In a field that featured the top five players in the world, No. 1-ranked Dustin Johnson made a strong opening statement with a win Sunday in the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.
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PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf league championships will be determined at the TOUR Championship in two weeks, but they could be decided at THE NORTHERN TRUST this weekend. With no cuts at the BMW Championship and Playoffs finale, and with front-runners having the power to end-load rosters for a title-clinching stymie, what happens at Liberty National is critical. THE NORTHERN TRUST features the last 36-hole cut of the 2020-21 season. Of the 124 committed, only 65 are promised to have tee times in the third and final rounds. That means that as many as 59 will not. If you’re in pursuit, this is your last chance to be aggressive with an elevated likelihood to capitalize. Unless you connect for victory and the bonus points that go with it, and assuming that that makes a dent in your deficit, you’re going to struggle picking up points with all gamers guaranteed four rounds of contributions in the final two events. Ah, yes, the bonus points. They are quadrupled in reality, which means 200 fantasy points to owners of winners rostered in final rounds. As noted under “End of Tournament Bonus” in Rules, the structure of bonus points for the TOUR Championship will align with the first two events. When formulating your strategy, remember that opening position at East Lake is determined by seed upon arrival. Starting Strokes will give the best seeds placement at the top of the leaderboard before the first tee ball is aloft. Current league leaders likely will be saving starts for the highest seeds and those with a good track record at East Lake, but the latter projects to pack a stronger punch for the guys deeper in the standings. When the current structure was introduce in 2019, six golfers from outside the top 10 at the beginning of the TOUR Championship were among 11 who recorded a top 10 in the tournament. Rory McIlroy prevailed as the 5-seed. The runner-up was Xander Schauffele, who was seeded eighth. The same split occurred last year when an apples-to-apples comparison can be made because the conclusion of the reduction to tripled FedExCup points determined the opening seeds at East Lake. Although top-seeded Dustin Johnson won and the 3-seed, Justin Thomas, tied for second, six of the final top 10 opened outside the top 10. This may be obvious but it’s too important to omit: What you don’t want is to be left with a sixpack of guys outside, say, the top 15. Continue to manage accordingly by saving starts for guys you know you’re going to want at the TOUR Championship. Remember that you can use the tool on the platform to plug those guys in now if you choose. As for the BMW Championship, it’s the wild card of the trio because Caves Valley will be a new test despite previous experience for a handful as amateurs well over a decade ago. Always remember that when greens are unfamiliar, ball-strikers tend to contend. As noted in my Power Rankings for the FedExCup Playoffs, the track is a par 72 that can tip at 7,542 yards. RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf My roster for THE NORTHERN TRUST (in alphabetical order): Patrick Cantlay Paul Casey Dustin Johnson Collin Morikawa Jon Rahm Jordan Spieth You’ll find my starters in Expert Picks. Others to consider for each category (in alphabetical order): Scoring: Bryson DeChambeau; Harris English; Brooks Koepka; Rory McIlroy; Patrick Reed; Xander Schauffele; Scottie Scheffler; Adam Scott; Justin Thomas Driving: Corey Conners; Harris English; Matt Fitzpatrick; Viktor Hovland; Jason Kokrak; Joaquin Niemann; Xander Schauffele; Scottie Scheffler POWER RANKINGS WILD CARD Tony Finau (+5000) … He hasn’t performed well in every Playoffs event since he debuted in 2015, but he’s performed well a lot. His record includes nine top 10s in 20 starts. To say that he’s scuffling upon arrival is fair, but it’s always relative to our elevated expectations given his talent and knack to adapt to the surroundings. So, the sensible thing to do is to give the 23-seed this week to prove that he deserves our attention at Caves Valley because he’ll present as a more intriguing choice for chasers in that ballpark. Front-runners won’t want to trust him with what’s at stake. DRAWS Cameron Smith (+3500) … Not the strongest fit for Liberty National, so he presents as a contrarian for chasers because he rises to the occasion in big events regularly. He’s also proven to be streaky. Keep that in mind when deliberating if he’s worth the reach after a T5 in his last start in Memphis. Matt Fitzpatrick (+6600) … Doubt that I convey that it feels that I go to his well too often but that’s, well, how it feels. When you’re a top-20 machine that makes most cuts, all fantasy formats are going to reward that kind of output. The 26-year-old Englishman still is getting his feet wet in the Playoffs – this is just his second spin – but his combination of splitting fairways and sinking putts works no matter what or where. Jhonattan Vegas (+10000) … He overcame a seriously inconsistent track record at Sedgefield with seriously strong form to finish T15 last week. Including a T16 at the Olympics, he’s recorded six top 20s in his last eight starts worldwide. His tee-to-green strength should do damage at each of the first two stops of the Playoffs. Tyrrell Hatton (+5000) … Despite testing positive for COVID-19 in late April, no complaints about 2021. He opened it with a victory in Abu Dhabi, got married in May and he’s on the inside track to represent Europe in the Ryder Cup. Yet, at 63rd in the FedExCup, it feels unfinished. He’s performed well enough in recent non-majors to deserve our confidence, but limit to DFS. Corey Conners Russell Henley Billy Horschel Jason Kokrak Joaquin Niemann Odds sourced on Wednesday, August 18 at 5 a.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. FADES Hideki Matsuyama (+3300) … We forget how much of a workhorse he’s been for us over the years, and then we’re reminded of his vulnerability at the Olympics in his native Japan. He opens his eighth FedExCup Playoffs as the 14-seed, so he’s a virtual lock to advance to the TOUR Championship for, you guessed it, the eighth time. That’s crazy reliability and value, but he’s yet to record a top 10 in THE NORTHERN TRUST regardless of site. In his only previous trip to Liberty National in 2019, he finished T30. Of course that’s not terrible, but it’s a tip to holster him until Caves Valley when his long and strong, tee-to-green game can shine. Sam Burns (+6600) … He’s headed for stardom, not to mention his first TOUR Championship as the opening 10-seed, but he makes sense only in DFS situations, not in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf where familiarity in the Playoffs is of value. Si Woo Kim (+8000) … The course horse at Sedgefield was among the playoff victims on Sunday. It also was his first top-35 finish in official competition in two months. He’s gone nine consecutive starts in the Playoffs without a top 25. Sergio Garcia (+8000) … He should dissect Liberty National but he’s failed to break par in his last four rounds on the course. Sure, that dates back to the third round in 2013, but that’s still the reality. So, like with Smith above, the Spaniard can be a shrewd play if you’re in pursuit, but Garcia’s angle is his fit. His form isn’t that bad, either, however. Lee Westwood (+15000) … He hasn’t made much noise since the consecutive runner-up finishes in Florida several months ago, so the more curious matter is if he renews his PGA TOUR membership in 2021-22. The two-time winner paid his dues this season because of the six majors and 50 tournaments. With a normal schedule restored and at age 48, it’s reasonable to assume that this was a one-time return. Remember this wrinkle if you’re in a keeper league. Stewart Cink Lucas Glover Branden Grace Charley Hoffman Marc Leishman Phil Mickelson Ryan Palmer Cameron Tringale Gary Woodland RETURNING TO COMPETITION Garrick Higgo … Opening his Playoffs debut seeded 104th. He withdrew before the final round of the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational due to an illness. In the interim, he officially qualified as a rookie on the PGA TOUR. Danny Lee … Committed to the Albertsons Boise Open presented by Chevron to open the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. He finished 183rd in the FedExCup but didn’t play after withdrawing during the John Deere Classic, citing an injured back. He later learned that he had a fractured rib. It prevented him from competing in The Open Championship. Seung-Yul Noh … Also in the field in Boise, and he’s also been nursing a rib injury since it forced him out of the Wells Fargo Championship during its second round. No matter what happens at the KFT Finals, the 30-year-old will have 16 starts via a Major Medical Extension to open the 2021-22 PGA TOUR season. NOTABLE WDs Louis Oosthuizen … The 8-seed is resting a sore neck for the second consecutive week. POWER RANKINGS RECAP – Wyndham Championship Power Ranking Golfer Result 1 Webb Simpson T7 2 Sungjae Im T24 3 Jason Kokrak MC 4 Hideki Matsuyama MC 5 Louis Oosthuizen DNP 6 Patrick Reed DNP 7 Brian Harman MC 8 Russell Henley T7 9 Si Woo Kim P2 10 Seamus Power T60 11 Kevin Kisner Win 12 Brandt Snedeker MC 13 Will Zalatoris T29 14 Rory Sabbatini T10 15 Robert MacIntyre T65 Wild Card Rickie Fowler MC SLEEPERS RECAP – Wyndham Championship Golfer (BetMGM prop) Result Austin Cook (Top 20) MC Ryan Moore (Top 10) MC Cameron Percy (Top 20) T37 Scott Piercy (Top 10) T15 Camilo Villegas (Top 20) T46 BIRTHDAYS AMONG ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE PGA TOUR August 17 … none August 18 … Cameron Smith (28) August 19 … Jhonattan Vegas (37) August 20 … Zac Blair (31) August 21 … J.J. Spaun (31) August 22 … none August 23 … none Visit BetMGM.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ years of age or older to wager. CO, IA, IN,MI, NJ, NV,PA, TN, VA or WV only. Excludes Michigan Disassociated Persons. 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ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Cameron Champ has quickly become known for more than his tee shots.  The 23-year-old rookie started the season by appearing on the cover of a golf magazine that was peddling the promise of longer drives. Then he started earning attention for his scores.  No one appeared on leaderboards more often than Champ this fall. He sat inside the top 10 after 13 of the last 16 rounds. He was 64 under par over that stretch.  He will start the New Year ranked sixth in the FedExCup. He is tied with Gary Woodland for the most top-10s this season (3).  At the start of the season, Champ would’ve considered it a success if he made all the cuts. He did much more than that. He won the Sanderson Farms Championship, finished T10 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic and closed the fall with a sixth-place finish at The RSM Classic.  His worst finish in five fall starts was a T28 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, where he was in sixth place entering the final round.  He was most proud of the consistency he showed this fall.  Fifteen of his last 17 rounds were in the 60s. Eleven of them were 68 or lower, including a second-round 62 at Mayakoba. He leads the TOUR in birdies (117) and is second in birdie average (5.9 per round).  He had a chance to win The RSM Classic on Sunday despite struggling with his ball-striking.  “My putter really saved me this week. It’s been a good balance. Some weeks, my ball-striking has been great and I really haven’t putted well. And vice versa,� he said.  Champ excelled with both the longest and shortest clubs in his bag. He leads the TOUR in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (+1.48 per round) and could contend for the greatest single-season performance in that metric. But he also ranked 28th in Strokes Gained: Putting (+0.83 per round) this fall.  It’s a very small sample, but no player has ever combined such skill on the tee and off the greens. Even if Champ’s putting regresses as the season progresses, he could become the first player to average more than 1 stroke gained per round off the tee and 0.3 per round on the greens.  The advantage that his distance alone gives him should not be understated, though.  Only twice in the FedExCup era has the leader in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee failed to qualify for the TOUR Championship. Only once has the leader in that statistic failed to win.  The leader in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee has an average FedExCup ranking of 14 and averages 1.7 wins per season.  Bubba Watson is the current record-holder for single-season performance in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. He averaged 1.49 strokes gained per round in 2012, the year he won his first Masters.  There have been only eight seasons in which a player has averaged more than 1 stroke gained per round off the tee. Four players – Dustin Johnson (2016, ’17), Rory McIlroy (2012, ’14, ’16), Watson (’12, ’15) and Sergio Garcia (2005) – have achieved that feat.  Players who surpassed 1 stroke gained per round off the tee averaged 2.7 wins per season and a ranking of 4.3 in the FedExCup.  Last season, eight of the top 10 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee qualified for the TOUR Championship, as did 13 of the top 20 in that metric.  Let that sink in for a second. Nearly half of the players who qualified for the season finale were in the top 20 of Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee when they arrived at East Lake.  Champ leads the PGA TOUR in driving distance (328.2 yards) while hitting 62 percent of his fairways. His driving accuracy almost equals the TOUR average this season (63 percent).  Mark Broadie, the inventor of the Strokes Gained statistics, calls Champ’s combination of distance and accuracy “remarkable.�  “The Strokes Gained that he loses from reduced accuracy is way more than compensated by his extra distance,� Broadie said.  Broadie has calculated that it takes approximately 3.4 strokes gained per round to win a PGA TOUR event. Champ covers nearly half of that with his tee shots alone. This fall, he gained nearly 2.4 strokes per round with his driving and putting.  “There are a lot of ways to get another 1 stroke per round to reach 3.4 per round,� Broadie said. “A hot putter, sinking one more putt per round, an approach shot or 2 to 4 feet instead of 14 feet, etc.�  Champ may not be able to keep up this unprecedented pace, but perhaps his putter should be mentioned alongside that other club that he is known for.
The United States Golf Association (USGA) on Wednesday launched a program aimed at increasing media coverage of the women’s game by offering financial support to news organisations. Recent studies show that only 4% of sports coverage and storytelling features female athletes, the USGA said. “Today, women’s sports, including golf, are stuck in a recurring cycle where media outlets don’t always receive significant return on investment when they cover events that lack household names,” said Craig Annis, the USGA’s chief brand officer.
