DraftKings preview: THE PLAYERS Championship

HOUSTON — Jason Day, eyeing his first PGA TOUR victory in more than two years, was one shot back of Sam Burns at the Vivint Houston Open on Saturday, shooting a 3-under 67 less than two weeks after withdrawing during the final round at THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK because of neck discomfort. RELATED: Final leaderboard | Johnson looking for unprecedented win The Australian was behind second-round leader Sam Burns, who began the day in the lead and ahead by two strokes. He overcame back-to-back early bogeys to salvage a 68. Burns was at 201, also one stroke ahead of Mexico's Carlos Ortiz. Ortiz, tied for second after each of the first two rounds, also put up a 67. Like Burns, he and several other contenders are chasing their first PGA TOUR title. Dustin Johnson was another two shots back after a bogey-free 66. This was his first start since the U.S. Open following a six-week break brought on by a positive test for the novel coronavirus. Johnson nearly put himself out of the tournament after opening with a 72 on the public Memorial Park course near downtown that's hosting a TOUR event for the first time since 1963. First-round leader Brandt Snedeker's third-round 76 dropped him far out of contention. Day has 12 TOUR titles — the 2015 PGA Championship among them — but none since 2018 after winning eight times over a sparkling two-year stretch in 2015-16. This summer, flummoxed by his long slump caused in part by ongoing back and neck issues, he decided to split with Colin Swatton, his coach and mentor since he was 12. Day put himself in the mix at THE CJ CUP in Las Vegas with a third-round 66 but took a triple bogey on the opening hole of the final round. Then he pulled his approach from the right rough into the water. He called it a day after hitting two shots on the second hole, the first of which he also pulled badly. Having intended to play every fall tournament to prepare for next week's delayed Masters, Day returned last week for the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD and finished in a tie for 60th-place. Austria's Shepp Straka, also chasing a breakthrough TOUR victory, was alone in fourth place at 203, a shot ahead of the fifth-place Johnson after his 66. Straka had held a share of the lead before bogeying the 17th hole. Dawie van der Walt, a South African who lives in the Houston area, briefly got to the lead at 8 under but lost three strokes to par on the back nine, falling into a sixth-place tie with Aaron Wise.

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Kevin Kisner was able to outlast a six-man playoff at the Wyndham Championship to win his fourth title on the PGA TOUR. Six players ties the record for most in a playoff, with Kisner making a birdie on the second sudden-death hole. Check out the clubs he used to close out the victory. RELATED: Final leaderboard Driver: Callaway GBB (8.5 degrees @9.5) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X 3-wood: Callaway Epic Speed Triple Diamond (15 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 X Hybrid: Callaway Apex Pro (18 degrees) Shaft: Aldila Rogue Black 130 MSI 80 TX Irons: Callaway Apex UT (21, 24 degrees), Callaway Apex Pro 2014 (5-9) Shafts: Nippon Pro Modus3 120 TX Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM8 (46-10F), Callaway Jaws Forged (54-12), Vokey Design SM8 WedgeWorks (60-T) Shafts: Nippon Pro Modus3 125 Putter: Odyssey Exo Seven Grip: SuperStroke Traxion Tour 2.0 Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

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The 15th of 24 contributing events for PGA TOUR Champions One & Done presented by SERVPRO is this week’s Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship. It begins on Thursday. Scroll for tournament notes, 23 notables and four wild cards from the field of 78 in Highland Park, Illinois. This isn’t complicated. In fact, I went back to review previous One & Done previews for the John Deere Classic so that I didn’t open with the same thought. If that’s not evidence of my confidence in Zach Johnson, we’re never going to understand each other. Steve Stricker is the all-time earnings leader and three-time champion at TPC Deere Run, but ZJ is one day from being exactly nine years younger, and that counts for something when you’re sizing up his equally impressive record in this tournament. Every time I see Johnson selected during another week – well, other than Colonial – I shake my head. But I don’t judge. You do you. I’ll be here waiting. If the 2012 champ isn’t available, pivot to Stricker and enjoy the week. Bryson DeChambeau is defending his first title. That would normally elicit pause among prospective investors, but the experience will be closer to the inside of the box than his frequency of going about his business on the outside. In other words, he’ll be fine. Like Xander Schauffele at last week’s A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier, DeChambeau has rapidly risen on the list of permanent class. Fire away if you’re keen. Gamers in pursuit are overdue to burn Joaquin Niemann. That’s an incredible (and accurate) assessment given the fact that he’s been a professional for fewer than three months. The same strategy can be applied to Chesson Hadley, who is still simmering and filling up the box score. A T25 at last year’s JDC doesn’t hurt, but he’s been reliable almost everywhere, anyway. Stalwarts Ryan Moore and Kyle Stanley are sporty foils if you’re looking for something just a little outside the focus. They present stronger as roster plays, but that’s the reason their ownership percentages should be low in the One & Done. Smart, safe contrarians they are. Like all of the aforementioned (sans Schauffele, who didn’t commit), Francesco Molinari and Austin Cook also are in my Power Rankings. However, both present as possibly looking ahead to The Open Championship. It’s never something that we can quantify or accuse beyond the general narrative, but there’s always a small grouping of concerns who usually look good on the eve of a major and who you shouldn’t burn in a One & Done now. Assuming two-man gamers lead off with one of the golfers already covered, fill the blank on the back end with Kevin Tway, Scott Brown, Chris Kirk or Wesley Bryan. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2017-18. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Bill Haas … Wyndham (2) Zach Johnson … John Deere (1); Open Championship (5); WGC-Bridgestone (6); TOUR Championship (8) Ryan Moore … John Deere (3); TOUR Championship (6) Scott Piercy … John Deere (6) CHAMPIONS ONE & DONE Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park, Illinois, is the host. Located north of Chicago, it’s a 122-year-old facility that has never hosted a professional event. The stock par 72 can stretch 7,149 yards. Scott McCarron is the defending champion. He ended Bernhard Langer’s string of three straight tournament titles, each on a different track. This is a 72-hole competition with 78 participants. There is no cut. With a purse of $2.8 million, it’s the third-most lucrative tournament on the schedule, but it’s the richest of the remaining 10 contributing to the fantasy game. The winner will pocket $420,000. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2018. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Stephen Ames … Boeing (2); Shaw (7) Joe Durant … SENIOR PLAYERS (1); 3M (6); DICK’S (12); Boeing (10); Shaw (11); PURE (3); SAS (13) David Frost … 3M (7); Boeing (5); Shaw (8); PURE (1) Fred Funk … Boeing (6); PURE (5) Doug Garwood … SAS (1) Paul Goydos … 3M (1; defending); DICK’S (3); SAS (5) Miguel Angel Jiménez … SENIOR PLAYERS (3); Senior Open Championship (4); 3M (9); Shaw (7); SAS (12) Brandt Jobe … SENIOR PLAYERS (1); 3M (5); Boeing (8) Jerry Kelly … Boeing (1; defending); Shaw (5); PURE (2); SAS (4) Bernhard Langer … Usable everywhere. Defending five titles. Tom Lehman … SAS (9) Jeff Maggert … Shaw (5) Billy Mayfair … Boeing (2); PURE (1) Scott McCarron … SENIOR PLAYERS (3; defending); Senior Open Championship (10); DICK’S (4; defending); Shaw (5; defending); PURE (8) Colin Montgomerie … SENIOR PLAYERS (2); Senior Open Championship (10); Shaw (4); PURE (7); SAS (3; defending) Tom Pernice, Jr. … Shaw (3); SAS (5) Kenny Perry … 3M (1); DICK’S (11); SAS (2) Gene Sauers … SENIOR PLAYERS (6); Boeing (1) Vijay Singh … Shaw (5); SAS (1) Kevin Sutherland … Usable everywhere. David Toms … Boeing (2); SAS (4) Kirk Triplett … SENIOR PLAYERS (1); Shaw (4) Duffy Waldorf … Shaw (5) WILD CARDS (short list of golfers not included above but on the rise or still building portfolios after recently turning 50): Bob Estes; Steve Flesch; Rocco Mediate; Scott Parel

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