Helping Tiger with his tough Presidents Cup choices

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Thank you, Kevin Kisner. If you follow my musings in the discussion threads beneath my columns and contributions, you might recall that he’s been my white whale in the Roster game. Spotted and on the line, but never captured (due primarily to technical difficulties of my own); that is, until at Colonial in the One & Done last week. Kisner is my first win of the 2016-17 season. (Yes, I also had him starting in the finale of the Roster game. It’s not quite the recent end of another drought assigned to silly curses that lasted 108 years, but it still feels great.) Kisner’s 500 FedExCup points propelled me into a healthy lead over Jonathan Wall, who connected wins with Dustin Johnson at Riviera and Rickie Fowler at PGA National. I haven’t burned either juggernaut yet and won’t at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. While I’m holstering DJ for the TOUR Championship, I have no need to burn him sooner, anyway. Given the available pieces on my board, my decision boiled down to three guys, two of whom I’m endorsing no matter where you rank in your league. Tony Finau is my pick. After Johnson at the top of my Power Rankings, Finau at No. 6 is next-highest who I haven’t burned. What Kisner delivered last week was a bonus because if Finau yields a top 10 at Muirfield Village, I’ll be happy. That’s always the goal. He’s finished a respective T8 and T11 in the last two editions of the Memorial, so all expectations align. Also note that this is the final event for Finau in Future Possibilities. The other dynamic value who has my attention is Byeong Hun An. It’s all coming together for the 25-year-old former U.S. Amateur champion. His devil-may-care philosophy off the tee is perfect in setting the table at Muirfield Village where he tied for 11th last year, but the investment is doubly supported by a strong run of form of late. While you may balk if you’re front-running, all two-man gamers need to be on board. Matt Kuchar rounds out the threesome in my focus. He’d be my pick if I was chasing, but I’ll probably keep him handy for the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey where he’s hung up a T2 (2013), a T7 (2015) and a T9 (2016) in the last three editions on that course. Kuchar is also serviceable as a bridge, so I’ll hold that card because I’ve earned it. If you’re still sitting on your Jon Rahm chip, end the uncertainty and cash it in regardless of your position. You’re already enjoying watching him perform, but just wait until you’re emotionally invested. It doesn’t get any better. Hideki Matsuyama enters with mild concern, but Muirfield Village is as smart a site to plug him in as any other remaining. If hesitant, Adam Scott sets up wonderfully if you need a jolt. In fact, the Aussie would have been my first pick, but I already called his name for Riviera. While I’d almost never talk you out of Jordan Spieth, note that the Memorial isn’t among his Future Possibilities. Yes, that’s a subjective smattering, but I loosened the reins for that section this season, and this tournament still didn’t resonate. Patrick Reed and Jason Day will get their turns, but later. Use Reed as a bridge, if necessary. Meanwhile, in the Fantasy Insider for the AT&T Byron Nelson, I wrote that if Day “converts on something special, he’ll be poised for a mammoth summer.” He lost in a playoff, so that qualifies as something special. I have him penciled in for the BMW Championship, but might be persuaded to reconsider if he stays hot. It’s funny how perspective changes when you take the lead! In addition to An, two-man gamers should look at Marc Leishman, Patrick Cantlay, Bud Cauley and Steve Stricker. If you’re thinking about Stricker for the John Deere Classic, he’s going to be facing a tough decision since the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship will be contested the same week (July 13-16). It’s the fourth of five majors on the PGA TOUR Champions. It already wouldn’t be unprecedented for him to choose the PGA TOUR over a major on the 50-and-over circuit. It was just last week when he placed T7 at Colonial instead of trying his luck at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. 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 2016-17. All are pending golfer commitment. Keegan Bradley … Memorial; WGC-Bridgestone; Dell Technologies Kevin Chappell … Dell Technologies Jason Day … U.S. Open; Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Luke Donald … Wyndham; TOUR Championship Jason Dufner … U.S. Open; TOUR Championship Tony Finau … Memorial Rickie Fowler … WGC-Bridgestone Jim Furyk … Memorial; U.S. Open; Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Bill Haas … Wyndham Charley Hoffman … Travelers; Canadian Billy Horschel … St. Jude; TOUR Championship Dustin Johnson … Memorial; St. Jude; U.S. Open (defending); Canadian; TOUR Championship Zach Johnson … John Deere; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Kevin Kisner … Wyndham Russell Knox … Travelers (defending); Dell Technologies Brooks Koepka … St. Jude; U.S. Open; PGA Championship Matt Kuchar … Memorial; Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone Martin Laird … Barracuda Marc Leishman … Memorial; Travelers; Open Championship Hideki Matsuyama … Memorial; PGA Championship; BMW William McGirt … Memorial (defending); Wyndham Phil Mickelson … St. Jude; Open Championship; PGA Championship Ryan Moore … Travelers; John Deere (defending); TOUR Championship Scott Piercy … John Deere; BMW Patrick Reed … Wyndham; Dell Technologies Charl Schwartzel … Memorial; U.S. Open; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone Adam Scott … Memorial; U.S. Open; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Webb Simpson … Greenbrier; Wyndham Jordan Spieth … John Deere; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; TOUR Championship Brendan Steele … Travelers; Barracuda (already eligible for concurrent WGC-Bridgestone) Kevin Streelman … Memorial Bubba Watson … Travelers; Greenbrier; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Gary Woodland … Barracuda; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship

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Oklahoma State’s Austin Eckroat had already made his decision. His junior season was going to be his last in college golf, and it was time to hit the professional ranks to hopefully join old teammate Matthew Wolff and roommate Viktor Hovland on the PGA TOUR. Eckroat was a key member of the Cowboys’ 2018 NCAA Championship team, and has seen firsthand throughout his career what it takes to become one of the best. But as the saying goes in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, the best laid plans… The uncertainty of where to get starts is one that faces every young upstart professional, but Eckroat is now facing a world of uncertainty unlike any seen before with the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and PGA TOUR Series-China canceled seasons in late May, and the PGA TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour were suspended until early June. Ironically, the advent of the new PGA TOUR University program could ensure Eckroat has more clarity on where his professional starts will come from following graduation in spring of 2021. His world-beating teammates Hovland and Wolff had to lean on exemptions after college golf (albeit with tremendous success), but Eckroat just might benefit from the access a top-5 finish in the final PGA TOUR University Ranking might provide. The long-awaited collegiate path to the PGA TOUR was launched on June 1, and will award the top 15, four-year players exempt status on the Korn Ferry Tour (Nos. 1-5) or one of the International Tours (Nos. 6-15) following the conclusion of the annual NCAA Championship. “Basically, I had thoughts of going pro this year and that was kind of the plan I was going with, but I knew this thing was coming up, PGA TOUR University. Coach (Alan Bratton) had been talking about it throughout the year, and it was one of those things that sounds almost too good to be true,” Eckroat said. “It’s like Coach has to be a little off on something but turns out he wasn’t. So, it’s a great opportunity for us guys. With two groups, the rising seniors and [existing] seniors coming back for an extra year, it’s going to be a little tougher, but it’s a huge influence on why I came back to school.” So instead of turning pro, he’s back hitting the amateur circuit hard this summer, with upcoming starts beginning this week at the Southern Amateur, and from there the Sunnehanna Amateur, Western Amateur and U.S. Amateur, all before returning to Stillwater for his senior season. If Eckroat’s hunch is any indication, he’ll be one of the first to take a path that many will choose in the future – returning to college to pursue guaranteed starts over the uncertainty of chasing sponsor exemptions and Monday qualifiers. “It’s one of those things where you have to win the U.S. Am like Viktor or completely dominate like Matt to have as many starts as they had. Starts are hard to come by, so having a path where you’re guaranteed starts on the Korn Ferry Tour (or International Tours) – that’s kind of the path the PGA TOUR wants you to take,” he said. “It’s definitely going to be nice to know you have a schedule and not just hoping you get in every week. I think it’s going to be a good thing for college players, and I think it’s going to be a big recruiting tool in the future with teams that have stronger schedules. It should change the way that college golf is played.” Wolff, who talks to Eckroat daily and remains one of his closest friends, fully expects the 21-year-old rising star to be among the top five in the PGA TOUR University rankings. “He’s a really good player and an unbelievable ball-striker. He’s someone I’ve always respected as a player and is not someone you need to take lightly as a competitor, because he definitely has a lot of firepower and on any given day he can go out and shoot a really low score,” said Wolff, who won the 2019 3M Open and is currently ranked No. 59 in the Official World Golf Ranking, just 13 months after turning professional. Wolff got to see some of that firepower firsthand a month ago. Just weeks before the PGA TOUR winner finished runner-up at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, he flew into Edmond, Oklahoma, to hang out with Eckroat and play a little golf. Despite shooting 69 at Oak Tree Country Club, Wolff lost by eight shots to his former teammate, who broke the course record with a 61 – including birdies on the first six holes. “Oh gosh, I kicked his ass that day. That was a cool day. Oak Tree is a very tough golf course, and we were having a friendly game and Matt made the comment, ‘Well, if I’m going to get my ass kicked, you better shoot 59. I don’t want to see you shoot 63, it’s not that cool,’” said Eckroat with a laugh. “But it turned from them getting pissed off about it to rooting almost harder for me than I was. The funny thing about that is I think I’ve gotten more publicity from that (round) than anything else I’ve done in my golf career.” The Oak Tree 61 wasn’t the only time Eckroat’s shown he can hang with the pros. From a casual round with Jordan Spieth in high school to the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, where practice round partners included the likes of Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy and Gary Woodland, Eckroat has held his own amongst the game’s best. In late April, he competed against a number of pros at the Maridoe Samaritan Fund Invitational – a Dallas-area event which was launched to help raise funds for Covid relief efforts. Over 54 holes, the only pros who beat the OSU standout were Scottie Scheffler, current Korn Ferry Tour points leader Will Zalatoris, and Hovland. The three-day event was another testing ground for Eckroat, who has continued to prove to his peers – and more importantly, himself – that the PGA TOUR will be his ultimate destination. “I’ve told people this before – Matt and Viktor were clearly better than me when we were in school. It was almost like I was just one step behind. I finished third most of the time my sophomore year and they were clipping me by a stroke here and there every round, but it was nice to know that I could get to their level and I didn’t feel like I was far,” Eckroat said. But until then, Eckroat is back to school for one more year, eyeing three goals: A top-5 spot in the University Ranking, a National Championship for OSU, and a Player of the Year nod. Lofty goals for a Cowboy following in the footsteps of collegiate legends, but certainly within reach given the talent he’s been surrounded by in Stillwater. “A big goal of mine has been Player of the Year. That’s something I really want to achieve, but my main overall goal is to have a chance at NCAAs with my team and to get one of those top 5 spots, because that would just make life a lot simpler when I graduate.”

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