DJ storms to the front on moving day at PGA

Far be it for me to tell you not to have a good time. After all, my Rule No. 1 of fantasy golf is to have fun. If you can’t get even that far, start over, because the rest of the experience is pointless otherwise. However, when we have a team competition directly in front of us, the advice is to only have fun. Shed the kinds of expectations you have during an individual event when golfers control their own destiny. Consider that the teams of Jason Day and Adam Scott, Patrick Cantlay and Patrick Reed, Joaquin Niemann and Dylan Frittelli, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, Tony Finau and Kyle Stanley, Cameron Champ and Sam Burns, Carlos Ortiz and Sebastián Muñoz, and Abraham Ancer and Jhonattan Vegas all missed the cut at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans … in 2019 alone. Even the inaugural team to win – Cameron Smith and Jonas Blixt in 2017 – missed the cut in 2018 and 2019. RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks | How it works Rule No. 2 is to listen and learn, but there’s really nothing to be logged for another time. Same can be said about the recent Match Play and for both the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. The success and failure you have likely will be coincidental because of the formats. The moral of the matter is to leave well enough alone. Stop short of judging your performance no matter how lucky or unlucky. It’s why I’ve always defaulted to a position as a fan in these events. There’s always next week. Speaking of which, PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf takes this week off. It will resume with the Valspar Championship on April 29-May 2. So, this edition of the Fantasy Insider omits Draws and Fades. POWER RANKINGS WILD CARD Viktor Hovland & Kris Ventura (+3300) … Had this been contested in, say, October, the duo representing Norway would have been in the Power Rankings proper. However, Ventura has slumped in a big way since. He’s cashed just four times in his last 14 starts, none for a top 35. Meanwhile, Hovland’s consistency aligns directly with his profile as a balanced performer. He’s been rock-solid just about every time out. If necessary, he could carry this twosome and not feel any pressure. Odds sourced on Tuesday, April 20 at 5 a.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. RETURNING TO COMPETITION James Hahn … This is a good sign. He hasn’t played since an injured rib forced him to retire from The Honda Classic during his opening round. At 69th in the FedExCup and ninth in greens in regulation, teammate Martin Trainer is in a good place to make a dent in his own season. Trainer is just 3-for-16 and 214th in points. Both guys are making their debuts in the team competition, and it’s Trainer’s first-ever look at TPC Louisiana. Michael Kim … Walked off Harbour Town during his second round last week. An explanation wasn’t released. He dealt with a sore back on two different occasions in 2020 during which he failed to cash in all 15 starts. He opened 2021 with four cuts made in six starts, but he’s gone 0-for-4 since. He and former Cal-Berkeley teammate Brandon Hagy have joined forces this week. NOTABLE WDs Seamus Power … Tested positive for COVID-19. Alternate Zack Sucher assumes Power’s position as David Hearn’s teammate. Hearn and Power slotted No. 10 in my Power Rankings on Monday. Tyler McCumber … Second consecutive early withdrawal. No news has surfaced to explain why and, as of Tuesday afternoon, he hasn’t alerted his followers on social media. The 30-year-old has experienced an inconsistent but fruitful season. Currently 59th in the FedExCup, so he can be patient. Ryan Brehm … Currently 165th in the FedExCup with one top 25 (T11, Puerto Rico) among six cuts made in 10 starts. Lanto Griffin replaced him as Joel Dahmen’s teammate. Brehm owns the distinction of ranking second on TOUR in distance of all drives at 309.1 yards. Of course, Bryson DeChambeau (311.4 yards) is longest, but to name a few notables with muscle, Cameron Champ (3rd), Rory McIlroy (4th), Brooks Koepka (5th), Dustin Johnson (6th) and Matthew Wolff (8th) trail. Not too shabby for a 35-year-old. It doesn’t hurt that Brehm checks in at 6’4” and 220 pounds. POWER RANKINGS RECAP – RBC Heritage Power Ranking Golfer Result 1 Webb Simpson T9 2 Corey Conners T4 3 Daniel Berger T13 4 Patrick Cantlay MC 5 Brian Harman T13 6 Will Zalatoris T42 7 Tyrrell Hatton T39 8 Matt Fitzpatrick T4 9 Cameron Smith T9 10 Abraham Ancer T18 11 Matt Kuchar T18 12 Ian Poulter T48 13 Kevin Streelman T33 14 Harris English MC 15 Dustin Johnson T13 Wild Card Kevin Kisner MC SLEEPERS RECAP – RBC Heritage Golfer Result Doug Ghim T33 Chesson Hadley MC Russell Henley T9 William McGirt MC Chase Seiffert T42 BIRTHDAYS AMONG ACTIVE GOLFERS ON THE PGA TOUR April 20 … John Senden (50) April 21 … none April 22 … Eric Axley (47) April 23 … none April 24 … Jason Bohn (48); Lee Westwood (48); Jonas Blixt (37); Carlos Ortiz (30) April 25 … Nick Watney (40) April 26 … J.B. Holmes (39) Visit BetMGM.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ years of age or older to wager. CO, IA, IN,MI, NJ, NV,PA, TN, VA or WV only. Excludes Michigan Disassociated Persons. Please Gamble Responsibly. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-522-4700 (CO, NV, VA), 1-800-270-7117 for confidential help (MI), 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ, PA & WV), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), Call or Text the Tennessee REDLINE: 800-889-9789 (TN), or call 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN).

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At the same time that the PGA TOUR matches the record for shortest road trip between consecutive tournaments, it presents what has been a familiar event since the Bicentennial. Just like last week’s Workday Charity Open, the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide has been contested on only one course throughout its history. And while it was fun to fill the recent hiatus with an all-time Power Rankings at Muirfield Village Golf Club, nothing beats real-time competition, especially given the fact that the No. 1 is back in action. As of midday Monday, 89 who teed it up at the Workday hung around for the nightcap of this “Dublin-header” in central Ohio. For a review of how Muirfield Village played last week in comparison to last year’s Memorial, what this week’s field should expect and more, scroll past the projected contenders. RELATED: Featured Groups | The First Look | Inside the Field POWER RANKINGS: THE MEMORIAL Notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider will include 2010 champion Justin Rose, Brooks Koepka, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth. Despite the spillover of talent from the Workday to the Memorial, the construction of each field is different. The Workday was a 157-man open, while the grouping for the 132-deep Memorial is an invitational, albeit 12 stronger than originally scheduled (to accommodate for playing time lost due to the pandemic). So, it probably doesn’t surprise keen-eyed golf fans that the field for the Workday hit fewer than 10 percent of the welcoming fairways on average than last year’s Memorial field (of 120), even with rain limiting rollout on landing areas. As it concerned saving par, last week’s scrambling percentage of 52.32 was the lowest of any course this season. That’s not a full three points lower than the 2019 Memorial field (that ranked seventh-lowest in all of 2018-19), but it’s an indication of overall comfort and familiarity, or lack thereof, on the 5,000-square foot targets. Still, the Workday field checked in with a scoring average of 71.853 for the week. Last year’s Memorial field landed at 72.081. Muirfield Village is a stock par 72 on which par is a decent score when the wind blows, which it did for a good portion of the 2019 Memorial. However, whoever claims this week’s title, the three-year PGA TOUR membership exemption and the three-year exemption into THE PLAYERS Championship, will have begun the tournament eyeing double digits under par. Each of the last seven champions have completed 72 holes no worse than 12-under 276. Inclement weather cannot be ruled out during any round, which means that rain will fall, and wind won’t be an issue, so scoring will remain low. It’s probably a stretch to consider 19-under 269 repeating itself. That was the aggregate posted by Workday champion Collin Morikawa and playoff victim Justin Thomas. They played the 7,456-yard track with modifications made for the substitute event. Traditional tees and hole locations will bookend the experience on what should play as a longer test overall for the Memorial, at least in degrees. The bentgrass greens for the Workday were prepped to run 11-11.5 feet on the Stimpmeter, but the undulations seemed to contribute to what normally would be a slow pace by TOUR standards. Weather-dependent, as always, this week’s speed could eclipse 13 feet, longest of any event that releases the measurement. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps 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, Fantasy Insider * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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