Billy Horschel/Scott Piercy win Zurich Classic

For just the second but final time in Segment 1 of PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, ShotLink data will be collected at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. The game’s scoring system promotes usage of long hitters who make cuts, but you can’t entirely dismiss the chalk. The rub of this tournament is that there isn’t much chalk from which to choose, so private leaguers should experience more churn than usual even if everyone gets four to the finale. In other news, only rookie gamers will be surprised that I’ve yet to field even one question about how to adjust to the news that Tiger Woods is planning to return to competition at his Hero World Challenge in early December. Time and again, I’ve written that no golfer presents a larger chasm between mainstream and fantasy value than the 14-time major champion. And frankly, that makes the decision for the veterans among us to abstain. Don’t buy into the gloss until there’s substance behind it. Of course, we’ve been through the hope before, so the crickets since the news is predictable. Only the deepest of full-season salary gamers should make room but only if your format allows for drop-adds. PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO My roster for the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (in alphabetical order): Patrick Cantlay Tony Finau Smylie Kaufman Luke List Webb Simpson Kevin Streelman You’ll find my starters in Expert Picks. Others to consider for each category (in alphabetical order): Scoring: Kevin Chappell; Charley Hoffman; Anirban Lahiri; Jamie Lovemark; Kevin Na; Scott Piercy Driving: Kevin Chappell; Martin Laird; Jamie Lovemark; Ryan Moore; Bubba Watson; Gary Woodland Approach: Chad Campbell; Ryan Moore; Kevin Na; Scott Piercy; Tyrone Van Aswegen Short: Scott Brown; Martin Laird; Kevin Tway Power Rankings Wild Card Charley Hoffman … He’d seem to be an easy Draw what with his strong ties locally and promise to donate all of his earnings to victims of the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas. Certainly, gamers can align with the personal layers involved, and there’s no doubt reason to latch onto his motivation, but TPC Summerlin hasn’t been the kindest of hosts to the 40-year-old. He’s just 2-for-7 here since 2010 with a T40 in 2011 and a solo fourth in 2013. He hasn’t broken par on the pushover since 2014. And before a successful debut at the Presidents Cup, he ran out of gas in the Playoffs. At best, stow him on your bench in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO. Draws Kevin Na … But barely. This is his time of year, just not this year. He’s opened 3-for-3 but hasn’t wrangled a top 35 since the Dell Technologies Championship on Labor Day. Lives locally, but the home cooking hasn’t mattered as much as his extreme record suggests. The 2011 Shriners remains his only TOUR title and he added a T2 in 2015, but the latter is his only payday in his last four appearances. Because of his track record and the fact that he survives most cuts, he’s a tweener for contrarians. This relegates him to the role of playing defense in a field devoid of clear-cut favorites. There are worse things. Kevin Chappell … Best used in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO where his game off the tee will resonate. Also serves as high-ceiling insurance as he’s likely to make the cut. He wasn’t given room in the Power Rankings because he’s not a short-lister in shootouts. Gary Woodland … He’s missed only one cut in his last 15 starts, so that concern is mitigated in his tournament debut. He’s also in the deep end of talent in this field, so gamers are quick to respect and covet that. Proper complement for any format other than a One & Done. Bubba Watson … A rare appearance in this section in 2017, but it’s warranted. Whether his general regression has anything to do with his switch to a different ball this year – he has just two top 10s in stroke-play individual competition – he could be a brute force at TPC Summerlin where he hasn’t competed in 10 years. He’ll be able to air it out and land shorter approaches on large greens. Jimmy Walker … Off for the last two months, the break is probably literally what the doctor ordered as he continues his battle with Lyme disease. His fantasy value took a hit, naturally, but with the wind blowing and a solid record at TPC Summerlin, DFSers should consider partial ownership. Byeong Hun An (all) Chad Campbell (SERVPRO) Brandon Hagy (DFS) Whee Kim (DFS) Jason Kokrak (all) Robert Streb (DFS) Kevin Tway (all) Harold Varner III (DFS) Fades Rod Pampling … The 48-year-old Aussie is an inspirational story and an easy guy for whom to root, but last year’s title at TPC Summerlin was as unexpected as his pedestrian form since has been predictable. He’s gone the entire year without a top 25 in a full-field event and hasn’t cracked a top 50 since THE PLAYERS where he placed but T48. Ryan Armour … Obviously playing some of if not the best golf of his life right now. Prior to the breakthrough title, he finished T4 at the Wyndham Championship and solo second at the first event of the Web.com Tour Finals. Doesn’t mind taking it low and it doesn’t matter that he hasn’t broken par at TPC Summerlin in 10 years (playing only twice since), but gamers need to assume a letdown after the career achievement. Harris English … Although perfect in four trips with a personal-best T4 last year and a scoring average of 68.56 in 16 rounds, he’s gone sideways all year. Hasn’t cracked a top 20 since June and arrives having missed three consecutive cuts. Even contrarians should pause. Nick Watney … Once an automatic investment in this event, he missed last year’s cut at 69-79=148. He also concluded 2016-17 with three consecutive MCs and has drifted back to 377th in the Official World Golf Ranking. J.B. Holmes Billy Horschel Beau Hossler David Lingmerth Patrick Rodgers Returning to Competition Luke Donald … Making his tournament debut a week after pulling out of the Sanderson Farms Championship early with a “rib issue” (per his Twitter). Only one top-45 finish anywhere in the last six months. Bronson Burgoon … Withdrew during the second round of the Sanderson Farms Championship with a sore back. He was in the Power Rankings (see below) in part due to strong recent form, so it stands to reason that he’s worthy of a flier in DFS at TPC Summerlin. Michael Thompson … Sixth appearance at TPC Summerlin and fourth consecutive, but he’s hasn’t competed since withdrawing during the first round of The National in late June with a shoulder injury. While gamers needs to tiptoe into weekly consideration upon his return, full-season investors can exhale given he’s not waiting until 2018 to give it a go. He has six starts on a Minor Medical Extension to earn 86.935 FedExCup points and a promotion to the Major Medical category. He’s already secured conditional status, so he doesn’t have to ration those starts. Notables WDs None. Power Rankings Recap – World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions Power Ranking  Golfer  Result 1  Hideki Matsuyama  T50 2  Dustin Johnson  T2 3  Marc Leishman  T38 4  Justin Rose  Win 5  Henrik Stenson  T2 6  Ross Fisher  T58 7  Tyrrell Hatton  T11 8  Brooks Koepka  T2 9  Jon Rahm  T36 10  Rafa Cabrera Bello  T5 11  Pat Perez  T24 12  Paul Casey  T11 13  Adam Scott  T50 14  Francesco Molinari  T46 15  Patrick Reed  T50 16  Tony Finau  T11 17  Jason Day  T11 18  Phil Mickelson  T15 19  Daniel Berger  T24 20  Matthew Fitzpatrick  T9 Wild Card  Alex Noren  T31 Sleepers Recap – World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions Golfer  Result Patrick Cantlay  T15 Paul Dunne  T38 Chan Kim  T58 Thorbjørn Olesen  T31 Kyle Stanley  T5 Power Rankings Recap – Sanderson Farms Championship Power Ranking  Golfer  Result 1  Chesson Hadley  2nd 2  William McGirt  T25 3  Andrew Landry  T59 4  Kevin Streelman  T10 5  Jason Kokrak  T7 6  Bronson Burgoon  WD 7  Ben Martin  T59 8  Chris Kirk  T34 9  Troy Merritt  MC 10  Ted Potter, Jr.  MC Birthdays among active golfers on the PGA TOUR October 31 … Mark Wilson (43) November 1 … none November 2 … James Hahn (36); Adam Hadwin (30) November 3 … Kris Blanks (45) November 4 … Kevin Streelman (39) November 5 … Jim Herman (40); Bubba Watson (39) November 6 … Scott Piercy (39)

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HONOLULU — The wind blew so hard that palm trees looked as though they were made of rubber. The Pacific looked angrier than usual. Some of the sights Thursday at the Sony Open in Hawaii made it clear that playing golf in Hawaii was no vacation. Collin Morikawa managed better than everyone. He learned enough about the wind last week on Maui to cope with it on Oahua, getting through the relentless 30 mph win without a bogey for a 5-under 65 and a two-shot lead. “It’s tough out here,” Morikawa said. “If you have a 20-foot birdie putt, you’ve got to factor in the wind, the rain, everything. So playing last week got me prepared for today in the wind, and I look forward to the next few days.” Ryan Palmer was among four players at 67, with Marc Leishman and Corey Conners among those at 68. Justin Thomas, who won a playoff last week in Kapalua, struggled early in the wind and had to keep it together for a 72. A year ago, that might have been the first step toward a weekend off. On this day, it was inside the cut line. Maui was hard work in the wind. This week might be worse because Waialae is so exposed. “Not exactly what you’re looking for after a week like last week,” Thomas said. “Just trying to find something where it’s easy to get in play and on the green. It was a grind, which was what last week was, so it was really hard to stay focused. Felt like I didn’t do a good job of that to start, but then played pretty well the last 13 or so holes.” A year ago, Adam Svensson of Canada opened with a 61, and all that gave him was a one-shot lead. Seventy-five players broke par. This year was a little different. Only 30 players broke par when play was suspended by darkness. The scoring average was 72.04, compared with 69.64 in the opening round last year. RELATED: Leaderboard | Morikawa has golf IQ beyond his years “It was hard work out there,” defending champion Matt Kuchar said after a 69. “This I don’t recall in a long time. What a challenge. The wind is blowing as hard as I recall it blowing.” It was so strong that even with the tee moved forward on the par-3 fourth hole at Waialae so that it played 162 yards, Morikawa still hit 4-iron. It was one of his better shots, 7 feet right of the flag, for birdie. The best was his finish on the par-5 ninth, 504 yards and typically the easiest scoring hole. His drive peeled to the right into a hurting, left-to-right wind and found a bunker. His next shot caught the top of the lip, leaving him 189 yards away. “At that point, I was trying to get out with par,” Morikawa said. He went with a 4-iron — the next longest club in his bag is a 2-iron — and hit it so well the wind didn’t move it. The ball came down about 6 feet from the cup for his final birdie. Rain pounded the course about an hour before the first tee time, making the greens even softer. The wind never stopped, and even in sunshine, showers popped up out of nowhere. It was not much different from last week on Maui, except it was a much easier walk on a relatively flat surface. Patrick Reed, who lost in a playoff to Thomas last week in the Sentry Tournament of Champions, was at 3 under midway through his back before dropping shots from the water (No. 2) and the sand (No. 4) and having to settle for a 69. Those who know Waialae well from playing so many years could not remember this much wind for so much of the day. “We’ve all probably experienced wind like this at some point, but it’s rare,” Zach Johnson said after a 69. “I’ve not experienced it here.” Morikawa can’t claim to feel at home, even with so much family living on Oahu. He had never played Waialae until a practice round on Tuesday, but he had enough recent experience in the tropical gusts to get the job done. He didn’t make everything, but he made the right putts — two birdies on par 3s, both par 5s and a wedge to 8 feet on No. 5. He also holed a 10-foot par putt after finding a bunker left of the green on No. 14. “I think the harder conditions, the better for me,” Morikawa said. “Ball-strikers just want to control everything — control the ball — and I had complete control today. That’s what you want to do.”

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