Fantasy golf advice: One & Done, Desert Classic

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Robert Streb kept his game from coming undone over the first hour Saturday, and then pieced together enough birdies for a 3-under 67 to build a three-shot lead going into the final round of The RSM Classic. RELATED: Final leaderboard | Streb looks for second win at The RSM Classic Streb came from five shots behind when he won at Sea Island six years ago, his only PGA TOUR title. This time, he has a lead over Zach Johnson (65) and Bronson Burgoon (67). Streb was at 17-under 195. Camilo Villegas pulled within one shot of the lead going to the back nine of the Seaside course until a two-shot swing at the 10th that cost him momentum. Streb hit his approach to 8 feet for birdie. Villegas was just on the fringe 15 feet away, ran it by 5 feet and missed that to fall three shots back. Villegas added a bogey on the 13th, didn’t make a birdie on the back nine and had to settle for a 70. He was five shots behind as he tries to win for the first time since five years. Streb had to earn back his full PGA TOUR card a year ago, and then missed the FedExCup Playoffs for the third straight year. He kept his status because of the pandemic-shortened year, and a victory Sunday would give him an exemption through August 2023. Even so, he knows from experience not to look too far ahead. It was in 2014 when Streb closed with a 63 to make up a five-shot deficit before winning a three-man playoff. Six players were within five shots of the lead going into Sunday. Even with no spectators and only limited corporate clients allowed, Johnson will feel an entire community behind. He lives at Sea Island, and no resident has ever won this event. Winless since the 2015 Open Championship at St. Andrews, Johnson rallied late with three birdies over his last five holes, finishing with a 30-foot birdie putt. Burgoon had five birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine — the exception was a bogey on the 14th, playing straight into a strong wind along the water — to overcome a rough start and get into the final group. Emiliano Grillo had a 65 and was four shots behind, while Kevin Kisner (66) and Kyle Stanley (68) were five back. Streb began his round with a quick hook and escaped trouble with par. From the left side of the second fairway, 123 yards to a back pin and facing the wind, he left it on the front of the green and had to two-putt from 75 feet. He came up well short of the green on the par-3 third and had to get up-and-down from 65 meet, making an 8-foot par putt. "It wasn't the greatest start, but got out of there with a bunch of pars and tried to find some consistency and it got better," Streb said. It never felt easy, but he wasn’t losing any ground. He made his first birdie with a sand wedge to 3 feet on No. 8, and the rest of the round was relatively stress-free except for a couple of more two-putts from 50 feet or longer.

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NAPLES, Fla. – Matt Kuchar and Harris English took a five-stroke lead Saturday in the QBE Shootout, opening and closing with long birdie runs for an 11-under 61 in modified alternate-shot play. "I feel like our games really fit this format well," English said. "He does a lot of stuff that I'm not great at and maybe I do some stuff that he's not great at. It's just fun. It's very relaxing out there." Kuchar and English birdied the first five holes on Tiburon Golf Club's Gold Course, then ran off six in a row on Nos. 12-17. They had a 25-under 125 total after opening the 12-team event Friday with a 58 in the scramble format. The final round will be better ball. RELATED: Leaderboard "There's still a need to make lots of birdies," Kuchar said. "I think this best-ball format, guys are going to shoot some low scores. Whatever the lead is, pars aren't going to be helping out very much. We've got to still make a bunch of birdies tomorrow to try to protect the lead." Kevin Na and Sean O'Hair, the first-round leaders at 56, were second after a 68. "Alternate shot's a tough format," Na said. "I don't know what these guys played that are leading, but we were saying anything better than 5 under was a good score. We fell one short of what our minimum was, but it's tough." The all-rookie team of Lanto Griffin and Mackenzie Hughes also shot 68 to match Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen (66) at 18 under.

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The deepest field in golf will tee it up with heavy hearts for the biggest prize pool in the game at Pete Dye’s Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Of the 125 TOUR players eligible, 122 are teeing it up this week and the 47th PLAYERS will be contested, in part,  by 47 of the world’s top 50 players. On the line for the second consecutive March will be the biggest prize in golf: A purse of $15 million, including a winner’s share of $2.7 million, plus 600 FedExCup Points. RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks Dye’s masterpiece returned to the March portion of the schedule last year. Sadly, that would be his last PLAYERS, as he passed away in January. His legend and legendary track will frustrate, taunt and mislead the world’s best again this year. The Stadium Course features no two consecutive holes routed in the same direction, so judging the wind is always top-of-mind. Speaking of mind, don’t let it play tricks, as angles into fairways and greens don’t always appear what they seem. The genius of Pete Dye was planting the seed of doubt and forcing the player to make a decision. Having a strong conviction this week won’t hurt either! The course isn’t long, but can play so this time of year as the over-seeded rough and greens are more receptive since they haven’t dried out over the spring. Without run-off or run-out, fairways become easier to hit, but distance is sacrificed, favoring the power players, as usual. It’s another week of TifEagle greens, wind, sand, water and Palm trees, but this time with the deepest field in golf. RECENT WINNERS 2019: Rory McIlroy (-16, 272) Began the final round one shot back of Jon Rahm (T12) before posting 70 to win THE PLAYERS for the first time (10th attempt). … Opened 67-65 to co-lead after 36 holes with Tommy Fleetwood (T5). … Led the field in Strokes-Gained: Tee-to-Green and Par-3 scoring. … Became the third winner in the last four to lead or co-lead the field in bogey avoidance. … Opened 2019 on TOUR T6 or better in his first five events. #Hawt. … Cut was 143 (-1). Notables in the field this week: Jim Furyk (2nd), all 48 years of him, tied 54-hole leader Rahm for the low round of the week (64) and finished just one back. … Furyk was looking to become the first local to win since Fred Funk (2005). … Jhonattan Vegas (T3) closed 67-66. … Dustin Johnson graced the top 10 (T5) for the first time in 11 tries and posted all four rounds in the 60s. … Brandt Snedeker (T5) ended a streak of three straight MC and co-led the field in birdies (23) with Abraham Ancer (T12). … Webb Simpson (T16) provided the best title defense since Adam Scott (T8) in 2005. 2018: Webb Simpson (-18, 270) Led or co-led every round en route to a four-shot victory in his ninth attempt. … Set 36-hole record (-15) and tied the 54-hole record (-19) in the final event during May. … Led by a record seven shots after Saturday. … 73 tied the highest score in the final round for a winner. … Missed Greg Norman’s tournament record by five. … 63 in Round 2 tied the course record. … Last in the field in driving distance yet first in fairways as May played firm and fast. Cut was 143 (-1). Notables in the field this week: Debutant Xander Schauffele and Jimmy Walker shared second four back. … Jason Day and Jason Dufner shared fifth. … Tommy Fleetwood (T7) started his hot streak. … Brooks Koepka tied the course record (63) Sunday for T11. … Defending champion Si Woo Kim T63. 2017: Si Woo Kim (-10, 278) Won by three shots in just his second attempt and became the youngest winner (21). … Only player double-digits under-par. … One of three players to put all four rounds at par-or-better. … Led the field in scrambling, bogey avoidance (T1) and Par-4 scoring. … Just seven rounds in the 60s on Sunday and his was the only one without a bogey! Notables in the field this week: Louis Oosthuizen and Ian Poulter shared second. … 54-hole leaders Kyle Stanley (T4) and J.B. Holmes (T41) didn’t break 75 on Sunday. … Francesco Molinari (T6) picked up his third top-10 finish in a row. … Adam Scott (T6) picked up his first top-10 payday since 2007. Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2019-20 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week.  * -  previous top-10 finish here since 2015 or previous champion Strokes-Gained: Tee-to-Green  1  *Rory McIlroy  2  *Justin Thomas  3  *Hideki Matsuyama  4  *Adam Scott  5  Patrick Cantlay  6  Paul Casey  7  Byeong-Hun An  8  *Dustin Johnson  9  Corey Conners 10 Jon Rahm 11 *Xander Schauffele 12 Brooks Koepka 13 *Tommy Fleetwood 14 Jason Kokrak 15 Emiliano Grillo 16 Gary Woodland 18 Matthew Fitzpatrick 19 Kevin Streelman 20 *Webb Simpson 21 Tony Finau 22 *Henrik Stenson (2009 winner) 23 Joaquin Niemann 24 *Sergio Garcia 25 *Lucas Glover (T6, 2017; 3, 2010) Strokes-Gained: Putting  1  Denny McCarthy  2  Jordan Spieth  4  *Graeme McDowell  5  Andrew Putnam  6  Aaron Baddeley  7  Patton Kizzire  8  Wyndham Clark  9  Vaughn Taylor 11 *Webb Simpson 12 *Brandt Snedeker 13 *Rickie Fowler 14 Pat Perez 15 Harris English 16 Billy Horschel 17 *Justin Rose (T8, 2019) 19 Peter Malnati 20 *Kevin Kisner (P2 debut 2015) 22 Patrick Rodgers 23 Sam Ryder 24 *Ian Poulter 24 *Rory McIlroy Par-4 Scoring  1  *Rory McIlroy  1  Brooks Koepka  3  *Justin Thomas  3  *Webb Simpson  3  Jon Rahm  3  Patrick Cantlay  7  Cameron Tringale  8  Nate Lashley  8  Brice Garnett  8  Joaquin Niemann  8  *Rickie Fowler  8  Sam Ryder  8  *Lucas Glover  8  Scott Piercy  8  Charles Howell III  8  Patrick Reed  8  *Chez Reavie  8  Ryan Palmer  8  Abraham Ancer Horses      Rory McIlroy: Of the last seven, five are T12 or better, including the only player to win in March. Sergio Garcia: All-time money leader and 2008 champ has cashed in 16 straight; closed 67 last year for T22. Adam Scott: 2004 winner in March has taken home T12 or better the last four years; only Garcia has more rounds in the 60s. Webb Simpson: Hard to ignore T16-WIN-T16 in the last three editions. Jason Day: 2016 champ closed out the May portion with T5 (-13) and began March with T8 (-12). Jim Furyk: Local has cashed in 18 of 23 over his career for second-best on the money list, but he’s 49. Caution. Cut Makers Matt Kuchar: 2012 winner has been paid in 10 of his last 11 visits; T26 last year but soft conditions won’t help him or Furyk. Caution. Tommy Fleetwood: T7 in the final May event (-12) and T5 (-13) in the return to March last year. Hideki Matsuyama: Six trips have resulted in five weekends with the worst being T23; T8 last year. Justin Rose: Four straight and five of his last six with T8 last year, which included playing the final 54 holes 14 under. Ian Poulter: Stayed all weekend in 13 of 16 including six straight; nine-under (T3) after 36 last year before fading. Justin Thomas: Perfect from five tries and all four rounds par-or-better last year.

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