How it works: Ryder Cup format

It was nice of Brendan Steele to successfully defend his title at the Safeway Open so that we could seamlessly segue into the next two-time defending champ. That’s the badge of honor worn by Justin Thomas at the CIMB Classic. He was the first of four winners last season who defended his title. Oddly enough, his pair of victories at TPC Kuala Lumpur followed Ryan Moore’s consecutive wins to introduce the stock par 72 in Malaysia’s capital in 2014 and 2015. The CIMB Classic launches a three-week swing through Asia. From Malaysia to South Korea to China, each tournament is reserved for 78 golfers. None will feature a 36-hole cut. All he does is win the CIMB Classic at TPC Kuala Lumpur. The 2016-17 Player of the Year finished second in his last start at East Lake. Two wins in last two months, too. Will need to putt a little better to win this week, but he finished T3 here in 2015 and sat T9 through 54 holes last year. Simply thriving at the peak of his career. Presents as an obvious force but it didn’t pan out that way in any of his first three appearances. Still in pursuit of his first top 20 here, but has five top fives since late June. With rigors of the past several weeks now history, he can enjoy the embrace of a gettable track. Solo fifth and runner-up in last two editions; scoring average of 66.75. One of the many who struggled on Sunday at Silverado, but early form aligned with prior success there. Similarly strong at TPC Kuala Lumpur where his scoring average is 68.08 Four months ago, he was outside the OWGR’s top 350. With two wins, including in last start at East Lake, and the Rookie of the Year award in the interim, he’s now 32nd. Shed the rust in a hurry at Silverado, placing T17 and ranking fifth in strokes gained: putting. T7 (2015) and T10 (2016) with a scoring average of 68.00 at TPC Kuala Lumpur. Debuted as a PGA TOUR member at last year’s CIMB and finished T10. One of the world’s best putters in the midst of his career prime at 33 years of age. Straddled seasons with a T12 at Conway Farms and a T13 at Silverado. Seven top 25s in last four months. He can hang on shorter tracks like TPC Kuala Lumpur. In the stable of horses for the course with a solo sixth in 2015 and a solo ninth last year. Scoring average in his last 10 rounds here (going back to 2014) is 68.00. Placed T17 in debut here last year. Ranked 15th in putts per GIR during a steady week. T11 at the British Masters in his last start. Six top 25s in last eight starts worldwide. The two-time runner-up (to Ryan Moore both times) hasn’t missed an edition at TPC Kuala Lumpur. Strengths are hitting GIR (11th in 2016-17) and par-5 scoring (T24). Turned in a T19 as a first-timer here last year with a pair of 68s on the weekend. Steady, reliable attack is always a threat, particularly with the guarantee of 72 holes. Seems counterintuitive to endorse him in a putting contest, but he was comfortable last year. Finished sixth after sharing the 18-hole lead with a 64. Making his tournament debut and his first start as a PGA TOUR member. Seriously scuffled since a solo fourth at Firestone, his last start in an event with no cut. RANK PLAYER COMMENT POWER RANKINGS: CIMB CLASSIC Jason Dufner, Branden Grace, Adam Hadwin and Bud Cauley will be among the notables included in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. There’s no secret to the objective at TPC Kuala Lumpur: sink putts. ShotLink isn’t utilized overseas, but fancy formulas aren’t required to respect Thomas’ route to success. En route to hoisting the hardware both times, he led his fields in conversion percentage after hitting greens in regulation. He also ranked a respective first and fourth in fewest putts per GIR. Moore authored similar performances, but TPC Kuala Lumpur wasn’t yet the racetrack that Thomas looped in 26-under 262 in 2015 and 23-under 265 last year. (Moore scored 14-under 274 in 2013 and 17-under 271 in 2014.) With four par 5s and tipping at just 7,005 yards, it’s one of the most vulnerable courses on the docket. Last year’s field averaged 70.298, and that was over one-half stroke higher than the previous year. Phenomenally manicured paspalum putting surfaces cater to the highest level of confidence when chasing deeply red numbers. With them running at about 11 feet on the Stimpmeter, everyone can open the throttle. The Confidence Factor on Tuesday will expand on the analytics as well as spotlight which golfers in the field have fared well in previous visits. Customarily warm and humid conditions await. The strongest risks of inclement weather bookend the tournaments. The absence of impactful wind will further contribute to low scoring. ROB BOLTON’S WRITING SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Columnist Rob Bolton will be filing his usual staples leading up to this week’s event. Look for the following columns this week. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, The Confidence Factor, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Ownership Percentages in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf and One & Done presented by SERVPRO * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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Nick Taylor is not from a town as small as Humboldt, Saskatchewan, but he knows what it’s like for a tight-knit community to come together. Taylor, from Abbotsford, British Columbia, will be donating $500 for every birdie – and $1,000 for every eagle – he makes this week at the RBC Heritage to the GoFundMe page set up by the small Canadian town as it recovers from a horrific tragedy less than a week ago A bus carrying 28 people – players of the Humboldt Broncos (a hockey team from the town of approximately 5,500 about 4 1/2 hours from the U.S. border) along with support staff and coaches – collided with a transport truck. Fifteen people were killed and the remaining 13 were injured, some still in critical condition. Taylor, who teed off at 8:40 a.m. ET Thursday, said the initiative was a no-brainer. “Not that I need more motivation to win a tournament, but to have this in there to help out is something else,� he said. “I know the support they’ve already had on the GoFundMe page has been incredible, so for me to get some golf fans to maybe throw some money in there … anything helps, and that’s the mentality.� The GoFundMe page was originally set up by two members of the community to help pay for parking for the parents of the victims (the junior hockey team featured players aged 16-20) and buy some coffee and donuts, with a moderate goal at first. Online fundraising efforts have since reached more than $8.1 million ($6.4 million U.S.), making it the most successful GoFundMe campaign in Canada, and the third-most successful in the platform’s history. Taylor, who played hockey for about five years until he was 15 years old, said he never got to the level of hockey where he would be traveling around, but he enjoyed it a lot growing up. In talking to people who have lived with another family while playing for a team away from home – like many members of the Humboldt Broncos – Taylor said that community would be so close. “There’s a huge family network in hockey life,� he explained. Graham DeLaet has not yet returned to action on the PGA TOUR after a procedure on his back in January, but he is from Weyburn, Saskatchewan – about 3 1/2 hours from Humboldt – and has ties to the area. When wildfires raged through Fort McMurray, Alberta in 2016, it was DeLaet who originally challenged his fellow Canadian TOUR pros, including Taylor, to donate to the recovery efforts there. Corey Connors is also in the RBC Heritage field and has #HumboldtStrong on his cap and is marking his ball with “HB.� Although Taylor’s hometown is much larger than Humboldt, it only has a population of 141,000. Both he and Adam Hadwin played out of the same golf club growing up, so that special moment was a big deal in their community. On the other end of the spectrum is this terribly sad event, he says, but he knows what it’s like to have a whole town rally around a singular event. “In a town of that size, everyone knows each other even more,� he said. Taylor is 66th on TOUR in total birdies in 2017-18 with 151. He’s made two eagles so far, and is hoping to increase that total at Harbour Town Golf Links this week. He finished T22 last year, shooting 69-66 in the first two rounds. It was his best result at the RBC Heritage. He comes into the week having missed his last three cuts, but said he put in a lot of hard work on a handful of “little things� that were adding up to some big misses of late. He said he feels refreshed, is ready to go on a good run, and is excited for a good week for both himself and the small Saskatchewan community that has been impacted in a big way. “It seems like the whole hockey world, the whole country of Canada and even in the U.S. has rallied (for Humboldt),� he said. “It’s been pretty amazing, the rally around it.�

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DETROIT — Troy Merritt took off his cap and briefly bowed his head to acknowledge a roaring crowd after the first ace of his PGA TOUR career. RELATED: Leaderboard | Inside the Field: John Deere Classic He didn’t get to enjoy the moment for long. Merritt’s hole-in-one gave him a three-shot lead, but he gave a stroke back on the next hole with a bogey and shot a 5-under 67 on Saturday. Joaquin Niemann took advantage of the opening to share the third-round lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Niemann, who shared the 36-hole lead with Tom Lewis, pulled into a tie by two-putting from 46 feet at 17. He parred the final hole, the toughest one on Detroit Golf Club, for a 68. Hank Lebioda (66) and Cam Davis (67) were a stroke back, and Brandon Hagy (68) was another shot behind. Lewis (71) was among six players three shots back with a legitimate shot on the relatively short course with receptive greens. “The mindset will be make a few birdies, but don’t give any away,” Merritt said. “Make them work to come and get us and hopefully it’s good enough in the end.” Rickie Fowler (68) was in a pack of 10 five shots back, while first-rounder leader Davis Thompson (72) was six shots back. After opening with a course-record tying 63, Thompson has played the last 36 holes in 1 over with rounds of 73 and 72 The 35-year-old Merritt made his first hole-in-one on the PGA TOUR — from 219 yards with a 5-iron off one bounce — to give him a three-stroke advantage. Merritt was fired up, and the fans were, too, a year after no spectators were allowed to attend the 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s awesome to have the fans back out here, whooping and hollering the good shots,” he said. “Commiserating with the bad shots and even hearing some of the comments you probably don’t want to hear.”” After his bogey, he closed with with six straight pars. Merritt, who is from Iowa, won his second PGA TOUR title at the 2018 Barbasol Championship. The next year, he missed two months of competition due to a surgery that removed a rib after he had blood clot that run from his chest to his left elbow. He entered this week with three top-10 finishes this year — including a pair of them in May — to put him within one of matching the most he has had in a year since making his PGA TOUR debut in 2010. Merritt moved atop the leaderboard quickly after starting his round Saturday at 9 under, one shot off the lead. He had four birdies through seven holes and lamented not having another, missing a 14-foot putt on the ninth hole. His ace on the par-3 11th put him at 6 under for the day and he may have had a hard time composing himself. “We had time to settle down before the next tee shot,” Merritt insisted. Merritt, though, missed the fairway to the right on the 493-yard, par-4 12th. Then, he was long on a chip and 14-foot putt, giving him a bogey and cutting his lead to a stroke. The 22-year-old Niemann had two birdies over his last five holes to put him in a position to win for the second time on TOUR. He became the first player from Chile to win on the PGA TOUR at The Greenbrier in 2019. “Everybody’s going to have their own moment and I had my moment pretty early,” said Niemann, who has four top-10 finishes this season.

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