the chalk, you’re dead. If you’re not picking the correct chalk, you’re dying. Fantasy golf is hard! Gamers’ Choices — PGA TOUR One & Done presented by SERVPRO This one is going to sting for the Justin Rose supporters, while the #NappyFactor army will be much happier at the end of today than they were yesterday. Next week, we’ll see if Tiger Woods breaks the Dustin Johnson record for usage in this format. Close Encounters There’s no point to rehash all 1,239,398 stats revealed about Tiger Woods this week. I learned that he is not the finished article, but I was more than encouraged by his performance on a track that he’s unfamiliar with playing. He struggled on the greens to find the proper speed and line and was obviously fooled a few times. Sunday’s red shirt didn’t bring the magic with his iron game either, as he didn’t have too many makeable birdie putts. I would assume this all changes next week at Bay Hill where he’s won eight times. The momentum is real and so is the “back” in comeback. Next stop is the winner’s circle. Reed-ing Between the Lines The “other” red shirt on Sunday needed just two shots on the final green to force a playoff with Casey. Patrick Reed took three instead, including the first two from essentially the same spot, and did not force extra holes. Shot No. 1 climbed most of the hill before returning to his feet. Shot No. 2 was what he had in mind for his first attempt. Gamers in all formats exhaled regardless since this was his first top 10 since September and third at Valspar. Play Them All It’s hard to be patient, but those of you who did with #NappyFactor Sergio Garcia were rewarded. The first-time father-to-be posted 69-65 on the weekend to cash for solo fourth. His wife is due next Sunday, so he’s out at Bay Hill. His next event will be WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in her native Austin. … Reigning champion Adam Hadwin ended up being low Canadian for the week, posting T12. His final round 68 continued his excellent play at Innisbrook and on TOUR, as he’s inside the top 12 for his third event running. The confluence of course form with recent form was an easy one for gamers this week. No Country for Old Men The 40-year-old Paul Casey wasn’t the only “old dude” who played great this week. Rory Sabbatini, who will turn 42 in April, fired 67-69 for his first top 10 since the Wyndham last summer. … Ryder Cup Captain Jim Furyk, 47, continues his legend as a course horse at Innisbrook. This was his third top-10 finish since his win in 2010. It is also his first top-10 finish in 18 events dating back to November of 2016. …  Presidents Cup Captain Steve Stricker, 51, continued his hot form, as he rode the momentum from his PGA Champions victory in Tucson to T12 this week. In three TOUR events this yea,r he’s cashed for T31 or better. … Zach Johnson, 42, has now hit the top 25 in six of seven events this season after T16. Sunday Silence Corey Conners couldn’t handle the leaderboard on Sunday and who can blame him? Those were some big boys breathing down his neck. This experience will be worth more than the T16 paycheck, his best ever, moving forward. … Sadly for gamers Justin Rose had a front-row seat in the final group to Conners’ 77. This was a disappointment for gamers, as Rose (and Conners) has had plenty of winning experience and didn’t have to worry about the circus playing with Woods. Rose will be second choice next week at Bay Hill. … Sam Burns made a bogey on the final hole that knocked him out of the top 10 (T12). He doesn’t have status on TOUR, so he loses an event moving forward. He’s in the field at Bay Hill next week and Memorial in June. There’s no doubt about his talent, as he led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting, but there is no guarantee about his schedule. Study Hall Garcia and Reed led the field in birdies with 18. … Casey only made four bogeys and a double on the week, while Hadwin had only five bogeys to lead the avoidance department. … Alex Cejka returned to action this week after WD at The Honda Classic and led the field in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green. … Matt Wallace defeated Andrew Johnston in the Hero Indian Open. Emiliano Grillo continued his excellent play, finishing sixth. He’s in the field with jet lag at Bay Hill next week. Tweet of the day:

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