Cantlay, Schauffele shoot 59, lead Zurich Classic

LAS VEGAS — Rory McIlroy capped off a big weekend in Las Vegas on Sunday by surging past Rickie Fowler and holding off Collin Morikawa to win THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT for his 20th PGA TOUR title. RELATED: Leaderboard | Winner’s Bag: Rory McIlroy, THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT McIlroy seized control with a 35-foot eagle putt from just off the green on the par-5 14th and then playing mistake-free down the stretch for a 6-under 66 and a one-victory. McIlroy is the 39th player to win at least 20 times on the PGA TOUR, and it’s his fifth straight PGA TOUR season with at least one win. Fowler, who started the final round with a two-shot lead as he tried to end nearly three years without a victory, faded with a pair of three-putts and shot 71 to tie for third. The threat came from Morikawa, a member at The Summit Club, who shot 29 on the front to get in the mix and closed with an eagle for a 62. That forced McIlroy to play mistake-free after his big eagle putt on the 14th, and he never came close to a bogey in finishing at 25-under 263. “It is a big carrot,” McIlroy said of the 20 wins. “I didn’t know it would be this week.” He went into the weekend nine shots out of the lead, made up plenty of ground with a 62 on Saturday and then pulled away by taking advantage of the scoring holes. It was similar to his first win on the PGA TOUR in 2010 at Quail Hollow. McIlroy was nine shots behind going into the weekend at that tournament and closed with rounds of 66-62 to win. Morikawa was watching from the balcony overlooking the 18th green to see if he would get a chance for extra holes, though it was asking a lot for McIlroy to drop a shot on the par-5 closing hole. McIlroy laid back off the tee, played short of the green and hit wedge to the back pin to assure a two-putt par and another trophy. Part of him was sparked by a disappointing Ryder Cup, when he didn’t win a point until Sunday singles when it was too late and was choked up with emotion talking about it. He wanted to get back to his roots as a player, and it worked out just fine against a strong field that allowed McIlroy to move from No. 15 in the world to back among the top 10. “Being me is enough,” he said. “Being me can let me do things like this.” Keith Mitchell, who had a five-shot lead going into the weekend until a 73 in the third round, closed with a 67 and tied for third with Fowler. Fowler was poised to end a 32-month drought by starting the final round with a two-shot lead and looking as though he was intent on finishing it off. He made an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 4 that became a two-shot swing when McIlroy had a careless three-putt bogey. That began to change on the par-5 sixth. From the middle of the fairway, Fowler pulled a fairway metal into the desert, took a penalty drop, and then three-putted from 35 feet for a double bogey. McIlroy made birdie and just like that they were tied, along with others further along in the round. Talor Gooch holed out for eagle on the par-5 18th for a 62. Morikawa went out in 29 and was tied for the lead. Robert Streb also was tied for the lead at that point at 21-under par. McIlroy and Fowler in the final group were tied at 22 under going to the back when Fowler made another mistake. McIlroy was looking at potential bogey, coming out of a fairway bunker well short of the green on the 10th and facing a tough flop shot over another bunker to a tight pin. Fowler had 18 feet for birdie. McIlroy hit to inches away for par, while Fowler gunned his birdie chance some 5 feet by the hole and missed that for a three-putt bogey. Fowler never caught up. Morikawa ran out of momentum. Sure, he closed with an eagle that forced McIlroy to play mistake-free over the final four holes, but the Open champion failed to take advantage of birdie chances on the reachable par-4 12th and the par-5 14th with an iron from the fairway. “Whenever you shoot 62 you’re always going to be pleased,” Morikawa said. “But I thought I left a few out there, especially with some putts. But overall I’m very pleased the way this last 18 went, especially at a course that I’ve played a lot. I felt very comfortable and it’s a good way to start the season.”

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A tradition unlike any other holds new meaning this year as the PGA TOUR travels to Augusta, Georgia, for the Masters Tournament. Removed from its usual post of the first full week in April, The Masters got rescheduled to this week due to COVID-19, which also means (barring any changes) we'll have two Masters Tournaments played in six months. The course is a par 72, measures 7,475 yards and will be played on bentgrass greens. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $4M Fantasy Golf Millionaire [$1M to 1st] STRATEGY Augusta National hasn't seen a ton of changes except a few revisions made between 1999 and 2006. Before the 2019 edition of The Masters, the course added 40 yards to the fifth hole, making it a par 4 just under 500 yards, totaling six par 4s that'll play at or over 450 yards. The course has little to no rough and the regular four par 5s, all of which play as the four easiest holes, but Augusta National is far from easy. The golfers will start each round on the second-hardest hole and end it with the fifth toughest. If that wasn't enough, the 240-yard par-3 fourth hole is no easy task. Last season, it surrendered a 29-percent bogey rate, and if that's where you think it ends, you're wrong. The next hole is the 495-yard par-4 fifth hole, which recorded less than an 8 percent birdie rate and a 25-percent bogey rate in 2019. Those who navigate the tough test this week will join past winners like Tiger Woods ($9,100), Patrick Reed ($9,200), Danny Willett ($7,000), Jordan Spieth ($8,200), Bubba Watson ($9,000), Adam Scott ($8,900) and Phil Mickelson ($7,500). If you're hoping to have the million-dollar lineup, you'll need to have all six players on your roster not just make the cut this week but place high. The field consists of only 93 golfers, and the cut will be top 50, the first time the tournament has changed the cut rules since 2013. Augusta National is a course that usually rewards those with experience and course knowledge; there hasn't been a first-time winner since Fuzzy Zoeller back in 1979. The top 5 in Strokes Gained Total since 2015 are Jordan Spieth ($8,200), Rory McIlroy ($10,200), Justin Rose ($7,700), Dustin Johnson ($10,000) and Hideki Matsuyama ($8,700). Augusta National also doesn't allow green-reading books, which will be tough for first-timers on these fast, bentgrass greens. Greens will be averaging 13.5 on the stimpmeter and will sport massive undulations where Approach into the correct quadrants is of the utmost importance. The top 5 in Strokes Gained: Putting on fast bentgrass greens over the previous 36 rounds are Rickie Fowler ($8,100), Kevin Na ($6,700), Andrew Putnam ($6,200), Webb Simpson ($9,300) and Kevin Kisner ($7,100). Along with some course history and a hot putter, they'll also need to have an elite Approach game and distance off the tee this week, especially if the weather softens the course. All six golfers in the winning million-dollar lineup ranked 35th or better in Strokes Gained Approach over their previous 36 rounds heading into Augusta. In 2018, all six golfers were inside the top 46 in Approach over the same timeframe. Rostering golfers who have a top-tier around-the-green game should also work to your benefit. In an ESPN article, McIlroy recently mentioned that "the greens are exactly the same as they always are (in April). But for the fairways, it just hasn't been cold enough for the bermuda to die off. That's going to make things very interesting around the greens. Chipping will be a lot trickier." Course history is more important this week than others, but it shouldn't overtake your entire process. Patrick Reed lost strokes in 50 percent of his prior 12 rounds before winning, and both Danny Willet and Jordan Spieth only had one start before their wins. Dustin Johnson ($10,000) Johnson has been spectacular at Augusta National, ranking fourth in Strokes Gained: Total since 2015. Johnson led the field in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee last week in Houston and was top 15 in putting, gaining 3.5 strokes with the flatstick. Johnson's wedges have also been elite, ranking sixth in proximity from 100 to 125 yards over the previous 36 rounds. His mix of power with the driver and precision with his wedges makes him a contender at Augusta every year. Aside from missing The Masters in 2017 with an injury, Johnson hasn't finished worse than 10th and recently came in second at the Vivint Houston Open last week, gaining just above 7.5 strokes Tee-to-Green over the weekend. Jason Day ($8,400) A 1-over on Sunday tempered a hot start in Houston, where Day finished seventh, gaining 7.44 strokes Tee-to-Green. He was able to gain just under two strokes through Approach this week, which is precisely the positive splits, after losing strokes in five straight tournaments, you want to see coming into Augusta National. Day ranks 20th in putting on bentgrass greens and third in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green over the previous 50 rounds. Day's record at Augusta since 2015 has been no worse than T28 and should be in a great position to win his first green jacket. Rickie Fowler ($8,100) Few have been better than Fowler on these bentgrass greens. Ranking sixth in Strokes Gained: Total here, Rickie is always someone to consider when Augusta National is next on the PGA TOUR schedule. Fowler's been in the penultimate group twice here and has a scoring average of 71.5 in his starts at The Masters. Other than a missed cut in 2016, Fowler hasn't finished worse than 11th here since 2014. His current form is nothing to be confident in, with his best finish being a 15th place coming back in August at the WGC St. Jude Invitational. Still, if you're prescribing to course history over current form, then there are few better than Fowler at his favorite course. Cameron Champ ($7,100) Bryson DeChambeau ($11,200) will get all the publicity about his distance, but don't forget about Champ, who ranks second to only Bryson in driving distance over the previous six months. Champ struggles on bentgrass greens but is hitting his irons well, gaining 8.7 strokes total through Approach over his past two tournaments. This is Champ's first appearance at Augusta National, so winning may not be in his range of outcomes, but he's got some recent history playing well in a major with a 10th-place finish at the PGA Championship back in August. Si Woo Kim ($6,800) Kim plays some of his best golf when the stakes are the highest, winning THE PLAYERS back in 2017, a recent top-13 finish at the PGA Championship in August and no worse than a top 25 over the past two years at Augusta National. Kim's ball-striking has always been tremendous and he's hitting it well right now, ranking 24th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and 12th in Approach over the previous 36 rounds. Kim is also elite around the greens, ranking second in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green over the past six months. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $4M Fantasy Golf Millionaire [$1M to 1st] Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game. I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is reidtfowler) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. 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