Bubba, Varner, Lingmerth play way inside top 100

Here are nine tidbits from the first round of the World Golf Championship-Mexico Championship at the Club de Golf Chapultepec outside Mexico City that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Be looking for the Emergency 9 shortly after the close of play of each round of the tournament. Know Thy Enemy These were the top-10 picked golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO. As expected with a deep field there is plenty of separation throughout the top 10. There was more separation out of the top 10 as pick No. 11 was Thomas Pieters. He garnered only 15.6 percent of the action, another large gap between gamers’ choices. As always in this format, substitutions are allowed, so you better guess who’s going to turn it up tomorrow! People’s Choice Playing at Par-71 and stretching 7,345 yards, Club de Golf Chapultepec was kind to Tommy Fleetwood last year as he finished second to Dustin Johnson by one shot. Fleetwood was a massive selection this week as his ball-striking is fantastic and he picked up T4 last week at The Honda Classic. Gamers will need to remind themselves that his opening round 72 (+1) is just that, his opening round. With no cut this week he has plenty of time to find his iron game that let him down today as he found only 11 of 18 GIR. That will be corrected tomorrow so he stays in my lineup. Leader Louis South African Louis Oosthuizen blitzed the field with a bogey-free 64, his lowest round ever in a WGC event.  Buoyed by nine fairways and 15 GIR, Oosthuizen only needed 24 putts to set the target for Friday. After sitting just five off the lead entering Sunday at The Honda Classic, his final round 75 didn’t inspire (T24). He mentioned on television after his round today that he’s glad there’s not a Bear Trap this week! 21 and Up Shubhankar Sharma kicked the door open in December as he won the Joburg Open. The spotlight found the 21-year old Indian player again in February as he won the second time in three months at the Maybank Championship in Malaysia. He closed out that win posting 62 in the final round so there was nothing fluky about that. Playing in his first WGC event and first PGA TOUR event hasn’t seemed to bother him, yet. His opening round saw him lead the field in strokes-gained: tee-to-green and T1 in scrambling (six up-and-downs). He added a bogey-free card with an eagle and four birdies for 65 (-6) for T2. Chris Cross Englishman Chris Paisley drew attention to gamers before the week because of his form all over the world in 2018. He opened 2018 by winning the BMW Open in South Africa for his first on the European Tour. He backed up that performance in the Middle East desert with a T5 in Abu Dhabi and a fifth-place check in Dubai. There was no chance T27 in Malaysia was going to slow this train down! After taking three weeks off he showed he was sharp and fresh today as he circled seven birdies against one par (65) to sit T2. Defending Champ Dustin Johnson missed 16 putts inside 10 feet last year and won by a shot. Round 1 saw him rank sixth in strokes-gained: putting but he hit it all over the map. He found a way to circle six birdies as he overpowered the course as usual but a pair of bogeys and a sloppy double stalled out his round at 69 and T13. I’ll lean on his ball-striking to return tomorrow and for him to make a dash up the leaderboard. Montana Rusa A quick Google search for roller coaster in Spanish turned up “montana rusa”. Bubba Watson stuck gamers on some ride in the opening round.  The champion at the Genesis Open in his last time out started seven-under-par thru his first 11 holes. He followed that with a three-hole stretch of bogey, double bogey and bogey to suck the air out of his round. He added one more bogey before signing for 69 (-2) and T13.  Worry? Who Me? After Gary Woodland’s playoff win in Scottsdale many gamers thought he would be ready for THE season. Since his win he’s posted MC at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and MC last week at The Honda Classic. His opening round of 74 saw him beat just five players. … Paul Casey closed 67-66 last year to rally for T16. His opening round 73 is one better than his 74 from last year so I’m going to be patient, again. Study Hall The field was reduced to 64 people as American Chan Kim WD before teeing it up, citing a wrist injury. He must be really injured to pass up a no-cut event with a guaranteed payday! Adjust your lineup accordingly. … Pat Perez turned 42 today and gave himself a present as he signed for 68 (-3). … The four bogey-free rounds recorded in Round 1 all ended up T5 or better: Oosthuizen (1st), Shubhankar Sharma (T2), Xander Schauffele (T2) and Rafael Cabrera-Bello (T5). … Watson (T13), Paisley (T2) and Sergio Garcia (T8) led the field with seven birdies each.

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Rory McIlroy won his second FedEx Cup — and a record $15 million prize — with a final-round 66 at East Lake to set the PGA Tour single-season earnings record.

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HONOLULU, Hawaii – Matt Kuchar doesn’t take anything for granted on Sunday’s. The eight-time PGA TOUR winner and former PLAYERS champion has seen enough carnage at golf tournaments to know his lead at the Sony Open in Hawaii is far from safe. Sure his Saturday 4-under 66 moved him to a very comfortable 18 under at Waialae Country Club, two clear of Andrew Putnam (67) and a handy four shots ahead of Keith Mitchell (63) and Chez Reavie (66). Nine players share fifth but they are a distant seven shots back of the leader. Even still Kuchar knows he can’t protect the lead. “I anticipate needing to shoot another good score tomorrow. I’m going to need to make birdies,â€� Kuchar said. “There are enough birdie holes out there and enough good players that I know that I can’t just coast. I need to continue playing well. “The goal is to increase the lead as much as you can.â€� Kuchar is right about birdie holes. Two years ago Justin Thomas shot 59 at Waialae. This week we’ve seen a 61 and a couple of 62s. The chance to get hot is out there. Marc Leishman was six shots back when he started Sunday at the 2012 Travelers Championship and shot an 8-under 62 to win. Last week at the Sentry Tournament of Champions he played with Xander Schauffele on Sunday and watched him reel in a six-shot deficit against Gary Woodland. At T5 Leishman is one of those players ready to play aggressively from seven back. “You got to go hard or go home,â€� Leishman said. “I need to shoot a really really low one … just got to be aggressive and get the putter hot. “There are a lot of points on offer tomorrow. I’m third in the FedExCup at the moment I’d like at some point have Matty (caddie) have the yellow caddy bib.â€� Kuchar almost invited those that far back to have at it. “We figure there is something to lose. It’s certainly nice to have that (nothing to lose) mentality, but nobody wants to go crazy and shoot 80,â€� he said of the chasers. “You’ve still got to play smart. You don’t want to ruin your chances on the third hole by being reckless and making a double.â€� The 40-year-old is however wary of Putnam, Mitchell and Reavie. “I know the guys are playing good enough. I played with Andrew today. He’s a very steady player. He’s a good fit around this golf course. I expect him to come out and play some more good golf tomorrow,â€� Kuchar said. Putnam, a 29-year-old who won the Barracuda Championship last season, is excited for the challenge. He leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting making over 388 feet of putts over three days. “Kuch is playing well, so I feel like I’ve got to get out there and make some birdies if it’s not too windy,â€� he said. “If it’s like today it’s going to be scorable; so I have to stay aggressive.â€� Reavie is also chasing a second TOUR win. He leads the field in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green and has a history of going low on Sunday at Waialae. Two years ago he threatened to go sub 60 when he was 9-under with six to play on the par-70 course but settled for a 61. The 27-year-old Mitchell is chasing his first PGA TOUR win. He touted a more conservative approach. “We’re all trying to win out here and want to put ourselves in the best position to win but you don’t do anything stupid unless you’re on 17 or 18 and you’re one or two shots behind,â€� Mitchell said. “We’re going to play 16 holes tomorrow like we have the last three days, and then if we have a chance on 17, 18 to do something aggressive, then I will do it.â€� Kuchar waited 1,667 days and 116 starts between winning the 2014 RBC Heritage and the Mayakoba Golf Classic earlier this season. If he closes the deal Sunday it will be his second win in three starts. On the seven previous times he held the 54-hole lead he won three of them, including recently in Mexico. That fresh experience should come in handy. “Both courses are very tight, very demanding driving golf courses. That would probably be the biggest similarity,â€� he said of El Camaleón and Waialae. “It’s not often you get in a final group Sunday afternoon. I tell people a lot of nerves that happen in golf you start getting used to. “The nerves in golf are kind of like public speaking. The more often you do it the better you deal with it. They may always be there, but you get more comfortable with it. I certainly think having than experience recently will be helpful tomorrow.â€� CALL OF THE DAY

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