Austrian Schwab leads Turkish Open, Rose two shots behind

The grand prize was $1 million for a reason. The game is really, really, really hard. No one in the Perfect Lineup Challenge guessed all four of the top scorers at THE NORTHERN TRUST – Bryson DeChambeau (611 points), Tony Finau (462), Billy Horschel (417) and Cameron Smith (414) – so the grand prize will not be rewarded. No one connected on even three. Fifty-six gamers hit on two. The contest doesn’t end, though. Runner-up prizes are still there for the taking. The gamer who scores the most fantasy points throughout the four events of the FedExCup Playoffs will win a driver. He or she with the second-most points will win a putter. All six of your picks contribute to your total. This week’s Dell Technologies Championship is the last tournament of 2017-18 with a cut, so every gamer in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO is poised to score in all four rounds in the last two. Other than the usual objective to get four to the weekend, the most challenging component in Segment 4 has been rationing starts. This goes for front-runners, too, because quadrupled FedExCup bonuses can make such a big difference in the Playoffs. It’s a race to the finish line regardless of your ranking. Cycle through the chalk freely. PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO My roster for the Dell Technologies Championship (in alphabetical order): Jason Day Tony Finau Brooks Koepka Jordan Spieth Adam Scott Justin Thomas You’ll find my starters in Expert Picks. Others to consider for each category (in alphabetical order): Scoring: Bryson DeChambeau; Tommy Fleetwood; Dustin Johnson; Marc Leishman; Phil Mickelson; Ryan Palmer; Jon Rahm; Justin Rose; Cameron Smith; Tiger Woods Driving: Keegan Bradley; Rafa Cabrera Bello; Patrick Cantlay; Paul Casey; Bryson DeChambeau; Tommy Fleetwood; Billy Horschel; Justin Rose; Gary Woodland Approach: Keegan Bradley; Rafa Cabrera Bello; Paul Casey; Joel Dahmen; Bryson DeChambeau; Dustin Johnson; Russell Knox; Kevin Na; Tiger Woods Short: Bryson DeChambeau; Branden Grace; Billy Horschel; Dustin Johnson; Phil Mickelson; Kevin Na; Justin Rose; Webb Simpson; Cameron Smith Power Rankings Wild Card Marc Leishman … Finds himself in a curious position. Since he started his season with a playoff loss at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, the Aussie pretty much has known that he’ll be able to defend his title at next week’s BMW Championship. Currently 24th in points, it will be a reality, but he’s been a lot more miss than hit of late. Top 15s at the Quicken Loans National and the WGC-Bridgestone are his only top 30s of the last three months. Last year’s solo third at TPC Boston ended a three-year drought without a top 45 on the course. Bottom line, we know who he is, so invest in the baseline contribution. Lining him up as a complement in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO is advised. Draws Tiger Woods … Gamers who are paying attention might sound like a redundancy in terms, but there is no longer shock among the loyal contingent when he doesn’t appear in the Power Rankings. He’ll never be just another golfer in the mainstream, but our results-based enterprise requires more for us to think differently. This explains why he continues to epitomize the greatest chasm between reality and fantasy. He has a phenomenal record at TPC Boston what with a win (in 2006), two T2s and a solo third, but this is his first look at the track in five years. Those who aren’t invested likely will think that it’s foolish to label him as a contrarian choice, but that’s exactly how he sets up this week. Webb Simpson … He’s been a machine so he defaults into this grouping, and while he’s a former winner at TPC Boston (2011), this actually is a good week to turn him off and save him for the last two events. At ninth in FedExCup points, he’ll be at Aronimink and East Lake. Charley Hoffman … Some seasons don’t make sense. He’s 18-for-24 with eight top 20s, three of which in majors and one at the WGC-Mexico Championship. He’s also fresh off a T20 at THE NORTHERN TRUST, yet he’s fighting for his Playoffs life at 75th in points thanks in part to the absence of a top 10. He didn’t appear in Sleepers because he’s all but a slam-dunk to advance. Winner at TPC Boston in 2010 with a solo third in 2015 are supportive, but this endorsement attaches entirely to his long-range form. Cameron Smith … Ah, the value of grinding out cuts made. After a dreadful three months, the Aussie connected four paydays over five weeks. Then, in his first start as a 25-year-old, he scaled to register a T3 at THE NORTHERN TRUST where he was firing on all cylinders. He’s proven to be streaky in his young career, so have no fear in doubling down at TPC Boston. Louis Oosthuizen … Responded favorably from his 11th-hour withdrawal at the PGA Championship (due to a sore back) with a faded T28 at Ridgewood. With a series of strong results both before it and in all four showings at TPC Boston, he’s built for gamers who need a swing for the fence. Keegan Bradley (all) Rafa Cabrera Bello (all) Tyrrell Hatton (DFS) Zach Johnson (DFS) Ryan Palmer (all) Ian Poulter (DFS) Fades Bubba Watson … Within the construct that he’s played well at multiple sites where he has in the past – three victories on the season ain’t too shabby – there is the lament that he also has failed to deliver when similarly expected. Just two paydays in his last five starts upon arrival, neither of which going for a top 30, and only one top 25 at TPC Boston (T16, 2011) during the FedExCup era. Jimmy Walker … Still scuffling, but that implies the acceptable higher expectation given he started 2018 with residual concern over his illness. At 68th in points, a top 25 ought to be enough to advance, but he’s gone three months without one. Alex Noren … Uncharacteristically struggling as Ryder Cup qualifying also comes to a conclusion, there’s simply no reason to reach right now. Daniel Berger Brian Gay Brian Harman Charles Howell III Kevin Kisner Matt Kuchar Returning to Competition Brandt Snedeker … The annual conversation regarding the beat-up and beleaguered spiked in recent weeks. Therein lies the irony surrounding the winner of the Wyndham Championship who sat out last week’s opener at Ridgewood due to back spasms after missing the Playoffs entirely last year due to the strange injury in his sternum joint. He earned more breathing room this year as he’s 35th in the FedExCup standings, but even if he acknowledges that he’s 100 percent upon arrival at TPC Boston, it’s been six years since he recorded a top 40 on the course. Henrik Stenson … The 42-year-old Swede suffered the injury to his left elbow at a tough time. He always just creeps over the threshold of 15 starts to retain voting and membership privileges, but he needs the Dell Technologies Championship to check that box this season. The T20 in his title defense at Sedgefield was impressive both in result and commitment amid the malady. Then there’s the impact on us at TPC Boston where he prevailed in 2013 and finished second in 2015. He’s finished outside the top 25 in his other three starts, so he’s hardly an automatic, but caution is required as he pushes the elbow. At this point, a Ryder Cup berth would be a bonus. Currently 55th in FedExCup points. Notable WDs Francesco Molinari … After missing the cut at Ridgewood, he slipped five spots to 13th in points. With the surety to advance to the TOUR Championship and with the Ryder Cup immediately thereafter, this is a well-timed break. Rickie Fowler … As suggested in this space last week, the oblique injury is serious. It’s forcing him to take another week off. At 22nd in points, he’s likely safe to qualify for the TOUR Championship, but he’s not a lock. His lead over Luke List at 31st is 191.277 FedExCup points. Eighteenth place at TPC Boston is worth 196 points. A year ago, Henrik Stenson ranked 22nd entering the Dell Technologies Championship and didn’t play. His lead over Billy Horschel (31st) was 206.857 points, and Stenson dropped to only 26th. Power Rankings Recap – THE NORTHERN TRUST Power Ranking  Golfer  Result 1  Dustin Johnson  T11 2  Justin Thomas  T8 3  Brooks Koepka  T8 4  Webb Simpson  T28 5  Justin Rose  MC 6  Francesco Molinari  MC 7  Tiger Woods  T40 8  Jason Day  T20 9  Jon Rahm  MC 10  Jordan Spieth  T25 11  Patrick Reed  T25 12  Brandt Snedeker  DNP 13  Rafa Cabrera Bello  T60 14  Patrick Cantlay  T8 15  Zach Johnson  T40 16  Adam Scott  T5 17  Tony Finau  2nd 18  Tommy Fleetwood  T20 19  Hideki Matsuyama  T15 20  Paul Casey  T60 Wild Card  Gary Woodland  T48 Sleepers Recap – THE NORTHERN TRUST Golfer  Result Tyler Duncan  MC Martin Laird  T73 Danny Lee  T34 Sam Ryder  T28 Harold Varner III  T40 Birthdays among active golfers on the PGA TOUR August 28 … none August 29 … Carl Pettersson (41); Peter Uihlein (29) August 30 … none August 31 … Padraig Harrington (47); Charl Schwartzel (34) September 1 … none September 2 … none September 3 … none

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Forget monsters (Oakland Hills), snakes (Copperhead Course at Innisbrook) and bears (PGA National). If you had to anthropomorphize the old TPC Twin Cities, which has been totally redone for this week’s inaugural 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota, you might settle on a Teletubby, or one of those Saint Bernard puppies with the tiny cask affixed to its collar.  The course was downright cuddly when it hosted a PGA TOUR Champions event, the 3M Championship, from 2001-18. Paul Goydos and Kenny Perry each shot 60; David Frost’s 25-under 191 in 2010 tied the all-time 54-hole record on that circuit; and in 2017 alone the tournament saw the fifth and eighth most under-par scores in a single round in Champions history. In the last 10 seasons, it ranked among the three easiest Champions courses eight times. RELATED: Hole-by-hole tour of TPC Twin Cities “The beauty of it is it was playable for the average guy,� says Tom Lehman, who is savoring the prospect of a regular TOUR event in his home state for the first time since 1969. “The greens weren’t super sloped, so you’d have a reasonable putt for par if you got it near the hole. It’s very enjoyable, and therefore the PGA TOUR Champions guys shot the grass off it.� But that was then. Late last summer, Lehman and the PGA TOUR design staff began renovating TPC Twin Cities to give it teeth for the likes of Brooks Koepka, Jason Day, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson. New tee boxes and bunkering will make it longer, and tighter fairways will make it more challenging. Short par 5s are now long par 4s. Then there’s the ever-expanding lake on 18. “I’m as curious as anybody to see how it plays differently,� says Lehman, who along with fellow Minnesotan Tim Herron will make a rare PGA TOUR start this week. Once a 7,000-yard par 72, the course is now a 7,450-yard par 71. (The old par-5 third hole has become a 500-plus-yard par 4.) The par-5 sixth measures over 600 yards. The par-3 17th features a 229-yard forced carry over water. At the 596-yard, par-5 18th, the tee was moved right, and the size of the lake roughly doubled, adding intrigue to what can be a beguiling hole. “I made a 10 there last year in the second round,� says Goydos, who also eagled the old version of 18, typical of the finisher’s feast-or-famine nature. “It was an exciting risk-reward hole.�    And now it’s even more so. Simply put, this is not the same TPC Twin Cities. “Extensive,� 3M Tournament Director Peter Mele says of the renovations. Originally a 2000 Arnold Palmer design with input from Lehman, the first iteration of TPC Twin Cities was above all meant to be fun and playable. It succeeded. Now, as the host venue in a seven-year deal between the PGA TOUR and 3M Open, Minnesota’s first PGA TOUR event since the 2009 PGA Championship won by Y.E. Yang, TPC Twin Cities 2.0 aims to retain that playability while adding bite from the back tees. “I love it,� says Hollis Cavner, CEO of Pro Links Sports, which manages the 3M Open. “I think Tom did a tremendous job with the redo. Lumpy (Tim Herron) and some of the guys have been out playing it, and he says it’s all the golf course you’d ever want.� Nine holes feature new tees, Lehman says, increasing their length anywhere from 20 to 80 yards. Take the second, which used to be reachable with no more than a 3-wood and a wedge. After the renovations, it’s no longer a pushover – around 480 yards from the new back tee. The big changes even have TPC Twin Cities aficionados anticipating a steep learning curve. “I’ll have a better feel on the greens, but (Lehman) totally redid a lot of the fairways and changed the angles off the tees,� says Kenny Perry, 58, who won the final 3M Championship on the PGA TOUR Champions and also will play in the first 3M Open, his ninth start this season on the regular TOUR. “I’m going to have to redo all my sight lines.� Then there are the renovations to the green complexes, which could make players think twice when, say, trying to drive the short, par-4s seventh, 10th and 16th holes. Lehman says the 10th, in particular, has become a more formidable test after the back-right part of the green was eliminated – the only major change to the greens on the entire course “It was the ultimate birdie hole,� he says. “That back-right side of the green was a safety valve for when you hit a bad tee shot, so we eliminated that. Now when you get out of position, you’re not going to be able to hold the green from a bad spot on the left side.� At the 16th, he changed the greenside bunkering and added chipping areas to let the ball roll a bit more, giving players more to think about when the tees are moved up to make it drivable. Then there’s 18. It’s still a risk-reward par 5, but with the tee pushed some 100 yards right, it’s a true dogleg right. And with the lake doubled in size, it’s easier than ever to make a huge number. “It used to be you would hit it straight down the fairway, which was 100 yards wide, and the only way you’d go in the water is by hitting it too far,� Lehman says. “So, we moved the tee so you have a diagonal tee shot over the corner of the pond, and it’s a dogleg, and it’s 70 yards longer than it was. I’ve been watching guys hit 3-wood, 3-wood to 630-yard par 5s, so it’s still going to be a driver and an iron, but you’ve got to hit a way better tee shot.� All of which adds up to – what, exactly? No one is going to confuse TPC Twin Cities for the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, or Bethpage Black, but it’s no Teletubby, either. Most people expect the week’s lowest score to be in the 20s under par, maybe even high 20s. “I think the winning score is gonna be low,� Lehman says. “You really can’t make a course long enough for any of those guys. Guys will have really good driving weeks, and they’ll have ample targets in the greens, and the greens will be perfect. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s more difficult than it was, it’s narrower. It’ll be a tougher course to score on, relative to how it was.�

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