Inside the Field: THE NORTHERN TRUST

Admit it. If every tournament produced winners like Justin Rose at the Farmers Insurance Open, Rickie Fowler at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and Phil Mickelson at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done would be boring. It’d be easy. Why even play? Pshaw! Enjoy the run because it never lasts. But it sure is fun in the meantime and we might be treated to one more predictable haymaker at the Genesis Open. Mickelson will be gunning for a second title in as many weeks and his third overall at Riviera Country Club (2008, 2009). I’ll side with gamers concerned about the quick turnaround after an interrupted finale on Sunday-Monday at his age. With that hungry look in his eye and a potentially historic performance looming at Pebble Beach again in June – granted, it’ll be stingier – it wouldn’t be the silliest idea to holster him for the U.S. Open. If that doesn’t sit right at the time, then move him to TPC Southwind for the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in late July. Bubba Watson is a three-time winner at Riviera and the defending champ. If you don’t burn him now, fine. It’s likelier going to be a deeper field than his title defense at the Travelers Championship the week after the U.S. Open, which is probably going to be my spot for him. Dustin Johnson disappointed last week, but he hasn’t gone consecutive starts anywhere without a top 20 since the summer of 2017. Of course, a mere top 20 is losing FedExCup points and earnings to your opposition over the course of time, so you’ll need a podium finish to warrant the investment. Otherwise, wait until the U.S. Open. It lines up first on his Future Possibilities. Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama and Jon Rahm would form a formidable fivesome for roster formats, but Riviera isn’t a super site for any. Paul Casey is soaring, but is value is in his consistently strong form and not necessarily while he’s red-hot on courses that haven’t matched up well. All that is to say is to retain confidence in the long-term and consider him again at one of his Future Possibilities. Don’t sweat Patrick Cantlay’s early withdrawal from the AT&T. He cited illness, not injury, as his decision to sit it out. We can’t dispute Sean’s reasoning to pull the trigger or his decision-making that’s guided him to his position atop our little league. Cantlay is safe, sane and sound. With the way Matt Kuchar is going, I’m angling at using him at THE PLAYERS. He’s a former winner at TPC Sawgrass (2012) where he’s recorded seven top 20s, he has experience on the course when it hosted in March and the tournament always is a crapshoot because of the starkness of success and failure tee to green. Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau rarely let us down, so each steps up uncommonly strong at Riviera for those of us in pursuit. Schauffele is making just his second start (T9 last year), while Finau has gamers unnecessarily skittish after an MC-T38 fortnight through TPC Scottsdale and Pebble Beach. Two-man gamers must consider Adam Hadwin, Charles Howell III, Jason Kokrak and Sung Kang. Reminder: TWO tournaments next week. 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 2018-19. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Keegan Bradley … CIMB (1); Mayakoba (3); Farmers (2); Memorial (5); Travelers (4) Rafa Cabrera Bello … WGC-Mexico (5); PLAYERS (1); Wyndham (4) Patrick Cantlay … Genesis (4); Valspar (2); Memorial (3) Paul Casey … WGC-Mexico (6); Honda (10); Valspar (7; defending); WGC-Match Play (8); Masters (2); Wells Fargo (9); Travelers (1); TOUR Championship (3) Bryson DeChambeau … Arnold Palmer (3); Heritage (1);  Memorial (2; defending); Travelers (4); John Deere (7) Jason Dufner … Honda (3); PLAYERS (7); Valspar (4); New Orleans (1); Charles Schwab (6); Memorial (5); U.S. Open (2); Wyndham (8); TOUR Championship (10) Tony Finau … Valero (5); Memorial (2) Sergio Garcia … Genesis (8); WGC-Mexico (1); Honda (4); PLAYERS (7); Valspar (9); Masters (6); Open Championship (5); TOUR Championship (2) Branden Grace … Heritage (1); Valero (3); Byron Nelson (5); U.S. Open (4) Bill Haas … Genesis (3); WGC-Match Play (8); Heritage (4); Charles Schwab (2); Wyndham (6) Adam Hadwin … Genesis (3); Valspar (2); John Deere (5) Brian Harman … Arnold Palmer (7); Charles Schwab (1); Travelers (5); John Deere (4) Russell Henley … Honda (4); Masters (3) Charley Hoffman … Genesis (5); Arnold Palmer (2); Masters (4); Heritage (7); Valero (3); Charles Schwab (6); Travelers (1) J.B. Holmes … Genesis (4); Wells Fargo (5) Dustin Johnson … Genesis (3); WGC-Mexico (5); Masters (8); PGA Championship (11); Memorial (10); U.S. Open (1); WGC-St. Jude (6); TOUR Championship (7) Si Woo Kim … PLAYERS (3); Heritage (1) Matt Kuchar … PLAYERS (5); Valspar (9); Masters (6); Heritage (2); Charles Schwab (7); Memorial (1); Open Championship (8) Martin Laird … Genesis (3); Valero (5); Barracuda (2) Marc Leishman … Arnold Palmer (1); Byron Nelson (6); Memorial (4); Travelers (3); Open Championship (8) Hideki Matsuyama … Genesis (10); Arnold Palmer (11); PLAYERS (9); Masters (4); PGA Championship (13); Memorial (8); U.S. Open (14); Wyndham (7); TOUR Championship (5) Rory McIlroy … Arnold Palmer (2; defending); Masters (4); Wells Fargo (3); Memorial (5); Travelers (8); Open Championship (1); TOUR Championship (6) Phil Mickelson … Genesis (6); WGC-Mexico (1; defending); Masters (9); Wells Fargo (2); Open Championship (8); WGC-St. Jude (3) Ryan Moore … Genesis (5); Valspar (3); Valero (7); Masters (13); Memorial (11); Travelers (6); John Deere (8); Wyndham (2); TOUR Championship (9) Kevin Na … Genesis (2); Valspar (6); Charles Schwab (3); Wyndham (5) Jon Rahm … Masters (5); Charles Schwab (1); TOUR Championship (7) Louis Oosthuizen … Valspar (3); WGC-Match Play (1); Masters (2); U.S. Open (5); PGA Championship (4) Xander Schauffele … Genesis (6); PLAYERS (5); U.S. Open (3); Open Championship (4); TOUR Championship (1) Adam Scott … Genesis (4); Honda (1); Arnold Palmer (10); PLAYERS (2); Masters (6); Byron Nelson (11); PGA Championship (8); U.S. Open (9); Open Championship (7); TOUR Championship (3) Cameron Smith … Wyndham (3) Jordan Spieth … Genesis (10); WGC-Mexico (11); Valspar (14); Masters (1); PGA Championship (7); Charles Schwab (5); Memorial (13); U.S. Open (4); Travelers (9); Open Championship (6); TOUR Championship (8) Brendan Steele … Honda (7); Valero (8); Wells Fargo (9); Travelers (4); Reno-Tahoe (3) Kevin Streelman … Valero (9); Heritage (5); Memorial (4); Travelers (7) Justin Thomas … WGC-Mexico (2); Honda (7; defending); PLAYERS (11); PGA Championship (9); Memorial (8); TOUR Championship (3) Jimmy Walker … Valero (2); Byron Nelson (6) Bubba Watson … Genesis (1; defending); WGC-Match Play (6; defending); Masters (5); Memorial (7); Travelers (2; defending); TOUR Championship (8) Tiger Woods … Arnold Palmer (1); Masters (2); Memorial (4); THE NORTHERN TRUST (6); TOUR Championship (5; defending)

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Danny Lee … He’s coming off a T20 at the RBC Canadian Open, which was his fourth top 20 of the season, but he hasn’t connected top 20s in 13 months. It’s a dry spell that’s projected to end this week as the Kiwi recorded top-15 finishes in the last two editions of the Travelers Championship with consecutive 10-under 270s. Toss in a T25 in his previous visit in 2015 and his scoring average in his last 12 competitive rounds at TPC River Highlands is 67.75. Aaron Baddeley … The Aussie has been among the most loyal to the tournament since he joined the PGA TOUR in 2003. In 13 appearances, he’s survived nine cuts, the best a solo fourth in 2014. While he missed last year’s cut after appearing in Sleepers, that comfort level will greet an uptick in form this season, so there’s even more reason to be hopeful. Saddled with the pressure of conditional status, he’s answered with a pair of top fives among six top 25s to lock up his card for 2019-20. What hasn’t changed is his strength with the shortest clubs in his bag. One of the best of his generation on the greens, he ranks ninth in strokes gained: putting and fourth in scrambling. Anirban Lahiri … Like Badds, the native of India competed in last week’s U.S. Open. As of Monday, exactly one-third of the field of 156 at the Travelers Championship made the trip from Pebble Beach. Unlike Badds, Lahiri has shifted it into reverse this season. With only one top 25 in individual competition, he’s 169th in the FedExCup standings. With his pressure to perform as the finish line nears, he can tap into the feels of a T17 in 2017 and a T9 last year at TPC River Highlands. His scoring average in those eight rounds is 67.75. Sebastian Muñoz … The 26-year-old from Colombia is faring much better in his second spin with a PGA TOUR card than his rookie season of 2016-17, but he’s proven twice on the Web.com Tour that he’s capable by finishing inside the top 25 on the money list in both of his full seasons. Currently 117th in the FedExCup with four top 25s, including in his last two starts. Placed T10 at Trinity Forest where he ranked 10th in strokes gained: putting, and then posted a T11 at Hamilton G&CC where he finished T11 in greens hit and 18th in strokes gained: putting. In between, he kept warm on the Web with a T7 at the REX Hospital Open (T3 in GIR). José de Jesús Rodríguez … There hasn’t been a lot to celebrate this season for the 38-year-old rookie from Mexico, but he’s one week removed from a career-best T14 at the RBC Canadian Open. That followed a T21 at the Web.com Tour’s REX Hospital Open. He’ll need a strong week tee to green, but TPC River Highlands is the shortest course on the PGA TOUR that serves as a singular host. That suggests that his fantastic putting can be a game-changer. Currently 36th on TOUR in strokes gained: putting and 11th in conversion percentage inside 10 feet. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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Darren Clarke won the Mitsubishi Electric Championship by two strokes on Saturday for his second straight PGA Tour Champions victory.

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