Big names set to battle out U.S. Open weekend according to BetMGM

There was something about the eyes. Jonathan Randolph had just seen one of the “Star Warsâ€� movies, and when he looked at that puppy he and his wife Lacy had adopted, well, let’s just say a light dawned. “I just kept looking at these dogs and they looked like Yoda; eyes way off the side and stuff,â€� Randolph says. “So that was in the back of my mind. When we found her, Yodi for some reason just came out. “Seemed like a good dog name.â€� Indeed, and the name stuck. So did Yodi, a brown and black and white Chihuahua, who has traversed the PGA TOUR and Web.com Tour with Randolph for nearly three years now. Randolph and his wife have recently added another traveling companion, too. Their son, Boyd, was born in March, and made his first trip – with Yodi in tow, of course – to A Military Tribute At The Greenbrier in July. “We said it was a traveling circus before, because we had a dog with us,â€� Randolph says with a grin. “And now we’ve got a baby. “It’s a lot more bags and stuff, but when they’re able to be on the road with me it’s just so awesome. It makes you feel a little bit more like home.â€� There are days when an excited Yodi entertains her humans by running circles around the hotel room. And she’s happy to help Randolph when he practices putting on the carpet, picking up golf balls and bringing them back to him. Yodi is still getting used to the new addition to the family, though. When Lacy picks Boyd up, for example, Yodi clamors to be in her arms as well. “She’s definitely gotten jealous, but also shows off like crazy when she knows he’s watching and she’s playing,â€� Randolph says. “She’ll start high stepping around and doing stuff to make him happy, which is pretty awesome.â€� In time, though, Randolph knows the Yodi and Boyd will be thick as thieves. “She’s got a new best friend,â€� Randolph says. “She just doesn’t know it yet. He’s been grabbing at her and doing that fun stuff. … Her life is going to get a whole lot more interesting when he gets mobile and can grab her. “For now, she’s got it made.â€� Yodi, who will be 3 years old in December, joined the family in early 2016. The couple was looking for a dog and Lacy had owned Chihuahuas in the past. When Randolph headed to South America to open the Web.com Tour season, the puppy stayed behind with Lacy at the couple’s home in Oxford, Mississippi. Once the Web.com Tour went stateside in March, their adventure began. “She’s been to almost 40 states,â€� Randolph says. “She’s well-traveled.â€� Yodi is remarkably calm for a breed that is known to be a bit skittish. And she’s perfectly content when Randolph puts her in a carrier and takes her on a plane. “She just sits there and looks at everything,â€� Randolph explains. “We’ve never gotten a complaint. So it’s a credit to her, not to us.â€� Yodi has been a positive influence in other ways, too. The first time Yodi came out to the golf course during competition, Randolph finished birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie-par at the 2016 BMW Charity Pro-Am. A year ago at the Albertsons Boise Open, the puppy watched as he played the final three holes in 7 under for the week. “I’m not going to say she’s a good luck charm, but good things happen when she’s around,â€� the Ole Miss grad says. On Tuesday, Yodi made her second straight appearance in the media center at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Randolph’s a member at the Country Club of Jackson, which hosts the tournament, and tied for third last year. “She had a good run here last year so she’s allowed to come back, I guess,â€� Randolph says. “I had my best finish on TOUR the only time she’s ever come to the media center, so it’s good to have her back in here.â€� The family has also been there for the not-so-good times, too, though. Take a month ago when Randolph found himself back at the Web.com Tour Finals after finishing 174th in the FedExCup. He thought his game was rounding into form but he ended up missing the cut in three of the four events – a stretch he called “one of the most devastatingâ€� of his career. Lacy, Boyd and Yodi were waiting for him beside the 18th green, though, and suddenly life was good again. “Just to have them there — it’s hard to put into words, you know, like what that’ll do for you,â€� Randolph says. “But it’s pretty awesome to have the little guy on the road. “Last year I said we were a traveling circus. We are legitimately a traveling circus now with the baby and the dog and everybody, but it’s like the most fulfilling thing ever.â€�

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TPC Craig Ranch makes its debut in the big leagues this week. The newest host of the AT&T Byron Nelson located 25 miles due north of downtown Dallas is in it first of a five-year agreement with the PGA TOUR, but it’s not new to TOUR-sanctioned competition. It was the site of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in 2008 and 2012. A field of 156 is assembled this week. For a breakdown of what it will attempt to tackle, how the course comps to familiar nearby tracks and more, scroll past the ranking of projected contenders. RELATED: The First Look | How the field qualified POWER RANKINGS: AT&T BYRON NELSON Brooks Koepka, Lee Westwood, Rickie Fowler, Thomas Pieters and defending champion Sung Kang will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. For both editions of the KFT Championship, TPC Craig Ranch played to a par of 71 with three par 5s. For the AT&T Byron Nelson, it’s been stretched by 30 yards and will play as a stock par 72. The par-5 12th tips at 547 yards. Previously, it was a 493-yard par 4 and played as the toughest hole on the course in both KFT Championships. The only other change in length occurred at the par-3 17th. Now 147 yards, it’s down 24 yards. TPC Craig Ranch features bermudagrass rough and bentgrass greens. That matches the combination of grasses at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, site of the Charles Schwab Challenge in two weeks. However, while the fairways at Colonial also are bermuda, the target off the tee at TPC Craig Ranch are zoysiagrass. That matches the same at Trinity Forest (which has bermuda greens), host of the last two editions of the AT&T Byron Nelson. While it’s making its PGA TOUR debut, TPC Craig Ranch isn’t new to PGA TOUR membership. For one, AT&T Byron Nelson defending champion Sung Kang practices here. For another, 12 of the participants of the more recent KFT Championship are in this week’s field (as of Monday). They are led by James Hahn, who was the runner-up in 2012. Typically, because of the learning curve required for the putting surfaces, largely unfamiliar tracks reward ball-strikers. The primary rough will be allowed to grow north of two inches, but because scoring should be low, the combination of greens in regulation and converting those chances into par breakers likely will define the majority of the final leaderboard. Consider that Justin Bolli posted 16-under 268 en route to victory at the 2012 KFT Championship and Matt Bettencourt hung up 17-under 267 in 2008. Now that the 72-hole par is 288, 20-under very much is in play this week. Greens average almost 6,800 square feet and they are prepped to run upwards of only 11-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter. They’re governed in part so that Texas winds don’t take control of the wheel. It’ll be relatively calm early in the tournament before breezes will intensify with encroaching inclement weather on Sunday. Otherwise, comfortable springtime conditions are forecast with daytime highs in the 70s and an 80 or two on the weekend. 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: Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers; Fantasy Insider SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Watch * – 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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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. – To say Lanto Griffin was at a crossroads would have been an understatement. The year was 2014. Griffin had a mere $176 in his bank account. His credit cards were maxed out. He’d missed the cut in the last six mini-tour events he’d played. Several months before what is now known as A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier was to be played, though, Griffin had talked to his friend, Willy Wilcox. He suggested Wilcox go play in the tournament, he’d caddie and the two could stay at a cabin in the mountains owned by his surrogate mom and dad. “He was like, absolutely, let’s do it,â€� Griffin recalled. And as it turned out, the two were a pretty good team. Wilcox tied for fourth, which was his best finish of the year, seven strokes behind the winner, Angel Cabrera, and won just over $227,000. More importantly, he paid Griffin roughly $17,000 which enabled him to continue to chase his dream. “I was about done,â€� Griffin said. “I was about ready to give it up. I didn’t have any money left, so that kind of gave me a cushion.â€� Five years later, the well-traveled Griffin is back at The Greenbrier to begin his second season on the PGA TOUR. The lanky 31-year-old is in contention, too, just like Wilcox was in 2014. Griffin is tied at 8 under, just five strokes off the pace set by Scottie Scheffler and Joaquin Niemann. He followed up an opening 64 with a round of 2 under that included three straight birdies on the front and a lone bogey on the back. Griffin grew up in Blacksburg, Va., which is about an hour and 45 minutes from The Greenbrier. His father ran a health food store there and his mom was an organic gardener. He went to school at Virginia Commonwealth and is definitely among the favorites of the galleries at the resort this week. This week, Griffin is staying at that same cabin where he and Wilcox stayed five years ago. He’s got plenty of company with more than a dozen friends and family on hand. After hitting some balls on the range Friday afternoon, he planned to put the outdoor pizza oven to good work later that evening. “I will have plenty of distractions,â€� Griffin said. “I won’t be thinking about golf, which is great,â€� Griffin said he learned a lot being inside the ropes at The Old White TPC with Wilcox in 2014. He went on to caddie for Wilcox two times later in the year during what is now known as the Korn Ferry Tour Finals before Griffin headed off to play PGA TOUR LatinoAmerica. “it was fun being inside the ropes, watching somebody play really well,â€� Griffin said. “… I learned more that week caddying for him than I ever had playing in a week just because seeing it from a different perspective. “He didn’t over analyze anything, and he didn’t get to the course two hours early; we got here 45 minutes early and we left as soon as he was done. So, you know, it was one of those things where you learn, you don’t need to overdo it and, and you can hit bad shots and still be all right.â€� Bad shots have been few and far between this week at The Greenbrier. Griffin has made nine birdies, one eagle and just three bogeys. Through two rounds he’s hit 21 of 28 fairways, 27 of 36 greens in regulation and used just 56 putts. Griffin, who won the Robert Trent Jones Golf Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour last season on the way to regaining his TOUR card, is a long way from scraping it around on the mini-tours like the eGolf Tour and the Swing Thought Tour. “Those were good memories,â€� Griffin said. “It makes you appreciate free food and no entry fees and all that stuff. I think it kind of humbles you a little bit to look back on that and kind of appreciate where you are now.â€�

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