Hatton takes five-shot lead in Abu Dhabi as fading light stops play

Nothing dishes out an exercise for those watching where the action lands more than a new tournament on what amounts essentially as neutral turf. That’s the narrative at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES on South Korea’s Jeju Island. Keen-eyed gamers don’t care as much about the highly invested as much as those lurking in the shadows. Russell Henley (8.2 percent), Cameron Smith (6.5 percent) and Charl Schwartzel (3.2 percent) are under-owned in the season’s third event. Should any prevail, gamers on board will soar past those of us who aren’t. It’s basic logic to which a handful of notables are always qualified. Our own Experts champion from 2016-17, Sean Martin, used this contrarian method to his advantage throughout his dominating run. He didn’t apologize, hide or often deviate from it. I rode chalk for all but maybe two tournaments en route the title the previous season, so there are multiple paths to the same promised land, but timing is still everything. PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO NOTE: Rob’s Rating refers to where our Fantasy Insider slotted a golfer in his Power Rankings (“PR”) and other preview material. Owned Rank  Player  Percentage  Rob’s Rating 1st  Tony Finau  55.3%  PR1 2nd  Jason Day  47.9%  PR9 3rd  Xander Schauffele  41.9%  PR5 4th  Paul Casey  40.2%  PR3 5th  Justin Thomas  35.9%  PR2 6th  Pat Perez  32.5%  PR4 7th  Keegan Bradley  30.8%  PR10 8th  Marc Leishman  28.0%  PR8 9th  Adam Scott  16.1%  Draw 10th  Ollie Schniederjans  15.5%  Sleeper Golfers in the Power Rankings and outside the top 10 in most owned Power Ranking  Player  Owned Rank  Percentage 6  Russell Henley  18th  8.2% 7  Rafa Cabrera Bello  13th  11.9% 11  Cameron Smith  26th  6.5% 12  Chez Reavie  17th  8.7% 13  Anirban Lahiri  25th  6.5% 14  Sung Kang  12th  14.7% 15  Kyle Stanley  32nd  4.4 % Wild Card  Patrick Reed  11th  15.3% Other notables Owned Rank  Player  Percentage 14th  Kevin Na  10.4% 15th  Daniel Berger  10.2% 20th  Sangmoon Bae  7.8% 21st  Thomas Pieters  7.8% 39th  Charl Schwartzel  3.2% PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO One of the popular theories to succeed in this format is to stick strictly with chalk throughout the season with the intent that you’re going to run into a windfall every now and then. Aiming at the center of the fairway may not be as fun as going for the green off the tee on a drivable par 4, but the emotion eventually subsides. What’s left is the residue of your decisions, sometimes in the form of chalk dust. Whether Xander Schauffele will sustain the kind of faith that slots him atop the 78-man field at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES is to be determined, but chalk can be manufactured at any time. What a rise it’s been for the youngster in just over one year with a PGA TOUR card. In my One & Done column on Wednesday, I lifted Paul Casey and Marc Leishman as smart alternatives to the premiums in play. Lo and behold, both rank ahead of Jason Day, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed and Adam Scott, the foursome who triggered the motivation to approach the inaugural event with an open mind. Owned Rank  Player  Percentage 1st  Xander Schauffele  13.7% 2nd  Tony Finau  13.5% 3rd  Sung Kang  10.9% 4th  Paul Casey  7.5% 5th  Keegan Bradley  6.8% 6th  Pat Perez  4.1% 7th  Rafa Cabrera Bello  3.5% 8th  Marc Leishman  3.1% 9th  Cameron Smith  2.9% 10th  Jason Day  2.3% Other notables Owned Rank  Player  Percentage 11th  Justin Thomas  2.0% 15th  Patrick Reed  1.4% 17th  Gary Woodland  1.2% 19th  Thomas Pieters  1.0% T22  Adam Scott  0.9%

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As we roll through the second half of the season, players look to make the final push for the FedExCup at Firestone. Round 2 tee times Round 2 leaderboard HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN PGA.com: Featured Group Coverage – (8:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. ET). Telecast: TNT (1 – 7 p.m. ET) NOTABLE PAIRINGS Jimmy Walker, Phil Mickelson, Jason Dufner 8:15 a.m. ET off the 10th tee Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Rickie Fowler 8:25 a.m. ET off the 10th tee Matt Kuchar, Justin Rose, Chris Kirk 8:35 a.m. ET off the 10th tee Daniel Berger, Jim Furyk, Kevin Kisner 8:45 a.m. ET off the 10th tee Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed 1:15 p.m. ET off the 1st tee Sergio Garcia, Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth 1:35 p.m. off the 1st tee Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Henrik Stenson 1:45 p.m. off the 1st tee Thorbjorn Olesen, Brendan Steele, Hudson Swafford 2:00 p.m. off the 10th tee

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