After a happy-go-lucky lead-up, Tiger is all business in the Bahamas

SUN CITY, South Africa — Tommy Fleetwood saved his best for last with a final-round 67 to come from behind and retain his title at the Nedbank Golf Challenge on Sunday as he ended a three-year winless drought. The Englishman moved up from a tie for seventh overnight to finish 11 under par overall and win by a stroke from New Zealand’s Ryan Fox (68), who was hoping to go top of the season rankings with a victory in Sun City but just missed out after making a bogey on the last. Fleetwood won in Sun City in 2019 but was the defending champion after the 2020 and 2021 tournaments were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He kept his nerve when others around him faded on the final day, making four birdies on his opening nine and rebounding from a bogey on No. 12 with an incredible eagle on the par-5 No. 14 when he holed out from a bunker. He made pars the rest of the way home to become the first player since compatriot Lee Westwood in 2011 to win back-to-back titles at the Nedbank. Fox was the first-round leader after opening with a superb 64, raising his hopes that he could win in Sun City and overtake Rory McIlroy at the top of the European rankings ahead of the season-ending World Tour Championship in Dubai next week. He would have had a chance if not for the bogey five on No. 18 — his only bogey of the round — that allowed Fleetwood to win. Fox stays second in the season standings behind McIlroy, while Fleetwood is fourth heading to Dubai. McIlroy wasn’t playing at the Nedbank Challenge. Shubhankar Sharma (69) was third. Rasmus Hojgaard and Thomas Detry had shared the third-round lead but couldn’t hold on through a final day that was interrupted by rain. Hojgaard carded a 4-over 76 to finish tied for eighth while Detry’s final-round 77 saw him tumble to a share of 13th. European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald was another man in with a chance at the halfway point but his search for a first European or PGA TOUR title in a decade came undone over the weekend as he shot 73 and 75 in his final two rounds to be one of those tied with Detry in 13th place.

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The career grand slam never should be accepted as a given, yet there is a sense that it’s only a matter of time before Rory McIlroy converts on the final leg at the Masters. Even urgency isn’t yet a narrative despite this week’s attempt being his fifth since winning the 2014 Open Championship. He’s only 29 years of age. Of course, in the context of hoisting the hardware in all four, clutching the last piece is hardest. There’s a singular target and everyone knows it. Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Raymond Floyd and Lee Trevino each came up one major short of the achievement. Among active players, you (and they) don’t need a reminder that Jordan Spieth (PGA Championship) and Phil Mickelson (U.S. Open) also are one major shy. Only Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have accomplished what McIlroy is up first this year to attempt. The vibe that McIlroy will join golf’s most impressive club is in no small way attributed to his adaptation to worldwide scheduling in 2019. He’s streamlined and simplified. He wants the green jacket so badly and without any additional delay that he’s cleared the lane ahead. A Master of his own domain, you might say. And it’s no contest. It’s working. Since opening the calendar year with a T4 at Kapalua, McIlroy has gone T5-T4-2nd-T6-Win-T9, entirely on the PGA TOUR. So, the form is tip-top. And in the last four Masters, he’s recorded a 4th-T10-T7-T5 run, so it’s not like he’s a long shot as it concerns the tournament proper. If you haven’t figured it out by now, it’s time to ride McIlroy into the history books. If I didn’t burn him at Bay Hill, I wouldn’t hesitate. He’s addressed the potential pressure of the career grand slam with exactly the kind of professionalism that the challenge requires. Reviewing other options, when it comes to the Masters, it’s all about the chalk for the course. While McIlroy prevailed at THE PLAYERS Championship, this week’s process essentially is the opposite of the same for TPC Sawgrass where we search on the fringe for our selection to save on talent. Whereas the Stadium Course always wins, there is zero concern about leaning on a notable who has played well at Augusta National Golf Club before. If you’re new to the tournament, come to learn that this is precisely the point of the experience, which is rewarded over time. They don’t hand out degrees, but it’s called the Masters for a reason. Jordan Spieth is a modern-day machine at Augusta National, and his expectation to perform is high because of his success. For him to navigate to the top of your list, you need to ignore the cobwebs and crickets of his 2018-19 season. However, I can’t endorse that philosophy. Continue to wait him out. If he has the goods, he’ll deliver, and then he will again later. As crazy as it sounds, he’s a trap in our format this week. Consider again in 2020. Then there’s Woods for whom the Masters easily is his best remaining slot on the schedule. He would have been my pick at Bay Hill, but his early withdrawal compelled me to pivot to McIlroy. There isn’t anything that Woods hasn’t done that he’s set out to do, so his pursuit of major victory No. 15 just happens to remain one of his goals. Regardless of your position, he’s an easy pick. (As if you needed me to support that!) Justin Rose is the last big stick on the board who captures my attention to the degree of recommending him as strongly as McIlroy and Woods. No one is more comfortable with who he is and he’s checked off every box during his career. While a Patrick Reed-to-McIlroy fitting of the green jacket conjures provocative imagery, it’d make as much sense to watch the Englishman slide his arms into the sleeves. If you’re considering another, please refer to my Power Rankings for general confidence and crosscheck with Future Possibilities below. Because that preview encompasses the entire field of 87, it should be easier than usual to discern my opinion for everyone. That said, because decisions can vary if you’re pacing or chasing, front-runners should feel confident with Dustin Johnson, Paul Casey and Louis Oosthuizen as well. If you want to gain ground and avert the stymie, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson and Hideki Matsuyama are relatively strong angles for various reasons. While positioned in my Power Rankings, the likes of Reed, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Francesco Molinari, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia and Jason Day all make more sense as complements in roster formats. If still available to you in PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done or your earnings-based format, holster for another event. With so many commodities, two-man gamers should employ the 1-1a formula. Being with the McIlroy-Woods ticket and bathe in other possibilities. 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 2018-19. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Keegan Bradley … Memorial (5); Travelers (4) Rafa Cabrera Bello … Wyndham (4) Patrick Cantlay … Memorial (3) Paul Casey … Masters (2); Wells Fargo (9); Travelers (1); TOUR Championship (3) Jason Day … Masters (4); Wells Fargo (6 defending); PGA Championship (3); U.S. Open (10); Open Championship (9) Bryson DeChambeau … Heritage (1);  Memorial (2; defending); Travelers (4); John Deere (7) Tony Finau … Memorial (2) Rickie Fowler … Masters (2); Wells Fargo (6); PGA Championship (9); Memorial (5); U.S. Open (10) Sergio Garcia … Masters (6); Open Championship (5); TOUR Championship (2) Branden Grace … Byron Nelson (5); U.S. Open (4) Emiliano Grillo … Charles Schwab (3) Charley Hoffman … Masters (4); Heritage (7); Charles Schwab (6); Travelers (1) J.B. Holmes … Wells Fargo (5) Billy Horschel … New Orleans (3; defending); Wyndham (6); TOUR Championship (1) Dustin Johnson … Masters (8); PGA Championship (11); Memorial (10); U.S. Open (1); WGC-St. Jude (6); TOUR Championship (7) Zach Johnson … Charles Schwab (5); John Deere (1); Open Championship (2); TOUR Championship (8) Si Woo Kim … Heritage (1) Kevin Kisner … Heritage (3); New Orleans (5); Charles Schwab (2); Memorial (6) Brooks Koepka … Masters (7); PGA Championship (2; defending); Charles Schwab (6); U.S. Open (1; two-time defending); Open Championship (8) Matt Kuchar … Masters (6); Heritage (2); Charles Schwab (7); Memorial (1); Open Championship (8) Marc Leishman … Byron Nelson (6); Memorial (4); Travelers (3); Open Championship (8) Hideki Matsuyama … Masters (4); PGA Championship (13); Memorial (8); U.S. Open (14); Wyndham (7); TOUR Championship (5) Rory McIlroy … Masters (4); Wells Fargo (3); Memorial (5); Travelers (8); Open Championship (1); TOUR Championship (6) Phil Mickelson … Masters (9); Wells Fargo (2); Open Championship (8); WGC-St. Jude (3) Francesco Molinari … Wells Fargo (6); PGA Championship (4); Open Championship (1; defending) Kevin Na … Charles Schwab (3); Wyndham (5) Louis Oosthuizen … Masters (2); U.S. Open (5); PGA Championship (4) Jon Rahm … Masters (5); Charles Schwab (1); TOUR Championship (7) Patrick Reed … Masters (5; defending); PGA Championship (4); U.S. Open (3); Travelers (7) Justin Rose … Masters (1); Charles Schwab (7; defending); Memorial (4); Open Championship (8); TOUR Championship (2) Xander Schauffele … U.S. Open (3); Open Championship (4); TOUR Championship (1) Adam Scott … Masters (6); Byron Nelson (11); PGA Championship (8); U.S. Open (9); Open Championship (7); TOUR Championship (3) Webb Simpson … Heritage (6); Wells Fargo (7); Charles Schwab (8); Travelers (9); Wyndham (1) Cameron Smith … Wyndham (3) Brandt Snedeker … Masters (10); Heritage (6); Charles Schwab (7); U.S. Open (5); Travelers (9); Wyndham (1; defending) Jordan Spieth … Masters (1); PGA Championship (7); Charles Schwab (5); Memorial (13); U.S. Open (4); Travelers (9); Open Championship (6); TOUR Championship (8) Henrik Stenson … Masters (5); PGA Championship (4); Open Championship (6); Wyndham (8); TOUR Championship (7) Justin Thomas … PGA Championship (9); Memorial (8); TOUR Championship (3) Jimmy Walker … Valero (2); Byron Nelson (6) Bubba Watson … Masters (5); Memorial (7); Travelers (2; defending); TOUR Championship (8) Gary Woodland … Memorial (4) Tiger Woods … Masters (2); Memorial (4); THE NORTHERN TRUST (6); TOUR Championship (5; defending)

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