Hollins to join Class of 2021 in World Golf Hall of Fame

The PGA TOUR travels to Chiba, Japan for the second of three straight tournaments in Asia and the first installment of the ZOZO Championship at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club. The 78-man field will consist of 60 golfers from the PGA TOUR along with players from the Japanese Golf Tour Organization as well as sponsor exemptions. Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Xander Schauffele will make their season debuts. There is no cut. Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club will play as a par 70 measuring 7,041 yards. The course features tree-lined fairways, six dogleg holes and undulating, bentgrass greens, which should be moderately easy to hit. We shouldn’t expect a ton of big numbers unless the golfers get in trouble on one of the four holes where water hazards are in play. Players won’t need a ton of distance, but like last week, the course may be vulnerable to windy conditions with it being close to the ocean. Greens are small, with ample bunkering coming into play on almost every hole. The course will also have two greens per hole, which is something we don’t regularly see on TOUR; players will get a free drop if their ball lands on the incorrect green. Even though this is a par 70, there are three par 5s, which all measure over 550 yards. There will also be five par 4s measuring over 450 yards, so key statistics to focus are Strokes Gained: Off-the-tee with an emphasis on accuracy and Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green. Similar to last week, scrambling efficiency from the sand as well as par-4 scoring average should be considered when building our lineups. TOP VALUES ADAM SCOTT ($9,900) Hopefully his 42nd place at The Shriners Hospital for Children Open moves his ownership down from where it should be this week. Even though he didn’t win last season, Scott recorded eight top-10s, which included two runner-up finishes at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide and Farmers Insurance Open. He’s been struggling with his off-the-tee game ranking 62nd in the field over his last 24 rounds, but his irons and his putting have been great over the same timeframe. Scott has ranked seventh in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green and has gained strokes on the greens in his last five straight tournaments. XANDER SCHAUFFELE ($10,400) Schauffele will tee it up for the first time this season in a no-cut event, a format he excels in. Just 25, he’s already won the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, Sentry Tournament of Champions and TOUR Championship in his short career. He ranks among the top 12 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-tee and the top 25 in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-green over his last six tournaments. Interesting fact: Xander’s mother is from Taiwan, but grew up in Japan. Take it for what it’s worth. JOAQUIN NIEMANN ($8,200) Niemann continues his solid ball-striking by gaining strokes off the tee as well as with his irons since breaking through at A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier last month. Over the last three tournaments, Niemann has lost strokes around the greens, but is first in the field in sand save percentage. He also ranks inside the top 20 in par-4 scoring average and should be traveling to Japan with momentum on his side after a T12 finish at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. RYAN PALMER ($6,900) Like Niemann, Palmer finished T12 at THE CJ CUP. He brings his solid ball-striking to Japan ranking 25th in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green over his last three tournaments. He’s struggling with his par-4 scoring average, but ranks first in par-5 efficiency from 550 to 600 yards over his last 12 rounds. Having played well at course corollaries like The Honda Classic and Valspar Championship, Palmer should be a solid value play at his price this week. Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game. I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is reidtfowler) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.

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In his first Masters as a professional, Tiger Woods shot 40 over his first nine holes. Then he shot 30 on the second nine, and the rest is history.

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MELBOURNE, Australia – Notes and observations from the second round of the ISPS Handa Melbourne World Cup of Golf where teams played the Foursomes format in wet and windy conditions. LEADING LIGHTS
 WEATHER A PHYSICAL CHALLENGE: The temperature dropped, the winds lifted and the rain came down but while most teams went backward in Round 2 it was Belgium and Korea who withstood the tough test. Foursomes, or alternate shot, is hard enough but when the Melbourne weather turned wild it became a beast at Metropolitan Golf Club. Temperatures hovered around 56 degrees with cold winds at a steady 20 miles per hour with heavier gusts. Only four of the 28 teams in the even managed an under-par round, with Greece showing how bad it could get after a 15-over 87. The Belgium team of Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry held firm with a 1-under 71 to move to 10 under for the tournament where they are joined by Korea. Former PLAYERS champion Si Woo Kim and Byeong Hun An shot even-par 72. “It was really fricking tough out there,â€� Pieters said. His partner was expecting to be called off the course early. “To be honest, I didn’t think we would finish today. Waking up this morning and getting here, it was just like horizontal rain,â€� Detry said. “So wind got up, wind didn’t drop, so it was just a tough day all around.â€� Korea were able to offset three bogeys with three birdies. “It was chaos,â€� An admitted. “It was a cold day, so it was like just trying to hold on.â€� Italy (71) shares third at 8 under alongside India (72), Malaysia (73) and England (74). NOTABLES USA: Hopes of adding to the USA’s stellar World Cup record might be over after Matt Kuchar and Kyle Stanley struggled to a 7-over 79 to be 1 over and tied 21st — some 11 shots back.   AUSTRALIA: The home nation looked set to be heading toward an uphill battle before a late rally saved some face. A 4-over 76 dropped them to 6 under overall but close enough with 36 holes still to play. At one stage they sat seven shots back thanks to a pair of costly double bogeys before a run of three straight birdies resurrected their hopes. “It was pretty brutal. You know when it’s like this in Melbourne it’s going to be tough, especially on a golf course like this,â€� Marc Leishman said. “Obviously not the start we were after, but I think to put a positive light on the day, we kind of fought back there at the end.â€�    ENGLAND: Overnight co-leaders Ian Poulter and Tyrrell Hatton scratched out a 2-over 74 to move to 8 under and into a tie for third. Both vented some frustrations as Hatton smashed a tee box marker at the 10th with his driver after a wild shot while Poulter believed conditions were borderline and made it known post round. “The (tee markers) are very fragile, obviously that wasn’t a great moment,” Hatton said of his outburst. “We all got finished, so I guess it was playable. We didn’t have any balls blow on the green, which I think if you look at it was a good thing, otherwise we probably would have stopped,â€� Poulter added. QUOTABLES There’s a phrase I would use, but I probably wouldn’t use it on camera.It’s fun, it’s fun. That’s why we’re here, for this kind of experience.The drainage is phenomenal. I thought it was going to be just absolutely unplayable and it was good. There’s a little bit of puddles here and there, but the fairways are phenomenal. The golf course can take a lot of rain.We never say sorry when we hit a bad shot and I think that helps.

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