Winner’s Bag: Collin Morikawa, The Open Championship

It’s a small field, one reduced by the late, forced withdrawals of Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. So who can take home gold? Who else will be in medal contention? Who should just enjoy the Olympic experience?

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PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO At first glance of the top 10 in ownership percentages for the Travelers Championship, you’d wonder if Jordan Spieth withdrew. (Relax, he didn’t pull out. On the contrary. He converted birdies on his first two holes to open his debut at TPC River Highlands and is well on his way to making noise this week.) Even if you don’t visit this recap often, that Spieth would slot outside the top 10 in anything should surprise you. Of course, the explanation is obvious, well, as obvious as it gets in the context of reviewing gamer dedication. The Travelers is the last of 11 tournaments in Segment 3, seven of which Spieth has played. Plain and simple, we’ve run dry as a group on starts. In fact, that 19.1 percent of you still had one start remaining is the surprise. Another shocker is who doesn’t appear below. Defending champions usually get some benefit of the doubt with gamers, but not Russell Knox. He slots a distant 27th at just 4.4 percent. The last time Jim Furyk signed a card at TPC River Highlands, it added up to 58. Yet, he’s just 23rd in ownership percentage at 5.3 percent. Other notables off the radar include Zach Johnson (16th, 14.4 percent), Keegan Bradley (19th, 8.1 percent), Chez Reavie (26th, 4.9 percent) and Bud Cauley (32nd, 2.7 percent). NOTE: Rob’s Rating refers to where our Fantasy Insider slotted a golfer in his Power Rankings. Golfers in the Power Rankings and outside the top 10 in most owned PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO No shortage of talent at TPC River Highlands this week, but curious gamers will immediately notice the absence of Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Jason Day among the top 10 most-owned at the Travelers Championship. Of course, this takes nothing away from the golfers listed below because this is entirely about fantasy strategy and not some sort of popularity contest, but it’s still pretty incredible that not even one of the three heavyweights cracked the top 10. McIlroy is 11th at 1.5 percent, Spieth slots 12th at 1.4 percent and Day checks in 14th at 1.3 percent. If one of those guys takes the title, it would be a coup for gamers invested. And that’s precisely the point in an event when their opponents shopped elsewhere. It doesn’t get any better than surprising your competition with 500 FedExCup points when they expect it least. However, the last laugh may await in the Playoffs when a solo fourth-place finish rewards 540 points. From that perspective, McIlroy, Spieth or Day would need to win this week to validate the pick. But, and obviously, only one can. Other notables outside the top 10 include Webb Simpson (15th, 1.3 percent), Tony Finau (16th, 1.1 percent), Jim Furyk (18th, 1.0 percent) and Graham DeLaet (T20, 0.7 percent). Defending champion Russell Knox is 19th at 0.7 percent. Johnson Wagner and Brett Stegmaier paced the morning wave in the opening round with 6-under 64s, but only Wagner was selected as a One & Done and by only one gamer.

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The next stop on the PGA Tour is the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut. Here’s how you can watch all the action on ESPN+.

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