5 to enter World Golf Hall of … Really Good?

DETROIT – There’s nothing like playing in front of a legend. That was the half-serious explanation from Matthew Wolff, 21, after his six straight birdies and second-round 64 put him at 11 under and in a tie for the early second-round lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He figured he was just showing off for playing partner Vijay Singh, the 57-year-old World Golf Hall of Famer. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said this,” Wolff said, “but on number six, after I birdied, I said, ‘Gosh, maybe I just have a thing of playing with older guys and playing really well,’ because at 3M last year I shot 62 playing with Tom Lehman. Maybe it’s something about the old greats, me feeling like I need to impress them or something like that.” RELATED: Leaderboard | Fowler enjoys solid start at Rocket Mortgage | DeChambeau gives himself ‘B’ after monster round Wolff won the 2019 NCAA individual title, turned pro, and broke through with his first PGA TOUR win at the 3M Open almost exactly a year ago. But his rocket-like trajectory stalled with no top-10 finishes since then, and he now says it was because he tried to be too perfect. By pressing and grinding, he said, he actually went backward. “I would say just maturity, just mentally,” he said of the big difference this week. It’s funny to hear the M word – maturity – from a guy who just turned 21. Wolff was born on April 14, 1999. By that time Singh had won his first major, the 1998 PGA Championship, on the way to three overall and 34 PGA TOUR wins in total. When Wolff was 5, Singh reached world No. 1; when Wolff was 9, Singh won the FedExCup. The two are separated by 36 years, but, alas, by only seven strokes on the scorecard over the first 36 holes at sunny Detroit Golf Club. While Wolff was scorching the course and climbing the leaderboard, Singh, who sports a white goatee these days, was carding his second straight 2-under 70. At 4 under total, he is projected to make the cut. “I haven’t really heard much about him before,” Wolff said. “I never met him before this and this, the last two days were a lot of fun. He was talking to me the whole time. We talked about anything from, you know, golf to what he does just randomly and where he likes to go and travel. It was a really cool experience. “… It was cool to see how he approaches it and how he goes about his game,” he added. “I definitely learned a lot from him the last two days. I think he’s going to make the cut, so I’m not going to let up and let him catch me.”

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Altogether now, “Thank you.” That’s a message of appreciation from season-long fantasy commissioners and gamers to the powerbrokers of the PGA TOUR for eliminating the wraparound component following the 2022-23 season. Bemoan no more! The tight squeeze of the official offseason will be no more.. FULL-MEMBERSHIP RANKINGS: Intro | 1-50 | 51-100 | 101-150 | 151-200 | 201-214 | Cheat sheet No, easing our lives wasn’t among the influences, but who cares. We still can and will capitalize on the return to the calendar-year season in 2024. It was among a cavalcade of changes announced in June. Those that affect our business are included in this opening page to my annual full-membership fantasy ranking. With the biggest news in 10 years out of the way, welcome! To many, welcome back! It’s states “ranking” throughout these pages, but it’s also a guide, so bookmark or save it. It’s designed to be evergreen – I will not be updating it – and as your resource for things big and small. Read through this page before diving into the golfers. The through line is the context, and it’s all connected. When you get to the golfers, be advised that those included are eligible for PGA TOUR competition and are positioned somewhere in the Priority Ranking through the Non-exempt Medical Extension category. Overall ranking is based on projected value for the entirety of the 2022-23 season. As always, adjust accordingly for your format, opposition and everything else contributing to how your league measures your performance over time. For draft leaguers who prefer to see everything on one page, the Cheat Sheet lists all golfers by ranking, name and age. It’s also printable, so you can glance at a physical copy while scrolling or swiping on your PC, tablet or mobile device. The 2022-23 PGA TOUR season essentially is identical to the season that just concluded. There are 47 tournaments, the last three of which comprising the FedExCup Playoffs. Also familiarly, the top 125 at the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship will be fully exempt for the 2024 season, but for the first time in the 17-year history of the Playoffs, only the top 70 will qualify. The top 50 after the first leg will advance to the second. Then, per tradition, the top 30 after that will qualify for the season-ending TOUR Championship. Most impactful on us, and particularly salary gamers, is the introduction of Elevated Events. As of the publish date of this ranking, eight of the 12 are determined. Of them, purses currently range from $15 million at the Sentry Tournament of Champions through $25 million at THE PLAYERS Championship. Top players are committed to competing against each other in all Elevated Events, and they also will total at least 20 starts for the season. A minimum schedule of the other eight would consist of THE PLAYERS, all four majors and three events of the players’ choosing. All of the golfers ranked include ages, 2021-22 earnings (i.e. salary) and levels of status on the PGA TOUR. An asterisk beside a salary value indicates that a golfer is a bargain. With prize money escalating, there are more than usual this season. Regardless of status, if a golfer earned $0 last season, he’s annotated with “–“ and no asterisk. Salaries for golfers who were non-members in 2021-22 are determined by the total of official money and earnings at the WGC-Match Play. For all golfers not included in this ranking, refer to the “TOTAL MONEY” column in “NON-MEMBER OFF+WGC EARNINGS” as your reference to determine salary. (They are separated on the page in the event that a non-member wins a WGC, so that provisional disclaimer is irrelevant for your objective.) Because of the introduction of the Elevated Events, qualification into those tournaments may be modified, but for our purposes, use the following traditional breakdown to project entry. STATUS … BERTHS • Top 125 in 2021-22 FedExCup Eligibility Points = Entry into every open and the following invitationals: The American Express, The Genesis Invitational, THE PLAYERS, RBC Heritage. • 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 Workday. • Top 60 = Top 70 exemptions plus entry into the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP and THE CJ CUP in South Carolina (both of which have made room for the top 60 available). • Top 30 = Exemptions into every tournament before the Playoffs except the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play and the PGA Championship. (These golfers now are exempt into the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Their membership exemptions also are extended through the 2024 season if they aren’t already.) Other levels of status are as follows: • Multi-year = Winners prior to 2021-22 who didn’t qualify for the 2022 Playoffs but still have fully exempt status. • Medical Extensions = Terms to fulfill are noted. (Golfers on Major Medicals would retain status in the Priority Ranking for the remainder of the season. Golfers with other medicals would be promoted to the Major Medical category for the remainder.). • Conditional = Nos. 126-150 in 2021-22 FedExCup Eligibility Points. • KFT = Korn Ferry Tour graduates – regular season (25 golfers). • KFT Finals = KFT Finals graduates (25 golfers). • OWGR Top 50 = Thomas Pieters and Ryan Fox (only two non-members inside the top 50 of the most recent Official World Golf Ranking who are eligible for PGA TOUR competition). There are 28 rookies to open the season. They are noted accordingly. Justin Suh and MJ Daffue also are first-time PGA TOUR members (via the KFT regular season), but each exhausted his rookie eligibility in a prior season. Life Members over the age of 50 are not included. Also excluded is 2022 PGA Professional Championship winner Jesse Mueller, who is allowed six somewhat restricted starts. For non-members eligible for PGA TOUR competition in 2022-23, the target to achieve Special Temporary Membership is 175.228 FedExCup points. That equals what Dylan Wu totaled as the 150th-ranked golfer via FedExCup Eligibility Points in 2021-22. It’s the lowest threshold in memory, so it stands to reason that it will be threatened if not crossed multiple times. Once it is, gaining access to the PGA TOUR in 2024 eases. (For a detailed explanation of STM, click here.) In addition, the top 10, not otherwise fully exempt on the PGA TOUR in 2024, at the season-ending DP World Tour ranking in 2023 will be extended PGA TOUR membership in 2024. Altogether, leagues that allow drop-adds and/or keepers will have a stockpile of additional talent lined up for the future. Now, changes are not limited only to the PGA TOUR, membership and everything else broken down above. There are two significant enhancements to PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf as well. First, pars now will reward one point instead of zero. Therefore, cuts made returns as an influencer in building rosters and managing starts across Segments. Second, the dedicated fantasy app has been discontinued. Access to PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf via your mobile device has been simplified to the PGA TOUR app and via mobile browsing. The desktop version, FantasyGolf.PGATOUR.com, also remains unchanged. PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live will continue as well. Mike Glasscott and I will continue to collaborate for Pick ‘Em Preview every Wednesday. If you ever have any questions and comments, please connect with me on Twitter. My handle is beside my byline at the top. Glass also makes himself available on the platform. Have fun, listen and learn, and remain fluid. In fantasy, in reality.

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