Waste Management Phoenix Open, Round 3: Leaderboard, tee times, TV times

If you’ve ever wanted one of those weeks when you can go off the board without fear of forfeiting the obvious play, the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open has chauffeured a limo and rolled out the red carpet for you. And by you, I mean us. I’m normally as conservative as it gets in fantasyland and it cost me last season. I abandoned my aggressive nature in PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO in 2016-17 in favor of anchoring my season with a strategy that didn’t deliver. It didn’t deliver the previous season, either, but I managed to hang on for a narrow margin of victory. I told a few gamers privately that I don’t know if I learned anything other than that there is no virtue in crawling to the finish line just as much as there is no virtue in galloping through it, just as long as you’re the one breaking the tape. Retain that swing thought for a moment. As we direct our attention to the 72-hole contest at TPC Summerlin, two variables have my attention. First, if there’s a betting favorite, it’s only because the house can’t lose. Resist equating its favorite with an actual favorite for fantasy purposes. It’s coincidence when it happens. Second, the wind is going to blow in the desert. That is not normal. Put the two together and we’re poised for an absolute crapshoot. On the third rail is the reality that you’re unlikely to miss anyone you burn. This promotes as aggressive a strategy as we get in this format. Luke List was my clubhouse leader before reviewing the weather forecast. He’s in my lineup for the Roster game, but he owns one of the highest ball flights on the PGA TOUR. Only Kevin Chappell (No. 1) and J.B. Holmes (No. 2) recorded a higher apex height in 2016-17. List slotted ninth. Gary Woodland was 10th, Jamie Lovemark was 13th and 2015 Shriners champion Smylie Kaufman was 21st. Not surprisingly, all are long off the tee. Distance goes hand in hand with height. It’s going to yield success for multiple golfers at TPC Summerlin, but I can’t condone the philosophy to push all of your chips into any of these guys in a One & Done. Oddly enough, defending champion Rod Pampling owned the second-lowest apex heights last season, but I share that as fact over friction. If there’s a low ball flight that I’d consider endorsing in varying degrees, 2014 champion Ben Martin, 2011 winner Kevin Na, Brian Stuard and Kevin Tway are attractive. However, I can’t get away from the No. 1 in my Power Rankings, Webb Simpson. So much for swinging for the fences, huh? Not only does he keep it nearer solid ground than most, but he’s been a horse at TPC Summerlin. The 32-year-old has also been nails of late. Two-man gamers are going to be enticed by the likes of Lovemark and List, but consider sticking with more experienced tacticians like Kevin Streelman and 2009 champ Martin Laird. Tway is the bold move no matter where you rank early on. 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 2017-18. All are pending golfer commitment. Kevin Chappell … RSM; Valero (defending); St. Jude; WGC-Bridgestone; Dell Technologies Luke Donald … Pebble Beach; Honda; Valspar; Heritage Tony Finau … Farmers; Valero; Memorial; Greenbrier; Canadian Charley Hoffman … Genesis; Heritage; Houston; Valero; DEAN & DELUCA; Travelers; Canadian J.B. Holmes … Farmers; Waste Management; Pebble Beach; Genesis; Houston; Wells Fargo; Greenbrier Billy Horschel … RSM; Honda; Arnold Palmer; Valero; St. Jude; TOUR Championship Chris Kirk … RSM; Valero; PLAYERS; DEAN & DELUCA Russell Knox … Mayakoba; Sony; Honda; Heritage; PLAYERS; Dell Technologies Martin Laird … CareerBuilder; Farmers; Waste Management; Genesis; Valero; Barracuda Jamie Lovemark … RSM; Sony; Arnold Palmer Graeme McDowell … Mayakoba; RSM; Pebble Beach; Honda; WGC-Bridgestone William McGirt … Genesis; Heritage; Memorial Ryan Moore … Shriners; Sentry; Waste Management; Genesis; Valspar; Masters; Travelers; John Deere; TOUR Championship Kevin Na … Shriners; Waste Management; Valspar; Arnold Palmer; Heritage; Memorial; John Deere; Wyndham; THE NORTHERN TRUST Scott Piercy … Shriners; Mayakoba; Sony; Houston; John Deere Webb Simpson … Shriners; RSM; Sentry; Sony; CareerBuilder; Waste Management; Genesis; Wells Fargo; Travelers; Greenbrier; Wyndham Kevin Streelman … Shriners; CareerBuilder; Pebble Beach; Wells Fargo; Memorial; Travelers Jimmy Walker … Sentry; Sony; Farmers; Pebble Beach; Genesis; Valero; Greenbrier; Dell Technologies Bubba Watson … Sentry; Waste Management; Genesis; Memorial; Travelers; Greenbrier; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Gary Woodland … Sony; Farmers; Honda; Wells Fargo; Barracuda; Dell Technologies

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The heckling has been going on for weeks. On Tuesday, they finally meet on the golf course, where Rodgers’ future, DeChambeau’s breakup with his caddie and so much more could be put on the table alongside their golf games.

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Of the golfers who like to tune up for the majors with live action the week prior, Phil Mickelson is the poster boy. He’s embraced the warm-up act for years. Mickelson’s dedication has included a regular visit to TPC Southwind, site of this week’s FedEx St. Jude Classic. However, while the U.S. Open trophy remains the only hardware separating the World Golf Hall of Famer from the career grand slam, he’s already announced his intention not to compete at Erin Hills next week since the major conflicts with his daughter’s high school graduation ceremony. Nevertheless, like all who are returning to Memphis, they will find one of the most consistent and fairest tests on the PGA TOUR schedule. Horse for the course with respective finishes of T19, T3 and T2. Scoring average in 12 rounds is 68.17. Third on TOUR in birdie-or-better percentage and par-5 scoring. Performs well no matter what. Since 2013, he has two T2s, a T3 and a T11 with a scoring average of 67.88. Approach and scoring metrics are sufficiently supportive. Muirfield Village no longer has his number after Sunday’s T2. Firing on all cylinders. Leads TOUR in strokes gained: tee-to-green; second in adjusted scoring. T13 here in 2014. Chased T6 at THE PLAYERS with a solo second at the BMW PGA. Sits second on PGA TOUR in strokes gained: approach-the-green and seventh in adjusted scoring. Co-runner-up here last year; led field in scrambling. Stumbled to a T40 at the Memorial with a closing 78. Tops on TOUR in fairways hit, 32nd in strokes gained: tee-to-green. Best known as a great putter, he co-led the 2016 SJC in GIR en route to a T7. Currently 22nd on TOUR in GIR, ninth in strokes gained: putting, 10th in adjusted scoring. The recent winner at TPC Four Seasons has three consecutive top 10s at TPC Southwind (2013-2015). Ranks 10th in greens in regulation and 41st in adjusted scoring. Probably more confident this week than in any of his previous four trips sans a top 45. Tee-to-green game is as proficient as it’s ever been, too. Top 10s in three of last six starts. It’s taken 10 years to seek redemption after surrendering three-shot lead entering final round. He shot 75 to finish seventh in 2007. Recent top 10s at Masters and THE PLAYERS. Continue to percolate. His T25 at the Memorial is his ninth top-30 finish in his last 12 starts. Twelfth in strokes gained: approach-the-green. He’s 7-for-8 at TPC Southwind. The 2009 champ added a fourth top 10 here last year (solo sixth) while leading the field in birdie-or-better percentage. Back to putting like in his heyday (13th in strokes gained). First trip since a T6 in 2014, the Englishman remains buoyed by the T2 at THE PLAYERS. Eighth on TOUR in strokes gained: approach-the-green, 28th in adjusted scoring. He’s scuffled of late and he’ll be experiencing the distractions of new duties as a defending champion, but he’s an electric performer who will also lavish in the good vibes. Tournament debut. Dangerous on the greens and will need to be. Seventh on TOUR in strokes gained: putting. Placed T4 at THE PLAYERS where he was third in the stat. He’s 4-for-7 (two top 25s) since winning in Puerto Rico. TPC Southwind fits his profile as he’s 25th in GIR and 19th in strokes gained: approach-the-green. T18 here last year. Power Rankings: FedEx St. Jude Classic Rank Player Comment Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider will include Daniel Summerhays, Kevin Chappell, Jim Furyk, Charl Schwartzel and other notables. This is the 60th edition of the FedEx St. Jude Classic and 29th at TPC Southwind. If the only objective was to prove consistency to anyone interested in committing, all tournament organizers had to do this year was cite that last year’s scoring average of 70.930 on the par 70 that measures 7,244 yards was just three-thousandths of a stroke lower than what it yielded the year prior. Mickelson’s phenomenal record here exemplifies his affinity for the course and the expectation. On the Wednesday of the 2015 FedEx St. Jude Classic, he summed up TPC Southwind as follows: “I think it’s the most underrated course we have on TOUR. It’s such a straightforward, fun test of golf. And if you hit good shots, you get rewarded with good putts and birdies. And if you miss the greens, you’re challenged by very difficult up-and-downs. It’s a wonderful layout.” Greens are 5,420 square feet on average, so it’s no surprise that precision on approach is at a premium. This was the formula for champions Fabian Gomez (2015) and Daniel Berger (2016). However, as Mickelson pointed out, TPC Southwind isn’t a one-trick pony. To single out another two winners, Brian Gay (2009) and Ben Crane (2014) lit up their fields with the kind of putting that has come to define their career success. For more on these angles and other identifiers, please read The Confidence Factor on Tuesday. Clear skies and warming air are expected throughout the tournament. The course’s eponymous south wind won’t make its debut until the weekend, but it’ll barely be noticeable. Combined with greens maxing at an inviting 11-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter, conditions will be ripe for scoring. ROB BOLTON’S WRITING 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, The Confidence Factor, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Ownership Percentages in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf and One & Done presented by SERVPRO * – 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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