A one-liner for each FedExCup Playoffs participant

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It’s not often when the PGA TOUR descends on what is essentially a new golf course, but that’s the reality at this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson. Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas hosts the 156-man field headlined by local native and resident Jordan Spieth. It opened in the fall of 2016. For much more on it, what it should challenge, how it should score and other nuggets, scroll beneath the ranking. POWER RANKINGS: 2018 AT&T Byron Nelson RANK PLAYER COMMENT Given value of imagination and creativity the course demands, he’s the man to beat even as he continues to struggle with his putting. Among the handful with course knowledge, too. Co-led the B flight at TPC Sawgrass for his best finish since being diagnosed with Lyme disease. Since the Masters: T20-4th-T25-T2. The Texan remains a force with his putter. Always a threat in Texas thanks in part to his profile as one of the best in the wind. Recently T7 at Bay Hill and ninth at Augusta National. Eighth on TOUR in birdies or better. Second defending champion in three weeks on a different course (Brian Harman, Wells Fargo). Horschel’s switch in putters has resulted in a phenomenal month, including Zurich title. Spieth has compared Trinity Forest to Royal Birkdale where Kuchar finished second (to Spieth) in the 2017 Open Championship. He’s been consistently (and predictably) solid ever since. Trinity Forest is the home club for the first-time PGA TOUR member. Lives locally. Terrific short game pays off confident irons. Just a few weeks removed from Houston Open runner-up. The T11 at THE PLAYERS was his best finish anywhere in 11 months. Led the field in scrambling for the first time since the 2011 Open Championship, evidence for his comfort on links. The Scot has been peppering leaderboards since a T9 at the WM Phoenix Open in early February. It’s one of four top-11 finishes during a 7-for-8 burst. Highly underrated putter. Five top 25s in his last six starts, including a career-best T17 in his 16th appearance at THE PLAYERS. Balanced throughout his bag and 26th on TOUR in adjusted scoring. Local veteran comfortable in wind and coming off a T23 at THE PLAYERS where his putting was better than every start since the 2016 PLAYERS. Has a proven record of being streaky. Possesses the entire game needed to win at Trinity Forest but hasn’t been putting four rounds together despite a 10-for-10 season. Sits sixth in strokes gained: putting. Limited in playing time due to conditional status, he’s heated up quickly with a sixth (with Tony Finau) in New Orleans and a T8 in the Knoxville Open on the Web.com Tour. Had last week off after a T5 at the Wells Fargo Championship where he led the field in scrambling and spun a career-low 62 in the third round. Five top 20s on the season. Enters with a streak of five cuts made during which he thrived in the wind at Coralas (T5) and TPC San Antonio (T8). Ranks 30th on the PGA TOUR in greens in regulation. Might own the most confidence right now after capturing victory at the Knoxville Open on Sunday. It was a much-needed jolt after failing to log a top 40 in his first 12 starts of 2018. Sergio Garcia, Hideki Matsuyama and Brandt Snedeker will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. Trinity Forest is unlike every other host course on the PGA TOUR. The irony is that there isn’t a single tree on the 7,380-yard par 71. Situated inside the eponymous woodland south of downtown, it was designed and built by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw on a landfill consisting only of inorganic material. For numerous reasons — including environmental, which is counterintuitive — the agreement was that no trees were to be planted. There isn’t a water hazard, either. And like a piano featuring an identical number of keys, the 88 bunkers will strike major, minor, diminished and augmented chords in targeting for course management due to the virtual absence of distance cues. To the eye, it’s a links-style layout sans the traditional out-and-back characteristic. However, in a recent press conference, Spieth downplayed the ground game usually required on tests that host The Open Championship, for example. “It’s like an American links,” he said. “You’ve kind of got to play it from the air, not really a bounce-the-ball-up kind of links. … You get maybe four or five, six holes where you can bounce the ball up, but the way to get balls close is to come in with a higher shot.” Trinity Zoysia grass blankets everything but the greens and its length is universal at just shy of one-half of one inch, so there is no rough. The Champion bermudagrass putting surfaces will be prepped to run no faster than 11 feet on the Stimpmeter primarily so that the wind doesn’t blow balls around. Due to these facts, the unfamiliarity for most in the field and the expected speed of the turf overall, the basic thinking of hitting fairways is superseded by placement off the tee. This will help mitigate distance and swing open the door for any skill set to contend and prevail. In what was conducted in part as a test run for the AT&T Byron Nelson, Trinity Forest hosted the Texas State Open on the first four days of August of 2017. It played as a par 70 at 7,135 yards. With three 65s and a 67, Fort Worth’s Brax McCarthy posted an eye-opening 18-under 262 en route to an eight-shot victory in both favorable and inclement conditions. This week’s forecast begins and ends with risk of rain and the potential of storms, but drier air will command the rest of the tournament. That will yield the storyline to the heat as daytimes highs easily should eclipse 90 degrees. Customary Texas winds will defend the course especially in the middle rounds. The original nines were reversed for the AT&T Byron Nelson. It isn’t unprecedented for TOUR officials to revise routing, but it is unusual that membership at Trinity Forest has retained it. The 471-yard par-4 11th plays as a par 5 for members. It also shares a 36,000-square foot green with the 412-yard par-4 third. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton reviews and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Facebook Live, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Champions One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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JACKSON, Miss. – Notes and observations from the second round of the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson. LEADING LIGHTS Little more than a year ago, Cameron Champ and Norman Xiong were helping the United States dominate the Walker Cup at Los Angeles Country Club. Now they’re the co-leaders of a PGA TOUR event. Champ (65-70) and Xiong (68-67) are both 9 under par at the Country Club of Jackson. They’re one shot ahead of Shawn Stefani, Jonathan Byrd and Hudson Swafford. Champ, 23, is making his second start as a PGA TOUR member. Xiong, 19, is playing on a sponsor exemption between starts in Web.com Tour Q-School. Having a familiar face in the final group should help as they chase their first PGA TOUR title. “I would think it would help a little bit, … both of us being in this position for the first time really on the PGA TOUR,â€� Champ said. “You’re always rooting for your buddies, but at the same time you want to beat them, too.â€� Xiong has used a stellar short game to get in contention. He’s made just two bogeys despite hitting less than half his fairways and just 22 greens. He leads the field in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green. Champ’s trademark length has helped him this week. He leads the field in driving distance, averaging 304.3 yards on all tee shots, and Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. He made just two bogeys on his first 34 holes, then closed with consecutive bogeys to fall into a tie with Xiong. “Today was a struggle,â€� Champ said. “Off the tee, I just couldn’t find the fairways. … I just kept plugging away at it, getting up-and-down when I needed to. … I’ll take 2 under today the way I was hitting it.â€� After hitting 9 of 14 fairways in the first round, he hit four fewer on Friday. Champ turned pro almost a year ago, after advancing through the second stage of last year’s Web.com Tour Q-School. He won on the Web.com Tour this year and finished sixth on the money list. He opened his rookie season with a T25 at the Safeway Open. Xiong, college golf’s consensus player of the year in 2018, is soon headed to Q-School’s second stage. He’s scheduled to play next week in California, but that could be pushed back a week if he finishes in the top 10 and earns a start in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He isn’t just contending for the first time. This is his first made cut in seven starts as a professional. “I guess it finally proves that I belong out here, or hopefully one day eventually can be out here permanently,â€� Xiong said. “It definitely means everything is working and I’m learning a lot.â€� They say experience is the best teacher. Champ and Xiong will surely learn a lot this weekend. They just may pick up a PGA TOUR profile in the process. OBSERVATIONS FUN AND GAMES: Jonathan Byrd didn’t feel great about his game when he arrived at the Sanderson Farms Championship. A new outlook has paid off halfway through the week, though. “On Wednesday, I just went out and had a fun pro-am group and we were just jabbing each other back and forth and just having fun,â€� Byrd said. “I made seven birdies and shot 7 under. I’m like, ‘We just have to have more fun this week and just try to relax.â€� It’s working. Byrd opened with consecutive 68s and sits two off the lead entering the weekend. “I’ve hit plenty of poor shots, but I’ve battled back and made some good up-and-downs and hit some good iron shots,â€� he said. The five-time TOUR winner is in the field based on his past champion’s status. His win at the 2017 Web.com Tour Championship was his first victory since 2011, but he missed more than half his cuts on the PGA TOUR and finished 181st in the FedExCup. MISSISSIPPI MONDAY: Last year, Scott Strohmeyer finished fourth at the Sanderson Farms Championship after Monday qualifying. Chad Ramey is trying to follow in his footsteps. Ramey, a Mississippi State alum, is in fifth place after firing 67-70. He survived a 10-for-3 playoff Monday just to get in the Sanderson Farms. He finished 80th on this year’s Web.com Tour money list. BRYAN’S STRUGGLES: Wesley Bryan’s season is off to a tough start. He finished last for the second consecutive event after shooting 78-82 at the Country Club of Jackson. He has a 78.3 scoring average in four rounds this season. Bryan finished last in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (-7.3) and Strokes Gained: Putting (-8.2) this week. He hit just nine fairways in two rounds while averaging 242 yards on all tee shots. He hit half his greens. Bryan won three times on the Web.com Tour in 2016 and won the 2017 RBC Heritage but finished 163rd in last season’s FedExCup standings. He had just one top-25 in 23 starts. QUOTABLE I saw a couple guys out here with stocking caps and stuff. Kind of made me laugh.With this weather, I would much rather be deer hunting.These college guys are such good athletes and they’re aggressive. It’s fun to watch. SUPERLATIVES Low round: Ben Silverman’s 65 was a 10-shot improvement over his first round. He moved up 80 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 31st. He made nine birdies Friday – including six in a seven-hole stretch — after failing to make one in the first round. Longest drive: Cameron Tringale had the day’s longest drive, a 369-yarder on the 14th hole. He parred the hole in his second-round 73. Tringale is T15 at 5-under 139. Longest putt: Hayden Buckley holed a 66-footer for birdie on the 18th hole. The sponsor exemption shot a bogey-free 67 to make the cut after opening with a 75. All five of Friday’s birdies came on putts outside 15 feet. Toughest hole: The 411-yard, par-4 12th hole played to a 4.31 stroke average. There were nearly as many double-bogeys (10) as birdies (11). Easiest hole: The 540-yard, par-5 third hole played to a 4.57 scoring average. There were three eagles and 60 birdies on the hole. Seven players, including Champ, eagled the par-5 11th hole Friday. CALL OF THE DAY For play-by-play coverage of the third round of the Sanderson Farms Championship, listen at PGATOUR.COM. SHOT OF THE DAY

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