Bubba, Varner, Lingmerth play way inside top 100

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico - Akshay Bhatia won't reach legal drinking age in the United States until January 31, 2023. But he's quickly proving that he's of age to contend on the PGA TOUR. The 18-year-old Monday qualified into this week's Mayakoba Golf Classic presented by UNIFIN, and he's maximizing his opportunity. Bhatia has opened in rounds of 67-69 at El Camaleon GC, comfortably inside the top-15 midway through the final full-field TOUR event of the 2020 calendar year. There was a learning curve for Bhatia, to be sure. He missed the cut in his first seven TOUR starts, admitting that urgency to earn Special Temporary Membership was too much of a focal point. Bhatia made his first TOUR cut at the Safeway Open in September, finishing T9. A weight was lifted, and he's continuing to display his immense potential in Mexico. "After that, I felt like I belonged," said Bhatia of the significance around his Safeway Open top-10. "It showed I could play, that I could score well. I feel like I'm doing everything right as far as practice ... I feel like my good is good enough, and that I can compete out here. So it's just a matter of time. "I'm excited to keep playing out here, and for the opportunities that I've gotten." After turning professional in fall 2019, Bhatia missed by six strokes at Second Stage of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament last fall. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, putting on hold his efforts of earning TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour starts via Monday qualifiers. There may have been a silver lining, though. Bhatia carved out a mini-tour schedule that extended through the summer months, building confidence by stacking low rounds. While several his age are debating their college choices, Bhatia is developing a veteran mindset in the professional golf ranks. "I haven't really thought about it," said Bhatia when asked whether Special Temporary Membership has been on his mind this week. "Any chance I get to play the PGA TOUR, I'm just going to try to play as well as I can. "If you asked me that last year, I would've been thinking about that a lot, and it's just amazing how much experience can change perspective over a year. Being 18, it's helped me a lot versus 17." Bhatia was born in southern California and now lives in the Raleigh, North Carolina area, where he plays out of TPC Wakefield Plantation. There, he has cultivated a frequent practice-round grouping with TOUR winners Chesson Hadley and Grayson Murray, as well as Korn Ferry Tour pro Stephen Franken. He's learning the value placed on low scores in professional golf - noting the confidence gained via carding rounds of 62 and 63 in mini-tour events this summer - and embracing lessons shared by his veteran practice partners. "It's fun just having a good, solid group of guys that like to play and can help each other out with experience," Bhatia said. "I had a really good summer in mini-tour events and just learning how to be in contention, how to shoot low ... and that's what you have to do out here." Bhatia could earn TOUR Special Temporary Membership (which brings the ability to accept unlimited sponsor's exemptions) by accruing 288 non-member FedExCup Points - the equivalent of No. 150 on the 2018-19 FedExCup standings. He earned 70 non-member Points via his Safeway Open finish, and could move further toward the mark with a strong weekend in Mexico. He's no longer thinking along those lines, though. He's enjoying the competition amongst the mangroves at El Camaleon GC, and looking forward to the weekend ahead. "I've got to say," Bhatia said, "it's pretty fun being able to compete with these guys."

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Early within the lineup of tentpole stops from March through July is a subset of something for everyone. It starts pre-Florida Swing with a World Golf Championship/additional event doubleheader, continues with another a month later – except the WGC is a Match Play – and lingers all the way to last week’s team event in New Orleans. It’s a harrowing stretch of competition, er, opportunity. The Valspar Championship represents the other side of it, but it’s not for the weary. Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club’s Copperhead Course perennially ranks among the most challenging courses every season. Scroll past the projected contenders for more on the brief history of the tournament, what’s new this year – other than its position on the schedule – and mre. RELATED: The First Look | How the field qualified POWER RANKINGS: VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP Sungjae Im, Joaquin Niemann, Abraham Ancer and Henrik Stenson will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. As a nascent event from 2000-2006, the Valspar Championship was contested later in the calendar year. It then transitioned into a fixture of the Florida Swing when the FedExCup was introduced in 2007. Like many other tournaments, it was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic and repositioned this season by more than a month later than when it was accustomed. Thanks to extended daylight hours at this time of year, the 2021 edition will host 156 golfers for just the third time in its history (2002, 2013). It’s the first of a dozen tournaments extending through the Wyndham Championship in which reservations are made for the maximum. The only individual event staged on one course with as many golfers earlier in the season was the Safeway Open in early September of 2020. As it concerns the test itself, Copperhead is unchanged. It’s a par 36-35—71 that tips at 7,340 yards. It has the full complement of four par 5s, and they’re challenging, but it has five par 3s, which are just as daunting. However, what’s primarily different this year is that there’s no overseed on the Celebration bermudagrass fairways. Overseed still exists elsewhere, including on the TifEagle bermuda greens. Where it’s transitional won’t be an issue. Because the greens average just over 5,800 square feet, golfers who are stronger tee to green than they are wielding the flat stick have the inside lane. Two-time defending champion Paul Casey proved this in 2019. He led the field in total driving and Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, but he finished a pedestrian 43rd in Strokes Gained: Putting. Sharpen the focus and you’ll find a winner who performed like any in a shootout, which this tournament most definitely is not. Casey ranked T5 in greens hit and second in converting those chances into par breakers. He also paced the field in par-5 scoring. All of that compensated for finishing T55 in par-4 scoring en route to his one-stroke title at 8-under 276. Leave it to the grizzled Englishman with the million-dollar smile to make it look easy. Copperhead averaged 71.981 in 2019, highest among all par 71s in non-majors that season. It was the third time in four season that it claimed that distinction. Moderate winds will contribute to the high scores again this week. They’ll start from a southerly direction early in the tournament before pushing in from the north on the weekend. A threat of inclement weather mid-tournament could cool the air, but daytime highs will reach the low- to mid-80s. The primary rough exceeds three inches and the putting surfaces can race to 12-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter. If you’re new to the tournament, you’ll be learning how unrelenting The Snake Pit can be. It consists of the closing par 4-3-4. In 2019, Nos. 16, 17 and 18 ranked a respective first, eighth and third in terms of difficulty on the course. Collectively, they averaged 0.611 strokes over par for the week. Casey scored 1-over on the trio during both victories. His only birdie on the stretch in 2019 occurred on the par-4 16th in the opening round. 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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Here are nine tidbits from the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte has been the host since the creation of the event in 2003 and plays 7,544 yards to a Par-71. The 2017 WFC was played at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, NC.  Know Thy Enemy These were the top-10 picked golfers in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf game presented by SERVPRO. With swirling winds and tricky pin positions, John Peterson holds the lead alone after posting 65 (-6). Only 33 players are in red figures and only three of them occupy the list above. McIlroy is the low-man of the group with 68 followed by Finau and Day with 69. People’s Choice Rickie Fowler was the clear choice this week by gamers by almost 20 percent. While I don’t think that is a wrong decision, I’m curious how McIlroy was the THIRD choice here. Fowler, who defeated McIlroy and D.A. Points in a playoff here in 2012 to win on TOUR for the first time, hasn’t won this season but was coming off a back-door runner up at the Masters. Fowler hit 14-of-18 greens and was seventh in proximity yet only made one birdie against two bogeys for 72 (T59). If his putter warms up, he’ll be fine, so he’s sticking in my lineup. The Landlord The THIRD choice this week is the guy who holds the tournament record (-21), the course record TWICE (62, 2010; 61, 2015) and is the only multiple champ at this event. Rory McIlroy only hit four of 14 fairways but managed 14 of 18 GIR. He birdied all three par fives and had the putter rolling (T22, SG: putting) for his 68 (T7). On the Prowl He hasn’t visited Quail Hollow Club since 2012 (MC) but the 2007 champion Tiger Woods gave his investors hope in Round 1 with 71 (E). The one aspect I’ve taken away from Woods in this latest comeback is the tracks he is playing. Plain and simple, they’re not easy. I haven’t seen THAT nine holes yet where he’s circling birdies for fun. He’s grinding and, just as I predicted in my preview, is frustrated with the greens, their grain and speed. He finished No. 119 in SG: putting and yet is T34. Not the Norm, Peterson Texan John Peterson made back-to-back eagles late in Round 1 to post 65 (-6) and a two-shot lead. He was the second player to have back-to-back eagles on the day but the only one leading. Playing on a Major Medical Exemption, Peterson has only eight events this season to earn 274 FedExCup points to keep his full privileges. After playing five events he’s earned 20 of those 274 so a big result this week would go a very long way. Defending Champions The event defending champion is Brian Harman who won last year at Eagle Point Golf Club. Harman leads the TOUR in top-10 finishes this year so if you didn’t know that he didn’t win on this track last year, you’ve still picked a good one. He posted 72 and is T59. … The last player to win on this track at the 2017 PGA Championship was Justin Thomas. He sits T79 as he only found 10 GIR and checked in at 102nd in SG: putting. Gamers won’t like to hear that Round 2 is his worst scoring average of the four this season. He’ll need something positive to avoid missing his second straight weekend. Home Cookin’ Charlotte resident Johnson Wagner (T2) also made back-to-back eagles and added a birdie as he played his first six holes in five-under-par. He gave a couple back on “The Green Mile” (Holes Nos. 16-18) before playing the front in one-under 34. His 67 was his second best loop here in 33 rounds proving that home court advantage doesn’t mean much. His best finish in the previous 11 tries is T28.  Shock and Awe There are six players that are four-under or better after Round 1. Quail Hollow Club annually plays as one of the most difficult on TOUR so riddle me this: Study Hall The only two bogey-free rounds were turned in by Keegan Bradley (68) and Sam Burns (69). … Patrick Reed (71) didn’t make any birdies either but did have a double bogey. … Round 1 played 72.883 (+1.883). … Andrew Landry, winner at the Valero Texas Open two weeks ago, WD after Round 1 with an illness. … Martin Piller was a last-minute WD last week as he was headed home for the birth of his first child. He’s back playing this week but the #NappyFactor stork must have missed his house as he posted 75.

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