Sahith Theegala leads by two shots at WM Phoenix Open

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On the surface, THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES looks like it would be a tougher week for earnings-based gamers than those of us plugging away at PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO. After all, the purse is a meaty $9.25 million. That slots is behind only the four majors, four World Golf Championships and THE PLAYERS. It’s more lucrative than each of the four stops in the FedExCup Playoffs. When your objective is putting dollars on the board instead of FedExCup points, you’re keen on elevating the most reliable talents into position to pounce. At The Club at Nine Bridges, Justin Thomas, Jason Day, Adam Scott and Patrick Reed likely populate your short list in some order. The thinking is simple. You expect them to strap in and chase the $1.665-million first prize. The rub is that THE CJ CUP is a new tournament. Course history doesn’t exist. Expectations for how Nine Bridges will score – or limit red numbers, although this is unlikely – cover the spectrum. In that context, the last thing you want to do is burn a big name. It’s the third tournament of 49. Patience, Jedis. The solution caters to gamers pursuing both measurements. Limit your choices to proven notables who yield as much bang for the buck as they do bridge into next week’s doubleheader. If you’ll buy into that approach, there are two in the field in 78 who sit on the top shelf: Paul Casey and Marc Leishman. Anyone who knocks the Englishman for not winning enough doesn’t play fantasy golf. He’s gold. His form is on point and he flashes a twinkle in his eye when discussing how he maintains consistently strong form. This proves that life really does begin at 40. Leishman, who will celebrate his 34th birthday on Oct. 24, will test his reputation as a star in the wind. It’s a fact that I usually inject into his comment when he crashes the Power Rankings (he’s No. 8 for THE CJ CUP), but it’s so widely understood by now that it’s evolved into a redundancy. The Aussie is also gunning for this third victory of 2017, which will go into the history books as the beginning of his career peak. Right on time. As much as I’m endorsing both for either format, I’m sticking with the guy atop my Power Rankings, Tony Finau. He recorded his only PGA TOUR victory (to date) in his debut and in the wind at the Puerto Rico Open in 2016. Sure, the field in South Korea is deeper, but all he’s done since is sharpen and adapt. He can perform anywhere. What’s more, if you’re skeptical but open to the shove, Finau also spells Casey and Leishman. Two-man gamers should give Ollie Schniederjans a look. He’s one of my Sleepers, a weekly staple that yielded a third-place finish in the first two events. After Chesson Hadley converted at the Safeway Open, Sung Kang delivered at the CIMB Classic. Speaking of Kang, he’s also a crafty play for two-man gamers in his native South Korea. 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. Daniel Berger … WGC-HSBC; Waste Management; Houston; St. Jude (two-time defending); Travelers Keegan Bradley … Farmers; Waste Management; Genesis; Houston; Memorial; WGC-Bridgestone Paul Casey … Genesis; Masters; Travelers; WGC-Bridgestone; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Jason Day … Sentry; Farmers; Pebble Beach; Arnold Palmer; WGC-Match Play; Masters; PLAYERS; U.S. Open; Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone; THE NORTHERN TRUST; Dell Technologies Tony Finau … Farmers; Valero; Memorial; Greenbrier; Canadian Branden Grace … Heritage; Valero; U.S. Open; WGC-Bridgestone Brian Harman … Sony; CareerBuilder; Arnold Palmer; DEAN & DELUCA; John Deere Russell Henley … RSM; Sony; Houston; Greenbrier J.B. Holmes … Farmers; Waste Management; Pebble Beach; Genesis; Houston; Wells Fargo; Greenbrier Charles Howell III … Shriners; Mayakoba; RSM; Sony; CareerBuilder; Farmers; Valspar; Houston Marc Leishman … WGC-HSBC; Sony; Arnold Palmer (defending); DEAN & DELUCA; Memorial; Travelers; Open Championship Jamie Lovemark … RSM; Sony; Arnold Palmer Graeme McDowell … Mayakoba; RSM; Pebble Beach; Honda; WGC-Bridgestone Kevin Na … Shriners; Waste Management; Valspar; Arnold Palmer; Heritage; Memorial; John Deere; Wyndham; THE NORTHERN TRUST Pat Perez … Mayakoba (defending); Sony; Farmers; Pebble Beach; Houston; Heritage; Valero Patrick Reed … WGC-HSBC; Sentry; Pebble Beach; Valspar; Travelers; Wyndham; THE NORTHERN TRUST; Dell Technologies Charl Schwartzel … Valspar; Memorial; U.S. Open; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone Adam Scott … WGC-HSBC; Genesis; Honda; Arnold Palmer; Masters; PLAYERS; U.S. Open; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Justin Thomas … Sentry (defending); Sony (defending); Genesis; WGC-Mexico; Valspar; Wells Fargo; Dell Technologies (defending); TOUR Championship Gary Woodland … Sony; Farmers; Honda; Wells Fargo; Barracuda; Dell Technologies  

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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – They are an old story and Daniel Berger is sticking to them. “I’ve just done a bunch of testing and it’s the best iron for me. So, I don’t see why I need to go out there and look for something else,” Berger said Tuesday as he talked to the media as defending champion of this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. At question was Berger’s decision to remain committed to the TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC irons that he first used in 2011 as a high schooler. When he was a free agent in the equipment world in 2020, Berger signed with TaylorMade, but what fit him best was not the latest equipment but the older stuff. “I’ve just stuck with them (through the years),” Berger said. The issue, of course, is when Berger needs backup help for this forged cavity-back design, because TaylorMade, like all manufacturers, had moved on to newer models. That’s where social media helps. “I’ve got a couple different sets and they’ve come from all over the place,” Berger told GolfWRX at last week’s Farmers Insurance Open. “I bought one set online, just from some guy on the internet. “He messaged me online on social media. It’s a perfect set. I don’t know if he worked at TaylorMade at some point, but the box and everything was from TaylorMade. They were brand new.” That was not a one-off, either. Berger’s search has turned up others who have, or could, come to his rescue. “There are sets available online and people have reached out to me, so I’ve got an extremely large amount of backup sets sitting at my house,” he told GolfWRX. But Berger, who has finished T10, T5 and first in each of his three starts in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, thinks he would be wise to be proactive with his equipment. “I think if I were to do it right, I would have a set at home that I would use to practice with and a set at home that (would be my game set),” he said. Thanks to his presence on social media, however, “I have plenty of clubs right now to last me for a while.”

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