English maintains 2-stroke lead at TPC Southwind

How it works: Each week, our experts from PGATOUR.COM will make their selections in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf. Each lineup consists of four starters and two bench players that can be rotated after each round. Adding to the challenge is that every golfer can be used only three times per each of four Segments. Aside from the experts below, Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton breaks down the field at this year’s WM Phoenix Open in this week’s edition of the Power Rankings. For more fantasy, check out Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers and Reshuffle. THINK YOU’RE BETTER THAN OUR EXPERTS? The PGA TOUR Experts league is once again open to the public. You can play our free fantasy game and see how you measure up against our experts below. Joining the league is simple. Just click here to sign up or log in. Once you create a team, click the “LEAGUES” tab. Then click on “FEATURED,” and then on the PGA TOUR Experts league that populates. SEASON SEGMENT

Click here to read the full article…

Welcome to the FedExCup Playoffs. Now in its 13th season, this competition rewards consistency as well as success during the regular season, while also offering hope for players who can get hot in the three-event Playoffs to make a charge up the standings. With some significant changes in the schedule and format, the question becomes: Who will own August? How it works The top 125 in regular-season FedExCup points qualify for the Playoffs. The points structure for the first two events will be quadrupled. At THE NORTHERN TRUST, 55 players will be eliminated, with the top 70 advancing to the second event, the BMW Championship. From there, 40 more players will be eliminated, with the top 30 moving on to the Playoffs finale, the TOUR Championship. This is similar to previous Playoffs, albeit with one less Playoffs event. It’s at the TOUR Championship where the biggest change has been made. Instead of a points reset used in the previous format, the new format for East Lake starting this season involves a strokes-based bonus system called FedExCup Starting Strokes. Each player will start with a score (relative to par) corresponding to his position in FedExCup points after the BMW Championship. Here’s the breakdown: This will allow each player to know exactly where he stands throughout the tournament, eliminating the guessing game and the scenarios of past Playoffs. With the implementation of this change, the player with the lowest total score will be the FedExCup champion and be credited with an official victory in the TOUR Championship. Players to watch A look at the top five in the FedExCup standings going into the Playoffs: THREE MORE TO WATCH Tiger Woods — He’s the defending TOUR Championship champ, but despite that Masters win, there’s no guarantee he reaches East Lake. He starts a precarious 27th in the standings and his health and stamina will be tested with three starts (he hopes) in three consecutive weeks. Still, his track record on this year’s three courses is unmatched by any player in the Playoffs. Justin Rose — The defending FedExCup champ won at Torrey Pines this season, but after that, the season’s been less productive. Vying to become the first to successfully defend the FedExCup. Will enter the Playoffs ranked 10th. Dustin Johnson — Has four wins in the Playoffs (tied with Rory and Tiger for most) and 18 career Top 10s (most of any player). And yet he’s never been able to lift the FedExCup trophy. Has hit a cold stretch the last five starts. Starts the Playoffs ranked 7th in points. The courses What’s at stake FEDEXCUP TITLE: The biggest prize in golf is even bigger this season, with the winner receiving a $15 million bonus – a 50 percent increase from last season. Just three of the previous 12 winners have entered the Playoffs as the top seed – Tiger Woods in 2007 and 2009, and Jordan Spieth in 2015. After a 38-week regular season, it’s now a three-tournament sprint to the finish. PRESIDENTS CUP: This year’s competition at Royal Melbourne is in December, but the automatic top eight spots for both teams will be determined after the BMW Championship. For the U.S. Team, rankings are based on accumulated FedExCup points; for the International Team, the Official World Golf Ranking determines the top eight. Some big names are currently on the outside looking in – including U.S. Captain Tiger Woods, currently ranked 12th. Woods and International Team Captain Ernie Els will make their Captain’s Picks during the Fall portion of next season’s schedule. PLAYER OF THE YEAR: So you think Brooks Koepka has it wrapped up for the second straight year? He certainly is in the driver’s seat, but perhaps Rory McIlroy – who counts THE PLAYERS Championship as one of his two wins this season – can make some noise to join Tiger as the only two-time FedExCup champs. Or maybe Gary Woodland gets hot and adds the FedExCup title to his U.S. Open victory. Could be enough to sway some votes. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: This one should definitely be decided by what happens in the next three weeks. Sungjae Im has been arguably the most consistent, but Collin Morikawa, Matthew Wolff, Adam Long and Cameron Champ each has a victory. The goal is to get to East Lake … and then make your final argument there. MORE BENEFITS: Reaching certain plateaus in the FedExCup standings triggers various invites to tournaments in the following season. Here’s a list: Playoffs fast facts Nine players have qualified for the Playoffs in each of the first 13 seasons: Charley Hoffman, Charles Howell III, Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson, Ryan Moore, Justin Rose, Adam Scott, Brandt Snedeker, Bubba Watson. Phil Mickelson is the only player to qualify for the BMW Championship (top 70) in each of the previous 12 seasons. Mickelson enters this year’s Playoffs ranked 33rd, so he’s essentially assured of advancing to the BMW for a 13th consecutive season. Mickelson also has made more birdies (651) than any player in Playoffs history. Dustin Johnson is the only player to qualify for the TOUR Championship in 10 of the first 12 FedExCup seasons. Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose had reached East Lake nine times since 2007. Jason Day has a recorded a top-25 finish in 29 of 39 Playoffs events (a 74.4 percent clip). That’s the most top-25 finishes for any player in Playoffs history. Day also is the most under par (227 under) and has the most sub-70 rounds (84). Since 2009, Tiger Woods is the only No. 1 seed entering the TOUR Championship to win the FedExCup. More Tiger: His 68.27 career stroke average in the FedExCup Playoffs is the best among all players with a minimum of 40 rounds played. Since 2012, Jon Rahm has a stroke average of 68.60, the best among all players with a minimum of 30 rounds. Rahm and Justin Thomas each played all 16 rounds of the 2017 Playoffs at par or better – the only ones to have done that in any Playoffs stretch (Thomas won the FedExCup title that year). Lowest rounds in Playoffs history: Jim Furyk’s 59 at the 2013 BMW Championship; Zach Johnson’s 60 at the 2007 TOUR Championship. Four players have shot a round of 61 in the Playoffs. Just two players have drives of 400-plus yards in the Playoffs – Dustin Johnson, 463 yards at the 2011 Dell Technologies Championship/Rd. 4 (TPC Boston); and Rory McIlroy, 403 yards at the 2017 THE NORTHERN TRUST/Rd. 4 (Glen Oaks). Charles Howell III has the longest putt in Playoffs history – 88 feet, 5 inches on the 12th hole at the 2011 BMW Championship (Cog Hill). Billy Horschel is the lowest-ranked player entering the Playoffs to win the FedExCup. He entered the 2014 Playoffs ranked 69th, then fell to 80th after missing the cut at THE NORTHERN TRUST. He then finished T-2 at the next event before winning the last two events that season. Bubble busters: 34 players who started the BMW Championship outside the top 30 in points have played their way into the TOUR Championship. Geoff Ogilvy was the lowest-ranked player, starting 69th before moving up to 24th after the 2011 BMW. Twelve rookies have qualified for the TOUR Championship in the FedExCup era, most recently Aaron Wise last season. Xander Schauffele has the best rookie finish in the final FedExCup standings (third in 2017).

Click here to read the full article…

Six of the top 10 in the FedExCup roll into 7,392-yard, par-72 Muirfield Village Golf Club. In addition to No. 1 Matt Kuchar, No. 3 Xander Schauffele and No. 4 Rory McIlroy, the Memorial will feature five-time winner Tiger Woods, who is chasing what would be a record-tying 82nd PGA TOUR victory, Phil Mickelson, and Bryson DeChambeau, whose win here a year ago kicked off a stretch of four victories in 12 starts. Justin Thomas, coming off a wrist injury, will make his first start since the Masters Tournament. In all, the Memorial boasts 23 of the top 30 in the FedExCup standings. Related: Watch Tiger exclusively Thursday on PGA TOUR Live | The First Look | Power Rankings THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER Tiger Woods – Can he rebound after missing the cut at the PGA? It wouldn’t exactly be shocking, as the Memorial is one of seven TOUR events he’s won five or more times.  Rickie Fowler – Suffered first missed cut in 22 starts at the Charles Schwab Challenge, now looks to bounce back at Muirfield Village, where he was T8 last year and T2 in 2017. Matt Kuchar – The newly-minted 41-year-old is the FedExCup leader and playing in a high-wattage group (Phil Mickelson, Fowler), but Kuchar is the only one to have won here, in 2013. THE FLYOVER The hardest hole on the course, the 484-yard, par-4 18th hole played to a 4.211 stroke average last year, giving up just 51 birdies compared to more than twice as many bogeys (93), doubles (12) and others (five) combined. Add that it’s the hole players must face with the trophy on the line (sometimes more than once in less than an hour, in the case of playoff winner Bryson DeChambeau last year), and it’s all the more challenging. The hard dogleg right plays downhill off the tee, with trees, rough and a creek awaiting left misses, but right misses aren’t great, either, as Kyle Stanley found when he bowed out of the playoff last year. Uphill approaches are played to a large, two-tiered green protected by four bunkers and surrounded by spectators.     LANDING ZONE Hit the fairway on the 529-yard, par-5 15th hole and you’re in business; the players who found the short grass off the tee last year averaged 4.56 strokes on the hole, helping make it Muirfield’s third easiest hole. Players who missed the fairways off the tee averaged 5.06. The hole plays slightly uphill and is cut through a forest, so the ideal tee shot avoids overhanging trees on either side and crests the top of the hill, opening up the possibility of reaching in two for long hitters. WEATHER CHECK From meteorologist Wade Stettner: “Stormy conditions are forecast on Thursday with rain and thunderstorm chances possible through much of the day. It will not be an all-day washout on Thursday, but there will be threats for rain and thunderstorms in the morning and afternoon. Temperatures will be cooler on Thursday with a high in the middle 70s. Dry weather is expected on Friday with partly cloudy skies and comfortable temperatures. There is a chance for scattered thunderstorms on both Saturday and Sunday.â€� For the latest weather news from Muirfield Village, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK I learned very quickly there’s not a lot to do in South Florida when you can’t golf or fish. BY THE NUMBERS 1 – Number of players to have won the Memorial and the FedExCup in the same year. Woods did it in 2009.  T15 – Local resident Jason Day’s best result, in 2017, in 10 starts at his hometown tournament. It’s his only top-25 finish. 0 – Number of other courses to have hosted the Presidents Cup (2013), Ryder Cup (1987) and Solheim Cup (1998). Muirfield Village also hosted the U.S. Amateur in 1992. SCATTERSHOTS Rankin honored: Judy Rankin, an LPGA winner, a pioneering golf broadcaster, and widely known as one of the nicest people in the game, will be this year’s Memorial honoree in a ceremony planned for Wednesday. Peter Alliss, a broadcasting legend from the other side of the pond (BBC), will also be honored.   Strong international field on tap: In addition to Australia’s Day (who has adopted Columbus as his hometown), the Memorial will feature a deep roster of European players, including Danny Willett, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Alex Noren. Reigning British Amateur champion Jovan Rebula, nephew of Ernie Els, will make his seventh start as a professional. Brothers Carlos and Alvaro Ortiz of Mexico are in the field, too. Alvaro, the younger of the two, won the 2019 Latin America Amateur Championship to earn a spot in the Masters, where he finished T36. He has since turned pro.     Weather adds intrigue: Storms ripped through Ohio and elsewhere earlier this week, and they didn’t spare Muirfield Village. The course has taken a lot of rain and could get more Thursday and this weekend if the forecast is correct, which could put an added premium on distance off the tee. “This one is going to require a lot of good driving,â€� said five-time Memorial champion Tiger Woods. “It’s going to be soft. Guys are going to be aggressive. The ball is not going to be going anywhere.â€� Added Justin Thomas, “When it’s soft like this, it’s going to favor a long hitter.â€�

Click here to read the full article…