Column: Doug Barron has a week to remember

This week’s FedEx St. Jude Classic presents one of the most underrated narratives of the year. On the eve of the season’s second major – the U.S. Open, colloquially accepted to identify the best overall golfer – there isn’t a fairer, more consistent or more reliable host course than TPC Southwind. Now in its 30th consecutive year as the site of the SJC, TPC Southwind rewards one’s game as much as it tests it. In accordance, two-time defending Daniel Berger has solved it as much as he’s survived one of the stingiest par 70s on the schedule. Scroll beneath the ranking for more on his formula, how the course sets up and more. Power Rankings: FedEx St. Jude Classic Rank Player Comment Defied empirical wisdom with a runner-up finish as a debutant at Colonial two weeks ago. Since 2014 at TPC Southwind, he’s 4-for-4 with a T2, a T3 and a scoring average of 68.56. The winner in his debut in 2012 also placed fifth in his last trip in 2016. Pacing the PGA TOUR in adjusted scoring and strokes gained: tee-to-green. Top 20s in all nine stroke-play starts this year. Loves TPC Southwind for the test. His results prove it. Since 2013, he’s 5-for-5 with two T2s, a T3 and a scoring average of 67.95. Led field in birdies-or-better percentage at Memorial to place T13. First trip since a T13 in 2012. Suits his game perfectly. Tops on TOUR in both fairways hit, greens in regulation and par-4 scoring. Also 20th in proximity and sixth in scrambling. The horse-for-a-course label normally doesn’t suit the streaky 31-year-old, but it’s a real thing at TPC Southwind. Since 2013, he’s gone T10-T6-T8-T4 with a scoring average of 68.31. Making his tournament debut. Fresh off a T13 at the Memorial, his sixth top 25 in seven starts. Sits 18th on TOUR in strokes gained: tee-to-green and 15th in adjusted scoring. All he does is win the FedEx St. Jude Classic. Champion in both appearances with a scoring average of 67.13. Just like in advance of last year’s title, he’s scuffling upon arrival this week. At third on TOUR in strokes gained: tee-to-green, TPC Southwind is in his wheelhouse. He’s back for redemption, too. Finished T18 after sitting one stroke off the 54-hole lead last year. Springs in after a bogey-free 66 on Sunday at Muirfield Village yielded a fifth-place finish, his second such result in three starts. Inside the top 20 on TOUR in both par-4 and par-5 scoring. Rebounded from an opening 77 at Muirfield Village with 69, but still missed the cut. It was one bad round on the heels of three straight top 10s. Shared runner-up honors here last year. Already eligible for Special Temporary Membership with three top 10s in five starts as a pro, the former top-ranked amateur in the world is drawing on the Jon Rahm speed slot to the PGA TOUR. If he sticks with his strengths, he’ll piggyback a T10 here in 2017. Currently seventh on TOUR in total driving, third in GIR, T32 in proximity and sixth in strokes gained: tee-to-green. The 2014 champ has earned more at TPC Southwind than at any other course with another five top 20s, including a T10 last year. He’s 7-for-7 since Honda with a T11 at Valero and a T8 at Colonial. After a T5 at the BMW PGA, placed T13 at Memorial in what was his first start with Special Temporary Membership. It was his first top 25 on the PGA TOUR in a non-WGC since 2016. Hey, why not? The 27-year-old has turned open qualifying into “The T.J. Vogel Show.” Six times a four-spotter this season alone, no one matches his mojo. Turned one opportunity into a T16 at Copperhead. Memorial co-runner-up Byeong Hun An, Kevin Chappell, Charles Howell III, J.B. Holmes and Steve Stricker will be among the notables included in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. TPC Southwind sets up as properly as any touring professional would want. It’s as good a primer for the U.S. Open as you’re going to find, but it very much stands on its own merit, thank you very much. At 7,244 yards, it’s long enough but it doesn’t eliminate the lightest of knockers. The set of four par 3s and both of its par 5s are scorable, but the dozen par 4s are challenging as a group. Yet, only once in the last nine years has any of the par 4s ranked inside the top-50 hardest on the PGA TOUR (hole No. 5 in 2015). Last year’s field scoring average of 70.630 aligned with its history, which is to say that it’s predictable, which is exactly what any collection of any tournament organizers targets. Finding fairways is a secondary objective to hitting greens that average just over 5,400 square feet, a smaller-than-usual area that helps defend par. The Champion bermuda surfaces are prepped to run as long as 12 feet on the Stimpmeter, so there’s nothing foreign or tricky about that. Tinier targets tend to cater to ball-strikers. Case in point, although Berger is renowned for loving himself bermuda greens, but he’s done his work at TPC Southwind without the putter, leading the field in strokes gained: tee-to-green en route to both of his titles. He finished a respective T1 and T10 in greens hit and T5 and T7 in proximity to the hole. Returning participants in the field of 156 will see some modifications on and around the greens at the par-3 eighth and 14th holes, but the overall yardage of the course is unchanged. The primary rough (also bermuda) has been manicured to reach two-and-a-half inches. Mother Nature will do her part in seeing that the course plays as planned. Warm and dry (but typically humid) air is in store through the 36-hole cut. A risk of rain and storms creeps into the picture on the weekend. Wind is not expected to be a factor. It was announced this spring that this tournament will evolve into the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in 2019. It will replace the existing WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and will continue to be contested at TPC Southwind. The dates for the competition are TBD. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton reviews and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Facebook Live, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Champions One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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