2017 John Deere Classic, Round 1: Leaderboard, tee times, TV schedule

So much for respecting the elders. One of this season’s notable changes was the shift of Firestone Country Club’s South Course from the PGA TOUR to the PGA TOUR Champions. It hosted the Bridgestone SENIOR PLAYERS Championship two weeks ago. At 7,400 yards, it was the longest course on the 50-and-older circuit in nine years and the field averaged 72.820 on the par 70. Retief Goosen prevailed at 6-under 274. Only six golfers finished under par in the 72-hole event. With that challenging track dispatched, the firm, fair and scorable TPC Southwind has taken over as the host of the newly named World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Scroll past the projected contenders for a profile of the stroll in Memphis, the field’s experience on it and more. Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau and Phil Mickelson will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. From 1989-2018, TPC Southwind hosted the FedEx St. Jude Classic. It’s been a par 70 since 2006 and it will set up for a potential stretch of 7,237 yards this week. That reflects a one-yard decrease at the par-3 eighth hole that now tips at 171 yards. Traditionally slotted in the week before the U.S. Open and open to the maximum field of 156, the course has been reassigned to serve as the backdrop for a limited field of the sport’s elite. There is no cut and there are no alternates. As of midday Monday, 64 of the 69 qualifiers are committed to competing. (Rickie Fowler, Francesco Molinari, Lee Westwood, Bernd Wiesberger and Tiger Woods declined.) Forty pegged it at TPC Southwind at least once before; 25 made at least two appearances. Overall, this field went a collective 82-for-117 with 28 top 10s in the old iteration of the tournament. Two-time champion Dustin Johnson (2012, 2018) is the only winner of the FedEx St. Jude Classic who qualified for and committed to this week’s WGC. After sharing the 54-hole lead here in 2018, DJ ran away to win by six strokes, the largest margin at TPC Southwind in 14 years (David Toms, 2004). Johnson’s 19-under 261 was the second-lowest winning aggregate to John Cook’s 258 in 1996. Indeed, those who attempted to tame Firestone in the past won’t miss it. This isn’t to say that TPC Southwind is a pushover, however. It averaged 70.520 as a 156-man contest last year, and that hit the bull’s-eye for expectations. With a smaller and exponentially stronger field that has course experience, overall scoring should drop. The fairways are narrow, but TPC Southwind essentially is a second-shot test because the bermudagrass rough is trimmed to two-and-a-half inches. It’ll be juicy because it’s been a rainy 2019, but there’s not enough overall length to intensify the challenge. The dozen par 4s are sturdy as a group, but finding the small greens in regulation is the priority. TPC Southwind surrendered only 10.67 GIR on average last season, good for the fifth-lowest clip among all courses. However, it’s one of the easier layouts on which to salvage par (58.72 percent), so it’ll benefit both course management and aggressive types who can get up and down. The Champion bermuda greens will touch 12 feet on the Stimpmeter. Among other perks, the champion will receive 550 FedExCup points and a three-year PGA TOUR membership exemption. Warm and pleasant conditions will facilitate scoring. Daytime highs in the mid- to upper 80s will complement the omnipresent sunshine every day. Winds will be light.   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 (WGC) TUESDAY*: Power Rankings (Barracuda), Sleepers (WGC), Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done (WGC), One & Done (Barracuda), Champions One & Done * – 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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TRUCKEE, Calif. — Emiliano Grillo had an early eagle in a 17-point round in smoky conditions Friday to take the second-round lead in the Barracuda Championship, the only PGA TOUR event that uses the modified Stableford scoring system. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Harris English maintains lead after 36 holes at WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational Players receive eight points for an albatross, five for eagle, two for birdie and zero for par. A point is subtracted for a bogey, and three points are taken away for a double bogey or worse. Grillo, the 28-year-old Argentine player who won the 2016 Frys.com Open for his lone PGA TOUR title, had a 29-point total on Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood Course. “Left a lot of putts short today,” Grillo said. “It could have been really good out there. Hit the ball well. Kept the ball in the fairway. Gave myself chances for eagles on the par 5s, which is kind of the key for this format.” Adam Schenk was two points back after a 19-point day. He eagled the par-5 sixth. “Just really have been driving the ball really well the last couple of days,” Schenk said. “Make a few putts, hit a few wedge shots close. Take care of the par 5s. It’s definitely out there for you.” First-round lead Joel Dahmen was three points back at 26 after a 10-point round. Andrew Putnam, Scott Piercy and Scott Harrington had 25 points, with Piercy 144th and Harrington 176th in the race for FedExCup Playoff spots and PGA TOUR cards. “I feel like my game’s pretty good right now,” Piercy said. “Putter feels good. I feel like I’ve got control of my golf swing. Equipment’s right. I’ve got to go put it together.” The smoke from wildfires made it difficult to see balls in flight. “You couldn’t really see the ball in the air very well,” Piercy said. “But you could see it take off and some holes you could see it land and roll. But the nice thing was the wind stayed down because it was down in the morning.” Grillo scored nine points on the first three holes, birdieing the par-4 first, making the eagle on the par-5 second and adding a birdie on the par-3 third. “It was super cold in the morning,” said Grillo, 49th in the FedExCup standings. “Just trying to hit it as long as you can. Trying to stay warm. And I was able to start with … like nine points. That was key. When you are going off on a good day you want to start good the next round. And I was able to do that today.” He added birdies on the par-5 sixth, par-4 eighth, par-5 12th and par-4 16th. The winner will earn a spot in the PGA Championship next year but not the Masters because the event is being played opposite a World Golf Championships — the FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis, Tennessee. Defending Richy Werenski was tied for 10th with 19 points. The top 125 in the FedExCup standings after the Wyndham Championship next week will earn spots in the Playoff opener at Liberty National. No. 129 Cameron Percy had a 13-point day to move into a tie for 12th with 18 points. No. 122 Scott Stallings was tied for 45th with 12 points. No. 126 Patrick Rodgers and No. 127 Camilo Villegas made the cut on the number with 10 points. No. 121 Matt Kuchar and No. 124 Nate Lashley missed the cut. The three Olympians in the field — Mito Pereira of Chile, Rafael Campos of Puerto Rico and Thomas Pieters of Belgium — played together the first two rounds. Pieters had 12 points, while Pereira and Campos missed the cut.

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