Francesco Molinari keeps the good vibes going at John Deere Classic

Click here to read the full article…

The eighth of 24 contributing events for PGA TOUR Champions One & Done presented by SERVPRO is this week’s Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar Lodge. It begins on Thursday. Scroll for tournament notes and 21 notables from the field of 36 two-man teams in Ridgedale, Missouri. If decisions were as easy as plugging in Charley Hoffman at the Valero Texas Open, then fantasy wouldn’t be as much fun. But wait a minute. Is Hoffman the prohibitive favorite in our format? In one sense, very much so. As of midday Wednesday, he’s way out front in ownership percentage at 20 percent. That’s eight clicks better than Luke List in second and 14 points clear of both Sergio Garcia and Brendan Steele. Surely, there are options. Indeed. List presents as a perfect fit for chasers. The league leaders among us are more likely to stick with the chalk at TPC San Antonio because that contingent, which includes Steele, is so reliable on one of the toughest tracks on the schedule. List continues to impress regardless of the test. His profile as a long hitter shadows the fact that he’s actually the total package. Billy Horschel has a glowing track record in this tournament, but all of us might swerve if not for his T5 at the RBC Heritage. Conservative front-runners will still abstain because of his inconsistency, but the rest of us will latch onto his immediate success after returning to a putter of familiar length. There’s also his penchant for staying hot after finding a spark. If Hoffman wasn’t available and I hadn’t already burned Steele, Horschel would get the at-bat with confidence. Ryan Palmer is a curious option given his run of success in San Antonio, but there’s a little chicken-and-egg variable with him. In other words, does the course bring out his best (probably) or does he need to be feeling it off the tee first to play well (never hurts). There’s always Colonial (Fort Worth Invitational) at the end of May. As a rule, some gamers avoid defending champions, and Kevin Chappell’s current form clinches that decision. There’s also the matter of his first experience in those shoes, er, boots, so holstering is the sensible decision for multiple reasons. Pat Perez may not crash our short list again this season, so he’s a bailout if you’re stuck and you’ve somehow not employed him yet. In fact, I’m surprised that three of my fellow Experts have yet to go to him this season. Because of the timing, two-man gamers for whom Perez is available don’t need to look further. Match him up with any of the aforementioned suggestions. Chesson Hadley also works best as a complement for two-man lineups. So does Martin Laird, Aaron Baddeley and Scott Piercy. We can keep Garcia, Matt Kuchar and Ryan Moore shelved for another event. Because of the elevated interest in Garcia in PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO, I’ll take the cue to remind you that he’s among the best fits for THE PLAYERS and The Open Championship, both of which we’re annually scrambling for reliability. 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 … Valero (1; defending); St. Jude (5); WGC-Bridgestone (2); Dell Technologies (3) Jim Furyk … Memorial (7); U.S. Open (8); Canadian (3); WGC-Bridgestone (2); THE NORTHERN TRUST (9); TOUR Championship (4) Sergio Garcia … PLAYERS (5); Open Championship (1); TOUR Championship (4) Bill Haas … Wyndham (2) Charley Hoffman … Valero (1); Fort Worth (4); Travelers (2); Canadian (3) J.B. Holmes … Wells Fargo (7); Greenbrier (5) Billy Horschel … Valero (3); St. Jude (1); TOUR Championship (4) Zach Johnson … Fort Worth (2); John Deere (1); Open Championship (5); WGC-Bridgestone (6); TOUR Championship (8) Chris Kirk … Valero (4); PLAYERS (3); Fort Worth (2) Russell Knox … PLAYERS (8); Dell Technologies (7) Matt Kuchar … Valero (10); PLAYERS (11); Fort Worth (6); Memorial (2); Canadian (3); WGC-Bridgestone (7); THE NORTHERN TRUST (9) Martin Laird … Valero (7); Barracuda (1) Graeme McDowell … WGC-Bridgestone (3) William McGirt … Memorial (4) Ryan Moore … Travelers (2); John Deere (3); TOUR Championship (6) Kevin Na … Memorial (10); John Deere (9); Wyndham (3); THE NORTHERN TRUST (11) Ryan Palmer … Valero (1); Fort Worth (2); St. Jude (6) Pat Perez … Valero (7) Scott Piercy … John Deere (6) Adam Scott … PLAYERS (5); U.S. Open (10); Open Championship (8); WGC-Bridgestone (3); Dell Technologies (9); TOUR Championship (6) Brandt Snedeker … Fort Worth (11); U.S. Open (5); Travelers (6); Canadian (3); Wyndham (4) Brendan Steele … Valero (6); Wells Fargo (7); Travelers (3) Kevin Streelman … Wells Fargo (3); Memorial (1); Travelers (2) Jimmy Walker … Valero (6); Greenbrier (8); Dell Technologies (7) CHAMPIONS ONE & DONE Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar Lodge The second-oldest tournament on the PGA TOUR Champions just might be the most progressive and PGA TOUR Champions One & Done gamers get their first lick at it this year. (It was taken off the fantasy board in 2017 due to a technical glitch.) This is the second of two non-majors that begins on Thursday, so adjust accordingly. Thirty-six teams of two will rotate on three courses totaling 67 holes of competition: Par-71 Buffalo Ridge Golf Course will host the first 18 holes. New to the event is the 13-hole Mountain Top, a par-3 track. It will be played once by every team either Friday or Saturday. Top of the Rock, a nine-hole par-3 course, also will be played by every team either Friday or Saturday. It will then host the entire field in Sunday’s final round. All told, 36 holes will be contested on this course, meaning that every team will loop it four times. Carlos Franco and Vijay Singh are the defending champions of what was a weather-shortened edition that went just 36 holes. Total prize money of $1.8 million reflects the lowest purse since 2001, but the tournament extended its partnership with the title sponsor and site through 2021. Each member of the winning team will earn $174,375. Just like next week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, because team members are rewarded equally, the format of the Bass Pro Legends urges One & Doners to select the golfer who you won’t miss as much as his teammate. For example, you could argue that Singh is more valuable than Franco in individual competition, so if you wanted to ride the defending champs, select Franco and save Singh for another tournament. If you’ve already burned Singh, it’s a free pick to do it again. For all 36 teams, click here. 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 2018. 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. Billy Andrade … Bass Pro Shops (4) Joe Durant … Bass Pro Shops (5); Insperity (15); Principal (2); American Family (8); U.S. Senior Open (7); SENIOR PLAYERS (1); 3M (6); DICK’S (12); Boeing (10); Shaw (11); PURE (3); SAS (13) David Frost … Bass Pro Shops (3); U.S. Senior Open (4); 3M (7); Boeing (5); Shaw (8); PURE (1) Paul Goydos … Bass Pro Shops (2); Insperity (7); 3M (1; defending); DICK’S (3); SAS (5) Lee Janzen … U.S. Senior Open (2) Miguel Angel Jiménez … Insperity (13); Senior PGA (6); Principal (10); U.S. Senior Open (5); SENIOR PLAYERS (3); Senior Open Championship (4); 3M (9); Shaw (7); SAS (12) Brandt Jobe … Senior PGA (2); Principal (3; defending); U.S. Senior Open (4); SENIOR PLAYERS (1); 3M (5); Boeing (8) Jerry Kelly … Boeing (1; defending); Shaw (5); PURE (2); SAS (4) Bernhard Langer … Usable everywhere. Defending five titles. Tom Lehman … Bass Pro Shops (7); Insperity (8); Regions Tradition (5); Principal (1); U.S. Senior Open (3); SAS (9) Jeff Maggert … Insperity (1); American Family (3); Shaw (5) Scott McCarron … Regions Tradition (2); Senior PGA (11); Principal (1); SENIOR PLAYERS (3; defending); Senior Open Championship (10); DICK’S (4; defending); Shaw (5; defending); PURE (8) Colin Montgomerie … Senior PGA (1); U.S. Senior Open (6); SENIOR PLAYERS (2); Senior Open Championship (10); Shaw (4); PURE (7); SAS (3; defending) Tom Pernice, Jr. … Principal Charity (2); Shaw (3); SAS (5) Kenny Perry … Bass Pro Shops (8); Insperity (3); Regions Tradition (5); Senior PGA (6); 3M (1); DICK’S (10); SAS (2) Gene Sauers … Insperity (7); Regions Tradition (3); U.S. Senior Open (5); SENIOR PLAYERS (6); Boeing (1) Vijay Singh … Bass Pro Shops (4; defending); Senior PGA (3); U.S. Senior Open (2); Shaw (5); SAS (1) Kevin Sutherland … Usable everywhere. David Toms … Regions Tradition (3); Boeing (2); SAS (4) Kirk Triplett … Insperity (2); Regions Tradition (6); American Family (5); SENIOR PLAYERS (1); Shaw (4) Duffy Waldorf … Bass Pro Shops (2); Insperity (4); Principal (6); Shaw (5)

Click here to read the full article…

Carlos Ortiz (+10000) … For some, the long trip from Japan will be only that – long – but it might be exactly what he needs after likely experiencing mixed emotions after plummeting from T3 to T42 in the final round of the Olympics. His closing 78 was three higher than anyone else in the field on Sunday. However, nothing can replace the fulfillment of representing his native Mexico at the Games. Returning to life as a touring professional at 35th in the FedExCup, he’s poised for his deepest run in the Playoffs. Possesses a balanced attack that has generated a trio of top 10s this season, including his breakthrough title in Houston last fall. It also doesn’t hurt that he can look at his record in stroke-play WGCs and find a pair of top 20s, one at Chapultepec in 2019, the other at Concession five months ago. Martin Laird (+20000) … He was the first to turn an extension of status in the modified graduate reshuffle category into victory when he prevailed in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open nearly 10 months ago. The Scot has managed only one more top 25 in a full-field event since (T23, PGA Championship) but he placed T28 in his most recent start at the John Deere Classic. It ended an 0-for-3 skid, too. Currently 15th on TOUR in both fairways hit and greens in regulation, it’s a potent combination at TPC Southwind that he hasn’t seen since 2013, which also happens to be the last time he’s qualified for a World Golf Championship. Jim Herman (+30000) … This is just third career appearance in a World Golf Championship and his first since the 2016 edition of the FedEx St. Jude Invitational when it was contested at Firestone, but the 43-year-old has connected four top 30s upon arrival, he’s 49th on the PGA TOUR in ball-striking and T31 in proximity. Most of all, as one of the unlikeliest qualifiers (for winning the 2020 Wyndham Championship), he has nothing to lose and everything to gain. It’s a mantra that could be applied to the timing of each of his three career victories. Aaron Rai (+15000) … In one of the quirks of rescheduled competition, there are two winners of the Scottish Open in this week’s field. Min Woo Lee of Australia prevailed in that tournament four weeks ago, while Rai of England connected for his title 10 months ago. His first European Tour title at the Hong Kong Open in 2018 yielded his TPC Southwind debut in 2019, and he didn’t squander the opportunity in finishing T12. After scattering a trio of top 25s early in 2021, he’s arriving with five consecutive paydays, two of which for a top 20, including a T19 at The Open Championship. Currently 16th on his circuit in fairways hit and 12th in greens in regulation. Ryosuke Kinoshita (+30000) … It’s been a career-defining summer for the 30-year-old from Japan. His breakthrough victory at the Japan Golf Tour Championship served as his ticket to TPC Southwind and what is his PGA TOUR debut in the United States. In his next start three weeks later, he won again on his home circuit and later finished T59 at The Open Championship in his first-ever appearance in a major. Currently second in earnings on the JGTO, third in greens hit and sixth in scoring average. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, Aug. 3 at 5 a.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm.

Click here to read the full article…