Featured Groups: WGC-HSBC Champions

“Let’s play two!” was the famous cry of Cubs hall of fame shortstop Ernie Banks. Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, will become the epicenter of the PGA TOUR for the next two weeks as it will host the Workday Charity Open followed by the Memorial Tournament. The John Deere Classic usually takes place this week but has been put on hiatus until 2021. The Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village Golf Club will feature a field of 157 players and a purse of $6.2 million ($1.116 million/500 FedExCup points for the winner) to kick off the fortnight. Now stretching to 7,456 yards (Par-72), MVGC has added six new fairway bunkers and three new teeing grounds to add to the challenge and deviate from the norm. RELATED: Power Rankings | Sleepers | Expert Picks Tournament Director Dan Sullivan remarked last month that there will be a “clear distinction” between the two events. Tiger Woods has said over the years that these are the fastest greens on TOUR (non-major) but that’s not going to be the case this week. Slower speeds on undulating greens will also bring in new pin placements that will be new to the entire field. This will be the fifth week running that the average green sizes play less than 5,200 square feet and the third week in a row putting on Bent/Poa. While the teeing grounds and pin positions will rotate to alleviate heavy traffic, the course routing and challenge of avoiding 74 bunkers and 13 water hazards remains the same. The rough will be similar in length and species (Bluegrass) as it was last week in Detroit but will be a bit bushier for the 120-man invitational next week. Recent Winners at MVGC 2019: Patrick Cantlay, -19 T11 or better in EVERY SINGLE CATEGORY minus driving distance; missed tying Tom Lehman’s tournament record by a shot as he closed with 64, the low round on Sunday. Weather will be 10-20 degrees warmer this year. Notables: Kevin Streelman (4th) played his final 54 holes 13-under. … Marc Leishman (5th) posted all four rounds in the red. … Hideki Matsuyama, the 2014 champ, signed for 64 on Saturday. … 2017 champ Jason Dufner and Jordan Spieth shared seventh while Bud Cauley, Emiliano Grillo and Billy Horschel rounded out the top 10 (T9). … Only the top eight were 10-under or lower. 2018: Bryson DeChambeau, -15 (not entered) Notables: Byeong-Hun An and Kyle Stanley were the victims of a two-hole playoff. … Cantlay played in the final group and missed the playoff by a shot. … Joaquin Niemann (T6) co-led with Stanley after 36 holes. … Niemann and Matsuyama (T13) opened with 65 to share the 18-hole lead. … 2010 champ Justin Rose (T6) also put all four rounds in the red. … Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas and Patrick Rodgers (T8) rounded out the top 10. … Top 22 players were 10-under or lower. 2017: Jason Dufner, -15 Came from four shots off the lead to win by three over Fowler. … Ball-striking clinic as he led the field in GIR, SG: Tee to Green and SG: Approach. … Set the 36-hole record opening 65-65. … Posted 77 in Round 3 and still won comfortably. Notables: Thomas and Matt Kuchar (T4) nipped Stanley, Bubba Watson and James Hahn (T6) for the last spots in the top five. … Only three players 10-under or better. … Dufner, born in Cleveland, joined Jack Nicklaus as the only Ohio natives to win the event. The following should give you a decent road map on who understands the routing at MVGC. Next week, with the Memorial proper, I’ll dig deeper into the course horses when rough and slick greens return. Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2019-2020 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. * – Top 10 since 2015 Strokes-Gained: Approach the Green 1 *Marc Leishman 3 Collin Morikawa 5 *Patrick Cantlay 6 *Hideki Matsuyama 7 *Justin Thomas 8 Viktor Hovland 10 *Gary Woodland (T4, 2016) 13 Russell Henley 13 Joel Dahmen 13 *Emiliano Grillo 18 Corey Conners 19 *Joaquin Niemann 20 *Jim Furyk (T5, 2015; 2002 winner) 21 Tom Hoge 22 Matthew NeSmith 23 Cameron Tringale 24 Harold Varner III 25 Russell Knox Putting: Birdie-or-Better Percentage 2 *Patrick Reed (T8, 2016) 4 *Justin Thomas 5 *Patrick Cantlay 11 *Justin Rose 12 *Jordan Spieth 13 Cameron Champ 14 Scottie Scheffler 17 *JB Holmes (T4, 2016) 21 Sebastian Munoz 22 Vaughn Taylor 23 Bronson Burgoon 25 Charley Hoffman Par-4 scoring 4 *Justin Thomas 5 Xander Schauffele 6 *Patrick Cantlay 8 Brandt Snedeker 8 Adam Hadwin 10 *Patrick Reed 10 Joel Dahmen 10 Scottie Scheffler 15 *Bubba Watson 15 Gary Woodland 15 Harry Higgs 15 *Hideki Matsuyama 15 Sungjae Im 25 *Matt Kuchar Ohio Connections Entered Ryan Armour (Ohio State; born in Akron) Jason Day (Westerville resident) Jason Dufner (born in Akron) Jim Herman (University of Cincinnati; born in Cincinnati) Bo Hoag (Ohio State; born in Columbus) Mackenzie Hughes (Kent State University) Jason Kokrak (Xavier University; grew up in Cleveland)

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…

In 2017 at the actual World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, Jon Rahm came oh-so-close to winning it all at Austin Country Club. This week, in our Mythical Match Play Championship, the Spaniard took the last step, earning the fictious title in voting that included experts and fans. No. 2 seed Rahm beat top overall seed Rory McIlroy in a final separated by one vote. Although McIroy was the overwhelming favorite of our readers with 81 percent of the votes, Rahm grabbed 6 of the 10 expert votes for the final tally of 6 votes to 5. Xander Schauffele beat Sungjae Im in the third-place match. Of course, none of this is official. Our Mythical event is the just-for-fun exercise we’re conducting this week in lieu of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, which was among the canceled events by the PGA TOUR in response to the coronavirus pandemic. After the TOUR conducted a draw to produce a bracket, our 10 experts began voting. We released the Round 1 results on Wednesday (click here), the Round 2 results on Thursday (click here) and the Round 3 results on Friday (click here) that determined the 16 also used fan voting to break three ties. On Saturday, we conducted voting for the Round of 16 and quarterfinals, again involving our fans to break three tiebreakers (click here). We asked our fans on the tournament’s Twitter feed to become the 11th vote for our two semifinal matches Sunday morning, and the fans cast the deciding vote by choosing McIlroy over Schauffele. Rahm handily beat Im. No surprise that McIlroy and Rahm reached the finals, as they were the top two seeds entering the tournament. Had this been the real thing, it would’ve been the first time the top two seeds had ever met in the final of the Dell Technologies Match Play. Our 10 expert voters include: GolfBet’s Jason Sobel from The Action Network; GolfTV’s Jamie Kennedy; Tom Alter and Jim McCabe from PGA TOUR Communications; Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton; PGATOUR.COM writers Ben Everill, Sean Martin, Mike McAllister and Cameron Morfit; and a combined vote from the TOUR’s ShotLink team. The results of the final and semifinal matches are below (player seed in parentheses). CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL Rory McIlroy (1) vs. Jon Rahm (2): 6 votes for Rahm, 5 votes for McIlroy (including fan vote). RAHM wins the championship. Why I picked Rahm: “What a final. McIlroy has become a clear World No. 1 but Rahm is on the ascent and his short game and putting carry him through the final against Rory.� – Jamie Kennedy Why I picked Rahm: “So tough to choose between the top two players in the world. Their records at Austin CC are nearly identical (Rory’s 8-5-2 in four years; Rahm is 7-4-2 in last three years). My gut feeling is that Rahm, chasing his first World Golf Championships title, will draw upon his championship match loss to Dustin Johnson in 2017 and figure out how to get the job done this time.� – Mike McAllister Why I picked Rahm: “I had the exact opposite final slated and would have gone with Rahm in the consolation match, so I’ll stick with him here to win it all. Rory would be leaving just a touch in the tank for April and it would be the slim margin Rahm would take.� – Ben Everill Why I picked Rahm: “Remarkable consistency for months.� – Jim McCabe Why we voted for McIlroy: “Both players are powerhouses from Tee-to-Green. We’re going to give the edge to McIlroy, who leads the TOUR in Scrambling this season, salvaging par 70.4% of the time compared to Rahm, who ranks 37th at 64%.� – ShotLink team Why I voted for McIlroy: “McIlroy has won this thing before, albeit at TPC Harding Park, and was annoyed by (and will find motivation in) his loss to Tiger Woods in round of 16 last year.� – Cameron Morfit Fan vote: McIlroy 81%, Rahm 19%. THIRD-PLACE MATCH Xander Schauffele (12) vs. Sungjae Im (23): 8 votes for Schauffele, 2 votes for Im. SCHAUFFELE wins. SEMIFINALS McIlroy vs. Schauffele: 6 votes for McIlroy (including fan vote), 5 votes for Schauffele. McILROY wins. Why we picked McIlroy: “Both players rank inside the top-10 in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, so it may come to a putting contest. McIlroy ranks fifth in putting from 15-25 feet this season, making 27% from this distance compared to Schauffele, who is 159th, making 14%.� – ShotLink team Fan vote: McIlroy 79%, Schauffele 21% Rahm vs. Im: 7 votes for Rahm (including fan vote), 4 votes for Im. RAHM wins. Why I picked Rahm: “In a much-anticipated meeting (and hopeful precursor of more to follow), Im finally is upended, but the Match Play debutant has nothing about which to be ashamed as Rahm clinches his 12th podium finish worldwide in the last 11 months.� – Rob Bolton Fan vote: Rahm 67%, Im 33%

Click here to read the full article…