Dual eagles help McIlroy’s cause at Riviera

If you play PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, don’t expect much movement this week. With no cut at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, each of the 73 golfers in the field will hang up a number in every round. So, if you’re chasing, consider injecting as many as four second-tier selections to maximize the possibilities to slingshot (assuming your pacesetter goes chalk). And because there’s no cut, there’s value in holstering starts for the superstars. Also keep in mind that the last two tournaments of Segment 4 (and the 2017-18 season) also do not feature a cut. As a result, your target shifts to being in position to withhold a lead or at least reach out and touch it by the conclusion of the Dell Technologies Championship. We all then roll with the punches of the BMW Championship and TOUR Championship. Unlike the first three majors, next week’s PGA Championship will use ShotLink. The first 154 qualifiers are listed on this dedicated page. The last two exemptions will go to the winners at Firestone and the Barracuda Championship. The first two alternates are Jason Kokrak and Chris Kirk, respectively. PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO My roster for the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational (in alphabetical order): Paul Casey Rory McIlroy Jon Rahm Justin Rose Xander Schauffele Tiger Woods You’ll find my starters in Expert Picks. Others to consider for each category (in alphabetical order): Scoring: Jason Day; Tommy Fleetwood; Rickie Fowler; Dustin Johnson; Zach Johnson; Brooks Koepka; Alex Noren; Patrick Reed; Justin Thomas Driving: Jason Day; Tommy Fleetwood; Rickie Fowler; Dustin Johnson; Hideki Matsuyama; Alex Noren; Adam Scott; Brendan Steele; Bubba Watson Approach: Rickie Fowler; Dustin Johnson; Zach Johnson; Russell Knox; Matt Kuchar; Andrew Landry; Jordan Spieth Short: Austin Cook; Jason Day; Tyrrell Hatton; Dustin Johnson; Matt Kuchar; Alex Noren; Webb Simpson; Justin Thomas Power Rankings Wild Card Patrick Reed … He’s done nothing wrong to get snubbed from the Power Rankings. Consider him an extension in a terrific field. Opened his Firestone career with a T4 in 2014 and T15 in 2015. Winning the Masters this year was a career-defining experience that he’ll likely enjoy again in some capacity. He’s been solid since, too, with four top 10s, including a T9 in Germany on Sunday. If there’s a knock, he puts too much pressure on his short game, but he’s still 23rd on TOUR in strokes gained: tee-to-green. That’s as much of a quantifier of his confidence as anything. Draws Webb Simpson … First appearance since a T25 in 2015. There’s nothing not to love no matter your angle. In addition to his victory at THE PLAYERS, he’s hung up a top 10 and another two top 20s in the majors thus far. It also can’t go overstated just how strong he’s been with his putting. Patrick Cantlay … Like Tony Finau, Cantlay is finally making his debut in this tournament, the last of the four WGCs for both. Cantlay’s tee-to-green strength should yield numerous opportunities to score. However, as frequent he is in amassing scoring chances, his precision on approach needs to be tighter on large targets. Matt Kuchar … Gasp! A Power Rankings sans the Kooch?! On track record alone, he belongs with the 20 featured, but his relatively massive inconsistency demands pause. So, in reaction to what we do with three missed cuts in his last four starts, remain patient and give him the opportunity to put four rounds together because they’re guaranteed this week. It’s a rare win for course history buffs. Alex Noren … Wholly expected to establish a career-best finish in his fourth appearance. Last year’s T28 was his first top 50, and it was his first trip in six years. Winner recently in Paris and six straight top 25s upon arrival. Pays off above-average tee-to-green work with phenomenal putting. Tyrrell Hatton … The Brit has performed exceptionally in the WGCs, so he’s comfortable on this stage. Work him into any lineup. Kiradech Aphibarnrat (DFS) Branden Grace (DFS) Charley Hoffman (all) Kevin Na (DFS) Louis Oosthuizen (all) Ian Poulter (DFS) Charl Schwartzel (all) Fades Phil Mickelson … His headline-filled summer is one thing, but a middling recent history at Firestone is more concerning. Since concluding a T15 in the 2014 edition with a 62, he’s signed for only two red numbers after 12 rounds and has averaged 71.42 on the course. Henrik Stenson … He’s a bit of a freak in how well he continues to perform amid injury. You’d never accuse him of hard-selling the maladies to lower expectations, but the results don’t help in ruling that out, either. When he cited the elbow injury in advance of The Open Championship and that he was far from 100 percent, gamers appreciated the alert. He finished T35 with pedestrian execution tee to green. If he finishes T35 at Firestone, it’ll be disappointing given his cachet and a sparkling record on the course. Kevin Kisner … He fooled us. So much for the promise at Carnoustie where he had a piece of the lead after every round before settling for a T2. Marc Leishman … This is entirely relative given his up-and-down summer and just one top-30 finish in five previous appearances. Firestone could serve as the kind of layout that could showcase his all-around game – as TPC Potomac at Avenel did for his T13 – but we can’t ignore the recent regression to inconsistency overall. Sergio Garcia … As I first mentioned in the Facebook Live show on the Tuesday before the RBC Canadian Open, the narrative has evolved into wondering how he’s going to total 15 starts to retain voting privileges and TOUR membership. This week’s WGC is start No. 13. The PGA Championship will be his 14th. The Wyndham Championship would get him to the minimum, but he hasn’t showed at Sedgefield since his title defense in 2013. And at 132nd in the FedExCup standings, even with the guarantee to contribute to his total at Firestone, he’s not yet a lock for the Playoffs. Daniel Berger Rafa Cabrera Bello Bryson DeChambeau Ross Fisher Brian Harman Si Woo Kim Patton Kizzire Luke List Pat Perez Shubhankar Sharma Cameron Smith Kyle Stanley Brandon Stone Gary Woodland Returning to Competition None. Notable WDs Beau Hossler … The wunderkind has been shuffling his schedule the last few weeks. He withdrew early from last week’s RBC Canadian Open as well, but this will happen to a first-time member who gains late entry into The Open Championship and PGA Championship as he has. Sittin’ pretty at 33rd in the FedExCup standings. Nick Watney … Eked into the field for next week’s PGA Championship, so he’s opted to rest and prep. Abraham Ancer … With a solo fifth at Glen Abbey, he rose to 79th in the FedExCup standings. Headed to the Playoffs for the first time. Tyler Duncan … Finally taking a break after eight straight starts. He’s earned it as he’s connected 12 cuts made since the team event in New Orleans. At 103rd in the FedExCup, the rookie has achieved his primary goal. Grayson Murray … This would have marked his first action since the FedEx St. Jude Classic. He’s been sidelined by a sore shoulder. At 108th in the FedExCup standings and fully exempt for next season, the only objective right now is to heal. Bronson Burgoon … Thanks in large part to a T6 at the Quicken Loans National and a T2 at the John Deere Classic, he’s positioned comfortably at 106th in FedExCup points and poised to make his Playoffs debut. Perhaps fully exempt status north of the reshuffle category next season will improve his cuts-made ratio. In two seasons, he’s just 25-for-48. D.A. Points … It’s been a season to forget for the 41-year-old. Just 5-for-24 and 212nd in the FedExCup. However, he’s fully exempt for 2018-19 by virtue of his title at the 2017 Puerto Rico Open. Doc Redman … It’s not often when a non-member in any field on a sponsor exemption withdraws after the commitment deadline, but he’s competing at the Web.com Tour’s KC Golf Classic instead. Last week’s T21 at the Price Cutter Charity Championship yielded this week’s top-25 exemption in Overland Park, Kansas. At 170th in Web earnings, he’s about $50K outside the top-75 bubble to qualify for the Finals. Power Rankings Recap – RBC Canadian Open Power Ranking  Golfer  Result 1  Dustin Johnson  Win 2  Tony Finau  T37 3  Charley Hoffman  T29 4  Brooks Koepka  MC 5  Kevin Kisner  MC 6  Brandt Snedeker  T8 7  Joaquin Niemann  T37 8  Matt Kuchar  MC 9  Ian Poulter  T12 10  Harold Varner III  T17 11  Tommy Fleetwood  T6 12  Bubba Watson  MC 13  Joel Dahmen  T8 14  Jhonattan Vegas  T29 15  Sam Ryder  78th Wild Card  Billy Horschel  MC Sleepers Recap – RBC Canadian Open Golfer  Result Cameron Champ  MC Austin Connelly  MC Martin Laird  MC Keith Mitchell  T65 Steve Wheatcroft  T71 Birthdays among active golfers on the PGA TOUR July 31 … none August 1 … none August 2 … Jonathan Kaye (48); Brian Davis (44) August 3 … Omar Uresti (50) August 4 … Dudley Hart (50) August 5 … Patrick Reed (28) August 6 … none

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Dylan Meyer … To line up the next crop of talent to splash at the professional level as if they’re riding on a conveyor belt would be ignoring how special each of the young guys is. Joaquin Niemann stole the show early and already has given a couple of encores. Doc Redman was next to turn professional. Meyer’s college teammate at the University of Illinois, Nick Hardy, who is also in the field at the Travelers Championship on a sponsor exemption, debuted as a pro with a T33 at the Rust-Oleum Championship on the Web.com Tour outside Chicago two weeks ago. It was then Meyer’s turn at the U.S. Open where he delivered with a sparkling T20 and six-figure payday. After missing the cut at Shinnecock Hills, Doug Ghim is making his professional debut at TPC River Highlands, thus departing the amateur circuit atop the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Although he’s still an amateur and No. 3 in the WAGR, you already know enough about Braden Thornberry to have his pulse. He was the winner of the Haskins Award last year. This year’s recipient, Norman Xiong, will be featured on the PGA TOUR all summer and has already drawn comparisons to Tiger Woods’ early trajectory. In a couple of months, first-team All-American Shintaro Ban will be turning professional. Get used to the names because you won’t have a choice. Beau Hossler … The 2016 Haskins Award winner sat three strokes off the 36-hole lead in his Travelers debut last year before fading to a T53. It was his final PGA TOUR start before securing his card via the Web.com Tour Finals for 2017-18. It also eliminated his eligibility for rookie status as a first-time member this season, but that hasn’t deterred the 23-year-old from making noise early and often. He’s currently 45th in the FedExCup standings and has connected nine cuts made since Bay Hill. Sits 42nd in greens hit and T23 in strokes gained: putting. Patrick Rodgers … There’s no coincidence in this week’s theme despite the fact that he captured the Haskins Award in 2014. The Stanford product then made his pro debut at TPC River Highlands, finishing T46. He hasn’t missed an appearance or a cut here since. His slate includes a T3 in 2016. Recently placed T8 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, and then recorded a T41 at the U.S. Open where he scored 83-67 on the weekend. While inconsistent, his best weapon is the putter, which is more dangerous on greens where he’s contended in the past. Aaron Baddeley … Speaking of terrific putters, he’s been a force on small greens throughout his career, the 5,000-square foot surfaces of TPC River Highlands among them. Since 2010, the Aussie is 6-for-7 with a personal-best solo fourth in 2014 and a scoring average of 68.23 in 26 rounds. Now 38 years of age, he’s still flashing enough form to rank second on TOUR in strokes gained: around-the-green. He also strides in with the boost of confidence of a T25 at the U.S. Open. Vaughn Taylor … It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he’s made the most of his surprise victory at Pebble Beach in 2016. His two-year exemption for that title expires this summer, but at 95th in the FedExCup standings, he’s a virtual lock to retain his status for 2018-19. He’s posted seven top 20s this season, including in each of his last two starts (T20, Fort Worth; T18, FedEx St. Jude). Continues to manage courses properly, evident by his ranks in fairways hit (28th), proximity to the hole (T24) and scrambling (35th). He’s also T22 in par-5 scoring. The 42-year-old has missed only one appearance at TPC River Highlands since crashing onto the PGA TOUR in 2004. His commitment to return every year is obvious given that he’s 11-for-13 with a trio of top-15 finishes.

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From Phil to Rory and everything in between, here is what is going on in the first round of the U.S. Open at The Country Club.

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