Hatton outduels Hillier, wins Dubai Desert Classic

How it works: Each week, our experts from PGATOUR.COM will make their selections in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf. Each lineup consists of four starters and two bench players that can be rotated after each round. Adding to the challenge is that every golfer can be used only three times per each of four Segments. Aside from the experts below, Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton breaks down the field at this year’s Genesis Scottish Open in this week’s edition of the Power Rankings. For more fantasy, check out Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers and Reshuffle. RELATED: Play Pick ‘Em Live THINK YOU’RE BETTER THAN OUR EXPERTS? The PGA TOUR Experts league is once again open to the public. You can play our free fantasy game and see how you measure up against our experts below. Joining the league is simple. Just click here to sign up or log in. Once you create a team, click the “LEAGUES” tab. Then click on “FEATURED,” and then on the PGA TOUR Experts league that populates. SEASON SEGMENT

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Hunter Mahan never imagined making his Web.com Tour debut at this stage in his career. He has been a pro for 14 years, with two World Golf Championships among his six PGA TOUR victories, seven appearances in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, and just short of $30 million in career earnings. Mahan sees this more as an opportunity than a demotion. “The best thing for my game is to play tournaments and put to the test my skills in tournament golf,” Mahan said after his pro-am round at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship in Columbus, Ohio. “This is where I can play, so it’s the perfect opportunity to work on my game. I feel like I’m making strides, and I want to continue to push myself. Right now, it feels good. I feel like I’m building on something, and I haven’t felt that in a long time.” The tournament starts Thursday on the Scarlett Course at Ohio State University. It is the first of four tournaments in the Web.com Tour Finals that offer PGA TOUR cards to 25 players who make the most money from these events. The tournaments are for players who finished in the top 75 on the Web.com Tour and from Nos. 126 through 200 in FedExCup on the PGA TOUR. The top 25 from the Web’s money list already are assured of PGA TOUR cards and are playing for higher status. Mahan is not the only PGA TOUR winner in Ohio. Ben Crane, Matt Jones and Johnson Wagner also are at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. Also in the field is Roberto Castro, who last year played in the TOUR Championship at East Lake. Mahan played in the Ryder Cup three years ago in Scotland, but it wasn’t long before he began to juggle life on the road with a growing family at home. He has three children ages 4, 2 and 1. He failed to qualify for the FedExCup playoffs for the first time last year, and then he began work with Dallas-based swing coach Chris Connell at the end of last year. This is a rebuilding process for Mahan, and he is showing plenty of patience. Playing on the final year of his full exemption from his second World Golf Championships title, he made only 10 cuts in 26 starts, though that included a tie for 16th in the Wyndham Championship. “I felt like I had an identity crisis,” Mahan said of his swing. “Some players could play from where I was, and some could have had success. But it’s not in my DNA, and I believe everyone has a golf DNA from where they play their best. I’m trying to get back to that.” He said Connell has helped fix the glaring mistakes. Now it’s about regaining consistency, and the confidence that comes with it. “The good thing is Chris knew where he wanted to take me,” Mahan said. “We’re going where I wanted to go and where he wanted to go, and it’s just figuring out how to get there.” The Web.com Tour Finals go next week to the Boise Open, followed by a return to Ohio for the DAP Championship at Canterbury, the Cleveland-area course where Jack Nicklaus won the 1973 PGA Championship. It concludes with the Web.com Tour Championship at Atlantic Beach Country Club, about 10 miles down the road from PGA TOUR headquarters in Florida. Mahan never played what was then the Nationwide Tour when he left Oklahoma State. PGA TOUR cards back then were awarded through qualifying school, which he went through twice before he embarked on a career in which he rose as high as No. 4 in the world. Asked who he was playing with in the opening two rounds, Mahan wasn’t sure. “I think there was a Harrington,” he said. “But it’s not Padraig.” He is playing with Scott Harrington.

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How it works: Each week, our experts from PGATOUR.COM will make their selections in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf. Each lineup consists of four starters and two bench players that can be rotated after each round. Adding to the challenge is that every golfer can be used only three times per each of four Segments. Aside from the experts below, Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton breaks down the field at this year’s Farmers Insurance Open in this week’s edition of the Power Rankings. For more fantasy, check out Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers and Reshuffle. THINK YOU’RE BETTER THAN OUR EXPERTS? The PGA TOUR Experts league is once again open to the public. You can play our free fantasy game and see how you measure up against our experts below. Joining the league is simple. Just click here to sign up or log in. Once you create a team, click the “LEAGUES” tab. Then click on “FEATURED,” and then on the PGA TOUR Experts league that populates. SEASON SEGMENT

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