Fantasy golf: One & Done, A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier

It’s that wondrous time of the season when we’re running dry on short-listers but elated when at least one of the usual suspects the unburned is out there contributing to his FedExCup points total. Independence, indeed. What’s hilarious, although as good as an indictment on my disappointing effort in the long-term as any, is that 11 of the 15 golfers in my Power Rankings at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier are still on my board. Seriously think about that. We’re at event No. 36 and I’m swimming in possibilities. Only Tony Finau (No. 1), Webb Simpson (No. 2), Phil Mickelson (No. 6) and Brian Harman (No. 9) are unavailable. I don’t suspect that you’re in similar waters because many of the guys at my disposal would have made sense – and were recommended in this space – earlier this season. Finau lines up well everywhere. He among the MVPs of the bridges to whom we turn at various points when converging trends and horses for courses are in short supply. Look no further if you can plug him in now. The same can be said of Russell Henley, who captures the attention of my brethren. No doubt that’s in part due to the fact that Finau is no longer available to any of us. Elsewhere, even if defending champion Xander Schauffele was contending regularly – he’s been hot and cold in recent weeks – the advice is to let him go about his first experience in that role alone and appreciate how rapidly he’s risen on our radar as a go-to in just his second season with a PGA TOUR card. If the Wyndham Championship wasn’t on the horizon (in mid-August), Webb Simpson would look tantalizing right now. However, if you’re chasing, burn him now. Done. Ever since Jimmy Walker reconnected with the kind of form that we expect without the challenge of Lyme disease, he’s been inside my circle for The Old White TPC. His superb record on the course warrants enough confidence and faith, but that’s multiplied given subscribers to recency bias might be dissuaded by uninspiring results as the largest images in the side-view mirror. That slots him as the perfect hired gun for those of us in pursuit. Then there’s Charles Howell III. How is it early July and we’re still talking about him! He just turned 39, but he’s playing as if he’s given strokes to Father Time. He’s not included in Future Possibilities below only because it doesn’t include the first half of 2018-19. I joked last week that two-man gamers should burn him already if he’s “somehow still on your board,” but lo and behold, I haven’t turned to him in my one-man format. Glance at my performance and realize quickly that the joke is on me. Two-man gamers should target J.B. Holmes, Andrew Putnam and Joaquin Niemann. 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. Kevin Chappell … WGC-Bridgestone (2); Dell Technologies (3) Tony Finau … Greenbrier (2); Canadian (4) Bill Haas … Wyndham (2) Brian Harman … John Deere (3) Russell Henley … Greenbrier (2) J.B. Holmes … Greenbrier (5) Kevin Kisner … Wyndham (6) Phil Mickelson … Open Championship (5) Ryan Moore … John Deere (3); TOUR Championship (6) Kevin Na … John Deere (9); Wyndham (3); THE NORTHERN TRUST (11) Scott Piercy … John Deere (6) Webb Simpson … Greenbrier (5); Wyndham (1) Brandt Snedeker … Canadian (3); Wyndham (4) Jimmy Walker … Greenbrier (8); Dell Technologies (7) Bubba Watson … Greenbrier (8); WGC-Bridgestone (1); TOUR Championship (4)

Click here to read the full article…