To burn or not to burn a start. That again will be a familiar question. After a season without any rewards for actual finish in a tournament, PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf has brought back bonus points. All starters in every final round will earn bonuses equivalent to one-tenth of FedExCup points earned in the tournament proper. While cuts made and fantasy points totaled using ShotLink data will remain relevant, sizable swings are possible. Forty-three tournaments are segregated into four Segments. The first Segment begins with A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier and extends through The RSM Classic, thus spanning all 10 weeks of action before the holiday break. Please visit the platform for How to Play, Rules and Prizes. Meanwhile, PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done will not launch immediately. That game is under review. An update could be available before the end of the year. For everyone else, it’s time for my annual full-membership fantasy ranking. If you’re new to it, welcome! If you’re a returning reader-gamer, welcome back! Unlike my weekly Power Rankings and other preview material that focus on individual tournaments, the full-membership fantasy ranking of 243 golfers is a guide. It’s one-stop shopping for long-term value and all kinds of nuggets of information for all kinds of purposes. It’s the file that you bookmark and resource later, but the corners never dog-ear. The full-membership fantasy ranking isn’t a prediction piece. It presents projections for full-season fantasy formats. This is to say that if you disagree with any golfer’s ranking specifically, leverage your opinion in your league because that’s where it’s relevant. The 2019-20 schedule has 49 events, three more than last season, but only the Bermuda Championship (opposite the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions on Oct. 31-Nov. 3) is new. After sitting out a season due to the shifted schedule, A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier (Sept. 12-15) and the Houston Open (Oct. 10-13) have returned. 2020 also is a Ryder Cup year. This usually impacts dual-tour European members of the PGA TOUR who are on the bubble to qualify nearer the deadline, but it’s not a red light for all. This biennial variable doesn’t impact any golfer’s ranking, but keep it in mind regarding decisions for any investments next summer. FULL-MEMBERSHIP RANKINGS: Intro | 1-50 | 51-100 | 101-150 | 151-200 | 201-243 | Cheat sheet It’s impossible to predict how notable modifications to tournaments will affect any one golfer’s fantasy value, but this advance knowledge will assist league commissioners and weekly gamers: The 36-hole cut has been reduced to low 65 and ties. The secondary cut after 54 holes (“MDF”) has been removed. Therefore, all golfers who survived a 36-hole cut are guaranteed to play through to the final round. All five additional events will have fields of 120. Previously, each reserved space for 132. Indicated by its new name, The Genesis Invitational no longer is an open. Its field has been reduced from 144 to 120 and the winner will receive a three-year membership exemption à la the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. All golfers who were eligible for membership accepted. Each is included in the ranking as well as all non-members inside the Top 50 of the latest Official World Golf Ranking (Sept. 2). Lucas Bjerregaard, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Doc Redman and Matt Wallace are first-time members, but none is a rookie. Each would have finished inside the top 125 of the FedExCup last season. Despite making only 14 starts with fully exempt status last season, Martin Kaymer begins 2019-20 with conditional status. The decision on why he is eligible is explained in his COMMENT. The three non-members in the top 50 of the latest OWGR are included in the ranking: Bernd Wiesberger (41st in the OWGR), Eddie Pepperell (43rd) and Hao Tong Li (50th). Life Members Davis Love III and Vijay Singh as well as PGA Professional National champion Alex Beach (allowed six restricted starts) are excluded. When you review the ranking, you’ll see five columns. “2018-19 EARNINGS” is geared toward salary gamers. Wins are not assumed for any golfers, but asterisks beside earnings indicate a projection that the golfer will earn measurably more in 2019-20. It would be redundant to tag an asterisk beside golfers’ 2018-19 salaries valued as “–” (meaning $0), so rely on overall position and the COMMENT for projected value. STATUS for every golfer also is listed. It’s the most important component to gauge long-term value because it identifies the most lucrative events for which a golfer already is exempt, which in turn helps determine how far in advance a golfer can set his schedule. STATUS … BERTHS Top 125 in FedExCup points in 2018-19 … Projects entry into every open and the following the invitationals: Desert Classic, The Genesis Invitational, RBC Heritage, THE PLAYERS. Top 80 … Top 125 exemptions plus entry into the Charles Schwab Challenge. Top 70 … Top 80 exemptions plus entry into the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard and Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Top 60 … Top 70 exemptions plus entry into the THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES and ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, both of which will make room for the top 60 available. Top 30 … Exemptions into every tournament before the Playoffs except the winners-only Sentry Tournament of Champions, the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, the PGA Championship and the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. As a complement, click on the Cheat Sheet. It’s a one-page printable visual to assist you in your draft. My rules of fantasy golf are rules for life: 1) Have fun; 2) Listen and learn; 3) Remain fluid. They matter. Prove why.
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