Ciganda fires 67 to share lead at LPGA Shanghai

One year ago, our family experienced a terrible thing. At the same time, we ended up having a wonderful experience. Those two sentences only make sense because of Nationwide Children’s Hospital. In late-May 2019, we were in Ohio so I could play in the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. The Monday after the tournament, there was a U.S. Open qualifier at Scioto Country Club and Brookside Golf and Country Club. I didn’t play well at the Memorial, missing the cut, and that left me with a couple of days to get ready for the 36-hole qualifying tournament. On Monday morning, my wife, Soyoung, took me to the course, while our son, Eugene stayed at the hotel with his grandmother, my mother-in-law. At the golf course, I received a phone call from my wife who was telling me that our son had fallen off the bed and was hurt. I really didn’t think it was anything too serious. But when Soyoung told me they had gone to the hospital in an ambulance, I immediately withdrew from the tournament and left the course, heading straight to Nationwide Children’s Hospital. There, doctors told us Eugene had suffered a concussion and a fracture on his temporal bone that was causing spinal fluid to leak. It was a really dangerous situation. Doctors believe that when Eugene was falling off the bed, he landed at an odd angle, hitting right on the spot that caused all the problems. It was really a fluke. We basically moved into the hospital, and Soyoung and I probably didn’t eat anything for the first 48 hours. We slept very little, if at all. I kept looking at Eugene’s heart monitor because sometimes it can go up and down like crazy, so I stared at it and couldn’t fall asleep. We both had a hard time watching Eugene struggling. There was our child in real trouble. We felt helpless. The biggest problem was doctors couldn’t control and stop the fluid leak. They eventually decided surgery was the best option. After more than a week—eight days—as doctors were getting ready to perform the procedure, the leaking finally stopped. Very quickly, Eugene started acting normally. A couple of days later, doctors discharged Eugene, and we were free to go home. One problem. We couldn’t fly because the pressure inside an airplane was dangerous and could cause Eugene’s spine to start again leaking fluid. Our next choice? Drive 15 hours from Columbus to our home in Dallas. Knowing we didn’t want to do the drive in one day, we mapped out where children’s hospitals were on our route home—just in case. All along, we felt if we could get back home, everything would be OK, and Eugene would continue to improve. It took us three days to travel home, but we did arrive in Texas with no issues, and we were so thankful to be home safely. Of course, what happened was incredibly serious, but fortunately, Eugene’s accident occurred not far from one of the biggest and best children’s hospitals in the world. The staff at Nationwide Children’s Hospital couldn’t have been nicer. The doctors and nurses were professional and kind in every way. When Soyoung and Eugene arrived at the hospital, everyone was so attentive. Before the day was over, 10 doctors had come to Eugene’s room and checked on him. It was so scary, but everybody did what they could to put my wife at ease. They did the same for me after I got there. The whole episode is not something I enjoy remembering, but the care Eugene received brings back a flood of good memories. Eugene does have some hearing loss in his left ear because of nerve damage associated with his fall. Other than that, though, he’s doing well and is happy. The accident, though, isn’t far from my mind, and I will often check on Eugene to see how he is doing. He’s just a normal little boy, he’s so active, he climbs up to everywhere and he jumps around. He also doesn’t remember anything about what happened. While you can’t tell anything was ever wrong, I still get kind of scared of what could happen to him. If he could suffer such a major injury falling from a bed, imagine what could happen when he’s doing regular kid stuff. I do call my wife a lot to make sure he’s doing well, and we do keep an eye on him. Today, we’re extraordinarily grateful he’s recovered, and we know he will have a long and happy life. We have Nationwide Children’s Hospital to thank for that.

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The PGA TOUR heads to the Caribbean for the Bermuda Championship at Port Royal GC in Southampton, Bermuda. The course will play as a par 71, measuring 6,828 yards, and it will be played on Bermuda greens this week. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $400K Resurgence [$100K to 1st] STRATEGY Port Royal GC is a short course with eight par 4s under 415 yards, so we should again see players hit many wedges into these Bermuda greens. Defending champion Brendon Todd ($11,100) shot two rounds of 62 and 63 en route to his victory, which should be the case this week. The field will feature Korn Ferry Tour standouts, past and present, including Will Zalatoris ($10,900), Doc Redman ($10,400), John Oda ($6,300), and James Nicholas ($6,200). Like any coastal course, there will be wind and coastal weather to play through. The golfers will also have to navigate 88 bunkers across the property and water that will come into play on five holes. Last season, fairways hit in regulation was eight percent less than the PGA TOUR average, but greens hit in regulation was just about the PGA TOUR average at 66 percent. Like last season, the winning score should be similar (24-under). The course conditions should also be comparable to what we've seen at other seaside resort courses like the Corales Puntacana, the Sony Open, the RSM Classic and the Mayakoba Golf Classic. The course will offer full FedExCup points for the first time, but this may feel closer to the golf we see on the Korn Ferry Tour with low scores. Golfers who've done well on shorter, coastal courses should get consideration in our DraftKings rosters this week. GOLFERS TO CONSIDER Doc Redman ($10,400) Redman should be first or second in salary based on his talent, so getting him at the fourth-highest price is value. Over his previous three tournaments, Redman's approach has been terrific, gaining just over 10 strokes total with his irons. Redman has also been elite on courses under 7,200 yards since the restart, ranking fourth in Strokes Gained: tee-to-Green and first in Strokes Gained: Total over the previous three months. Redman also ranks sixth in birdies or better gained over his prior 22 rounds, which allows him to contend and stay in the tournament throughout the weekend. Adam Schenk ($8,100) Are you looking for cut equity and upside in this salary range? Look no further than Adam Schenk, who has made nine straight cuts on the PGA TOUR since the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Schenk isn't just making cuts; he's playing well with two top 30s and most recently a 27th at the Shriners earlier this month. Over the previous three months, he ranks 35th with his irons, 26th in Strokes Gained: Putting and seventh in birdies or better gained. Schenk has also played well on courses similar to Port Royal, making the cut at Corales Puntacana last month and finishing 14th at the Puerto Rico Open earlier this year. Russell Knox ($7,600) Knox just notched a ninth-place finish at Safeway back in September, where he gained eight strokes tee-to-green and opened the tournament as the leader after shooting 63 in round one. Knox's current form has been inconsistent, but it looked like he found something earlier this month at Shriners, gaining 4.1 strokes with his irons. Knox has also gained with his approach in four of his last five tournaments, making him an excellent DraftKings GPP/tournament play. Knox is also quite the fan of short, coastal courses as well, recording a second, third and ninth place at the OHL in Mayakoba, a top 20 in the 2019 RSM Classic at Sea Island Resort, a runner up at the 2016 RBC Heritage at Harbour Town and two top 15s along with a top 10 at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Knox also had an 11th here in 2019. Jason Dufner ($7,100) is someone we should also consider in this range. He's striking the ball well and can get a hot putter at a moment's notice, similar to what he did at the Safeway Open back in September, gaining 5.2 strokes on the greens. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $400K Resurgence [$100K 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. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.

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Jason Day and Brendon Todd shot 5-under 65s Thursday to share the first-round lead of the PGA Championship at San Francisco’s Harding Park. Nine players, including two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka, are just one shot back.

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