Five Things to Know before FedEx St. Jude Championship

When Dylan Frittelli heard the news, he was more than a little impressed. John Deere, the company that sponsors the PGA TOUR event he won last year, had switched gears – quite literally — and started making face shields to protect healthcare workers along with all those iconic green tractors and all that heavy machinery at its flagship factory in Moline, Illinois. So far, John Deere has manufactured more than 200,000 of the shields and plans to double that number in the coming weeks. The first orders went to healthcare workers in areas where Deere employees live, but deliveries have now been made to more than a dozen states and Canadian provinces. “I think it’s awesome,â€� Frittelli says. “And technology-wise, I’m very interested. It’s cool — how did they figure out that they could do it and then cool in the sense that they’re obviously trying to help the cause and protect people and do what they can to speed up the containment and elimination of the virus.â€� Frittelli was in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, at THE PLAYERS Championship when the sports world abruptly shut down after an NBA player tested positive for the coronavirus. First, the TOUR announced its signature event would go on without spectators. Less than 12 hours later, it was canceled. Subsequent announcements, including the postponement of the first three major championships and the cancellation of the Open Championship, meant no tournaments until at least June 11 with the scheduled Charles Schwab Challenge. The first four events will be played without fans. The fifth is the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run, where Frittelli came from two strokes off the pace on Sunday and ended up winning by three after closing with a 64. The tournament is slated for its original July 9-12 dates and could be the first to host spectators, although health and safety issues will be evaluated before a final decision is made. Frittelli says this is the longest break from golf that he’s had since graduating from Texas in 2012 with a degree in geography. While mindful of the reason behind it, the well-traveled South African has made the most of the time he’s had at home. “I’ve enjoyed it to be honest,â€� says Frittelli, currently 50th in the FedExCup standings. “The beginning was a little tough, but after the first week my trainer was back in town and he’d built a gym in his garage. It made it way easier for me to relax and chill because I was actually burning calories and getting stronger in the gym and I had something to do for an hour to two hours a day. That helped a lot.â€� The 29-year-old didn’t start playing golf again until late April. He wanted the work he’d done in the weight room to settle in before working too much on the practice range. “And also, you swing a golf club, it does mess up your back and your neck and you do get out of alignment often,â€� Frittelli explains. “So, I just thought, hey, I’d rather be way more symmetrical and feel more consistent when I stay away from the golf. “So, I’ll balance a bit of that heavy lifting, do some recovery and be ready.â€� Frittelli also took time to decompress. He did some projects around the house, cleaning out closets and drawers and the garage, as well as adding some lights outside. Nothing particularly major — “just made sure the space I was in was a nice, happy, comfortable place,â€� he says. Always searching for that “edge and new techniquesâ€� that can help him with training and on the golf course, Frittelli read several performance-based books. But at the same time, he finished “Where The Crawdads Sing,â€� the best-selling novel by Delia Owens. And of course, there’s been some binge-watching. He knocked out “Tiger Kingâ€� on Netflix in a day and has also watched “WE ARE LAFC,â€� the 10-part all-access documentary series about the inaugural season of the Los Angeles Football Club. And a little “Brooklyn 99â€� for comic relief. “(The LAFC series) was really interesting,â€� he says. “Kind of a bit of research for me because the new Austin team is starting next season. They’ve already built most of the stadium now.â€� While restaurants were open for takeout and delivery in Austin, Frittelli has done most of the cooking for himself. He wants to eat healthy to make sure that the work he’s put in with his trainer to get bigger and stronger doesn’t go by the wayside. An air fryer is a key component of that process. Salmon and chicken are his go-to proteins while he gets his vegetables in salads and carbs from sweet potatoes, potatoes or rice. “Then tons of supplements, protein shakes and all kinds of added in things just to try and build some mass,â€� he says. Now that he’s back playing and practicing, Frittelli can often be found at UT Golf Club. His roommate, Toni Hakula, who was two years behind Frittelli at Texas, plays PGA TOUR LatinoAmerica, and they frequently play with another former Longhorn, Tayler Termeer, who now plays the mini-tours. Austin is home to a lot of other TOUR pros like Andrew Landry, Nick Watney and Sergio Garcia, though. PGA TOUR Champions is also well-represented with Mark Brooks, Omar Uresti, Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw and Bob Estes also in the neighborhood. So, when the urge for competition strikes, there are lots of options. “That’ll be my main focus, just chatting to a few guys on TOUR that are here in town and just getting some money games, playing with them leading into that first event,â€� he says.

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Like a putt that gives into the gravitational forces of Raes Creek, it's an annual tradition for the PGA TOUR to tumble toward the Atlantic Coast after the Masters, only this year's migration has a different destination. Since 1983 and with the exception of 2011, golfers who competed in the major and didn't opt for rest packed up their things and headed to Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage, which they again will do in April of 2021, but for the first time, the Golden Isles of Georgia were punched into the GPS for the 11th edition of The RSM Classic. Sea Island Resort also hosts a much different event. For the details, a review of the co-hosts and more, scroll past the projected contenders. RELATED: The First Look | Inside the Field POWER RANKINGS: THE RSM CLASSIC Jason Day, Justin Rose, Lee Westwood, Brendon Todd, Tommy Fleetwood and Joaquin Niemann will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday's Fantasy Insider. Unlike its neighbor north of the South Carolina-Georgia line, The RSM Classic is a full-field open with the maximum 156-man field. It's possible at this latitude at this time of year because every golfer will play the Seaside Course and the Plantation Course once each before the 36-hole cut. When the low 65 and ties are determined, only Seaside will be utilized for the third and final rounds. Arriving at an apples-to-apples assessment of the leaderboard requires patience on multiple-course events, but it's especially relevant at Sea Island because Seaside is a par 70 (tipping at 7,005 yards) and Plantation is a par 72 (capable of stretching to just 7,060 yards). Last year, in relation to par after the opening round, a 5-under 67 on Plantation positioned seven golfers at T5, whereas a 3-under 67 on Seaside slotted another seven at T31. Plantation also scores easier in relation to par, so taking advantage is valuable. In the debut of its redesign in 2019, it averaged 70.439 (or 1.561 strokes under par). Seaside checked in at 68.899 (or 1.101 strokes under par). Capitalizing on Plantation's four par 5s is de facto strategy, but as a group, they flashed some teeth thanks in part to length added on Nos. 4 and 18. At an average of 4.69, they were the hardest they've played since the course in all five editions as part of the rotation. Because coastal sites are most susceptive to wind, greens usually roll slower than at, say, an inland parkland track. However, Seaside is prepped to roll out to 12-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter, while the putting surfaces at Plantation will be governed to 11 feet. None of the 36 TifEagle bermudagrass greens are overseeded. Fairways on both courses are overseeded, but only the rough and areas around the greens at Seaside are treated similarly. The longest primary rough on either course is just an inch and a half, but there is no intermediate rough on Plantation. Breezes are forecast to be stronger early in the tournament, but the first two days will be similar, thus retaining an even, 36-hole playing field as everyone cycles through each course. Rain can't be ruled out, but delays aren't expected. After a daytime high in the upper 60s on Thursday, temperatures will rise into the 70s for the remainder. En route to his breakthrough title here last year, Tyler Duncan crafted a bogey-free, 9-under 61 in the second round on Seaside. He then authored one of the strangest days in the history of any PGA TOUR winner. Despite hitting 16 greens in regulation on Seaside in the third round, he settled for 18 pars and a 70. The positive spin is that he was bogey-free until penciling in a 5 on the par-4 first hole in his final round. It was his only step backward all week. He outlasted Webb Simpson with a birdie on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. For the week, Duncan missed only six (of 56) fairways and 12 greens in regulation. He led the field in par-3 scoring and scrambling. He also paced it in proximity to the hole. Since ShotLink is used only on the Seaside Course, shot-level measurements reflect only 54 holes for all golfers who survive the cut and complete the tournament. For greater detail on how Duncan's route to victory compares other recent winners, and for all relevant course history, read Mike Glasscott's Horses for Courses on Tuesday. ROB BOLTON'S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM's Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Watch, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM's Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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1 – Massachusetts amateur Thorbjornsen, a 20-year-old amateur from Wellesley, Massachusetts, got into the Travelers Championship as a sponsor exemption and shot 68-65 to easily make the cut. With three birdies in his first eight holes Saturday, he was suddenly just four shots behind 36-hole leader Xander Schauffele. 2 – College Cardinal He recently finished his sophomore year at Stanford, where his best result was a runner-up at the Cabo Collegiate. He was named second-team All-American and tied for 32nd at the NCAA Championship, which he called a disappointment. 3 – Homegrown U.S. Open For the last few years he had circled the U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, about 15 minutes from where he grew up, and survived an 8-for-3 playoff to make the field. “It feels like a home event,” he said. Alas, the winner of the 2021 Massachusetts Amateur shot 77-69 to miss the cut by three. 4 – Beware the injured golfer Although he is playing well, he’s not entirely healthy. “I’m kind of struggling with some wrist injuries right now,” Thorbjornsen said last week. “Going to the physio lab there helps a lot. I’ve been in there every single day. Maybe been in there longer than I have been on the course practicing.” 5 – Junior Presidents Cup experience He played in the 2019 Junior Presidents Cup in Melbourne, and his mother, Sandra, played golf for Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio.

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