How it happened: The United States wins the Ryder Cup

When you hand over the tees of a course with no trees, no water, no rough and greens that average 13,500 square feet to talent on the PGA TOUR, the history books brace for revisions. This was the reality when Trinity Forest Golf Club debuted as host of the AT&T Byron Nelson last year. After reviewing the ranking of those projected to contend for this week’s title, continue reading for what transpired last year and much more. Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson, Patrick Reed and Branden Grace will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. As noted at the top, Trinity Forest is a property of extremes. As a result, wind is the only true defense for the three-year-old par 71 south of downtown Dallas. Yet, when the Texas winds aren’t howling, even the undulations on the massive Champion bermudagrass putting surfaces don’t pose much of a challenge to the quality of skill taking aim on them because they’re governed to run no longer than 11 feet on the Stimpmeter. That’s to guard against the course getting out of control on a breezy day. In its inaugural edition as host to the 156-man field last year, Trinity Forest surrendered a scoring average of 69.415. That landed as second-lowest among all par 71s played all season. Gigantic landing areas off tees yielded a fairways-hit percentage of 79.50 (or 11.13 of 14 per golfer per round), highest since SilverRock co-hosted the 2011 Desert Classic. The field also averaged 13.83 greens in regulation per round, second-highest of 51 courses last season. Then-rookie Aaron Wise played it like a video game on beginner mode. En route to his breakthrough title, he missed only six (of 56) fairways and only six GIR, fewest for any PGA TOUR winner since Willie Wood missed only five when he prevailed at the 1996 Sanderson Farms Championship (then known as the Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic). Wise also ranked ninth in distance of all drives, third in proximity to the hole, second in strokes gained: tee-to-green and seventh in strokes gained: putting. Where Wise didn’t make noise was on the set of four par 3s. Rolling over for an average of 2.96, they ranked as the second-easiest among all courses in 2017-18. The champ beat the field average, but he did the bulk of his work by leading the field on the par 4s. The par-3 eighth hole averaged -0.354 strokes to par to establish the record for lowest scoring average among all par 3s since recordkeeping launched in earnest in 1983. However, expect aggregate scoring on the par 3s to rise this year. Thanks to new tees, No. 8 is 20 yards longer and capable of reaching 160 yards, while the par-3 12th can now stretch to 220 yards, an increase of 15 yards. Overall course yardage is down nine yards to 7,371 as the par-4 16th will be prepped to tip at 385 yards, a reduction of 44 yards from last year. As membership continues to learn how to further capitalize on the course – as of midday Monday, 77 from last year’s field are committed this week – the weather will promote the extension of aggressive thinking. Moderate winds will all but disappear by the weekend and the persistent threat of rain will keep the track soft and gettable. Daytime highs in the 70s will help sustain physical energy in the humidity. Bottom line, for all pros headed to next week’s PGA Championship, the AT&T Byron Nelson presents as a terrific opportunity to build confidence while staying fresh. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Champions One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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OVERVIEW One of the goals for Jon Rahm, who turned 24 last month, will be to make this season less like last season and more like 2017. At least with respect to putting. Two seasons ago Rahm was one of the hottest players in golf as he was 48th in Strokes Gained: Putting and 2nd in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. He won the Farmers Insurance Open and pushed Dustin Johnson to the brink in the championship match of the World Golf Championship-Dell Technologies Match Play. Rahm looked like a complete player. Last season that wasn’t the case, as he dropped all the way to 135th in SG: Putting while dropping just one spot to 3rd in SG: Off-the-Tee. As a result, Rahm went long stretches without popping up on any leaderboards. He finished fourth at the Masters but missed the cut at the U.S. Open and The Open Championship. Then he was back with a T4 at the PGA Championship. When the putter is hot or at least warm, Rahm remains dangerous. Although his performances were uneven in 2018, he picked up his second TOUR win at the CareerBuilder Challenge, won the Spanish Open, and beat Tiger Woods in singles in his first Ryder Cup appearance. Asked at the Hero World Challenge how he would sum up 2018, Rahm replied: “This year was a big year of personal growth more than my golf game. I was actually quite surprised how well I played compared to what I had going on in my personal life.â€� He didn’t elaborate but certainly a huge off-course moment for Rahm was getting engaged to his long-time girlfriend. All in all, it wasn’t a bad off-year for Rahmbo. – By Cameron Morfit Click here to see who else made the Top 30 list. BY THE NUMBERS FEDEXCUP UPDATE Current 2018-19 position: 129th Playoff appearances: 2 TOUR Championship appearances: 2 Best result: 5th in 2017 SHOTLINK FUN FACT Jon Rahm is one of seven players who have averaged four or more birdies per round in each of the last two PGA TOUR seasons. INSIDER INSIGHTS PGATOUR.COM’s Insiders offer their expert views on what to expect from Jon Rahm in 2019. TOUR INSIDER: A lot of TOUR pros run hot, but Rahm can reach molten levels of intensity. For the most part, you’d have to say he has channeled it well. Two wins in two full TOUR seasons? Not bad at all. But golf is most infuriating on the greens, where Rahm dropped to 135th in Strokes Gained: Putting last season, and one can’t help but wonder if there’s a connection and his temper is hurting him. Can he cool the fire and let it happen on the greens? To be continued. – By Cameron Morfit FANTASY INSIDER: Not surprisingly, after experiencing the challenge of balancing focus of his imminent debut in the Ryder Cup with what was a quiet FedExCup Playoffs, he regained traction this fall with a T4 in the European Tour’s finale in Dubai. It was his ninth top five of 2018 alone. This is why he’s special; we actually can count on numerous chances no matter the test. He scaled to a career-best No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking when he won the CareerBuilder Challenge in January, so invest confidently in a run back toward the top spot as he settles into his third full season on the PGA TOUR. — By Rob Bolton EQUIPMENT INSIDER: Rahm made equipment news ahead of the 2018 Ryder Cup by using a custom European-flag themed SuperStroke putter on his TaylorMade Spider Tour Red putter. Despite his success at the Ryder Cup as a rookie, and upsetting Tiger Woods in his singles match, he’s since switched back to the familiar black-and-white SuperStroke grip. Maybe more surprisingly, however, was a switch backwards with his driver. While Rahm was an early adopter of the TaylorMade M4 driver, using the TwistFace technology for much 2018, he switched back to a TaylorMade M2 2017 driver during the FedExCup Playoffs, and continues to use that driver – with his familiar Aldila Tour Green shaft. Will Rahm switch into the new TaylorMade M5/M6 technology in 2019? We’ll keep a close eye on it. — By Andrew Tursky STYLE INSIDER: Rahm’s explosive game can only be matched by the energetic colors he brings to the course. While he favors solid tops and bottoms, he often pairs bright hues with light neutrals to create eye-catching contrast. He could improve his style in 2019 by losing the white belt and matching his belt to his pants. — By Greg Monteforte

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Defending champion Francesco Molinari withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard on Thursday because of a back injury. Molinari shot 64 in the final round last year at Bay Hill for a two-shot victory, his eighth title worldwide. He reached the semifinals of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play a few weeks later, and then had a two-shot lead with seven holes to play in the Masters when he twice hit into the water and Tiger Woods rallied to win. The Italian has not won since Bay Hill, and he has said on more than one occasion that the Masters took a lot out of him. Molinari was scheduled to play Thursday morning with Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose. He was replaced in the 120-man field by Kyoung-Hoon Lee. Lee and his wife were involved in a minor car accident on Wednesday. While he is battling soreness, he teed it up for his first Arnold Palmer Invitational start.

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