Four-Ball: Is Spieth already a sure-lock Hall of Famer?

For the first time in its 22-year history, the Barracuda Championship has a second home in the land of second homes. Situated about 17 miles west as the bald eagle flies from its aerie at Montrêux Golf & Country Club in Reno, Nevada, about 500 feet higher and across the state line into Truckee, California, Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood Course debuts as host of the final additional event of the 2019-20 PGA TOUR season. The Jack Nicklaus Signature design opened in 2004. It’s a par 71 with three par 5s and, even more interestingly, as many as three drivable par 4s. That’ll get the juices flowing given that the Modified Stableford scoring system is being used for the ninth consecutive edition of the tournament. For more on the course, the format and the tournament, scroll past the projected contenders and others to consider in the field of 132. RELATED: Preview the Barracuda Championship’s new host| The First Look POWER RANKINGS: BARRACUDA CHAMPIONSHIP OTHERS TO CONSIDER • Pat Perez … Pieced together a nice week at TPC Twin Cities for a T23 to go 4-for-5 in the restart. Modified Stableford scoring meshes so well with his swashbuckling approach at golf and at life. • Nick Watney … Got off the schneid with a T12 and four sub-70s at the 3M Open. The Sacramento, California, native now gets to enjoy a virtual home game. It’s been a while, but he went for three top 10s at Montrêux. • Brandon Harkins … The former PGA TOUR member might have the most experience at Old Greenwood. He’s also gone 7-for-7 with three top 25s on the Korn Ferry Tour since its season restarted. • MJ Daffue … He’s not quite Patrick Reed or T.J. Vogel, but Daffue isn’t a slouch, either. He’s in the field on a sponsor exemption, but perhaps he should have declined it in favor of open qualifying. See, as noted by Ryan French in his recap of the open qualifiers for the Workday Charity Open, Daffue is 6-for-10 in the one-round races for a chip and a chair. In all six(!), he’s finished inside the top 30 in the tournament proper, including a T22 at the Workday. He’s built for the Modified Stableford scoring system, and vice versa. True to Nicklaus’ stamp on most properties, there’s room to move it off the tee on the 7,390-yard test, but there are strategic slots and spots from a handful that will separate seriously valuable drives from pedestrian fairway splitters. The entire course is blanketed with a blend of bentgrass and Poa annua not dissimilar to what many in the field experienced on most or all of a handful of recent sites where the PGA TOUR has set up shop. Of course, the big difference between locales such at TPC River Highlands, Detroit Golf Club and Muirfield Village is the altitude. At about 6,000 feet above sea level, conversions to compensate will be necessary to capitalize on scoring opportunities. Greens average 5,300 square feet, but Nicklaus-esque undulations will make them feel even smaller. Primary rough rising to three-and-a-half inches reinforces the goal to get the math right. Despite the customary challenge of the course, the overarching narrative concerning it and the week in general is to have a good time. It’s a resort community where countless locals are summering. With majestic vistas, clean and dry air, and nothing but sunshine all week with daytimes highs in the 80s, it’s golf for the soul ahead of an intense stretch of action on the horizon. Contributing to the thrill are par 4s measuring 357 yards, 345 yards and 396 yards at the eighth, 11th and 16th holes, respectively. However, with two of the par 5s and the shortest two par 3s on the front side, contenders in the final round probably will have built a foundation early in the day, and then take whatever they can coming home. Modified Stableford totals points (like a fantasy league), so positive numbers are good for the only time all season. The worst a golfer can score on any hole is minus-3 points for a double bogey (or worse). ShotLink is not used to measure performance. In addition to 300 FedExCup points and a two-year PGA TOUR membership exemption, the winner will qualify for next week’s PGA Championship. As of midday Tuesday, only nine golfers in the field are exempt into the major. Incidentally, fields for additional events entering this season were reduced to 120, but this week’s field was reset to 132 to help compensate for playing time missed due to the pandemic. 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: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings (WGC-St. Jude) TUESDAY*: Power Rankings (Barracuda), Sleepers (WGC-St. Jude), 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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DETROIT – Wyatt Worthington II was feeling it on the greens as he shot 65 to win THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Golf Invitational presented by Rocket Mortgage on Sunday, earning a spot in the field at this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. In fact, the teaching pro from Reynoldsburg, Ohio, said, his second round featured so many birdie bombs as to recall a similar performance watched by millions worldwide. “It was pretty much like Cameron Smith at The Open,” Worthington said. “I just rolled every single putt I looked at. I gave myself as many chances as I could. It wasn’t as smooth sailing on stretches from 13 through 15, I scrambled to make pars and kind of keep the momentum going and made birdie on 16 and 17 and secured my par on 18. It all worked out.” The efforts to diversify golf will continue with the Rocket Mortgage at Detroit Golf Club this week. THE JOHN SHIPPEN, designed to showcase Black amateur and professional golfers, debuted last year, when Tim O’Neal triumphed for the spot in the Rocket Mortgage field. This year it was Worthington (73-65), who finished one ahead of Michael Herrera (71-68). “I’m like, ‘You guys know who I am? This is crazy. I know who you are!’ Worthington was 14 when he met Tiger Woods at a Tiger Woods Foundation junior clinic in Columbus, Ohio. Woods told him to trust the process, but that can be easier said than done, what with the cost of trying to make it. Worthington qualified to play in this year’s PGA Championship at Southern Hills, and the 2016 PGA Championship at Baltusrol. Although those were great accomplishments – Worthington tied for fourth at the most recent PGA Professional Championship, punching his ticket to Southern Hills – Black players have been underrepresented in the game’s upper echelon. “Playing in the PGA Championship (via the PGA Professional Championship), I believe there’s only two individuals, Tom Woodard and myself, that’s made it through that route,” Worthington said. The minority-focused APGA Tour has ramped up to try to make positive change, and Flint native Willie Mack III, one of its stars, made his first cut on TOUR at last year’s Rocket Mortgage. That was also the first year for THE JOHN SHIPPEN, which is named after John Shippen, Jr., who was the first American-born golf professional and the country’s first Black golf professional. (Shippen was bestowed PGA of America membership posthumously in 2009.) The tournament pays all costs, from entry fees to travel and lodging, for competitors. When Worthington shot 75-70 last year, he said, “I’ve never had anything like this.” Now that he’s won the tournament, he’s entering yet more uncharted territory. “It’s life-changing,” he said. “But the more that I look at it, it’s actually a dream come true. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen Tiger’s interviews like this. I can’t imagine myself actually being here. I know I wanted to work on my game to get to this point, but actually living this, I can’t really fathom that. Yeah, this is an unreal experience.” Worthington said he gives between four and eight lessons a day at The Golf Depot, a driving range and renovated nine-hole course in central Ohio. There are camps in the summer, and junior clinics. He plays in as many APGA Tour events as he can get to, and caddies in the winter. Anything to keep chasing the dream of playing on the PGA TOUR. “I’ve been getting shown a lot of love actually even from the TOUR guys congratulating me,” Worthington said of his reception since earning his spot in the field. “I’m like, ‘You guys know who I am? This is crazy. I know who you are!’ “And the members from the Detroit Golf Club, it’s been nothing but love and support,” he added. “Everyone’s cheering me on and wants to see me succeed, so hopefully I can do that for them.”

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Erik van Rooyen … It’s doubtful that the missed cut in his last start at the Made in Denmark dented the South African’s confidence. He finished T8 at the PGA Championship the preview week and ranked T9 in greens hit, ninth in proximity, eighth in strokes gained: tee-to-green and third in putting: birdies-or-better at Bethpage. That secured his exemption (via the top 10) into the RBC Canadian Open, which will be his fourth PGA TOUR start of the season and fifth of his career. He’s 19th on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai standings with a pair of runner-up finishes among five top 15s in the last three months. And now he’s fresh off qualifying for his first U.S. Open at the sectional in Columbus, Ohio. Danny Willett … Given that he won the Masters only three years ago, that he lands here is all you need to know about how far he’s separated from the main stage. The 31-year-old battled injuries in the interim but he was buoyed by a smattering of consistent results in the second half of 2018. The rise was punctuated with a victory at the DP World Tour Championship in November. As a renewed member of the PGA TOUR, he’s had only one top 25 since, but the waters are a-gurglin’. En route to a T41 at the PGA Championship, he ranked T3 in greens in regulation. Last week at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, he finished T11 in GIR. Hot irons will play at Hamilton this week, so his next objective is to put four rounds together. Nick Watney … While the Zurich Classic of New Orleans presents as a twist to break up the routine of the season, it shouldn’t be overlooked as an opportunity to regain form. He and partner Charley Hoffman placed T9 for what was Watney’s first top-15 finish of the season. It also lifted him back inside the top 125 of the FedExCup standings and sparked a 3-for-4 run in individual competition entering the RBC Canadian Open. Even better, he’s reclaimed confidence with his staple as a powerful ball-striker. En route to a T8 at cozy Colonial, he ranked T4 in greens hit, seventh in proximity and led the field in strokes gained: tee-to-green. Last week at the bigger ballpark of Muirfield Village, he finished T11 in GIR and paced the field in proximity. The 38-year-old now sits a much more comfortable 98th in the FedExCup. Tyler Duncan … The PGA TOUR sophomore made news at the AT&T Byron Nelson where he struck his wife, Maria, in the head on the first bounce of his drive on the 13th hole of Trinity Forest in the second round. (She’s OK.) Despite that shot, he performed wonderfully and in line with his profile as a ball-striker, but it was improved putting that made the difference between another forgettable result and the career-best-tying T5 that he logged. And that was on large greens. Hamilton’s smaller targets project to accentuate his strength even more. Cameron Tringale … He’s had a helluva career and he’s still only 31 years of age. Most wouldn’t trade a record of 156-for-256 as a professional with eight figures in earnings, but the Georgia Tech product remains winless in PGA TOUR-sanctioned competition. It’s also been three seasons since he qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs and he’s currently 138th in points, but the RBC Canadian Open could springboard him back. In fact, it’d be a continuation of form first captured in earnest at the Valero Texas Open where he finished T17 while ranking T3 in greens in regulation and T5 in proximity. After a T5 with Roberto Castro at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Tringale posted a T23 at the AT&T Byron Nelson and slotted T4 in GIR and second in conversion percentage inside 10 feet (66-for-70). As he’s conjuring old form, it’s relevant to cite that he finished T19 at Hamilton in 2012, finishing T5 in GIR and 12th in strokes gained: tee-to-green. He also co-led the field in fairways hit. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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